One of the most frequently asked questions we get is, “how exactly do you use transfer partners?” In this post, we’ll walk through each step from pooling Chase Ultimate Rewards points to making a transfer partner booking.

Step 1: Navigating to the Ultimate Rewards Portal

The first step is to log into your online Chase account and navigate to the bottom left menu to find your Ultimate Rewards balance. Click on the Balance to enter the portal.

Step 2: Select a card that has access to transfer partners

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, and the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card are cards that have access to transfer partners.

Step 3: Navigate to the left menu to see options

After you click on the respective credit card, navigate to the top left hamburger button to see a bunch of point redemption options.

Below is a screenshot of the menu with all the point redemption options.

Step 4: Pool Ultimate Rewards between cards

From the menu, click on “Combine Points” and select the card and amount you would like to move. Transfer Ultimate Reward points to the card that has access to transfer partners.

Now that you’ve pooled the points together, it’s time to use transfer partners!

Step 5: Transfer Ultimate Rewards to Travel Partners

Navigate back to the left-hand menu and select “Transfer to Travel Partners.” Chase has hotel and airline transfer partners.

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Step 6: Select Your Transfer Partner

Before you select a travel partner, be sure that you have a membership ID with them. If you don’t, now is the time to create one before moving on to the next step. Enter the number of points you would like to transfer and submit.

After that, you’re all set! Transfers can be instant or take a few days. In my experience, United and Hyatt have been instant.

Why Do Transfer Partners Matter?

The main question is, “why do transfer partners matter?” I talk about 2 cents per point (CPP) in value a lot, and the big reason is transfer partners.

2 CPP really means that you can redeem, say, 5,000 points for $100 in value. In this example, we’ll use Hyatt to illustrate my point.

Hyatt points tend to have the most value for low (1-2) and high end (6+) categories.  

The reason for this is that we’re looking at the retail price compared to the number of points needed for a redemption.

For example, let’s look for a hotel in Colorado Springs. From a quick Google search, the lowest price I see is $102/night.

If we click into Orbitz, the total price including taxes and fees is $112.17.

Booking Options

Chase Travel Portal

Jumping into the Chase Travel Portal, if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can transfer 5,000 Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt.

With the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can redeem UR points for 1.5 CPP, so 5,000 points is $75 in value.

For the Hyatt House in Colorado Springs, you'll need to spend 6,800 points -- 7,400 points --  same $111 range we're seeing from other sites so good value for points  -- 1.5 CPP.

Transfer Partners

To get an even better value, if you transfer 5,000 Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt, the redemption will only be 5,000 points. For this property, there are not any extra taxes and fees to pay when you redeem Hyatt points.

Bottom Line

Your choices for booking the property are:

1. Retail = $112
2. Chase Travel Portal = 7,400  UR points
3. Transfer Partner (Hyatt) = 5,000 UR points

If you're redeeming 5,000 points for something that would cost you $112 out of pocket, you’re getting 2.2 cents per point in value.

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