The value from Chase points is almost as cool as this Ice Bar! 😉 Photo by: Evan Berman

So you have a Chase credit card. Or 5. You probably signed up because you highly value the earning rate. Today, I’d like to talk about how to get the most value out of your points.

Redemption Options

You have a few options for redeeming points, some of which are dependent on which card(s) you have. They are:

• Apple Products
• Cash Back
• Chase Dining
• Gift Cards
• Pay with Points
• Chase Travel Portal
• Transfer to Airlines and Hotels

They can be broken into 3 categories: don’t bother, possible options, and best choice.

Don’t Bother

I’d recommend never using your points for the following:

• Apple products
• Gift Cards
• Pay with Points

The redemption rates are all worse than 1 cent per point. If you care about these options, get a card that earns 2% cash back on every purchase (ex. Citi Double Cash) and you can purchase any of these products with that cash.

Possible Options

The following can be useful in the right circumstances:

• Chase Dining*
• Cash Back
• Chase Travel Portal*
• Pay Yourself Back

Cashback

Let’s start with the easiest option. If you redeem for cashback, you will get 1 cent per point, no matter which card or cards you have. For example, 30,000 points can be worth $300.

Chase Dining

Chase Dining is a niche redemption option but can be worthwhile if it applies to you. With the pandemic being more or less over, there have been more options of late. In big cities, such as Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, and San Francisco select restaurants will offer the ability to redeem points towards a meal. If you have a Sapphire Preferred, your points are worth 1.25 cents each while with a Sapphire Reserve, they are worth 1.5 cents each. If your bill is $250, you can pay with 20,000 points with the Preferred or 16,667 points with the Reserve.

The next (no pun intended!) Chase Dining opportunity is with 1-star Michelin restaurant Next in Chicago. Prices are $320 a piece (parties of 2 or 4 are allowed) or 21,333 points with the Reserve card. I should note that the restaurant is usually available for between $135 and $195 per person, This is a special event, but is it worth the use of those hard-earned points?

Chase Travel Portal

The Chase Travel Portal is a great option for those with the Sapphire Reserve Card in particular. Like with Chase Dining, those with the Sapphire Reserve can redeem points for 1.5 cents per piece and those with the Sapphire Preferred card can redeem at 1.25 cents a piece. I recently took advantage of this option to book expensive flights in South America by redeeming points at 1.5 cents per point through the Travel Portal.

Pay Yourself Back

Unfortunately this avenue recently became less valuable. Currently, if you hold the Sapphire Reserve card, you are eligible to redeem your points at 1.25 cents per point to cover purchases made in the following categories:

• Gas
• Groceries
• Annual fee
• Charities

For those with the Sapphire Preferred, you may redeem points for 1 cent apiece for purchases in the following categories:

• Gas
• Groceries
• Charities

If you’re looking to get a fixed redemption of points, you should use points in the travel portal or chase dining.

Best Choice

The consistently best option is to transfer points to travel partners. A forthcoming article will review these partners in more detail, but here they are again in groups.

Top Tier

• Air Canada Aeroplan
• World of Hyatt

Hyatt

World of Hyatt is the single best transfer partner that any US bank has access to, hotel or airline. Why is that?

1. They still publish an award chart and the prices are reasonable.
2. They frequently run promotions that reward you for staying.
3. Value is extremely easy to come by– no hunting to find a decent redemption, if you search almost any hotel, you’ll be amazed at the value.

I recently stayed in a Hyatt in Santiago for 2 nights and got over 2 cents per point in value. This is not a rarity by any means. Without Hyatt, Chase’s transfer partners are decent. With Hyatt, Chase points are arguable more valuable than AmEx, Capital One, or Citi.

Aeroplan

Aeroplan is affectionately known as the rewards program for points and miles travelers. Why? There are rules in place, but if you dive deep into them, you will find lots of opportunities to stretch the limits of the award chart and take a memorable trip. How would you like to visit 6 countries all in business class for 110,000 points? You can certainly do that. Aeroplan will get it’s own deep dive and I’ll share some of these tips for maximizing those points.

Great Option

• Virgin Atlantic

As I’ve detailed before, Virgin points are great for booking non-stop Delta domestic flights. On the opposite end, they offer terrific deals on business class Delta One awards to Europe (50,000 points per flight) and on business and first class flights flying ANA, known as one of the best and most luxurious experiences in the world. 45,000 points in business class and 55,000 points in first class each way from the West Coast to Japan and 47,500 points in business and 60,000 points in first class each way from the East Coast to Japan. That’s less than most carriers charge in economy!

Can Be Valuable

• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• British Airways Executive Club*
• Emirates Skywards
• Iberia Plus
• Singapore KrisFlyer
• United MileagePlus

Flying Blue

Flying Blue runs promos every month for discounted economy and business class fares. If you are flexible and know where to look, you can get great value on Air France/KLM as well as infrequently getting a decent deal on Virgin Atlantic or Delta flights.

BA

Avios are the common currency of Qatar, Iberia, Aer Lingus, and Vueling in addition to British Airways. BA can be useful for booking US domestic non-stop flights on American, low mileage but high cash surcharge redemptions on BA flights, and occasionally deals on other oneworld alliance member flights.

Emirates

Despite a recent increase in fuel surcharges and mileage required on many routes, if flying in Emirates First Class is on your list, this is the best way to make it happen.

Iberia

Iberia has cheap business class flights to Madrid from the East Coast.

Singapore

If you want to experience the longest flight in the world in business or first, booking via Singapore miles is the best way to go.

United

Most of y’all are probably familiar with United, but these miles can be great for domestic flights or international partner awards including Lufthansa First Class without fuel surcharges.

Fixed Value Points

• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards

Both of these partners fix the value of points to the cash ticket. As the price in cash increases, so too does the mileage required. As such, I do not recommend transferring unless you need extra points or are a very loyal flyer.

Don’t Transfer Unless You Have a Specific Use

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• IHG Rewards Club
• Marriott Bonvoy

Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus has recently devalued their award charts to far below what British Airways allows. Since they share a currency, just transfer to BA and if you need to use points for an Aer Lingus flight, do so later.

IHG

IHG can sometimes offer decent value. That being said, you can buy points for 0.5 cents a piece quite frequently. If you need IHG points, cash out Chase points and wait for a sale to effectively get a 1:2 transfer.

Marriott

No longer having an award chart, Marriott can offer decent value but not always. I’d recommend saving you valuable transfer points rather than transferring as many as 30,000 for a $250 a night hotel stay. A 1:1 transfer is not that exciting, especially when Hyatt is a partner of Chase as well.