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. 

Get Bonus Hotel Points Next Time You Order Delivery

Yet another way to rack up some big bonus points right now. Wyndham is offering 3,000 bonus points if you use this link for your next order from the delivery service Doordash. 
Now through May 4, new DoorDash customers can get 3,000 Wyndham Rewards bonus points after placing your first eligible order. You can also earn 500 points for every eligible order you place in the U.S.
Wyndham changed its loyalty program last year to a tiered structure so hotels start at just 7,500 points. Plus if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred credit card and you link it to Doordash, you will get FREE delivery. 

Earn Bonus Miles By Donating To Charity

If you are considering making a donation to the American Red Cross, Team Rubicon, or Feeding America, you can earn 10x points on Southwest Airlines or 10x miles on American Airlines. The airlines are teaming up to raise money for certain charities helping victims or communities affected by the COVID-19. 

Earn Bonus Miles By Donating To Charity 

For Southwest Airlines, earn 10x points for every $1 donated to one of the charities listed above. The donation has to be at least $25 and made by May 31st 2020. The bonus points will count towards the Companion Pass. Southwest announced earlier this week that it will give all of its members 25,000 qualifying points towards the Companion Pass which means you only need 100,000 points to earn it. The Companion Pass is one of the most valuable travel perks out there. If you make a $100 donation to one of these charities, you earn 1000 points. The points should show up in your account in 45 days. Pretty sweet. 

For American Airlines, earn 10x miles for every $1 donated to the American Red Cross. Use this link to access the donation website. The donation has to be at least $25 and made by April 30th 2020. The bonus miles will show up in your account in about 45 days. 

It's a great win-win! 

How You Can Earn A Bonus 1,000 Marriott Points Fast

Want 1,000 Marriot Bonvoy points quickly? Marriott Bonvoy launched a dining program, Eat Around Town, back in October of last year, but right now, it is offering 1,000 bonus points to new sign-ups. The program works just like Southwest dining program

All you have to do is sign up for the program by April 30th, link a valid credit card to the account, choose a restaurant that belongs to the program and pay for your purchase with the same linked credit card. If you don't have a Marriott Bonvoy account yet, visit this sign up link and one will be created for you.

To get the bonus, you also have to make your first purchase of at least $30 within 30 days of signing up and write a review. 

That's not much work to get 1,000 bonus points. 

Plus Marriott Bonvoy members will earn 4 points per dollar spent, Elite members (Silver, Gold, Titanium, Platinum, and Ambassador) will earn 6 points per dollar spent. These points are in addition to points awarded by the dining program. 

You can even link your Sapphire Reserve or Preferred to use your FREE Doordash delivery. 

But if you link a Marriot co-branded credit card, you can triple dip on points. Marriott co-branded cards earn up to 6 points on dining depending on the card. 

So now that we are trying to support local restaurants and if you are tired of cooking 7 days a week, rack up those points and start planning your next vacation! 

How You And A Friend Can Each Get $30 FREE For Online Shopping

If you follow my blog at all, you know how much I love online shopping portals. These are just FREE money and yep, I love FREE money. You can check out my last post on how to rack up miles fast with online shopping. 

But did you know that besides racking up miles fast, you can also get cashback?

Yep, that's right. Think couponing meets the internet. Stop looking for discount codes and promo codes, just shop the right way and get rewarded. 

Starting April 20th, one of my favorite cash back shopping portals, Rakuten.com (formerly Ebates), is offering $30 to new customers and $30 to the person who referred the new customer. What a win-win! 

How do shopping portals work?

Here's a visual for you about how shopping portals work. I sent flowers to a friend last week for her birthday. Instead of clicking straight to a flower delivery website, I logged into my Rakuten.com account.  There are about 2,500 retailers associated with this marketplace so you should find what you are looking for from Target to Home Depot. I looked at all the flower delivery companies and chose one that offered 48% cashback, yep, you read that right. When I clicked on the link, Rakuten.com took me to the flower company website and I proceeded to make my purchase. Rakuten tracks my purchase and credits me back 48%. Wow! 

You do need to make sure you don't disrupt the tracking by clicking on other windows etc. 

It takes a few days or weeks to see the cashback and then every 3 months, Rakuten will send you a "big fat check." 

This new promotion is only good for two weeks, it ends on May 1st so tell lots of your friends. There is no limit on how many people you can refer. And if you are new to Rakuten, use our link to join and then share your referral link with your friends. 

Southwest Extends The Companion Pass Expiration and More

Woohoo! Great news, Southwest Airlines just announced that it is extending all Companion passes that were set to expire at the end of the year until June 2021 due to COVID-19. 

The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the best travel perks around. It is a buy one, get one FREE ticket on any Southwest flight for two years. To earn the pass, you have to collect 125,000 Southwest points. So this is a big deal! 

Southwest Extends The Companion Pass Expiration and More

Other benefits that Southwest announced today:

• Extending current A list and A list preferred status through June 2021
• All Southwest Reward members will receive 15,000 tier qualifying points 
• All Southwest Reward members will receive 10 flight credits towards A list or A list preferred status
• All Southwest Reward members will receive 25,000 Companion Pass qualifying points 
• All Southwest Reward members will receive 25 flight credits towards the Companion Pass

Great job, Southwest! 

Did you Find Your AA.com Shopping Portal Mystery Offer?

Great news! American Airlines launched a mystery bonus offer on its shopping portal today. Every member will get a bonus 500 miles when you spend $125 on qualified purchases between 4/14/20 and 4/20/20. 

To unlock your mystery bonus offer, log into your Advantage Shopping Account and click on the box on the right. When you do that, it will reveal your offer. Most members will receive 500 bonus miles, in fact, so far, I haven't heard of any other offers. 

If you don't know how shopping portals work, check out my previous post on how to rack up miles fast by shopping online. 

Why You Might Want To Cash In Some Points

Hopefully, you were able to get your points/miles refunded back into your account if your flights were canceled due to Covid-19. Or maybe you were about to book a trip and are now sitting on a pile of points/miles.

Most points/miles are only worth something if you use them to book a hotel room or flight with that particular company, but some points can be traded in for cashback.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are one of my favorites due to the flexibility to transfer them to a variety of hotels and airlines plus using them as currency in the travel portal.
But another benefit is that you can trade them in for cashback.
Right now, that could be more valuable than travel.

If you already have a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred, FREEDOM, FREEDOM Unlimited or Ink Business Preferred, you are earning Ultimate Reward Points on every purchase. Depending on the card and the category, you earn at different rates.
But you can trade them in at 1:1 just by logging into your Chase.com account and clicking on Ultimate Rewards. 

You will see your rewards balance and how much those points will net you in cash back. You can choose how many points you want to cash in, which could equal a nice chunk of change. Now, you can get better than 1:1 redemption if you use them to book flights, hotels and, car rentals through the travel portal or if you transfer them to an airline.
But if you need the cash or you don't see yourself traveling anytime soon, this might be a good idea.
If you don't have any points, but you are looking for cash. You could apply for one of these cards, spend the minimum, get the bonus and cash in the points. 
The Chase FREEDOM Unlimited has a bonus $500 cash back right now for new card holders, the Preferred is offering 60,000 bonus points and the Reserve is offering 50,000 bonus points. At 1:1, these bonuses are worth $500-$600 cash back. 
If you do not have one of these cards yet, please use my referral link and help support this blog.
If cash back and travel are not your thing right now, you can use the points to shop at the Apple store and other retailers, but this is not the best value.

How To Use Your FREE Door Dash Pass

If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred credit card, then you get a FREE Door Dash Pass as a perk. Since everyone is staying at home, this could be a huge savings for you. The Pass gives you FREE delivery from hundreds of restaurants if your order is more than $12. Plus if you have the Sapphire Reserve, you also get $60 credit in 2020 and another $60 credit in 2021. Who doesn't want $60 of FREE food right now?

So how do you access this benefit?

1. Create a Door Dash account

2. Enter you Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred credit card information in the payment section 

3. Pop up will ask if you would like to activate your pass

The pass is good for one year so mark the expiration date on your calendar. You will see a credit on your Chase account after you make your purchase. The $60 can be spread out over multiple transactions. If you use my referral link, you will get $15 off ($5 off each of your first 3 orders). 

Rack Up Miles Fast By Shopping Online

Hopefully, you are not running around to all the stores like we used to right now to find the items you need. Instead, you are discovering the joys of online shopping. You can peruse the aisles of the store from the comfort of your home and slippers. Use coupons. Just push the button and a few days later, your purchase arrives on your doorstep. Amazing! 

Rack Up Miles Fast By Shopping Online 

Now, in case you are new to online shopping or even if you are a seasoned internet shopper, there are some ways to maximize your savings. The most important is to use a shopping portal when you shop online. Why? You ask. Because you want to squeeze every last mile/point or cashback you could be getting with each purchase. It's like going to a store and not using a coupon. Yikes! 

One day, travel will go back to the way it was and you want to be ready with lots of points/miles. 

Let's run down the list of available shopping portals to choose from depending on your goals. A good habit is to check cashbackmonitor.com before you purchase online. You just enter a retailer and this website will show you which portals it is listed on and how much each one is offering in points/miles or cash back. There can be a huge variation between online portals so don't skip this step unless you are loyal to one airline. 

All the major airlines have online shopping portals; United, Southwest, American, Delta, and Jet Blue. Plus Wyndham Hotels and Chase Ultimate Rewards offer portals. And then there are the cashback portals from companies like Rakuten. If you use my referral link, you will get $10 FREE cash back on your first purchase. 

Rack Up Miles Fast By Shopping Online 

It's easy to use a portal. Login to the portal using your airline, hotel or regular information, then find the store you want to shop at and click shop now. You will be shown a cashback percentage or points/miles awarded per dollar spent and then be taken to the retailer website. Shop just like you normally would and the portal will keep track of how much you spend. It takes about 6-8 weeks for the points/miles or cash back to post to your account. You can even double dip and use a credit card that gives you miles/points or cashback too. 

Look for bonus points/miles offers from the portals as well. 

This a good way to top off an airline loyalty account or keep those points/miles from expiring.