How to use Chase Ultimate Rewards® when booking a hotel
If you're planning a trip and need to book a hotel, you may be wondering if you can use the Chase Ultimate Rewards points you've earned toward your hotel stay. If you want to use points to pay for your hotel (fully or partially), you can do that in a couple of different ways. Keep reading to learn more about using Chase Ultimate Rewards points for hotels.
Booking hotels through Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you want to use your points to book a hotel, you can do so right in Chase's travel portal on the Ultimate Rewards site.
Depending on which card you have, the value of your points within the Chase travel portal may vary. For instance, with the Chase Freedom Unlimited card, your points are worth one cent each. With Chase Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred, your points are worth 1.25 cents. Chase Sapphire Reserve offers the highest value for points, with each point worth 1.5 cents in the travel portal.
Cardmembers with multiple eligible Chase credit cards that earn Ultimate Rewards can pool their points to get the most out of them. When you book your hotel through the Chase travel portal, you can earn points on reservations paid with your Chase card which earns Ultimate Rewards points. For instance, you may earn up to 10x points on hotels with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card.
Ultimate Rewards points can also be used with Chase hotel partners through Chase's transfer program. Booking your hotels this way may allow you to reap some additional benefits of the loyalty program, such as room upgrades, complimentary breakfasts or complimentary nights.
While these are two ways to use Chase points for hotels, you may also be wondering about Chase's partner cards with hotel brands.
The differences between Chase cards and partner cards
The above information about Chase Ultimate Rewards points is only applicable to the Chase-branded cards. However, Chase also offers co-branded cards with hotel partners. These cards don't earn Ultimate Rewards points but do offer alternative opportunities for redeeming rewards.
For the co-branded cards, you still can earn points through purchases, but they'll be redeemable through that specific partner's loyalty program instead. This means a co-branded hotel rewards credit card could be a good option if you're a traveler who prefers to frequent a specific hotel chain.
Options for points redemption with co-branded cards are different overall than Ultimate Rewards points, and these cards may be the preferred choice for people who book hotels often. Additionally, you can earn perks like exclusive price deals, complimentary breakfasts, complimentary stays and room upgrades, early check-in, late check-out and more.
In summary
When it comes to booking a hotel room with credit card points, there are a few different ways to do it. If you have an eligible Chase card, you can use the Chase travel portal, or you can book directly with Chase Ultimate Rewards' partner hotels. If you have a Chase card that's cobranded with a hotel partner, you can earn loyalty points when you make purchases to redeem through the hotel's site.
