You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to fourteen airline and hotel transfer partners at a ratio of one Ultimate Reward to one airline or hotel point.
One of the great things about Ultimate Rewards is that almost all of the points transfers are instantaneous, with the exception of Singapore Airlines and Marriott Bonvoy.
However, it is not recommended to transfer Ultimate Rewards unless you have a flight or hotel option planned out. Airlines and hotels regularly devalue their points programs, so your points are safest with Chase until you need to use them.
How Long Do Ultimate Rewards Transfers Take?
The transfers below are all at a 1 to 1 ratio, which makes Ultimate Rewards so valuable. The transfer times may vary slightly, especially for transfers to Singapore Airlines.
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Points Program | Transfer Time | |
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Instantaneous | |
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Instantaneous | |
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Instantaneous | |
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Instantaneous | |
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Instantaneous | |
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Instantaneous | |
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Instantaneous | |
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Instantaneous | |
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Instantaneous | |
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24 to 48 hours | |
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24 to 48 hours | |
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Instantaneous | |
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Instantaneous | |
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Instantaneous |
Best Programs to Transfer Ultimate Rewards
There are several good options when transferring Ultimate Rewards, but let’s first start with the programs you should not transfer to.
We don’t recommend transferring to IHG or Marriott. Those points are valued at less than 1.0 cent each, so you can get better value redeeming points on a fixed basis via the Chase Travel Portal (1.5 cents per point for Sapphire Reserve and 1.25 cents per point for Sapphire Preferred and Ink Preferred)
If you have a Sapphire Reserve, we also don’t recommend transferring to Southwest Airlines or JetBlue. Those two programs have revenue-based points program, so the points price of the flight is directly related to the cash price of the flight. Thus, you are generally better off booking a flight via the Chase Travel Portal than transferring directly to the airline.
- Exception: If you need points to combine with existing airline points to book a flight.
One last thing to consider before transferring Ultimate Rewards to Virgin Atlantic, Iberia, British Airways, or Aer Lingus, is that American Express Membership Rewards regularly offers 20% to 50% transfer bonuses to these programs. If you have a stockpile of Membership Rewards, you may want to consider transferring those points instead of Ultimate Rewards points.
Recommended Points Programs
- United Airlines– United is generally the best airline points program to transfer to since they don’t charge fuel surcharges on awards. This can save you $500+ in fees per passenger when trying to book a high-fuel surcharge partner such as Lufthansa.
- Hyatt– Hyatt’s points generally offer a good value at many of their hotels, and allow you to avoid paying taxes and resort fees. If you can find a hotel stay for above 1.8 cents per point, you should consider transferring your Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt.
- Virgin Atlantic– Virgin Atlantic has some very good partner awards on ANA, Delta, and Air New Zealand.
- British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus– These three airlines share the same airline currency (Avios), which you can transfer between each account. But each program has different advantages and disadvantages. British Airways’ strength is short and direct economy class flights. Whereas, Iberia and Aer Lingus has sweet spots of economy or business class flights from the U.S. East Coast to Europe.
- Emirates– You can find good value using Emirates points for partner awards especially to Asia and Australia on Japan Airlines and Korean Airlines. However, if you want to use these points on Emirates, expect to pay high fuel surcharges unless you depart from a low fuel surcharge country (Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, etc.). Fuel surcharges from the U.S. run about $800 one-way.
- Flying Blue– Flying Blue runs promotional awards every month, which can be a good value if you want to visit Europe.
- Singapore Airlines– Singapore Airlines is a transfer partner every transferable points program and is the best way to book Singapore Airlines flights. However, if you want to fly Singapore Business or First Class, it is generally a lot of points, but there are some sweet spots especially on some inter-region flights.
Frequently Asked Questions
Some programs allow you to put an award on hold, but it depends on the points program and which airline you are trying to use your points on. You could always call the airline and ask. That is also a great time to verify that the award space you see online is correct.
Yes, if that person is a member of your household.
Yes, if that person is an authorized user on your account. However, once you transfer points, that person will be the only authorized user eligible for points transfers.
Unfortunately, all points transfers are final.
Your points will not expire as long as you keep one card that earns Ultimate Rewards open and in good standing.
There are no fees to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to airline or hotel programs.
This answer is heavily dependent on the card you have since cards have different redemption levels for the travel portal. The Sapphire Reserve can redeem points at 1.5 cents per point, whereas the Sapphire Preferred and Ink Preferred can redeem points at 1.25 cents per point. All other Ultimate Rewards cards redeem points via the Travel Portal at 1.0 cents per point.
You also earn points from the airline when using the travel portal, but you lose the flexibility of changing or canceling an award for a fee (typically $75-200).
To decide whether to transfer, you need to calculate the redemption value (or cents per point). For airlines, you would find the cash price of the flight minus the fees and taxes associated with an award, divided by the number of points. For hotels, find the final price of the hotel (cash price plus taxes) and divide it by the number of points.
If the number above is 0.1 cents per point higher than what you can redeem for in the Travel Portal, then you should consider transferring. (For example, if you have Sapphire Reserve and can find an award at 1.61 cents per point, you are better off transferring the points rather than redeeming the points via Travel portal).