The complete guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards: How to earn, redeem and transfer points

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with the latest information.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points, a credit card rewards currency, give cardholders access to some of the best hotel and airline redemption transfer partners in the points and miles business. Plus, Chase Travel℠, the issuer’s easy-to-use travel portal, allows you to redeem your points for bookings like rental cars, hotels, flights, tours and activities.

Despite increasing competition from American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Capital One miles, Bilt Rewards and Wells Fargo Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards has maintained its place as one of the most valuable and useful transferable currencies.

Limited time offer: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card — highest-ever – Earn 100,000-point bonus after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening (see rates and fees).

If you’re ready to get serious about traveling more for less, here’s everything you need to know about how to earn, redeem and transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

What are Chase Ultimate Rewards points?

Ultimate Rewards points are the currency of select Chase-branded credit cards and a favorite credit card rewards currency here at TPG. You can earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points for everyday spending on certain cards and then redeem them for a wide range of rewards. TPG values Chase points at 2.05 cents apiece per our April 2025 valuations, largely because you can transfer these flexible points to various travel partners to maximize their redemption value.

Related: The ultimate guide to credit card application restrictions

How do I earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points?

There are many ways to earn these valuable points at rates of 1 to 10 points per dollar spent, depending on the Chase credit card you carry and the type of purchase. But it’s important to understand two types of Chase credit card rewards: Ultimate Rewards points and cash back.

The first three cards below earn fully transferable Ultimate Rewards points all by themselves, while the remaining four are technically billed as cash-back credit cards. However, if you have an Ultimate Rewards points-earning card, you can combine your Chase Ultimate Rewards in a single account, effectively converting your cash-back rewards into fully transferable points. For this reason, having more than one Chase card can make sense to maximize your earning and redeeming potential.

Here are the seven cards that allow you to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Welcome offer: You’ll earn 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. This is one of the best welcome offers we’ve ever seen on this card, to $2,050 based on our valuations.

Why you want it: The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a fantastic all-around travel credit card. Besides earning bonus points on travel (among other categories), it comes with no foreign transaction fees and many travel perks, including delayed baggage insurance, trip interruption/cancellation insurance and primary car rental insurance.

Annual fee: $95

Application link: Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (see rates and fees)

Chase Sapphire Reserve

Welcome offer: You’ll earn 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. That’s worth $1,230, according to our valuations.

Why you want it: Put simply, you want the Chase Sapphire Reserve® for its earning power and its travel perks that can easily cover the annual fee. These include an easy-to-use annual travel credit worth $300, a fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck (up to $120 once every four years) and Priority Pass Select lounge access, as well as entry to the growing list of new Sapphire lounges. 

Annual fee: $550

Application link: Chase Sapphire Reserve (see rates and fees)

Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

Welcome offer: You’ll earn 90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $8,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

Why you want it: The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is one of the best credit cards for small-business owners, offering bonus points on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping, internet, cable and phone services, and advertising made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year.

Annual fee: $95

Application link: Ink Business Preferred Credit Card (see rates and fees)

Ink Business Cash Credit Card

Welcome offer: Earn up to $750 cash back: $350 bonus cash back after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months from account opening.

Why you want it: The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card earns bonus cash back on categories like gas stations, restaurants, office supply stores and internet, cable and phone services. You can convert these earnings to Ultimate Rewards points if you have one of the three rewards cards mentioned above.

Annual fee: $0

Application link: Ink Business Cash Credit Card (see rates and fees) 

Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card

Welcome offer: Earn $750 bonus cash back after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

Why you want it: The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card earns unlimited 1.5% cash-back rewards on every purchase. These cash-back earnings can be converted to Chase Ultimate Rewards points if you have one of the points-earning cards listed above, meaning your small business can essentially earn 1.5 points per dollar spent on all charges made with this card.

Annual fee: $0

Application link: Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card (see rates and fees)

Chase Freedom Flex

Welcome bonus: Earn $200 cash back after you spend $500 in the first three months of account opening.

Why you want it: The Chase Freedom Flex® earns 5% cash back on select bonus categories that rotate every quarter (on up to $1,500 in combined spending; activation required). You can convert these rewards to valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points if you also have a points-earning credit card.

Annual fee: $0

Application link: Chase Freedom Flex (see rates and fees)

Chase Freedom Unlimited

Welcome offer: Earn $250 cash back after you spend $500 in the first three months of account opening.

Why you want it: The Chase Freedom Unlimited® earns at least 1.5% cash back on all purchases, making it a great choice for spending in nonbonus categories like pet expenses and home improvement. These earnings can be converted to valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points if you have one of the points-earning cards listed above.

Annual fee: $0

Application link: Chase Freedom Unlimited (see rates and fees)

Do Chase Ultimate Rewards points expire?

Chase Ultimate Rewards points do not expire, provided you keep at least one card that earns Ultimate Rewards points open. If you cancel all of your Ultimate Rewards cards, you must redeem or transfer your points before closing the last card. Otherwise, you will forfeit the points.

What are Chase Ultimate Rewards points worth?

TPG values Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 2.05 cents apiece per our April 2025 valuations. This is largely due to the array of valuable transfer partners like World of Hyatt and United MileagePlus, as these options give you plenty of flexibility in your redemptions, making Chase’s credit card rewards a great ecosystem for travelers.

However, you’ll get varying values for Chase points if you pursue other redemption opportunities. For example, Ultimate Rewards points are worth 1.5 cents apiece through Chase Travel for Sapphire Reserve cardholders and 1.25 cents for those with the Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred card. You’ll also have access to Chase Pay Yourself Back as a cardholder of any of the above cards, and there are occasionally offers to redeem Chase points for merchandise or gift cards at an enhanced value.

Finally, Chase points are worth 1 cent apiece if used for simple cash back.

How to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points

When redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you have three basic options:

• Fixed-value, nontravel redemptions (e.g., cash back, gift cards and Apple products)
• Fixed-value Chase Travel bookings
• Transfers to travel partners

The “best” option depends on your travel needs. Points are here to save you money, and you should use them as it suits you. That being said, you should aim for the highest value whenever possible. Here’s a look at your options for redeeming Chase credit card rewards.

Transfer to travel partners

Chase Ultimate Rewards offers 14 transfer partners, including 11 airlines and three hotel programs. All transfer ratios are 1:1 (though there are occasional transfer bonuses), and you must transfer points in 1,000-point increments. Because most transfers are instantaneous, you can keep your Chase points in your Ultimate Rewards account until you are ready to transfer them, which provides excellent flexibility.

Transferring Ultimate Rewards points to travel partners is often the most valuable way to redeem your hard-earned points. Our favorite sweet spots include:

• Top-tier Hyatt hotels: The World of Hyatt award chart is inexpensive compared to many competitors. You can book some of the most upscale Park Hyatt properties in the entire portfolio, including the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa and the Park Hyatt London River Thames, for 25,000 points per night during off-peak dates. Since these hotels routinely sell for close to $1,000, you can easily get at least 4 cents per point. There’s also great value at the lower end of the Hyatt award chart. Category 1 hotels range from 3,500 to 6,500 points per night, depending on peak, standard and off-peak pricing.
• Iberia flights to Madrid: Round-trip flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) to Spain’s capital will only set you back 34,000 Avios in off-peak blue-class economy, 50,000 points in off-peak premium economy or 68,000 points in off-peak business class when you transfer your Chase points to Club Iberia Plus (formerly known as Iberia Plus). Considering that most airlines charge at least 60,000 miles for a one-way business-class award to Europe, you’re essentially getting a 50% discount.
• Short-haul flights to Canada: Air Canada’s Aeroplan program now uses dynamic pricing for Air Canada flights and some partner airlines. As a result, you can often find super-cheap short-haul tickets from the U.S. to Canada. For example, a flight from JFK to Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ) can be booked for under 6,000 points one-way on many dates.

Related: 10 best ways to use 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points

Book via Chase Travel

You can book through the Chase Travel portal and redeem points for plane tickets, hotel stays, rental cars, cruises or experiences at a fixed cash value per point.

As a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred cardholder, you can redeem points through Chase Travel for 1.25 cents apiece. If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, your points are worth 1.5 cents each toward travel redemptions in the portal. If you have a Chase Freedom Flex, Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card, Ink Business Cash Credit Card or Chase Freedom Unlimited, all points are worth 1 cent each.

However, as noted previously, if you have multiple cards earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you can combine your points into the account with the highest value for Ultimate Rewards bookings. For example, your points earned with the Chase Freedom Flex can be moved to your Sapphire Reserve account, thus increasing their value from 1 to 1.5 cents apiece. This is a generous offer from a credit card program.

If you can find inexpensive airfare via Chase Travel, using your points for these flights can make sense to save cash. Plus, in the eyes of the airline, tickets booked this way are essentially the same as paid fares, meaning you’ll still earn airline miles and elite status credits.

In the case below, spending 2,973 Ultimate Rewards points from a Sapphire Reserve account to fly from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) isn’t too shabby.

You might also consider the travel portal option if you only have a handful of Ultimate Rewards points left since Chase lets you redeem points to cover even just a portion of the trip cost. You would then pay the remaining balance with cash.

Finally, this is a decent option for car rentals, nonchain lodging and when cash rates make spending points through transfer partners a bad value. The hotel options are quite varied, ranging from unique independent properties to chain hotels. Be aware that if you book a hotel that participates in a major loyalty program through Chase, you likely won’t earn hotel points or be able to take advantage of any elite status perks.

However, The Edit by Chase Travel now lets you earn hotel points and elite benefits at select properties. This allows you to double dip, earning rewards through the hotel program and bonus Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Plus, booking through The Edit gives you access to additional perks like complimentary breakfast, room upgrades, late checkout and an up to $100 property credit.

Enjoy fixed-value, nontravel redemptions

You can redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for a statement credit or bank deposit at a flat rate of 1 cent each, and this rate also applies to gift cards and Apple products (outside of a limited-time special).

However, with Chase Pay Yourself Back, you can redeem points for cash back at a rate of 1 to 1.5 cents each, depending on your card. This redemption rate is valid on statement credits toward rotating purchase categories. Be sure to check out our article on the current Chase Pay Yourself Back categories.

Finally, you can also link your eligible Chase cards to your Amazon account and pay for purchases with the Shop with Points program. However, you will only receive a value of around 0.8 cents per Ultimate Rewards point, so we don’t recommend this redemption.

You’ll generally get much better value out of Chase’s credit card rewards with the program’s transfer partners and Chase Travel bookings.

Bottom line

Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of our favorite credit card rewards programs at TPG. It allows you to earn bonus points on many everyday spending categories — like airfare, hotels, dining and groceries — and choose from a wide range of redemption options. For more inspiration, check out some of our favorite Chase Sapphire Preferred redemptions and top ways to redeem Chase points for hotel stays.

Don’t forget that the Chase Sapphire Preferred is offering the highest-ever welcome bonus of 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points when you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening, making now the perfect time to apply for this top travel rewards card.