What to do with Chase Ultimate Reward Points

If you've followed our seires of one million points, we've already shared what we'd do with Capital One and American Express points. Now let's talk about the lucrative Chase Ultiamte Rewards points ecosystem. The time is in fact now ripe espeically with some great transfer bonuses offered by the program. 

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Flights

There are so many great options to use Chase points both domestically and internationally. Right now, here are some of our favorites!

Virgin Atlantic

This month, November 2024 Virgin Atlatnic switched to dynamic points pricing, which normally spells doom for lucrative points flights. However, if you are able to find off-peak flights, this can actually be a huge benefit. Take a look at an example flight to London in their business class product.  You could take 4 people (see second image) for only 190,000 points or 47,500 points per person. This flight normally runs for $2,000-$3,000. Furthermore, with many transfer bonuses from the major banks, you can get even more value. In fact, right now, Chase is promoting a 40% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic, meaning this flight for one person would only cost 4,300 Chase points to fly economy or 34,000 points to fly in business. 

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines generally has a fixed point of redemption, currently around 1.4cpp. While not as lucrative as the above international business class flight, it can be a handy way to get around places domestically. Also to note, JetBlue and United are also direct transfer partners for good value. Yes, you can transfer to domestic airlines' partners like Air France for Delta flights or British Airways for American Airlines flights, but transferring direct might allow for more flexibility. With points flights on Southwest Airlines you can even go to Hawaii and other places around the US for free (plus $5.60 for fees and taxes per person, one-way).

Singapore Airlines

We actually just helped a client with booking this flight, so why not share with all of you. Singapore Airlines is known for its luxury and service for its flights across the world. Chase transfers directly to Singapore so it can very handy to book their business or even first class product. Transfers are instant, so once you see it online, you can go and book. For the suites you'll likely need to be on top of booking a year out, with business class it's similar but potentially has more options over time. 

Hotels

If you've followed our points journey at all, you know we stay at Hyatts 99% of the time. They do have a great product, but the primary reason is the fact that they have the best redemptions out of any hotel and Chase and Bilt are the only programs that transfer to Hyatt. Take a look at some of these lucrative redemptions below or see our recap from 2023.