Chase Ultimate Rewards®: How our program works
Chase Ultimate Rewards® is a credit card rewards program offered by Chase that helps turn your everyday purchases into exciting rewards. As a cardmember, you have the opportunity to earn rewards points while you shop, dine or travel.
One of the most valuable parts of the program is the built-in flexibility that allows you to earn rewards, then easily redeem or transfer them when you’re ready.
In this article, we’ll dive into how this program works, how to earn and maximize your rewards points and also how to redeem them.
How does Chase Ultimate Rewards work?
Chase Ultimate Rewards are rewards points that many Chase credit cards offer cardmembers. These rewards points are earned by using an eligible card for your everyday spending or travel purchases.
All Chase credit cards allow you to redeem those points for cash back, travel, gift cards and Amazon or Apple purchases. In some cases, you may even be able to redeem your points for special experiences or access exclusive events.
Many people enjoy using their points to help pay for travel. There are two ways to do this:
- Book your travel through the Chase Travel Portal and use your points toward the purchase.
- Transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to an airline or hotel that has a partnership with Chase.
How to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points
To earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points, simply use an eligible Chase credit card for your everyday spending. If the card has a sign-up bonus offer, you can earn it by meeting certain spending requirements within a specified amount of time after first opening your account. In addition, you can earn points by taking advantage of categories that may offer higher points per dollar spent (such as gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, streaming services and more).
How much are Chase Ultimate Rewards points worth?
The value of your Chase Ultimate rewards points will differ depending on the credit card that you have and the category that you’re redeeming in. In general, points are worth more when redeemed for travel or transferred to Chase’s partners.
For example, if you have a Sapphire Reserve® card and you use your points to book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, your points are worth 1.5 cents per point instead of 1. If you have a Sapphire Preferred® card, you can redeem for travel at 1.25 cents per point.
If you’re interested in cash back, each point is worth 1 cent.
How much are 10,000 Chase rewards points worth?
In most cases, 10,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points are typically worth $100 that you can then use to purchase gift cards, make purchases on Amazon or receive as cash back on your statement. However, as stated above, if you’re a Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmember (or other eligible cardmember) and choose to use your rewards points for travel, your points may be worth more. In this case, if you book your travel through Chase, your points are worth 1.5x the cash back redemption value and therefore those 10,000 points are worth $150.
How much are 100,000 Chase rewards points worth?
The math is the same as above, so 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points are typically worth at least $1,000. They could be worth more depending on the card you use and if you book through Chase’s online travel portal.
How to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points
There are four main ways to redeem your Ultimate Rewards points.
Book travel: Instead of booking your travel plans directly with an airline, hotel or rental car, you can use the Chase Travel Portal to book these reservations. You can use your Ultimate Rewards points to pay for all or part of the purchase. Or, if you purchase your travel using an eligible Chase credit card, you can earn 5x the rewards on airfare.
Transfer points to a partner: If you have a Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred credit card, you have the ability to transfer your rewards points (in 1,000 point increments) to Chase’s travel partners and use those points toward the purchase of travel. Simply log onto the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and choose the “Transfer to Travel Partners” section. There, you can choose from among the list of airline and hotel travel partners.
Redeem for cash back: The Ultimate Rewards portal makes it easy to redeem your rewards points for cash back. You can choose to receive this as a statement credit or have it deposited into your bank account.
Redeem for gift cards: Similar to booking travel, you can redeem your rewards points to purchase gift cards through the Ultimate Rewards portal. The point value is 1 cent for gift cards, though sometimes Chase offers discounts on certain gift cards throughout the year, which means the value per point increases and your rewards go a bit further. You can find out which gift cards are discounted by navigating to the gift card section of the Ultimate Rewards portal.
Chase credit cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase offers several credit cards that are eligible to earn Ultimate Rewards points, each with their own unique features and benefits. Here are just a few to consider:
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Earn a welcome bonus after you spend a minimum amount within the first three months of opening the card
- Receive an annual travel credit of up to $300 each anniversary year
- Earn 10x points on Chase Dining purchases with Ultimate Rewards
- Earn 10x points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually
- Earn 5x total points on flights when you purchase travel through Chase Travel after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually
- Earn 3x points on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- Earn 3x points on other travel not purchased through Chase
Chase Sapphire Preferred®
- Earn a welcome bonus after you spend a minimum amount within the first three months of opening the card
- Earn 5x points on travel purchases through Chase Travel
- Earn 3x points on dining and eligible delivery services
- Earn 3x points on select streaming services
- Earn 2x points on other travel purchases
- Earn 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases
Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- Earn a welcome bonus after you spend a minimum amount within the first three months of opening the card
- Low annual fee
- 5% cash back on travel purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
- 3% cash back on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- 3% cash back on drugstore purchases
- Earn 1.5% cash back on all other purchases
- Cash back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open
Chase Freedom Flex®
Though similar to Freedom Unlimited, the Chase Freedom Flex credit card has one key difference – it has rotating bonus categories that you activate each quarter to earn bonus rewards. Once you activate the categories, you’ll earn 5% cash back on those specific spending categories, up to the spend cap, and they change every three months. This enables you to maximize cash back in different areas throughout the year. This list of features include:
- Low annual fee
- 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories like gas stations, grocery stores and select online merchants, each quarter you activate
- 5% cash back on travel purchases through Chase Travel
- 3% cash back on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- 3% cash back on drugstore purchases
- 1% cash back on all other purchases
Do Chase Ultimate Rewards points expire?
Chase Ultimate Rewards points do not expire as long as your credit card account remains open and in good standing. If you choose to close your account, you may lose any unredeemed points. It’s always a good idea to read your credit card’s terms and conditions carefully.
The bottom line
Chase Ultimate Rewards stands out as a flexible and adaptable rewards system that provides numerous avenues for accruing and utilizing rewards points. It offers many options for accumulating rewards points as well as a versatile platform for redeeming them.
