Friday, February 2, 2024
Unveiling the Chase Ultimate Rewards: Why 23,363 Points in 2023 are Worth Celebrating
Thursday, April 30, 2020
What Are Chase Ultimate Reward Points And Why You Want Them
One of my favorite rewards programs is the Chase Ultimate Rewards. These are points you earn with a number of Chase credit cards including the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Preferred, FREEDOM, Ink and FREEDOM Unlimited. There are pros and cons of each card depending on your goals. You can read my past posts to research specific cards, but here I am going to focus on the rewards program as a whole.
Ultimate Rewards are just one of a few programs that are not tied to any one airline or hotel brand which means flexibility. You can transfer reward points at 1:1 to most airlines and hotels except Marriott Bonvoy which is 1:3:
Different airlines that include:
- Aer Lingus
- British Airways
- Jet Blue
- United
- KLM
- Southwest
- Air France
- Emirates
- Iberia,
- Singapore Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic.
Different hotels include:
- IHG
- Marriott
- Hyatt
Once you transfer to an airline or hotel, you can use these points to book on partner airlines or transfer to another program. For example, if you transfer Ultimate Reward points to Marriott Bonvoy, you can then transfer those same points to dozens of different airlines like American Airlines. Pretty awesome, right? And it gets even better because Marriott Bonvoy will give you a 5,000 mile bonus for the transfer.

What Are Chase Ultimate Reward Points And Why You Want Them
Another way to use the Ultimate Reward points are to book through the Chase travel portal. If you hold a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred credit card, you get better than 1:1. Sapphire Preferred credit cardholders get 1:1.25 value and Sapphire Reserve holders get 1:1.50. Let's check it out.
In the portal with the Sapphire Reserve, the Springhill Suites in Durham is listed at 13,155 points per night or $197.33. If you booked the same hotel straight from Marriott, it would cost you 20,000 points per night or $158.90 per night.
So if you pay with points, you get more bang for your buck by using the portal, but if you paid cash, you would be better off booking straight from Marriott. However, if you transferred Chase Ultimate Reward points to Marriott and then booked your room, you would really get a sweet deal.
Look at this:
Ultimate Rewards transfer to Marriott Bonvoy at 1:3 so you would only need approximately 6,750 Ultimate Rewards points to equal 20,000 Marriott points and boom, FREE night.
Flexibility is key to this program. You can earn Ultimate Reward points pretty quickly too as most purchases earn 1 point per dollar, but travel and dining earn more.
When things are uncertain in travel like right now, I like the idea that I can accumulate points in a flexible program and be ready when I can travel again.
Friday, May 22, 2026
Real Client Case Study: Building a Points Strategy from Scratch
Real Client Case Study: Building a Points Strategy from Scratch
Recently I sat down with a new client to audit her credit card setup and figure out how she could earn and redeem points more effectively. Here's exactly what we went through — and what we decided.
Her Starting Point ๐
- Cards she holds: Chase Sapphire Preferred, Delta Amex Gold, Wells Fargo no-annual-fee card
- Airlines she flies: Primarily Delta, but price-sensitive — so JetBlue, Frontier, and Spirit (RIP ✈️) make regular appearances
- Big recurring expenses: Rent and tuition (paid twice a year, but may incur a 3% credit card fee)
- Home airport: Salt Lake City (SLC)
She was using the Sapphire Preferred for almost everything and the Delta Amex only for Delta purchases. No specific trips on the horizon yet.
The Strategy: Go Deep on Chase Ultimate Rewards ๐ณ
Since she has no destination locked in, flexible points are her best friend right now. She already has a small stash of Chase Ultimate Rewards from her Sapphire Preferred, so we decided to build on that foundation rather than start somewhere new.
One big win here: Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer 1:1 to JetBlue — one of her go-to airlines. That's a genuinely useful transfer partner given her flying habits.
๐ก Quick tip: The Chase Sapphire Preferred includes a $50 annual hotel credit when you book through the Chase Travel Portal. With a $95 annual fee, that brings your real cost down to $45.
The New Card Conversation: Freedom Unlimited vs. Freedom Flex
Both are no-annual-fee Chase cards that funnel points into the same Ultimate Rewards bucket — meaning they work with her Sapphire Preferred, not separately from it. You can read about how to combine CUR points here.
- 1.5x points on all purchases (better baseline than the Sapphire Preferred)
- 3x on dining and drugstores
- Current offer: 20,000 points after $500 spend ๐
- Rotating 5x quarterly bonus categories (this quarter includes Amazon — easy way to stack up to 7,500 bonus points fast)
- 3x on dining and drugstores
- 1x on everything else
- Current offer: 20,000 points after $500 spend ๐
Both are worth considering — the right pick depends on whether she prefers a consistent flat rate or wants to actively track and maximize rotating categories.
We also talked about signing up for Rakuten and Bilt:
- Rakuten — shop through their portal and earn cash back or points on purchases you'd make anyway. Use a referral link to get $50 or 2,500 Bilt points after your first $50 purchase.
- Bilt — lets you transfer points to dozens of different airlines and hotels. You can also open a Bilt credit card to earn points on rent payments with no transaction fees, but it's a bit complicated so we decided to table this one for right now.
What About the Delta Amex? ๐ค
We discussed cancelling it. Here's the logic:
- $150 annual fee
- She rarely uses it
- It's not her oldest card, so the credit score impact would be minimal
Bottom line: keeping a card "just in case" when it costs $150/year and sits in a drawer isn't worth it.
Where Things Stand
She's in a solid position. By consolidating around Chase Ultimate Rewards, adding a no-annual-fee earning card, and plugging into Rakuten and Bilt, she'll be sitting on a healthy stash of flexible points whenever she's ready to book something. No trip needed yet — just a smart setup so the options are there when she wants them. ๐บ️
Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program.
Or you can book a consulting call with us for just $100. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable.
***In honor of every new paid client, we will make a donation of 10% to one of our favorite charities.
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
Yet Another Reason Why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards
Woohoo! That means by transferring CUR to Hyatt at 1:1 cuts the number of points needed in half and has a value of $740. Nice.
It's simple to transfer CUR points to dozens of airlines and hotel chains. When you log into your Chase.com account and click on redeem points

When I transferred to Hyatt, the points showed up immediately in my new Hyatt account and I could book the hotel in Evanston. Amazing!
Yet Another Reason Why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards
Right now, the Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card is offering a 100,000 CUR bonus with a $8,000 minimum spend. It's a hefty minimum spend, but usually it is set at $15,000 so you might say this minimum spend is a bargain. If you have a big expense coming up or can handle the minimum spend, this bonus can be worth thousands of dollars.
We are hearing this bonus may end September 23rd.
Thursday, January 11, 2024
Last Chance To Get The 90,000 Chase Ink Business Bonus
You can read about how I use Chase Ultimate Rewards points for almost FREE family travel here.
If you apply for any of the INK credit cards, please use my referral link so I can continue to help you travel for almost FREE.
If you want help walking through this process, register for my Travel Coaching Program or book me for a 1:1 coaching session.
Ends Jan. 18th
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
How I Booked Overwater Bungalows and Flights In Tahiti for $140
they decided on Tahiti. I was a bit surprised since my first thought was that’s where you honeymoon. But I was game. And they added, we would love to stay in those over the water bungalows. Makes sense!
So how do you get a family of 5 an almost FREE trip to Tahiti? It takes a lot of planning and time. I wanted to walk you through my process so you can see the strategy in action.
And I need to mention that if you are looking for help planning your next trip, I just launched the second cohort of my Travel Coaching Program. There are still a few spots open. And right now, I am donating 15% of all the proceeds to the Israel Emergency Fund.
But I'll share my process here so if you want to do it on your own, you can. Because my goal is that everyone can travel for almost FREE and enjoy those priceless experiences.
I start with research:
- Who flies to Tahiti
- Which islands should we visit
- What is there to do there
- Do we need a car
- Where will we stay
After doing the research, I decided for this trip:
- We should fly American Airlines - 70,000-80,000 miles per round trip
- We will visit Tahiti and Moorea - we can take a short ferry between these islands.
- We will need a car on both islands
- Besides the OWB, seems to be most cost effective for our family of 5 to stay in Airbnb
Now this is the way, we travel, but you might make different choices for your family. Now the fun part, earning all the points. For this trip, we will need approximately:
- 400,000 American Airlines miles for 5 r/t tickets
- 299,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points for 2 nights in an OWB bungalow and a garden room (we need two rooms for 5 people)
- Capital One points to erase the Airbnb, rental cars and tours
It sounds like a lot, but let’s break it down:
- Barclays American Aviator bonus offer 70,000 miles for $99 annual fee and one purchase - my partner and I each opened one of these
- Chase Ink Business Preferred bonus offer 100,000 Ultimate Rewards for a $95 annual fee and $8,000 minimum spend - my partner and I each opened one of these
- Several friends opened the Chase Ink Business Preferred using my referral link - bonus 40,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points for each one
- American Airlines Online Shopping portal
- Chase Ultimate Rewards Shopping portal
- Capital One points using my partners Capital One Venture X card and my new Capital One Venture X bonus.
So what did all of this get us:
- 240,000 American Airlines miles netted 3 round trip flights
- 128,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points netted 2 round trip flights
- 299,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points netted 2 nights in the OWB and 2 nights in the garden room
- 74,000 Capital One points netted 3.5 days in the Airbnb
So right now, I estimate the amount I saved using points and miles at approximately $11,000. Pretty good. I have spent $400 on annual fees and $340 on taxes, fees.
Between now and the actual trip, I will continue to earn Capital One points so I can erase the Airbnb, tours and rental cars.
And when I’m relaxing on the beach in Tahiti, I’ll enjoy it just a bit more because I didn’t spend an arm and a leg to have this dream vacation.
Thursday, November 25, 2021
How To Earn The Most Points and Miles on Black Friday and Cyber Monday
- if you need to top off an account
- you have points that are expiring and you need some activity
- you are trying to earn enough points for a specific trip
cashback monitor
Chase and use the Chase Reserve Credit Card
Friday, December 5, 2025
Stack, Stack, Stack To Earn The Most Points And Miles
- 1,000 bonus Southwest points
- 400 Southwest points
- 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards
- $50 referral cash
- 10% cash back
- 5,500 Bilt points that I can transfer the points to dozens of airlines or hotels
- $69.90 Capital One shopping rewards which I can use to buy gift cards for stores like Home Depot, Ulta and REI. Use this referral link and you get a FREE $40.
- 3,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points
Thursday, October 31, 2024
What Is A Transfer Bonus And How Can It Mean Big Savings For You

- Heathrow to LAX for just 9,000 Virgin points.
- Login to your Chase.com account
- Click on redeem points
- Hover over travel and click on transfer to travel partners
- Click on the partner you want to transfer points TO
- Enter your membership information
- Your name must match exactly!
- Enter the number of points you want to transfer (must be in increments of 1,000)
- Confirm
- The transfer should happen almost immediately
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
You Hit 100,000 Chase Points — Now What? ๐
Two clients in the last two days have told me they either earned their 100,000-point bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred, or they're super close. But the very next question is always the same: now what?
So let's talk next steps. What can you actually do with 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points? Here are your options. ๐
1. Book travel directly in the Chase Travel Portal ✈️
This one's easy — it works just like any third-party booking platform. It's a solid option for booking Alaska Airlines and American Airlines flights. I don't recommend booking Southwest this way, though — you'll usually find better value if you transfer your points to Southwest directly instead (more on that below). You can also book hotels this way. It's a great option for booking independent hotels.
Hot tip: ๐ Look for the little rocket icon that signifies a Points Boost — it means your Ultimate Rewards points are worth more than 1:1 for that booking.
2. Transfer your points to an airline partner and book directly
Chase currently partners with 10 airlines, and several of those airlines belong to larger alliances with other carriers, so your options open up even more from there.
One of my favorite transfer partners is Flying Blue, the loyalty program for KLM and Air France. Sometimes you can snag economy seats from the West Coast to Europe for as little as 18,750 points.
Another favorite is Iberia. I just booked a flight from San Francisco to Madrid for 20,000 points and $154. ๐ธ
Hot tip: ๐ Check both the Chase portal and the airline's own website before you transfer any points. Transfers are one-way — once your points move, you can't get them back.
3. Transfer your points to a hotel partner ๐จ
You can also transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to four hotel chains, including Hyatt. All of them transfer at 1:1 — except Hyatt, which is shifting to a 4:3 ratio on October 1st. So if you're eyeing a Hyatt reservation, now's the time to make the move.
Hot Tip: ๐There are usually bonus points offers every month where you get a percentage more value when you transfer your points.
4. Book rental cars, cruises, tours, and activities ๐
You can book all of these directly through the Chase Travel Portal too. Just always weigh the value of your points against paying cash — sometimes cash is the smarter call.
Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "LETSGO" to get $50 off the program.
Or you can pay a travel planning fee and we will find all the best points and miles deals for your trip!
Or you can book a consulting call with us for just $100. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable.
***In honor of every new paid client, we will make a donation of 10% to one of our favorite charities.








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