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Booking travel through Chase Travel can deliver significant value, whether you’re looking to stretch your Ultimate Rewards points farther or score competitive cash fares with built-in protections. Thanks to a combination of flexible redemption options, strong transfer partners and compelling card benefits, the Chase ecosystem remains one of the most reliable ways to save money on flights, hotels, rental cars and more. I’ve been using Chase Travel for years and have become familiar with its ins and outs.
Today, we’re going to explain exactly how Chase Travel works, how to maximize your points, what you should book through the portal (and what you shouldn’t) and which Chase cards unlock the most value, including their current welcome offers.
Chase Travel is the issuer’s online booking platform for flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises and experiences. It’s powered by an online travel agency (OTA) engine, which means prices often mirror those found on major OTAs like Expedia.com.
The main advantage is flexibility. You can pay using cash, Ultimate Rewards points or a combination of the two. Depending on the Chase card you hold, your points may also receive a boost in value when redeemed through the portal.
Chase Travel allows you to use Ultimate Rewards points at a fixed rate toward travel bookings. The value of your points depends entirely on the card you hold:
This boosted portal value can sometimes beat the value of transferring points to airline or hotel partners, especially for inexpensive domestic flights, premium-economy fares, cruises or independent hotels not tied to loyalty programs.
For example, as a Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholder, a two-night stay at The Ritz-Carlton, Montreal costs 69,725 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Meanwhile, if you transfer your Chase points to Marriott Bonvoy, the two-night stay costs nearly three times as much at 175,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
In this case, you’re clearly much better off redeeming your points directly through Chase Travel.
Booking through Chase Travel is straightforward, but a few nuances help you get the most value.
Once you’ve logged in, select “Benefits and travel” and then “travel.”
The interface resembles most online travel sites, with filters for flexible dates, fare class, hotel rating and more. In this example, we’ll search for flights from New York City (all airports) to Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL).
You’ll see various flight options on the next page.
You can pay with:
The mixed-payment option is particularly useful since there’s no minimum redemption.
If you book a flight, you’ll still earn airline miles and elite-qualifying credit as if you booked directly. Hotel bookings, however, sometimes do not earn points or elite benefits because these are considered OTA bookings.
Ultimate Rewards has excellent airline and hotel transfer partners, including United MileagePlus, Air Canada Aeroplan, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Emirates Skywards, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, World of Hyatt and more.
While there are exceptions, here’s my best advice:
Before you book, check the cash price and compare with transferring points to an airline partner. The best method is:
Whichever uses fewer points wins.
You can freely combine points from personal and business Chase cards into one account, letting you boost otherwise 1-cent points to 1.25 or 1.5 cents.
If you’re paying partially or fully with cash, use a Chase card that earns bonus points on travel.
Chase Travel is a powerful tool for booking flights, hotels, cars and more using both cash and points. With the right Chase card, your Ultimate Rewards can stretch significantly farther and pairing strong portal value with a thoughtful transfer strategy can unlock thousands of dollars in travel every year.
Pair a Sapphire Reserve or Ink Preferred card with high-earning cards like Freedom Unlimited, compare portal redemptions to transfer partners every time and you’ll consistently save money and points on your travel.
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