Transferring your points from a credit card to a travel loyalty program is one of the easiest and cost-effective ways to book airline tickets or hotel stays. Unfortunately, different credit card banks have different travel partners they work with and it’s not always easy to figure out how to move your points to those travel partners.
Chase credit cards earn Ultimate Rewards points that you can transfer to 13 different airline or hotel loyalty programs making it one of the best currencies out there. Here’s a quick list of the airline and hotel chains you can move your Ultimate Rewards points to:
Airlines
- Aer Lingus
- Air France/KLM
- British Airways
- Emirates
- Iberia
- JetBlue
- Singapore Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- United Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
Hotels
- IHG hotels
- Hyatt
- Marriott
You can transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to any above the above partners by following a simple, 6-step process.
Step #1 – Log into your Chase card account
One of the first things you should always do when getting a new credit card is setup an online account. It should only take you a couple minutes to do so (and you likely already have). If, however, you have not done so already, then you’ll need to do that first.
Step #2 – Go to the Ultimate Rewards home page
After logging in to your account, you’ll be taken to the home screen for your credit card. From there, you’ll want to click the “Redeem Rewards” link towards the bottom right. You’ll see it right under the box that displays your current points balance.
This will take you to the Ultimate Rewards home page.
Step #3 – Choose “Transfer To Travel Partners” from the top menu
Once arriving on the Ultimate Rewards home page, you’ll be faced with some options across the top of the screen. You should click on the “Transfer To Travel Partners” option as seen in the image below.
Step #4 – Choose your desired travel partner program
You should now be taken to the complete list of travel partners that Chase offers. Scroll down until you find the airline or hotel program that you’d like to transfer your points to and then click on the button that reads “Transfer Points”.
Step #5 – Link your account
After selecting a travel partner, you’ll be asked to link your loyalty program account number from that airline/hotel to your Chase account. Make sure you have this number handy.
If you need to find your loyalty program number for the airline/hotel, you can usually access it quickly by logging into that account online in a new window. I do recommend keeping a spreadsheet with all your account numbers on your computer for easy access though.
You’ll also need to select the recipient of the transfer from the dropdown menu. Your name will be one of the options, but if you have any authorized users on the account you can transfer your points to their accounts as well. This is especially useful for spouses.
Step #6 – Transfer your desired amount of points
After linking your account, all you need to do next is select how many miles you’d like to transfer and pull the trigger.
Most transfers will be instant, but there are reports that some may take up to 48 hours. If you already have a ticket you plan to book with points, you may want to call up the airline and put a 24 hour hold on the ticket just to be safe.
Conclusion
Credit cards that let you earn transferrable points are incredibly valuable because they give you lots of options when it comes to using your points. Since many of the best deals are had by using airline partners, you’ll want to choose credit card companies that offer significant travel partners and relative ease when completing transfers.
