What's better than booking an insanely cheap flight deal? Using credit card points to make it free. And there's no simpler – or more valuable – way to pull it off than booking through Chase Travel℠ with your Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
That's why we're big fans of both the *chase sapphire reserve* and the *chase sapphire preferred*. These two cards (among others) earn Chase's valuable Ultimate Rewards points and booking through Chase Travel is one of the easiest ways to put them to use for free travel. When you use them this way, each point is worth 1.25 cents or 1.5 cents (depending on which card you have).
But sometimes you can do even better: Chase recently began rolling out targeted “Points Offers” promotions where you can get as much as 2.25 cents per point in value when booking select flights and hotels through Chase.
If you're just getting started, there's likely no better time to snag one of these cards. Chase is offering big welcome bonuses on both: bonus_miles_full
We'll walk you through exactly how to use your Chase points to book just about any flight deal you want – whether you find a gem through Google Flights or from a Thrifty Traveler Premium membership.
The Basics of Using Points Through Chase Travel
Before we get into the mechanics of redeeming Chase points through Chase Trave, let's back up a bit.
While it might be easy to equate each point to a penny, certain Chase cards get even greater value when redeeming through the portal:
- With the *chase sapphire preferred*, each point is worth 1.25 cents.
- With the *chase sapphire reserve*, each point is worth 1.5 cents.
- With the *chase ink preferred*, each point is worth 1.25 cents.
So you're getting a better deal on your points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve than the Preferred. Yet either card gets you more than the simple 1-cent-per-point you'll typically get when booking travel through a portal with other cards.
Chase also has a list of travel partners – hotel and airline programs to which you can transfer your points to book flights and hotels – which can often lead to even more outsized value for your points. But you can book with almost any airline through Chase Travel. Some budget airlines are not available, but you can, however, book Southwest fares through Chase Travel!
Let's make it real with an example.
We recently sent our Thrifty Traveler Premium members a flight deal alert to Orlando (MCO) for under $248, including a fare from Detroit (DTW) for just $209 roundtrip – flying nonstop on Delta, to boot! Here's a look at what's bookable directly via Delta.
But it gets even better (and cheaper) if you book the same flight using points through Chase instead. Just log in to your Chase account, navigate to Chase Travel, and search for this exact same fare … and book it with points instead!
From here, you can search for the exact same cheap fare you just found on Delta's site. Most (but not all) of the flight pricing you see through Google Flights or in your inbox with a Thrifty Traveler Premium membership should be bookable at the same rates – though you may occasionally see pricing mismatches.
With the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you can book this $209 fare for just over 16,700 Ultimate Rewards points. The same is true for Chase Ink Preferred cardholders.
But the deal gets better with the Chase Sapphire Reserve: With each point worth 1.5 cents, you can book the exact same fare for under 14,000 Ultimate Rewards points.
You'll go through the exact same process with any cheap flight deal you find, using points to book instead. The cheaper the fare, the fewer points you'll need to book it and make it free. The Chase portal even walks you through the different kinds of fares and lets you pick between them, just in case you'd like to avoid booking a basic economy ticket.
And if you're able to get in on one of Chase's new “Points Offers” promotions, the deals get even sweeter. These offers aren't an across-the-board boost using your points to book absolutely any flight, hotel, rental car – they only work for specific redemptions. As of publication, there are two Points Offers we know of:
- There's one offer to get more value from your points when booking premium economy, business class, or first class tickets operated by Delta, United, or Qatar Airways available via Chase Travel through June 15 – for travel through the end of 2026.
- Another offer targets a handful of different luxury hotel brands, Hyatt all-inclusive resorts, and others – again when booking by June 15 for travel through the end of 2026.
These deals appear to be highly targeted. Few Chase cardholders may see them at all.
Among the 10-plus members of the Thrifty Traveler team with a Sapphire card, just one of us found these Points Offers. Plus, the offers seem to vary from cardholder to cardholder:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders report getting 2.25 cents apiece from their points with these new offers
- Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders are seeing offers for redeem points for as much as 2 cents apiece,
- But our Senior Editor Jackson Newman can only get 1.5 cents per point from his Sapphire Preferred Card on these select redemptions – still a notable boost, but a smaller one.
But on the upper end, this is huge. If Chase continues with offers like these – and the bank says it will – a traveler with a stash of 100,000 Chase points could turn around and use them to book as much as $2,000 in travel.
Yet Chase hasn't advertised this new feature … or even said a word to its cardholders, really. In fact, these offers are practically hidden: Targeted cardholders currently only see a mention of these new “Points Offers” if they search for an eligible trip in the travel portal, like a Delta Premium Select seat or flights in Qsuites business class.
Should You Redeem Your Points via Chase Travel?
Pros
There are a handful of advantages to booking your flights through Chase Travel. The biggest one is simplicity.
There's no need to dive into the convoluted world of transfer partners, find award availability, or calculate and pay additional taxes and fees. Just find a cheap flight (or other travel), boot up Chase Travel, and book it with your points.
The cheaper the fare, the fewer points you'll need to make it free. It's that simple.
While you can potentially get far more bang for your buck by transferring Chase points to partners like Air Canada Aeroplan or British Airways, that requires extra legwork and knowhow. Booking through Chase Travel, you're done within just a few clicks.
One of the best parts of booking flights through Chase Travel is that you'll also earn airline miles and elite status credits when you actually take your flight. That's not the case with most airline award redemptions you'd book with the likes of American Airlines AAdvantage miles, United MileagePlus miles, or many other airline points program. And unlike those airline mileage redemptions, booking with Chase points means no additional out-of-pocket costs: It covers any taxes and fees you'd otherwise have to pay using miles!
Don't have enough Chase Ultimate Rewards points to complete your booking – or don't want to blow all your points? Don't worry, you can use any combination of points and cash that you would like. You can select the number of points you want to use, and the remaining balance will be billed to your credit card.
Because of how easy it is to book flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards points, two Chase cards crack our list of the best cards for booking flight deals with points.
Cons
There are some potential pitfalls to using Chase Travel.
In good times and bad, it's almost always better to book directly with the airline – not an online travel agency (OTA). When you book with Chase points, you're essentially booking with an OTA.
Major airlines have made the process of changing or canceling flights easier (and free!) following the pandemic. Booking with an OTA like Chase means they're your middleman. You'll need to work with them to cancel your flight – and not the airline directly.
Finally, there's no question that there are ways to squeeze much more value out of your Chase points by using Chase transfer partners. Especially if you're looking to fly something fancy like Lufthansa First Class, transferring points to partner airlines like Air Canada is the ticket: You can book a one-way ticket from Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) to Frankfurt (FRA) for 100,000 Chase points … instead of the 1 million points it'd probably cost you booking through Chase Travel.
Still, this is a valuable option. And if you're not looking to dive deep into the weeds of maximizing airline programs, it doesn't get much easier than this.
Read more: The Best Ways to Redeem Chase Points
How to Earn Chase Points
In order to earn and use these Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you need to hold one of the right Chase credit card.
There's no better place to start than the *chase sapphire preferred*: bonus_miles_full
Not bad for a card with an annual fee of only $95, right?
In addition to the welcome bonus, the card also earns 3x points per dollar spent on dining purchases and 2x points per dollar spent on all travel purchases and 1 point per dollar on all other eligible spending. You also get a $50 annual credit when booking hotels through Chase Travel.
Read more: 6 Reasons to Pick Up the Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Reserve
Learn more about the *csp*.
There's also the *chase sapphire reserve*, Chase's premium travel rewards credit card that comes with a ton of travel benefits. But that comes at a cost: It has a hefty annual fee of $550.
bonus_miles_full
In addition to the sign-up bonus, the card also earns 3x points per dollar on all travel and restaurant purchases and 1x point per dollar on all other spending.
You'll also get Priority Pass Lounge access, an annual $300 travel credit, and many other premium benefits.
Read our full review of the Chase Sapphire Reserve!
Learn more about the *chase sapphire reserve*.
If you've already got a Sapphire card, there are some other Chase credit cards that can help bolster your Ultimate Rewards points balance.
While Chase Freedom cards typically earn cashback, holding one of these no annual fee cards in tandem with a Sapphire card makes them exponentially more valuable. That's because you can transfer the cashback these cards earn into your Chase Ultimate Rewards points balance.
But there are two Chase Freedom cards to choose from, and each version differs.
Read up on the differences between Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited to see which card is right for you.
Learn more about the *freedom unlimited*.
Learn more about the Chase Freedom Flex® (for full disclosure, this is our personal referral link).
Chase also has a number of business credit cards that also earn Ultimate Rewards points. If you are a small business owner, this is another great opportunity to bolster your Ultimate Rewards points balance.
The best place to get started for most business owners is the *chase ink preferred*: bonus_miles_full
Learn more about the *chase ink preferred*.
Bottom Line
Leveraging Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book flight deals through Chase Travel is one of our favorite benefits of Chase credit cards.
It allows you to make a cheap flight even cheaper (or free). Not to mention it's one of the easiest ways to redeem points, period.
Thanks for the read, but isn’t a significant drawback in using points for travel that you are in fact forfeiting an expense on the card that itself is eligible for the highest cash back? I think the analysis needs to consider the other opportunities in using points (e.g., pay yourself back at x1.25 which effectively makes other stuff “free”).
I just booked Southwest flights through the Chase Travel Portal and at a discount.
How do I choose seats through Chase? I purchased tickets and selected seats, but 2 months later, I checked the airlines website and my seats were not there.
Booking travel through Chase is a disaster. Firstly, theres a yearly fee of $95 to have this card. No problem. Here’s where it becomes tricky… I have the Chase sapphire preferred card and get 5X the points if I book through Chase. Only problem is that EVERYTHING you book through the Chase portal is more expensive which makes the 5X points worthless. Yes, you can get 5X points but you WILL pay much more for flights, rental cars, cruises, hotels, etc. My AMEX, and other VISA cards give me triple points on any travel through any website I choose to book through. Not Chase though.
A random but valuable thing to note is that I found if you book online through a computer, the pricing is more expensive than if you were to book through the app from your phone. Very off. Also beware that the seat selection may be limiting being that you are booking through a 3rd party travel site technically so they have reserved certain seats (aka seats near the BATHROOM!) so beware and careful when booking to see the available seats during that last step before payment
Hey Nick
Can you buy a ticket (not using the points) from an airline (Eva) that’s not part of one of the 11 airlines Chase partnered with through Chase Reward Portal and still earn x5 pts? Or you can only buy tickets from one of the 11 airlines?
Hi Terry, most airlines will be available through the portal and you can buy flights and earn the 5x.
The transfer partners are used differently and not applicable if you’re using the travel portal.
Hello, I have a question concerning airline and hotel status. Can book through Chase Travel and receive airline and hotel points, + receive the perks of my gold status with both?
Hey Bill, generally speaking, airline bookings will have status recognized and earn points and credits towards elite status. Hotel bookings generally will not earn points or earn towards elite status.
Hi Nick,
Booking through the Chase ultimate rewards travel portal can be tricky if the flight booked was cancelled. Virgin Atlantic would not transfer my points back to Chase because I did not book/speak directly with Chase’s travel representative. They offered me the value of my e ticket for future flights booked only through them. This may not be true with other airlines but I learned the hard way.
The new host for the Ultimate Rewards travel portal is disappointing. I have been unsuccessful for several months trying to book a flight through the Travel Portal on Chrome web browser. Upon confirming the fare/flight when selecting the return flight, the next page always shows error 400. Anybody else experience this issue?
I have been having to use Microsoft Edge web browser to book my Ultimate Rewards, which works without any problems, but is still a pain.
Hello,
I got Global entry before I applied for the Chase sapphire reserved card.
Could I still use the $100 global entry credit even if is not for me? Maybe get global entry for either my wife or daughter.
You sure can. More information on that below:
https://thriftytraveler.com/guides/credit-card/global-entry-credit/
Hi Jon,
When I directly book a flight on an airline website using a Chase Sapphire Preferred card for the same price as I get in the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal, wouldn’t it be the same in terms of using Ultimate Rewards Points? One also seems to get $1.25 dollar statement credit for travel expenses for every 1 reward point. When I book flights through the Rewards Travel Portal one also gets, $1.25 per 1 point. And then, as you say in this article, one does not have the OTA middle man, which can make things more complicated when making ticket changes. Or am I missing something?
Hello,
What you are missing is that you can not use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to remove a charge made directly with an airline or hotel as you can with Capital One Venture Miles. In order to use your points at a value of 1.25 or 1.5 cents each, you would need to book using the Ultimate Rewards travel portal.
Hey Paul, both the business cards and the Freedom cards are mentioned above. You are correct that the Ink Preferred also redeems at 1.25 cents each like the Sapphire Preferred.
Nick, do I understand this correctly that to use Marriott Bonvoy points to get a ticket on a Delta flight , it takes nearly 3 points to equal one frequent flyer mile? Why would anyone do that?I just priced a $900 ticket (or 85000 miles) and Bonvey asked for 235,000 points.
Hi Jon,
That’s correct. Marriott Bonvoy points will transfer into airlines. At a rate of 3 points equals 1 mile.
Additionally, you will receive 5,000 additional airline miles when you transfer 60,000 Marriott Rewards points to airline miles. 60,000 Marriott points = 20,000 airline miles + 5,000 bonus miles.
Generally speaking it’s not a great value and should only be used to top off your airline account to make a mileage redemption.
Can I transfer Ultimate points to Delta Skymiles? I’m trying to get the Premium Select deal https://thriftytraveler.com/skymiles-flash-sale-fly-delta-premium-select-europe/ buy I only have enough Skymiles if I can transfer from Chase.
Hey Aaron. Not possible to transfer from Chase to Delta. Only Amex Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy points can be transferred into Delta.
If I cancel my Delta Amex Platinum card and get the Chase Sapphire card you recommend, what happens to the Skymiles I have already amassed?
Hi Jon,
Your SkyMiles will be safe and sound in your Delta account. Canceling that card does not forfeit the miles you have already earned. SkyMiles also never expire so they are yours until you use them.