Life isn’t easy as a business owner. You’re faced with the ongoing task of trying to make ends meet, but the expenses never seem to end! And, when it comes to travel costs, we all know that things can quickly add up — from airfare and rental cars to hotel stays — a single business trip could be incredibly costly.
Fortunately, there is a way for you to travel for free, especially if you hold a Chase credit card that earns Ultimate Rewards points. Chase Ultimate Rewards points are one of the most valuable travel currencies out there. They allow you to book rental cars, airline tickets, and hotel stays without needing to use your hard-earned cash. In many cases, using the points for travel could give you more bang for your buck versus booking with straight cash.
One of my personal favorites for earning Ultimate Rewards points to be redeemed for travel is the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. In addition to high earnings rates on purchases, it has just recently been refreshed to provide as much as $2,700 in annual value that includes travel credits, dining credits, and complimentary memberships on things like DoorDash, Apple TV+, StubHub, Lyft, Peloton, and more.
Apply Now for the Chase Sapphire Reserve®
What are Chase points?
The Chase points I’m referring to, also called Ultimate Rewards points, are rewards that you can earn when you make purchases on an eligible Chase credit card. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® has various rewards categories, including the ability to earn 3x points on dining and restaurants. You could even get up to 10x points on certain categories, which you can learn more about in our Chase Sapphire Reserve®card review.
Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be redeemed for a variety of items. Just as a few examples, they can be used for statement credits, gift cards, and for booking travel.
Example of how valuable Chase points can be
Just to give you an idea of how valuable Chase points could be, I’ll share an experience I had several years ago where I was able to book a 3-night stay at the Park Hyatt New York, a 5-star hotel. I also flew there via JetBlue Mint, their business class offering. Booking with cash, the trip would have cost nearly $4,000. However, I instead redeemed 90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points and paid under $20 in miscellaneous taxes and fees.
The bottom line for that trip was that I got a value of around 4.5 cents per point. Using the table below, you can see the effective value or cash back rate you’d get based on certain earnings rates on your credit card, but keep in mind that the value you get per point can vary based on your specific trip or redemption option.
Base earnings rate (based on spend category) | Value per point (using the above example) | Effective cash back rate |
|---|---|---|
1x point per $1 spent | 4.5 cents per point | 1x point x 4.5 cents per point = 4.5% |
1.5x points per $1 spent | 4.5 cents per point | 1.5x points x 4.5 cents per point = 6.75% |
2x points per $1 spent | 4.5 cents per point | 2x points x 4.5 cents per point = 9.0% |
3x points per $1 spent | 4.5 cents per point | 3x points x 4.5 cents per point = 13.5% |
5x points per $1 spent | 4.5 cents per point | 5x points x 4.5 cents per point = 22.5% |
How to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for maximum value
You’ll have several options to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for travel. Some are easy and require little to no research, but might not deliver as much bang for your buck. Other options, which may require some more time and effort, can allow you to extract the maximum amount of value from your points.
Here are three common options you’ll have as it pertains to redeeming points for travel expenses you may encounter as a business owner.
Redemption Method | Difficulty | Redemption Value |
|---|---|---|
Transfer to travel partners | Moderate | High (the sky’s the limit!) |
Chase Travel portal | Easy | Medium (1-1.5 cents per point) |
Cash equivalents (e.g. gift cards or statement credits) | Easy | Low (1 cent per point) |
Transfer to travel partners (best value!)
Hands down, this is the best way to get the most value out of your Chase points. You see, Chase partners with a number of different airlines and hotels. Essentially, these partners agree that they’ll allow Chase cardmembers to book an airline ticket or hotel room with points, rather than cash. The number of points needed can vary, with some offering greater value than others.
You can visit the Chase travel website from a computer or mobile app. On your mobile app, the travel portal can be accessed at the bottom of your homepage. Click the box for Ultimate Rewards, and then scroll to the bottom where you’ll see the option to transfer points to partners. Once there, you can choose which partner you’d like to transfer points to, and then follow the instructions to complete your request.
To figure out how many points you’ll need to transfer to make a booking, you can visit the website for the airline or hotel first. For example, if I wanted to book a stay at a Marriott hotel, I could use the Marriott mobile app to see that this particular 1-night stay in August would cost me 28,000 points.
The Marriott mobile app, which shows the cost of a room in points and dollars. (Source: Andrew Wan, Fit Small Business)
Given the equivalent cost of $220, that gives us a redemption value of about 0.7 cents per point. That’s not great. But if you notice in the third image under How to get to the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, we can see that Chase is currently running a bonus that offers 65% additional points to Marriott. This means that instead of needing to transfer 28,000 points, we’d only have to transfer 17,000 in order to book this room. And, if my math is correct, that would give us a better redemption value of 1.3 cents per point ($220 divided by 17,000 points).
1.3 cents per point may not be earth-shattering, but keep in mind that prices fluctuate year-round and can depend on which partner you redeem points with, so it’s possible to get much more value.
The bottom line with this method is that it may take extra time and research on your end to find a really good value for your points, but from my example above with the Park Hyatt New York, it can absolutely be worth it.
Chase travel portal redemption
The second option, and in my opinion, the second-best way to redeem points on travel, is to utilize Chase’s travel portal. The travel portal is essentially a way for you to book hotels, airline tickets, and rental cars using your points without the need to transfer them to a travel partner. The downside is that your points are worth a flat dollar amount, which can be anywhere from 1 cent per point to 1.5 cents per point, depending on which card you’re carrying.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®: 1.5 cents per point
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: 1.25 cents per point
- Chase Ink Business Preferred® card: 1.25 cents per point
- Chase Ink Business Unlimited® card: 1 cent per point
- Chase Ink Business Cash® card: 1 cent per point
- Chase Freedom Flex®: 1 cent per point
- Chase Freedom Unlimited®: 1 cent per point
To book travel using this method, you’ll need to first navigate to the Chase portal. You can again do this from the Chase mobile app home page by clicking the box with your Ultimate Rewards points. Next, select “Book Travel”, and then choose whether you’d like to book airline tickets, hotel accommodations, or a rental car.
Once you’ve selected your travel experience (whether it’s a hotel room, car rental, or airfare), you can enter the details of your trip. Once completed, you’ll be able to see your redemption options. As an example, I searched for a hotel room in Waco, TX, and was presented with a wide range of options.
Below is one of those options, and you can see that this particular hotel room could be booked for either $92 or 7,360 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, a value of 1.25 cents per point since I currently carry the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
One of many hotels that can be booked through the Chase travel portal with either points or cash. (Source: Andrew Wan, Fit Small Business)
Cash equivalents
Cash equivalents include gift cards, statement credits, or straight-up cash deposited into the bank account of your choice. Redeeming points in one of these ways is probably the easiest — but least valuable — way to use up your points. With that said, there’s something to be said for sheer simplicity, so I’m not judging anyone who decides to redeem their points in this manner.
Going this route allows you to make purchases directly with your credit card or gift card, and then either getting “reimbursed” later via a statement credit to cover your travel expenses, or not having to worry about it at all if your gift card was able to cover the full cost of the expense.
Once again, you’ll need to head to the Chase travel portal via your mobile app or desktop computer. For cash equivalent redemption options, you’ll have the following options:
- Cash back: At a rate of 1 cent per point, you can redeem points for cash to be deposited into a bank account of your choice.
- Pay Yourself Back: At a rate of 1 cent per point, you can redeem points to cover specific purchases that have posted to your credit card account.
- Redeem for gift cards: At a minimum redemption value of 1 cent per point, you can redeem points for gift cards to various retailers.
Other ways to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points
The methods discussed above are not the only ways you can redeem Chase points, but they’re what I consider to be the most common, likely, and useful scenarios in the context of a business owner with travel-related expenses. Other ways you can redeem your hard-earned Chase Ultimate Rewards points include:
- Pay with points: You can use points to pay for all or part of your eligible Amazon orders, or when you check out using PayPal.
- Apple purchases: Through the Apple Ultimate Rewards Store, you can buy items using points to pay for all or part of your purchase.
- Chase Dining experiences: Through the Chase travel portal, you can redeem points for takeout, reservations, or exclusive culinary experiences offered only by Chase.
Common mistakes when redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points
I’ve been a Chase cardmember for over a decade and have been able to regularly travel for free thanks to my Chase points. With that said, here are some common mistakes to avoid and help you get the most out of this rewards program.
Redeeming for less than 1 cent per point
Since cash back and statement credits basically guarantee a minimum value of 1 cent per point, getting anything less would just be a terrible use of your points. If you do see a redemption option that gives you less than this value, you’re better off paying for it with cash and then redeeming your points later for a statement credit.
Making a less-than-optimal transfer or redemption
If you don’t do your due diligence in researching your available options, you might end up overlooking a more optimal use of your points. This usually happens when you can book the same hotel or airfare via multiple methods. For instance, you can book a hotel straight through the Chase travel portal or by transferring points to the hotel partner. In almost all cases, one of these methods will grant you a higher redemption value.
Redeeming points on a less valuable account
If you book through the Chase travel portal, your points could be worth anywhere from 1-1.5 cents per point, depending on which account you’re using for the booking. For example, using the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you’ll get a redemption value of 1.5 cents per point. However, if you booked with the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card, you’d only be getting 1 cent per point.
Since you can pool points among cards, this mistake can easily be avoided by transferring all of your points to the most valuable card in your portfolio. In the above example, you’d be best served by transferring all of your Chase points to your Chase Sapphire Reserve® account.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
You can earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points by making purchases on an eligible Chase credit card. My personal favorites are the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Chase Ink Business Cash® Card, and the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. But many other picks, including our selections for the best Chase business credit cards, also earn Ultimate Rewards points.
Chase Ultimate Rewards points are generally worth between 1 and 3 cents per point. This can vary depending on how you redeem them, whether it’s for a statement credit, booking through the Chase travel portal, or transferring the points to one of Chase’s travel partners.
Chase Ultimate Rewards points will not expire as long as your Chase accounts are in good standing, and you retain at least one active Chase credit card that earns Ultimate Rewards points.
Bottom line
Watch business travel expenses fall by the wayside with the help of Chase Ultimate Rewards points. At a minimum, you can get a value of 1 cent per point, but it’s possible to get as much as 5 cents or more per point! When you combine that with your card’s regular earning categories, you could see effective cash back rates of as much as 20%+ on your purchases.
So what are you waiting for? Look into which Chase credit cards match your spending habits, watch those Ultimate Rewards points pile up, and say goodbye to travel expenses!
