Chase Ultimate Rewards Promotions and the Credit Cards to Take Advantage of Them
In a previous post, “Why I Love Chase Ultimate Rewards Points and You Should Too,” I discussed the Ultimate Rewards program and all the significant benefits it offers.
Want to use your Ultimate Rewards points to transfer to Travel Partners and travel for free? Check.
Want to use UR points to offset, or pay entirely, your travel costs for travel booked via the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal? Check.
Want to use your Ultimate Rewards points as cash back? Check.
The Chase Ultimate Rewards program offers a number of ways to make your credit card spend benefit you.
But, to take advantage, you must have at least one Ultimate Rewards earning credit card in your wallet.
Below is a listing of the Ultimate Rewards earning credit cards Chase currently offers.
Chase Ultimate Rewards Earning Credit Cards
Personal
- Sign-up Bonus: 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. An extra 5,000 points for adding an authorized user. Sign-up bonus alone is worth $500 cash back or $650 when used toward travel via the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal. Of course, could be worth even more if strategically transferred to travel partners.
- Bonus Categories: Get 2x points on travel and dining purchases. One point for all other purchases.
- Annual Fee: No annual fee the first year, $95 per year thereafter
*Premium Ultimate Rewards Credit Card (UR points can be transferred to travel partners)
Get more details and apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card (We will receive UR points for approved applications made via this link)
- Sign-up Bonus: 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. Sign-up bonus worth $500 cash back or $750 when used toward travel via the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal (the Reserve gets 1.5 cents per dollar rather than the 1.25 cents per dollar for the Preferred when redeemed via the UR Travel Portal)
- Bonus Categories: Get 3x points on travel and dining purchases. One point on all other purchases.
- Annual Fee: $450 (authorized user cards $75/year) Read our review by clicking the card’s name above to see what you get for the increased annual fee.
*Premium Ultimate Rewards Credit Card (UR points can be transferred to travel partners)
Get more details and apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card
- Sign-up Bonus: 15,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $500 in the first 3 months. Sign-up bonus worth $150 cash back or $150 when used toward travel via the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal. The Freedom card is considered a cash back earning credit card, however, the cash back is earned as Ultimate Rewards points. Those UR points can be used to book travel via the Travel Portal at 1 cent per dollar.
- Bonus Categories: Earn 5% cash back (5x UR points per dollar spent) on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in rotating bonus categories each quarter and unlimited 1% cash back ( 1 point) on all other purchases.
- Annual Fee: No annual fee
Get more details and apply for the Chase Freedom credit card (We will receive UR points for approved applications made via this link)
Chase Freedom Unlimited
- Sign-up Bonus: 15,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $500 in the first 3 months. Sign-up bonus worth $150 cash back or $150 when used toward travel via the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal. The Freedom Unlimited card is considered a cash back earning credit card, however, the cash back is earned as Ultimate Rewards points. Those UR points can be used to book travel via the Travel Portal at 1 cent per dollar.
- Bonus Categories: No bonus categories, per se. Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back (1.5 UR points per dollar spent) on every purchase.
- Annual Fee: No annual fee
Get more details and apply for the Chase Freedom Unlimited
The Chase Sapphire credit card is another, personal, Ultimate Rewards earning card, but it hasn’t been available for application for many years. If you are a Sapphire cardholder, you can take advantage of many of the UR earning promotions that Chase offers.
Business
Here are two business credit cards that Chase offers that also earn Ultimate Rewards points.
Ultimate Rewards earning business credit cards are a nice way to increase your UR points earning, both via sign-up bonuses and ongoing spend.
And, you don’t have to have a large corporation to be eligible for a business credit card. If you sell things on eBay, have a small side business such as pet sitting, craft selling, freelance writing, etc., you would be eligible to apply. Just know Chase is somewhat selective when approving business applications. You’ll likely not be automatically approved when you apply online, and will have to call in to talk with a customer service rep who will ask what your business is, how long you’ve been in business, what you gross/net earnings have been and are anticipated to be, etc.
Don’t let the “call” scare you off if you have a legit business, though. Even startups with no income/history have been approved for business credit cards.
Ink Business Preferred
- Sign-up Bonus: 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. Sign-up bonus worth $800 cash back or $1,000 when used toward travel via the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal.
- Bonus Categories: 3x points per dollar spent on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, and on advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines. One point per dollar on all other purchases. Bonus points are on purchases up to $150,000 each account anniversary year.
- Annual Fee: $95
*Premium Ultimate Rewards Credit Card (UR points can be transferred to travel partners)
Get more details and apply for the Ink Business Preferred
Ink Business Cash
- Sign-up Bonus: 30,000 Ultimate Reward points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. Sign-up bonus worth $300 cash back or $300 towards travel in the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal.
- Bonus Categories: 5% cash back (5x UR points per dollar spent) at office supply stores, and on Internet, cable and phone services. 2% cash back (2x UR points per dollar spent) at gas stations and restaurants. One point per dollar on all other purchases. Bonuses earned on up to $25,000 in cumulative purchases each account anniversary year.
- Annual Fee: No annual fee
Get more details and apply for the Ink Business Cash credit card
As mentioned in the earlier Ultimate Rewards post, only Premium Ultimate Rewards earning credit cards can directly transfer UR points to Travel Partners. Premium Ultimate Rewards earning cards are noted in the descriptions above.
Non-premium cards can transfer their points (or cash back as it’s sometimes referred) to a Premium UR card’s account and then on to a Travel Partner.
Credit card sign-up bonuses and an individual card’s bonus categories are a great way to build your Ultimate Rewards points balance.
Better yet, occasionally, Chase will offer increased UR bonuses on spend at specific merchants and/or via its Chase Pay mobile wallet system.
Here are a few deals Chase has offered in the past, and a couple you can still take advantage of if you currently hold an Ultimate Rewards earning credit card.
Recent and Current Ultimate Rewards Earning Promotions
Back in August, Chase gave 10x UR points per dollar spent when you used Chase Pay to checkout at Walmart.com. The 10x bonus was on up to $250 in spend, which meant you could earn up to 2,500 UR points just by maxing out this promotion. No plans on spending that much at Walmart.com? We told you how to earn the full bonus, even if you’re not a fan of shopping at Walmart.
And, more recently, Chase offered the 10x earning on Walmart.com and Best Buy purchases.
We, again, wrote about the Walmart.com promotion, and how to take full advantage. Unfortunately, that promotion ended last week.
However, the Best Buy 10x Ultimate Rewards earning promotion is still live. You can read our Best Buy/10x Ultimate Rewards post here and learn how to max it out. You’ll have to hurry, though, and likely experience some holiday shopping frustration, since the promo ends December 24, 2017, and is good on in-store purchases using the Chase Pay app to checkout only.
Since it is the holiday season, Chase has been extra generous in offering another promotion which gives you a straight 2,000 Ultimate Rewards points for a purchase of only $20 or more at eBags.com. Click here to read our post and suggestions on how to get the bonus points even if you don’t need luggage. This promotion runs through December 31, 2017, so you have a bit more time to take advantage.
And that’s not even mentioning the significant earning opportunities the Chase Freedom credit card is offering for the 1st quarter of 2018!
As you can see, Chase is making it simple to add huge chunks of UR points to your account. Points that can be used as cash back, or to transfer to travel partner for valuable travel redemptions.
Another nice aspect of these promotions is that ALL personal Ultimate Rewards earning credit cards were/are eligible to earn these bonuses. Unfortunately, Chase UR earning business credit cards have so far been excluded from these extra earning promotions. But, if you happen to hold multiple personal UR earning credit cards, you could double your UR earnings on the above promos.
Wrap Up
The Chase Ultimate Rewards program offers a number of ways to make your credit card spend benefit you.
Whether it’s through free travel or cash back, the UR program is a great way to keep more of your own money for doing nothing more than using an Ultimate Rewards earning credit card for your every day spend.
What’s your favorite way to use Ultimate Rewards points?
