In a Nutshell
Maximizing Chase Ultimate Rewards® points could be considered an art form. With so many cards out there eligible to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you can optimize earning and redeeming on the right mix of cards to help get the best value.This offer is no longer available on our site: Chase Freedom Flex℠
Personal credit cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® | 10 points per $1 on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase 10 points per $1 on dining purchased through Chase 5 points per $1 on flights purchased through Chase 3 points per $1 spent on eligible travel and dining purchases 1 point per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card | 5 points per $1 spent on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠ (and 2 points per $1 on all other travel purchases) 3 points per $1 spent on dining 3 points per $1 spent on online grocery purchases 3 points per $1 spent on select streaming services 1 point per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases |
| Chase Freedom Flex℠ | 5 points per $1 spent in rotating quarterly categories (on up to $1,500 in combined purchases each quarter you activate, then 1 point per $1 after) 5 points per $1 spent on travel purchased through Chase 3 points per $1 on restaurants and drugstore purchases 1 point per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases |
| Chase Freedom Unlimited® | 5 points per $1 spent on travel purchased through Chase 3 points per $1 spent at restaurants and drugstores 1.5 points per $1 spent on all eligible other purchases |
If you’re looking to get the most out of your credit card rewards program, Chase Ultimate Rewards® could be the perfect fit for you.
Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the most versatile credit card rewards programs out there, especially if you have the right mix of Chase credit cards. Chase Ultimate Rewards points don’t expire as long as your account is open, and you can redeem them for everything from travel to gift cards.
But before you rush off to spend your Chase Ultimate Rewards points on a Starbucks or Amazon gift card, you may want to think twice. Squeezing the most value out of your points can take a bit more planning than that, and your best option probably isn’t a gift card.
In this article, we’ll go over some of the quirks of this unique rewards program. And if you don’t know whether to use a Chase Freedom Flex℠ or a Chase Sapphire Reserve® card (or both!) to get the most value out of your points, we’ll go over that too.
Thankfully, it can be easy to maximize Chase Ultimate Rewards points once you break the program down into distinct parts and match those parts with your goals. On that note, let’s take a look at four ways to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for the best value.
- Boost your rewards with sign-up bonuses
- Apply for the right mix of Chase credit cards
- Understand your redemption options
- Compare, compare, compare
1. Boost your rewards with sign-up bonuses
One of the fastest ways to rack up Chase Ultimate Rewards points is to qualify for a sign-up bonus. In order to qualify for such a bonus, you generally need to meet a specific minimum spending requirement within a set time frame.
Other rules and restrictions may also apply. For example, to qualify for the Chase Freedom Flex℠ sign-up bonus you must not have earned the sign-up bonus for that card within the previous 24 months, and you must not be a current card member. Additionally, for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can only earn one sign-up bonus between the two cards within a 48-month exclusion period.
Sign-up bonuses seem to change almost as frequently as the weather, so do a little research to make sure you strike when the iron is hot. In some cases, you may want to wait awhile to see if the sign-up bonus goes up, though there are no guarantees.
Here are the current sign-up bonuses for three personal credit cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
- Chase Freedom Flex℠: Earn a $200 bonus after spending $500 or more on purchases during your first 3 months from account opening.
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Earn 60,000 bonus points after spending at least $4,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Earn 60,000 bonus points after spending at least $4,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
One last thing: We don’t recommend trying to qualify for a sign-up bonus if the spending requirement doesn’t sync with your current budget. If spending, say, $4,000 on purchases in a three-month period would stretch your budget to its breaking point, hold off. The points you’ll earn likely won’t be worth the interest charges (and the headache!) associated with carrying a balance.
2. Apply for the right mix of Chase credit cards
If you’re looking to earn the most points possible, you’ll need three Chase credit cards to get the job done.
We don’t recommend applying for all of these cards at once, or even within the span of a few months, as multiple hard inquiries in a short period could lead lenders and credit card issuers (like Chase) to consider you a higher-risk customer. Before you apply for any credit card, note that a hard inquiry can have a minor negative effect your credit scores.
On that note, here are the three personal credit cards you’d want to consider in order to get the best possible value out of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program.
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
First, consider the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, a premium travel rewards card that earns 10 points per $1 on hotels and car rentals through Chase, 10 points per $1 on dining purchased through Chase, five points per $1 on flights purchased through Chase, three points per $1 spent on other eligible travel and dining purchases, and one point per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases.
This card comes with a hefty $550 annual fee, so it’s not for everyone. But if you’re a relatively big spender and know how to use the card’s unique benefits, Chase Sapphire Reserve® can be more than worth the price of admission.
If you’re not a huge spender in the travel and dining categories, you may want to consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card instead.
Chase Freedom Flex℠
Next, take a look at the Chase Freedom Flex℠ and consider taking advantage of the quarterly 5% cash back bonus categories. You’ll need to pay attention to the bonus category calendar, as the categories rotate each quarter, and make sure you activate them in time to earn those rewards.
You should also track your spending to make sure you don’t exceed the per-quarter combined-purchases limit on up to $1,500 in the bonus categories after activation, after which you earn only one point per $1 spent. Once you’ve met that limit, you’ll want to put all nontravel and nondining spending on the next card on our list to maximize your rewards earnings.
Chase Freedom Unlimited®
Finally, you may want to think about having the Chase Freedom Unlimited® in your pocket to earn 1.5 points per $1 spent on eligible purchases that don’t fit into your other cards’ bonus categories.
Since Chase Sapphire Reserve® only earns one point per $1 spent on eligible nondining, nontravel and nongrocery purchases, Chase Freedom Unlimited® can be a great tag-team partner to help boost your everyday rewards earnings.
3. Understand your redemption options
When it comes to using Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you have quite a few options.
| Method of redemption | Point value |
|---|---|
| Travel | Up to 2.13 (based on our point valuations as of summer 2023) |
| Gift cards | As much as 1.1 (depending on the gift card) |
| Cash back | 1 |
| Apple products | 1 |
| Amazon | 0.8 |
The exact number of redemption options available to you may depend on the specific cards you carry. The following redemption options are only available with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
- Book rewards travel at an enhanced value via Chase Travel℠. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers a 25% bonus value and Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers a 50% bonus value on points redeemed.
- Transfer points to travel partners at a 1:1 point ratio. Eligible airline and hotel partners include …
- Aer Lingus AerClub®
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- British Airways Executive Club
- Emirates Skywards®
- Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM
- Iberia Plus
- IHG® Rewards Club
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Marriott Bonvoy®
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards®
- United MileagePlus®
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- World of Hyatt®
These redemption options apply to all Chase Ultimate Rewards cards.
- Book travel such as flights, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase.
- Get cash back directly deposited into most U.S. checking and savings accounts, or choose to redeem for statement credit.
- Shop at Amazon.com and pay with points for eligible orders when your Chase card is linked to Amazon.com.
- Redeem for gift cards from a range of popular stores and restaurants.
- Enjoy events perks like special offers on events, concessions or merchandise with Chase Select Experiences.
Your exact redemption values may vary, but keep in mind that transferring your points to an eligible partner may help you squeeze the most value out of them. For that reason, spending your points on travel tends to be the best way to maximize their worth.
Do Chase Ultimate Rewards points really never expire?
It’s true! Your Chase Ultimate Rewards points won’t expire as long as your account is open. If your account closes, you may immediately lose all of your points, which is one of the reasons we typically recommend keeping your account open.
4. Compare, compare, compare
Now that we’ve established that travel can offer the best way to go, you have one of two options. You can seek the absolute best value possible and plan a trip around that redemption option, or you can plan a trip first and then find the best way possible to use your points on that trip.
Redeeming points for a great value
Finding a great value can result in redeeming multiple cents per point, but it may land you on a trip to somewhere you aren’t ecstatic about visiting.
Usually, finding the best possible redemption values requires searching the transfer partner programs for redemptions that offer the highest value per point. While all points earned with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve® transfer to Chase partner programs at a 1:1 ratio, different programs may offer different redemption values.
Redeeming points for your dream vacation
Finding a great value on the trip you already want to go on is an easier option, but it may result in redeeming at a lower value per point. Once you know where you want to go and what you want to do, break down your trip into every expense you plan to incur.
Say you want to plan a trip to Walt Disney World. You know you’d have at least the following expenses:
- Airfare
- Hotel
- Park-entry tickets
- Food
Go down the list and find out if you can redeem points for each expense. You could search for the cheapest flight option, pick the hotel you want to stay at, and try to figure out how to pay for other expenses with Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Essentially, it all comes down to using your Chase Ultimate Rewards points for the highest value redemptions available to you until you run out of points.
You’ll want to compare transferring points to booking directly through the Chase Travel℠ portal too. In some cases, transferring points to a partner program may yield a better redemption value, while in other cases booking through Chase may work out better.
And if you’re looking to maximize your points and you carry either the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you may not ever want to redeem your points for cash back, gift cards or at Amazon.com, as these all offer point values of 1 cent per point or less, whereas redeeming your points for airfare through Chase, for example, is worth more.
Comparing Chase Ultimate Rewards to other airline rewards programs
Comparing Chase Ultimate Rewards with an airline-specific rewards program is like comparing apples to oranges. True, they’re both rewards programs — but they operate in different ways.
Using Chase Ultimate Rewards points is generally easy because you have so many options, including booking travel through Chase or transferring points to a hotel or airline partner.
With airline-specific programs, you may only have one airline with which to use your rewards. For example, Southwest Rapid Rewards® allows you to transfer your points to certain hotel partners but only allows you to use points to fly Southwest.
On the other hand, United MileagePlus® allows you to earn United miles and use them on any Star Alliance™ travel partners’ flights, including United, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and Air Canada, just to name a few. Just make sure to join the program of one of the member airlines and register your account number.
Sometimes the airline-specific programs will work out better if you reliably choose one group of airlines over another. But if you prefer greater flexibility, Chase Ultimate Rewards may be your best bet.
Bottom line
The Chase Ultimate Rewards program allows you to earn and redeem points in many different ways, making it easier to use your points at a decent-to-great value on a trip you actually want to take.
If you include the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve® in the mix, and you’re willing to spend a fair amount of time researching Chase’s transfer partners, the value of your points could skyrocket.
Just remember, credit card rewards points are there to help pay for your trip — they’re the means to an end, rather than an end in themselves. Researching the best way to redeem your rewards is important, but don’t spend more time poring over redemption values than you’ll spend actually enjoying the rewards you’ve earned!