Chase Ultimate Rewards
The Ultimate Rewards (UR) program has been one of my favorite transferable programs to date because of their airline partners and ease of transferring points into airline miles. Chase currently partners with nine airlines and four hotels.
As a follow-up to the post on understanding transferable points, I want to dive into specific redemptions that can be made with Ultimate Rewards. While these do not encompass all possible redemptions, below are many of the high value ones that I am aware of.
When redeeming URs for award flights, you can book any UR partner and their airline partner’s flights by transferring your URs directly to the airline partner whose miles you want to use. Simply login to your UR account, select “Use Points,” select “Transfer to Travel Partners,” select “Transfer Points” to the right of the airline partner you want to use, and transfer the necessary points.
With an understanding of the UR airline partners and how to transfer your URs, here’s a list of redemptions that I recommend looking into for your next redemption.
1. Fly Virgin Atlantic to Europe (50,000 KrisFlyer Miles)
Singapore Airlines has individual award charts when using KrisFlyer miles to fly on Singapore Airlines, Star Alliance partner airlines, and other partner airlines. The other partner airlines include Alaska Airlines, Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, Vistara, and Juneyao Airlines.
For Virgin Atlantic flights to Europe, Singapore Airlines has a competitive redemption at 50,000 KrisFlyer miles one-way in business class. While this redemption to fly in Virgin Atlantic Upper Class is low, make sure to check the fuel surcharges. I recommend ITA Flight Matrix to estimate what these charges will be.
In conjunction to the downside of high fuel surcharges, Virgin Atlantic does not allow stopovers on one-way award tickets.
I recommend searching for award availability on Virgin Atlantic and then contacting Singapore Airlines at one of their four U.S. office locations here to book a flight.
Examples of non-stop Virgin Atlantic flights using KrisFlyer miles include:
- New York (JFK) – London (LHR)
- Atlanta (ATL) – London (LHR)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – London (LHR)
2. Fly United to Australia & New Zealand (80,000 MileagePlus Miles)
United Airlines uses an interactive award chart when using United miles to fly on United Airlines or Star Alliance partner flights. The United Airlines chart is driven by selecting your origin and then your destination. With origin and destination selected, the chart will calculate the required number of miles.
When flying to Australia, United has an attractive redemption at 80,000 Mileage Plus miles one-way in business class. Unlike Virgin Atlantic, United does not pass on fuel surcharges keeping your out-of-pocket spend much lower.
United includes the mainland U.S., Alaska, and Canada in the North America region and Australia, New Zealand, and Norfolk Island in the Australia & New Zealand region.
If you fly on Star Alliance partner Air New Zealand, United Airlines requires an additional 10,000 MileagePlus miles.
Business class award availability for this redemption will be limited on both United and Air New Zealand. Consider using a paid service like Expert Flyer to locate and be alerted for award availability.
I recommend searching for availability on united.com for award availability.
Examples of non-stop United flights to Australia & New Zealand include:
- Houston (IAH) – Sydney (SYD)
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Melbourne (MEL)
- San Francisco (SFO) – Auckland (AKL) *seasonal
3. Fly Delta to Hawaii (30,000 Flying Blue Miles)
Flying Blue, loyalty program of Air France / KLM, does not use an award chart to determine the mileage required on Air France / KLM, SkyTeam alliance partners, or other partner airline flights. Instead, you will need to use either Air France or KLM’s search engine to see the mileage required.
When flying Delta from the continental U.S. to Hawaii, Flying Blue requires only 30,000 Flying Blues miles one-way in business class. Similar to United Airlines, Delta Air Lines should not pass on fuel surcharges based on the ITA Flight Matrix tool.
Delta flights to Hawaii can be booked one-way unlike Virgin Atlantic.
If you decide to take advantage of this redemption, I use Air France/KLM or Delta to search for award availability.
Examples of non-stop Delta flights to Hawaii include:
- Los Angeles (LAX) – Honolulu (HNL)
- Salt Lake City (SLC) – Honolulu (HNL)
- Atlanta (ATL) – Honolulu (HNL)
4. Fly to Europe on a SkyTeam Partner (80,000 SkyPass Miles)
Skypass, loyalty program of Korean Air, has separate award charts when using SkyPass miles to fly on Korean Air and SkyTeam alliance partner airlines.
When flying to Europe using SkyPass miles, Korean Air only requires 80,000 miles round-trip in business class. As far as I know, 80,000 miles round-trip is the least amount of miles required to fly business class to Europe.
The downside to this redemption is that award travel must be booked round-trip and fuel surcharges can be material. On the flipside, round-trip awards do allow for stopovers. Also, you can book award flights online.
Search for award availability first on Delta and then on Air France or KLM.
Examples of non-stop Delta flights to Europe include:
- Atlanta (ATL) – Madrid (MAD) – Delta
- Washington (IAD) – Amsterdam (AMS) – KLM
- New York (JFK) – Paris (CDG) – Air France
5. Fly Air China Between London to China (37,000 Virgin Atlantic Miles)
Virgin Atlantic has individual award charts when using Virgin Atlantic miles to fly on Virgin Atlantic and partner airline flights. Virgin Atlantic has 10 airline partners which include Delta Air Lines, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand, Virgin Australia, South African Airways, ANA, Jet Airways, Air China, Hawaiian Airlines, and SAS.
For Air China flights from London to China, Virgin Atlantic only charges 37,500 Virgin Atlantic miles one-way in first class. While this redemption is extremely low, I advise using ITA Flight Matrix to estimate the fuel surcharges before transferring your points to Virgin Atlantic.
If you decide to book this award flight, call Virgin Atlantic at 800-365-9500 to check for award availability and book your flight.
The non-stop Air China flight will be:
- London (LHR) – Beijing (PEK)
Conclusion
The Chase Ultimate Rewards program continues to be an excellent program to use when earning transferable UR points. With nine airline and four hotel partners, URs open up a multitude of possibilities for flights originating in the U.S.
Have you used URs on any of these or other redemptions? If yes, please let me know in the comments or by sending me an email pointswithq@gmail.com.
Thanks for reading!
