In general, when people talk about the various points and miles programs, 1 point is equal to 1 cent. For example, 5,000 points = $50. But, not all points are created equal.
Chase's Ultimate Rewards are transferable currency, allowing you to consistently get a lot more for your points value than an airline program like Delta SkyMiles.
For several years, I used the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Amex (annual fee $350) before switching all of my spending to the Chase Sapphire Preferred (annual fee $95) and downgrading to the no annual fee Delta Blue Card.
Since then, I've booked travel saving heaps more money using the Chase Sapphire Preferred in the following 3 ways:
#1 Transfer to Hyatt and book a room
The easiest way to get incredible value out of your Chase Ultimate Rewards is to book a stay at a Hyatt property. Hyatt has 28 distinctive brands in over 1,250 locations.
Last year, I stayed at the following properties:
Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit (Thailand) 8,000 points/night
Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower (Spain) 17,000 points/night
Hyatt Regency JFK Airport (New York City) 15,000 points/night
Hyatt Place London City East (England) 12,000 points/night
Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport (Germany) 5,000 points/night
This year, I have booked the following:
Hyatt Regency Lisbon (Portugal) 14,000 points/night
Hyatt Place Krakow (Poland) 5,000 points/night
Story Hotel Studio Malmo (Sweden) 6,500 points/night
Story Hotel Signalfabriken (Stockholm, Sweden) 5,000 points/night
Hyatt Regency Cairo West (Egypt) 8,000 points/night
Grand Hyatt Athens (Greece) 12,000 points/night
I planned a trip this year that includes 4 nights in Cairo and 4 nights in Athens that would have cost $2200 to book with cash, but I transferred only 66,000 points to Hyatt and have gorgeous, fully refundable rooms booked and ready to go!
#2 Transfer to Virgin Atlantic and book flights
Virgin Atlantic has partner alliances with a variety of airlines, including Delta, making it an excellent Chase transfer partner.
Here are two of our recent trips using Chase points transferred to Virgin Atlantic:
Minneapolis to Lisbon (round trip) 23,000 points + $86 taxes (per person)
London to JFK (one way) 15,700 points + $188 taxes (per person, August 2023)
If you prefer to fly business-class to Europe, you can find non-stop tickets on Virgin Atlantic for Delta One for only 50,000 points round trip (excluding the UK). Example routes are Boston to Amsterdam and Atlanta to Paris, but there are other options.
#3 Transfer to Air France or KLM and fly to Europe
In addition to Virgin Atlantic, Air France and KLM are excellent transfer partners due to their membership in the Sky Team Airline Alliance.
Here are two of our recent bookings using Chase points transferred to AF/KLM:
Minneapolis to Rome (one way) 22,000 points + $105 taxes (per person, July 2023)
Minneapolis to Budapest (one way) 20,000 points + $83 taxes (per person, July 2024)
For more information, read Getting Started with Credit Card Points.
Comments