The Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal – Another Avenue for Free Travel
Regular readers know I’m a huge fan of the Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) program.
Ultimate Rewards earning credit cards offer significant sign-up bonuses, as well as lucrative bonus categories (dining, travel, groceries, drug stores, etc.) for your every day spending depending on the card being used.
And once you’ve accumulated a stash of Ultimate Rewards points, you can transfer them to a number of travel partners at a 1:1 rate.
For example, 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points can become 50,000 United Airlines miles, or 50,000 Southwest Airlines points, or 50,000 Hyatt hotel points, to name just a few.
But, sometimes overlooked is the option to use Ultimate Rewards points on their own to book travel on any airline or for any hotel room or any car rental you may want, without the restriction of transferring those points to an Ultimate Rewards travel partner.
The Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal
The Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal acts similarly to other online travel booking sites such as Expedia or Kayak.
Simply select which travel option(s) you want to search/book – airfare, hotel, car rental and even activities – and you’ll be presented with availability for your selected itinerary.
The difference from those other travel booking sites, though, is that while you can book your travel paying with cash (credit card) you can also use Ultimate Rewards points to offset some, or all, of the final cost.
Using Ultimate Rewards Points to Purchase Travel
Depending on the Chase Ultimate Rewards earning credit card you hold, your Ultimate Rewards points are worth different amounts when redeemed for travel via the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal.
Below are examples of how much UR points are worth when redeemed for travel on the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal, and which Chase credit cards are associated with each level.
1 Ultimate Rewards point = 1 cent / 50,000 UR points = $500
- Freedom
- Freedom Unlimited
- Ink Cash (Business card)
1 Ultimate Rewards point = 1.25 cents / 50,000 UR points = $625
- Sapphire Preferred
- Ink Business Preferred
1 Ultimate Rewards point = 1.5 cents / 50,000 UR points = $750
When logged into your account, you’ll automatically receive the corresponding Ultimate Rewards pricing when searching travel.
Here’s a pricing example for a hotel room search using different Ultimate Rewards earning cards.
Kimpton Hotel Monaco – Pittsburgh, July 14 – 15
Sapphire Preferred – $164.88 or 13,190 Ultimate Rewards points
Freedom – $164.88 or 16,488 Ultimate Rewards points
As you can see, pricing in dollars is the same, but with the premium UR earning Sapphire Preferred card, you’ll pay 3,298 Ultimate Rewards points less than if you held and used the Chase Freedom card.
And if the Sapphire Reserve card was held and used, its UR points price via the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal would be even less at 10,992 points for the one night stay.
So, if you hold multiple Ultimate Rewards earning credit cards, and you want to redeem your UR points for travel via the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal, you’ll always want to use your most premium level card (Sapphire Preferred, Ink Business Preferred or Sapphire Reserve) to do so.
Choose Your Price
As I mentioned, the nice thing about the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal is that you can use Ultimate Rewards points to pay for your travel purchase in full, or use a certain number of points to lower the price you pay.
Here’s an example of how UR points can be used when booking airfare.
Let’s say I want to fly from St. Louis to Orlando for a week’s vacation in August.
I’m using the Sapphire Preferred and its 1.25 cents per UR point for my airfare search.
The search returned 45 flights ranging in price from $226.96 or 18,156 Ultimate Rewards points for a roundtrip flight to $418.10 or 33,448 UR points roundtrip.
I chose the least expensive, legacy carrier option at $276.40.
Depending on the fare class, I should be able to earn redeemable miles and miles toward status for this flight…something I wouldn’t get using UR points transferred to an airline partner to book an award ticket.
Now, I can pay the $276.40 using a credit card, or I can use 22,112 UR points and pay nothing more.
Or, I can use any amount of UR points in between 1 and 22,112 to lower my out-of-pocket costs. In this example, I chose to use 12,000 UR points and pay $126.40.
It’s nice to have the option of picking exactly how much you want to spend.
And the option for using only Ultimate Rewards points or a combination of points and cash to pay for your travels applies to purchasing hotel nights, car rentals and activities, as well.
Caveats
Using Ultimate Rewards to pay for your travel expenses is usually only the best value when prices are low.
Once you get into the 25,000 – 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points range ($250+ airfare in the Ultimate Reward Travel Portal) it might be better to transfer those points to United where a saver level, roundtrip domestic economy fare runs 25,000 miles, or to Southwest. Of course, availability of those saver level fares – or low level Southwest awards – for your itinerary will be the deciding factor.
And if you’re looking at a business class or higher international airfare where prices run multiple thousands of dollars, you’ll definitely want to transfer points to a UR airline partner to get the best value from your redeemed UR points.
The same holds true for hotel rooms. Where 30,000 UR points transferred to Hyatt can get you a high-end room that can easily run $500+ per night, that same amount of UR points used via the Travel Portal will yield a bit less value.
And, being considered an online travel booking site, there are a few other considerations when booking travel via the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal.
Often, hotels will not recognize loyalty status – room upgrades, free breakfasts, etc. – on bookings made via third party sites. There have been some reports of status being recognized when hotels are booked via the UR Travel Portal, but there are many more where it has not. And you will likely not earn loyalty points on reservations, as well. Just something to consider if hotel status and points earning is important to you.
When booking airfare via the Travel Portal, be aware that the lowest fares are likely the new “Basic Economy” fare the major airlines have recently rolled out. Basic Economy fares come with various restrictions depending on the airline. Restrictions that may come as an unexpected and unwanted surprise, so become familiar with each airline’s Basic Economy fare restrictions before purchasing. And that applies to general airfare purchases, not only via the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal.
Wrap Up
The caveats aside, using the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal and your accumulated Ultimate Rewards points to offset travel expenses is just one more way to maximize your travel spend.
Maybe you just have to stay at a hotel that’s not an Ultimate Rewards transfer partner, or you want to save the few hundred dollars your car rental’s going to cost on your next excursion, or Delta or American have the best routing for your next vacation – well, the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal can make that all happen…and at a reduced price when UR points are used.
Options are the key to finding the absolute best deal for you. And whether it’s via an Ultimate Rewards transfer partner, or the UR Travel Portal, the Ultimate Rewards program gives travelers a large number of options for finding fantastic travel deals at the price you want.
