Chase Ultimate Rewards: The Complete Guide

Chase Ultimate Rewards is arguably the most valuable points currency in the game. Here’s everything you need to know to maximize it.

What Are Chase Ultimate Rewards?

Ultimate Rewards (UR) are Chase’s proprietary points currency. You earn them on Chase credit cards and can redeem them for travel, cash back, or transfer to airline and hotel partners.

The magic is in the transfer partners. That’s where points become worth 2-3x their cash value.

Cards That Earn Ultimate Rewards

Premium Cards

Chase Sapphire Reserve — 3x travel/dining, $550 AF
Chase Sapphire Preferred — 2x travel/dining, $95 AF

Business Cards

Ink Business Preferred — 3x travel/shipping/advertising, $95 AF
Ink Business Cash — 5x office supplies/internet, $0 AF
Ink Business Unlimited — 1.5x everything, $0 AF

No Annual Fee

Freedom Unlimited — 1.5x everything + 5x travel
Freedom Flex — 5x rotating categories

Transfer Partners

This is where it gets good. Chase points transfer 1:1 to:

Airlines

United MileagePlus
Southwest Rapid Rewards
British Airways Avios
Air France/KLM Flying Blue
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Emirates Skywards
Iberia Plus
Aer Lingus AerClub
JetBlue TrueBlue

Hotels

World of Hyatt
Marriott Bonvoy
IHG One Rewards

Best Transfer Partners (My Rankings)

S-Tier

Hyatt — Best hotel value, period. 15-25k for $500+ nights
Virgin Atlantic — ANA First Class for 110k, Delta partner awards
United — Huge route network, no fuel surcharges

A-Tier

Flying Blue — Promo rewards, good Europe coverage
Southwest — Companion Pass potential, no change fees
British Airways — Short-haul sweet spots (NYC-BOS for 7.5k)

B-Tier

Singapore — Star Alliance access, but watch for surcharges
JetBlue — Occasional value, mostly Mint redemptions
Emirates — Very limited sweet spots

Avoid

Marriott — 0.7¢/point value, almost never worth it
IHG — Same story, low value

How to Value Your Points

Baseline: 1.5¢/point (Chase portal with CSR)

Transfer Target: 1.8-2.5¢/point

Great Redemption: 3¢+ per point

Example: ANA First Class JFK-Tokyo

Cash price: $15,000+
Points: 110,000 Virgin Atlantic miles
Value: 13.6¢ per point 🔥

Earning Strategy

Everyday Spending

Dining: CSR (3x) or Amex Gold (4x)
Travel: CSR (3x)
Gas: Freedom Flex (5x quarterly) or Ink Cash
Groceries: Freedom Flex (5x quarterly)
Everything else: Freedom Unlimited (1.5x)

Business Spending

Advertising: Ink Preferred (3x) — Facebook/Google ads
Shipping: Ink Preferred (3x)
Office supplies: Ink Cash (5x)
Internet/phone: Ink Cash (5x)

Bonus Categories

Check quarterly categories on Freedom Flex. Recent hits:

Amazon (5x in Q4)
Gas stations (5x)
Grocery stores (5x)
Restaurants (5x)

Redemption Strategies

For Flights

Domestic:

Transfer to Southwest for no-fee changes
United for Star Alliance access
JetBlue Mint for transcon business class

International Business/First:

Virgin Atlantic → ANA (110k F to Japan)
Flying Blue → Partner airlines during promos
United → Polaris (way cheaper than paid)

For Hotels

Always Hyatt. Seriously.

Category 1-4: 5,000-15,000 points
Park Hyatts, Andaz = 25,000-40,000 points
Value: 1.5-2.5¢ per point consistently

Cash Value (Last Resort)

CSR: 1.5¢/point in travel portal
CSP: 1.25¢/point in travel portal
Cash back: 1¢/point (never do this)

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Transferring to Marriott — Just don’t
Not pooling points — Combine household cards
Booking through portal instead of transferring — Check partner rates first
Letting points expire — Any activity resets clock
Not checking transfer bonuses — 20-30% bonuses happen regularly

My Current Chase Setup

Card	Annual Points
Sapphire Reserve	~90,000
Ink Preferred #1	~54,000
Ink Preferred #2	~2,000
Freedom Unlimited	~20,000
Total	~166,000/year

That’s enough for 2-3 international business class flights or 10+ free hotel nights annually.

TL;DR

Get a Sapphire card (Reserve if you travel a lot)
Stack Freedom cards for bonus categories
Transfer to Hyatt for hotels
Transfer to Virgin Atlantic, United, or Flying Blue for flights
Never cash out at 1¢

Chase UR is the foundation of any points strategy. Master it.

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Questions? Drop them in the comments and I’ll help you optimize your setup.