by Daniel | Last Updated April 5th, 2024
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So I think that Chase Points are probably one of the best credit card points you can earn.
Not only because they are easy to redeem but because they can potentially provide you with a massive amount of value.
Now because there are quite a lot of different options when it comes to redeeming Chase Points, it can be a bit confusing as to where you can find most value.
And this can quite often result in you redeeming your points for low value rewards.
So in this article I’m going to walk you through a complete guide as to where you can redeem your points, and how you can find the most value possible out of your Chase points.
This will include what you should avoid when redeeming your points, and It will also include a few step by step examples of how you can find some unbelievable value by transferring your points to some of the travel partners.
Different Ways to Redeem Points
So lets take a look at my account here, now once I’ve logged in to my account you will see here on the top right hand side it says ‘Rewards’
If I click here it will then bring me through to the Chase Ultimate Rewards Page.
And here it shows you how many points I have available, and how many are pending.
Now to get a better overview of what these points are worth, simply just scroll down a bit to where it says ‘Discover ways to use points’ and then just to the right of this it says ‘More ways to use’
So click ‘More ways to use’ and this will bring you to a page that essentially shows you some of different ways you can use the points, and how much they are worth when redeemed through each specific category.
Now on a base level you really should be looking for a redemption value of at least 1 cent per points, anything less than this is really not very good value.
As I will show you later in this video it is possible to receive upwards of 18 cents per point when redeeming them through some of the travel partners.
This can result in you earning literally thousands of dollars worth of value from your points.
Now if I scroll down a little here it has the option to redeem my points for travel, and because I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you will see that my points are worth an extra 50% when redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, that means a value of 1.5 cents per point, and this is pretty good value.
Now if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or the Ink Business Preferred card, your points will be worth 1.25 cents per point when redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, and to be honest this is still pretty good value.
Pay With Points
So let’s scroll down here to where it says ‘Pay With Points’ and this is actually one of the worst ways to redeem your points.
As you can see my 93,203 points are worth just $745.62.
This means I am only receiving 0.8 cents per point, which in reality is not very good.
Now if you choose to use the ‘Pay with points’ options you can use your points through Amazon or PayPal.
But I really don’t think it’s worth using your points this way as it is literally the least value you can get from your points.
Cash Back
Now another way of redeeming your paints is for ‘Cash Back‘, and this is better value than using the’ Pay with points option’
Here you will see that my 93,203 points are worth $932.03, or 1 cent per point.
This can be received either as a statement credit, or you can have the money deposited directly in to your bank account.
Now if you really need the money, or you have no desire to redeem your points at a much high valuation on travel related options, getting Cash Back does provide a bit of value.
Shop With Apple
So another way to yuse your points is to ‘Shop with Apple’ and as you can see here it provides the same 1 cent per point, as my 93,203 points are worth $932.03.
Now Apple does offer special deals occasionally, just last month they were running a promotion that provided you with 20% off all Beats products and AirPods.
And this is something that happens from time to time where you can actually receive an elevated valuation on your points when using your points through the Shop with Apple option.
So if I was to order the AirPods last month, you will see that I could have get them for 10,320 points instead of 12,900 points.
This means I would have been receiving a points value of 1.25 cents per point, which is pretty good value.
So if you have some spare points and aren’t sure how to use them, it’s always worth browsing through the ‘Shop with Apple‘ section as you may well find some pretty good deals.
Gift Cards
Now another way to redeem your points is via the ‘Gift Cards’ section.
And just like the ‘Cash back’ options and the ‘Shop with Apple’ option, you will receive a valuation of 1 cent per point.
So there are a ton of different gift card options to choose from, and if I click through to the Gift card section here you will see right at the top of the page there is whole range of gift cards on sale.
Basically they are offering 10% off, which means you will receive a points value 0.11 cents per point.
So it’s not quite a good as what you can receive from the ‘Shop with Apple’ specials, but it is ok.
Experiences
Now there is the ability to redeem your points for what Chase refers to as ‘Experiences’ and here you can choose between a variety of different events that include music festivals, sporting events and culinary experiences.
And whilst this sounds like a nice thing to take part in, it only offers a value of 1 cent per point, which is not terrible, but there is a lot more value to be had with some of the other points redemptions options I am about to talk about.
Chase Dining
Now at the time of making this video it is actually possible to receive a points valuation of 1.5 cents per point with the Chase Sapphire Reserve card through the ‘Chase Dining’ redemption portal.
And this is a reasonably decent points valuation, especially if you enjoy eating out and experiencing new restaurants.
As you can see here in the ‘Chase Dining‘ section, it is possible to book and pre-pay for a table at a restaurant in NYC called ‘Resident’.
And for what usually costs $195 per person, you can use just 13,000 points to cover this cost, which is the equivalent of 1.5 cents per point.
Pay Yourself Back
Now for the ‘Pay Yourself Back‘ section here it shows that it is possible to receive 1.5 cents per point in valuation, but this is slightly misleading.
If I click through to the landing page for the ‘Pay Yourself Back’ section, you will see at the top of the page that there are. ‘Current Promotions’ that offer anywhere from 25% – 50% more value.
But if I scroll down to some of the past transaction I have made, it generally only offers a valuation of 1 cent per point.
So whilst it is possible to receive up to 1.5 cents per point, it’s not the norm for most redemption options in this section.
Travel
Ok so now let’s move on the ‘Travel’ points redemption option.
And here you will see that if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card your points will be worth 1.5 cents per point, and this is because you essentially receive an additional 50% boost to your points when you use them through Chase Travel.
So that means that if you redeem 100,000 points, you will receive $1,500 in value.
And if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or the Ink Business Preferred card, you will receive an additional 25% boost to your points when used through Chase Travel.
So your points will be worth 1.25 cents per point, this means that 100,000 points would be worth $1,250 in value.
Now no matter which card you you are using, all three of these options present pretty good value, and to be honest I used to use my points to book flights and hotels through Chase Travel until I realized I could get a lot more value from my points.
But if you do ever decided to use this method to redeem your points you should always compare prices from within the Chase Travel Portal to the actual airline, hotel or travel websites, as there is sometimes a price discrepancy, meaning that Chase may actually be charging more for the same booking.
And if this is the case, you wont be receive the expected 1.5 cents per point valuation from the Reserve card or the 1.25 cents per points from the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or the Ink Business Preferred card.
This why I really don’t use this as means of points redemption any more, as It really doesn’t offer enough value (in my opinion).
As I will show you in the next section, it is possible to receive way more value from your points just by taking a few extra steps.
Transfer To Travel Partners
Ok so now we have to come to the part of the video where I’ll show you the best and most valuable way to redeem Chase Points, and this is by using the ‘Transfer To Travel Partners’ option.
As I just showed you earlier in the video, it is possible to earn any where from 0.8 cents per point up to 1.5 cents per point through Chase depending on which category you use.
But by using the ‘Transfer To Travel Partners’ option, you will see in some of the examples that I’m about to show you that it is quite easy to receive anywhere from 2 – 3 cents per point, all the way up to 18 cents per point.
Things To Know First
Now there are a few things to keep in minds before I go through some of the different hotel and flight examples.
First of all, you should only ever transfer your points to one of the travel partners once you have found an available booking that you know you will be able to use.
And this is because once you have transferred your points from Chase to one of the travel partners, you will not be able to transfer them back to Chase.
So always keep your points in your Chase account until you now you have found the exact booking you want.
The second thing to keep in mind is to take the time to check and see if any of the travel partners are running a promotion through the Chase Travel Portal.
It is pretty common for there to be a few special deals with specific travel partners where you can receive additional value.
And this can really add a ton of value to your points.
At the time of writing this article, you can see here that ‘Flying Blue’ is actually offering a 25% bonus when you transfer points to their program.
And just incase you didn’t know, Flying Blue is essentially a loyalty program for both Air France and KLM.
Now if you transfer your points to Flying Blue, you can then use those points with over 30 different airline partners, and a whole range of different hotels.
So this in itself automatically opens up a whole range of different options to choose from, if and when you decide to travel.
First Example of Redeeming Chase Points – Flight
Ok so let’s start with the first example of redeeming Chase Points, and I’ll begin with a finding flight.
Now, generally speaking if you book an economy flight, you wont receive as much value for your points compared to booking a Business or First Class flight.
But either way, you will still receive a resonable amount of value for your points.
Now finding a flight that actually provides you with decent amount of value can take some time.
You could go and manually search through all of the partners airlines that are affiliated with Chase, or you can use a really helpful website called ‘Seats.aero’ where you can search a large range of some of the best deals that are currently available.
Now if you are looking for a flight that leaves within 90 days, it is totally free to use seats.aero.
However, if you want to look further out than this, say 6 months in advance, you are going to need to sign up for a Pro account, and this costs $9.99 a month.
Personally I really like this website and think that it is fantastic value, especially if you are looking to find the best reward flights.
So as an example, if click here in Seats.areo where it says ‘Explore’ and then select Air France/ KLM (and as you will see, it actually shows you which credit cards can transfer points to their program), so there is Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase and Citi.
Now once I have selected this it will automatically show flights from North American to anywhere, and this can be changed, but for now I’ll leave it like this.
Next, I’ll click here on ‘Departs’ and organize airports Alphabetically, then I’ll click on Economy to bring up the most valuable points transfer options in economy.
Now I’ll just scroll down and go to the second page, and you will see there is a flight from Atlanta to Paris for just 15,000 points.
So to see the flight details, I’ll just click on the little Information tab here on the right hand side of the screen.
This will bring up all of the flight options, so we have a flight here at 20.05 pm from Atlanta- CDG (Paris) – and it is a direct flight that takes 8 hour and 20 mins.
And as you can see here it will require just 15,000 points plus an additional $64.09.
Now if I go into the Air France website this flight would cost $1,328 if I were to pay upfront.
And if I search for the same flight through the Chase travel portal it will cost $1,351 or 90,020 points.
Thats a points value of just 1.5 cents per point.
Now, as I mentioned before ‘Flying Blue’ is actually offering a 25% bonus when you transfer points to their program.
So you will only need 11,250 points to make this booking.
This means you are receiving a points value of just over 11 cents per point, (including the $64.09 fee) which is an amazing deal.
How To Transfer Points To Flying Blue
Now to transfer your Chase points over to ‘Flying Blue’ simply log in to your Chase account, and then click on the top right hand side of the screen where it says ‘Rewards’
Then on the next page at the top you will see it says ‘Travel’ – click here and a drop down menu will open that will give you the option to ‘transfer points to partners’, so click that option.
Then on the next page you will see all of the travel partners, and right a the top is the current Bonus offer from Flying Blue, so click on that.
On the next page you will that there is blue button at the bottom of the screen that says ‘Transfer Points’, so click this.
And then on the next page you just need to confirm your Flying Blue details.
Then after this you will be asked how many points you want to transfer.
Second Example of Redeeming Chase Points – Hotel
Ok so now let’s take a look at redeeming points for a hotel stay.
And you will see that in the Chase travel portal that there are 3 hotels to transfer to:
- IHG Rewards Club
- Marriott Bonvoy
- World of Hyatt
Now I generally only transfer my points to the world of Hyatt as they usually present the most value.
So as I travel to London a couple of times a year, let’s take a look and see how many points it will cost to stay there.
First of all I’ll just log in to the World Of Hyatt website and then search hotels in London for April 16th-17th.
Just make sure to click the little box here where its says ‘Use Points’
Now here is a pretty good deal at the Andaz London Liverpool Street.
So I’ll just here where either says ‘View Rates’
And it actually says that this hotel is not accepting World of Hyatt Points at this time.
So just come up here to where it says ‘Points Calendar’ and click.
This will bring up a new page that shows you when this hotel is actually accepting World Of Hyatt Points.
And there are quite a few dates that aren’t accepting points, but there are a few, so lets click here on April 18th -19th and then click down here where it says ‘Check Availability”
And it now shows that I can book a room for 21,000 points.
So to see the actual cash price, just click the little toggle that says ‘use points’ and it will show you that it would cost $598 per night if you were to pay cash.
This works out to be just over 2.8 cents per point, which is pretty good.
That works out to be just over 2.8 cents per point, which is pretty good.
Now if I were to book the same room through the Chase Travel Portal it would cost slightly more, coming in at $606.
But if I were to use my points it would require 40,367 points, this almost twice as many points than what The World Of Hyatt is asking
Last Example of a Business Class Flight
So let’s go through one last example where I find a Business class flight.
Now I’ll use Seats.aero again as it makes it a lot easier to find good deals.
And I’ll just search flights through Air France and KLM, as it is possible to transfer points to ‘Flying Blue’ at the moment and receive a 25% bonus.
So again, I’ll just click ‘Explore’ scroll down to Air France/ KLM and click here.
Then I’ll click the ‘Business’ button here to organize business class seats in order from cheapest to most expensive.
I’ll click through the to second page and then scroll down a little and you will see here, there is a business class flight on April 28th for 50,000 points.
So I’ll click the little ‘Information’ tab of the right hand side of the screen here, and a new window will pop up, so I’ll just select Business, and you will there is a business class seat on a flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam for 50,000 points plus an additional $204.40.
Now, if I look up this exact flight on Air France, you will see that the it will cost $7,178.
So as I mentioned, it is possible to reactive a 25% bonus when transferring points to ‘Flying Blue’
This means I will only need to transfer 37,500 Chase points to book this flight.
So basically, I am getting just over 18.5 cents per point (including the $204.40 fee), which is just insane value!
Now if I try to make the same booking through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you will see that it costs slightly more at $7,201, and if I want to use Chase points, it will require 93,203 points.
Thats more than double the points required for the same booking that can be made through ‘Flying Blue’.
Final Thoughts
So as you can see, it is relatively easy to get a lot more value from your Chase Points simply by transferring them to one of the travel partners.
Obviously, it does take a bit of effort to find some of these good deals, but if you spend a bit more time learning how to find these deals, you will become more efficient, and eventually get a lot more value out of your Chase Points.
Now if you would like to learn all about Priority Pass and getting access to airport lounges, make sure to read this article here.