I’ll start with a ‘gripe’: Our first travel card was Chase Sapphire Preferred – end of 2019 . Limited travel for the following two years but we still accumulated points. I rented cars frequently, so wanted a card that was primary for collision insurance (in addition to our auto policy). I also liked that it covered limited flight interruption / cancellation. $95 yearly fee after the first year.
We finally used Chase points for the first time this Spring, for airfare. Of course, 48 hours after our reservation, the airfare price dropped nearly 40%. I had never seen airfare reduce that much that fast. No problem (we thought). We purchased non-refundable, but changeable tickets. We’ll just obtain vouchers for the difference toward a future flight within the year. If we don’t use the voucher, at least it was an option for part of the cost. Chase informed us the tickets were fully non-refundable, and that we had to follow the airline ticketing rules. I called the airline. They confirmed our tickets could indeed be changed, and voucher the difference – but advised we had to make any changes directly through the Chase travel system, since using Chase points. They even shared the terminology to use when talking to Chase travel.
The Chase travel experience was AWFUL. HOURS (literally) on hold with numerous agents who refused to budge for differing reasons. They would only allow full cancellation, and start reservations completely over. However, they would or could not confirm how long it takes for the points to be credited so we could use them on a new reservation. We would need to use NEW points, and eventually receive a 1 year voucher for the former points (to only be used on the same airline at the same ticket level). Knowing how fickle airline pricing can be, we didn’t want to wait even a few hours for the credit. Nor did we want a voucher for the full amount, as we were unlikely to use it within a year. One supervisor finally admitted we could “change” our reservations to the lower points (cost), as advised by the airline, but that any difference in points would simply vanish – no vouchers for future flight. WHY would anyone do that?
We ultimately lost the battle, paying ‘full price’ (with points). You could argue that these tickets were “free” (since made with points), but not really – since you can also convert points to cash. The experience with Chase travel was so awful, however, we are now looking to change to another card – probably Capital One Venture X. Any experiences with their customer service? We’ll exchange remaining points for cash. Cash is worth less than points, but it will at least pay for our 3 years of membership.
I love Chase Rewards, but I NEVER book through Chase. I convert and book directly through the airline or hotel chain.
I also never book coach with miles. We hunt down the best business class value.
Here’s a great example. Convert Chase points to Aeroplan (Air Canada) and get a 30% bonus right now. Seattle to Tokyo is 75,000 points in business on ANA booked through Air Canada.
If you can make the days work and you find a seat, ANA is 110,000 round trip to Tokyo in First Class from LAX if booked through Virgin Atlantic.
I have Capital One too, but only to get restaurant reservations that are challenging to find.
There are MANY reports elsewhere on the internet of problems with Chase using their travel portal for flights. While it seems tempting to get the higher 1.25cpp (cent per point, or 1.5cpp with the Chase Sapphire Reserve) by redeeming through the Chase portal, it is routinely difficult to get resolution if there are any issues that crop up. Once you use the Chase portal, which I believe operates on the same platform as Expedia, you’ve relinquished control of your booking to the online travel agency (OTA) and are at their mercy. For airlines and hotels (especially chains where you are pursuing some elite status) you should book directly through their website since then you are dealing directly with the airline or hotel and they can’t pawn off responsibility to anyone else.
With respect to the Chase Ultimate Rewards system, transferring those points to their travel partners is what I would recommend for redeeming those points in the future. I recently did that for a United flight that would otherwise have cost $1200 one-way because it was a close-in booking, and I only paid 32,500 UA miles + $5.60 fees for that ticket. That redemption of URs worked out to getting 3.7 cpp rather than the 1.0 cpp statement credit for a cash redemption. I do even better with transferring points to Hyatt and booking on their website. Our most recent Hyatt redemption was 4.9 cpp.
Plus the cancelation policies for flights booked on points tend to be much more liberal than paying for a cash fare. That UA flight I booked was able to be canceled up to time of departure with a full redeposit of miles and refund for the taxes. Policies vary by airline, and require research to find out that information.
I am a travel credit card semi-expert! Chase is an excellent start to the travel credit card world. Besides having a Chase Preferred or a Chase Reserve card, the other crucial cards to have in the ecosystem are the no fee Chase Freedom card which gets 5X on certain categories each quarter and then you roll all the points over to your Chase Ultimate Rewards.
The issue you seem to have was with Chase Travel which is awful. But NO ONE should ever use Chase Travel. Instead, you roll the Chase points over to one of their many partners - like Hyatt, United, Marriott, British Airways, Southwest… Without question, Hyatt is the absolute sweet spot for all transfers.
Also, family members can roll points to each other AND refer cards for bonuses. This is a great benefit.
After getting Chase no fee cards, look into Chase Business cards. The Chase Ink is great for 5x on phone, cable and office supply stores. Again, all the points from business cards can be rolled to your personal Ultimate Rewards account.
Next, think about specific travel cards - but only when its a good SUB (Sign up Bonus). Chase Hyatt and Marriott cards are very popular.
Amex is another popular rewards system. I have the Platinum and Gold along with Hilton Aspire card.
The Citi American Airlines card is the final one I have which gave me Platinum status on American due to status matching with Hyatt.
In a nutshell we never pay for hotel rooms and rarely for flights. Using points wisely, we can travel overseas annually without paying a penny and vacation several times a year in the US.
I have been doing the credit card reward game for a long time, and have accumulated points in various programs. I particularly like the transferable point programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, Citi Thank You Points, and Capital One miles. But I also have a decent stash of points with American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. I’ve flown for basically free (only paying the $5.60 taxes/fees one way) on Southwest for 10 years which works very well for me since our closest airport is a SW hub. The SW companion pass is a key component of our travel plans, and one that plays a big part in my new credit card planning strategies.
If you decide to build up your UR point balance, then the Chase Business Ink Cash (Ink Cash not the Ink Unlimited)cards are great, particularly if you have a nearby Staples or Office Depot/Office Max store. Those stores routinely have Visa/Mastercard gift card promotions running. Then you can use those gift cards for your regular spending and basically get 5xUR on almost all your spending.
Park Hyatt Mendoza is Category 3…9000 points a night off peak, for an amazing hotel in wine country just over the mountains from Santiago. I love Hyatt for these hidden gems!
We have both Chase (I can never remember if we have preferred or reserve - it had a 125k bonus sign up when we got the card and we look for the combo of sign up bonus and yearly fee when choosing cards) and Capital One (100k sign up bonus).
We recently also got the Amex platinum as DH’s work will subsidize the yearly fee on a travel card up to $500/yr. We signed up for that one to take advantage of airport lounges as well as reimbursed Global Entry and a couple other perks that worked for our travel needs.
We have utilized both transferring points to different airlines (most advantageous in terms of reward) to purchase RT international business class flights, as well as booking hotel rooms through both the Chase and Capital One travel sites when using reward points - never when booking with cash.
The only time I use Chase or Capital One to book travel is when it is significantly cheaper or more flexible to book specific hotel rooms through the site. We’ve saved up to 25% off nightly rates found elsewhere and/or gotten breakfast included (at the same price found elsewhere with no breakfast) on all our hotel bookings through both travel sites.
I won’t book flights or car rentals through third party sites. Little to no recourse in those circumstances, and a HUGE headache if something goes wrong.
Never have had a problem with hotel bookings, so if you are going to use them - that’s the only way it has made sense (to me).
Adding, unless you are good with spending serious time figuring out the most advantageous use of points, are happy to keep abreast of changes to travel reward programs, and have fairly good flexibility for your reward travel dates - I would recommend sticking with cash back cards and not mess around with travel cards per se.
Thank you for that excellent suggestion! Just now, I booked a family vacation using credit card points to bring down the price of business class tickets to what we would have paid for economy class.
I didn’t think the price of economy tickets was worth it, but getting business class using the points for exactly the same price was well worth it.
Our primary card is an airline card. We live near a major hub so we always fly the same carrier. We use the points to upgrade. It also gives us priority boarding and access to the lounge. Our secondary card is with a hotel chain. It’s a winning combination for us.
We currently use the Delta AmEx platinum card for the variety of reasons I’ve posted in the thread about airline seat sizes for plus sized folks. This credit card is currently the best for us because we are Delta fliers and get a lot of benefits, and are able to maintain Delta platinum medallion status with it. I will cut/paste or link to the post(s) from the other thread when I have a minute. A free companion ticket that comes with this card pays for the cost of the itself, and with platinum medallion status I can select a $250 travel voucher or $200 card credit, and we get a boatload of miles and MQM boosts. Always get 2 free checked bags and auto upgrade (when available) to comfort plus with the delta platinum status, and I need this card to maintain my delta status. Win win for me. Also was able to use points (they offered a 15% discount as well) to fly our son and granddaughter round trip across country to visit for very few points, and upgraded our other dau in law to first class when she was flying across country pregnant (that was a ridiculous lot of miles but worth it for her). Currently have enough miles for 2 round trip first class tix to Europe. Love banking those miles.
Obviously a newbie about using points. Can you better explain (in detail) how to “roll over” points? I thought you HAD to go through the Chase portal to use points toward airline tickets (or hotels). TIA.
Ditto for us! Our hotel stay on the upcoming trip is basically “paid for” using the hotel credit card points.
I should also add that “loyalty” to a hotel chain is really useful if you travel a lot. Oftentimes, the hotel properties bend their rules to allow super-early check-in (I once got a room in Vienna, Austria at 7 am when check-in was normally at 3 pm because of my hotel status). It’s always subject to availability, but I email the hotel property in advance, and, no pun intended, they are usually very accommodating.
If you travel a lot, being loyal to a hotel franchisor (in our case, IHG) can really pay off. They have tons of brands at different price points, so I’ve found the loyalty to the hotel chain and its card does pay off when traveling. You have everything from the InterContinental to the Crowne Plaza to the Kimpton to the Holiday Inn to the Holiday Inn Express etc etc. This has really worked out well for us on road trips and air travel, essentially all over the US and the world.
Having the IHG credit card helps to replenish points that you use when booking their hotels.
We just returned from vacation and between our loyalty status and the hotel card, we had free parking (and in some cities it would have been $40/day), free breakfast, automatic late checkout, free cocktail hour, etc…
We are using points to stay in a luxury property in the chain for our 30th anniversary this Fall.
In the Chase rewards portal there is a “transfer to travel partners” - it’s in the pull down next to you total points in a banner. I cannot recommend this strategy more. I too made the mistake once of booking through Chase and would probably do the hotels again in some circumstances. But absolutely NOT FOR FLIGHTS! A single cancelled leg in your itinerary and you’re waiting on hours for Chase to contact the airline to try and fix the problem. You cannot use any of the apps or online tools to pick a new flights and by the time Chase contacts someone all the decent flights are gone. It is an insanely bad system considering how often flight disruptions occur.
When you log into Chase Rewards there are three bars in the upper left. My two favorite sub-menus are Combine Points and Transfer to Travel Partners. The latter is the one you’re looking for. I also use the former because we have multiple Chase cards. We combine the points to maximize their utility.
Wow, thanks for all the info. We have a Chase Sapphire and have always booked through the Ultimate Rewards site with no problems but I can see now that we’ve been lucky. I will definitely look into transferring to travel partners in the future. I don’t like to have a lot of credit cards so not looking for a hotel card but I am a member with several hotel chains.
I got a Bank of America Travel Visa a few years ago. I only use it when traveling abroad because they do an excellent exchange rate with no surcharges.
So I was just poking around the Chase Ultimate Rewards site and I see that they do not partner with American, which is unfortunate for me since our nearest airport is an American hub. But I also saw an article that said you could transfer your points to British Airways and then book American flights through the BA website. If you do that can you log into the airline apps to change flights if needed? Like walk me through it – if I booked a flight on American through BA, but then my American flight was messed up and I needed to change it would I be able to get in American’s app and change it?
. Limited travel for the following two years but we still accumulated points. I rented cars frequently, so wanted a card that was primary for collision insurance (in addition to our auto policy). I also liked that it covered limited flight interruption / cancellation. $95 yearly fee after the first year.