Chase Ultimate Rewards points are a potent tool in the world of travel rewards, offering remarkable flexibility when it comes to booking flights, especially within the U.S. Earning these points through Chase credit cards can unlock a variety of travel possibilities, from economy flights to premium cabin experiences. If you’re wondering How Many Chase Points To Fly, you’ve come to the right place. This guide will break down the various ways you can leverage your Chase points to take to the skies, maximizing their value and getting you closer to your dream destinations.
Chase points aren’t tied to a single airline, which is a significant advantage. You can transfer them to over a dozen airline loyalty programs, giving you access to a wide network of flights. Even if you’re aiming for an airline that isn’t a direct Chase partner, like Delta or American Airlines, there are often indirect routes to booking those flights using your points.
For those who prefer a simpler approach, the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal offers a straightforward way to redeem points for flights, bypassing the complexities of frequent flyer programs. This method even allows you to earn airline miles on flights booked with points – a unique benefit compared to traditional award bookings.
Let’s explore the best strategies to use your Chase points for domestic flights, ensuring you get the most value and minimize your out-of-pocket expenses.
Top Chase Cards to Rack Up Points for Flights
Before diving into redemption strategies, it’s crucial to know which Chase credit cards are your best allies in accumulating Ultimate Rewards points. To unlock the full potential of your points – specifically, transferring them to Chase’s airline and hotel partners – you’ll need to hold one of these premium cards:
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is often lauded as the ideal entry point into the world of travel rewards credit cards. It strikes a fantastic balance between valuable benefits and a reasonable annual fee.
Key Highlights:
- Welcome Bonus: A substantial bonus points offer after meeting the spending requirement in the initial months. This is a fast track to boosting your points balance significantly.
- Earning Potential: Earns valuable points on travel (including through Chase Travel℠), dining, select streaming services, and online grocery purchases, plus points on all other spending.
- Redemption Bonus: Points are worth 25% more when redeemed for travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal. This increases the purchasing power of your points when booking flights, hotels, and more directly through Chase.
- Travel Protections: Offers travel insurance benefits like trip cancellation/interruption insurance and auto rental collision damage waiver, providing peace of mind on your trips.
Why it’s great for flights: The bonus redemption value in the Chase Travel portal effectively stretches your points further when booking flights. Combined with strong earning categories, it’s a solid card for frequent flyers.
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
For the serious traveler, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a premium powerhouse packed with luxury perks and enhanced redemption value. While it carries a higher annual fee, the benefits can easily outweigh the cost for those who travel frequently and appreciate premium experiences.
Key Highlights:
- Elevated Redemption Value: Points are worth 50% more when redeemed for travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal, maximizing your points’ worth even further than the Sapphire Preferred.
- Generous Travel Credit: An annual travel credit that offsets a portion of the annual fee and can be used towards travel purchases.
- Bonus Points on Travel: Earns a high rate of points on flights and hotels purchased through Chase Travel℠, accelerating your points earning on travel spending.
- Airport Lounge Access: Provides access to a vast network of airport lounges worldwide through Priority Pass™ Select, offering a more comfortable and enjoyable airport experience.
- Global Entry/TSA PreCheck Credit: Statement credit towards application fees for Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck®, streamlining your airport security experience.
Why it’s great for flights: The 50% redemption bonus in the travel portal means fewer points are needed to book the same flights compared to other redemption methods. The travel credit and lounge access further enhance the travel experience, making it a top choice for avid flyers.
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Business owners looking to maximize rewards will find the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card exceptionally valuable. It combines a strong welcome bonus with bonus categories relevant to business spending, and the ability to transfer points to travel partners.
Key Highlights:
- Large Welcome Bonus: Often features a very generous welcome bonus, quickly accumulating a significant number of points for businesses.
- Bonus Categories for Business: Earns bonus points on common business expenses like travel and select business categories, helping businesses earn rewards on their operational spending.
- Redemption Bonus: Points are worth 25% more when redeemed for travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal, similar to the Sapphire Preferred.
- Travel and Purchase Protections: Offers benefits like purchase protection and trip cancellation insurance, valuable for business travel and purchases.
Why it’s great for flights: The large welcome bonus and bonus categories can quickly build a substantial points balance for business owners to use for flights. The transferability to partners adds flexibility for both business and personal travel.
Boost Your Points with No Annual Fee Cards (When Paired with a Premium Card):
Once you have one of the premium cards mentioned above, the points earned on these no-annual-fee cards become transferable to travel partners, significantly increasing their value:
- Chase Freedom Unlimited®: Earns a flat rate cash back on all purchases, which effectively becomes transferable Ultimate Rewards points when paired with a Sapphire or Ink Preferred card.
- Chase Freedom Flex®: Features rotating bonus categories each quarter, plus bonus rewards on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠ and dining, offering high earning potential in various spending areas.
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card: Excellent for businesses, earning bonus cash back at office supply stores and gas stations, and on internet, cable, and phone services.
- Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card: Provides a flat-rate cash back on all business purchases, offering simplicity and consistent rewards earning for businesses.
By strategically using these cards and understanding their benefits, you can optimize your Chase Ultimate Rewards earning and have a substantial points balance ready for your next flight.
Decoding How to Use Chase Points for Domestic Flights
Now that you know how to earn Chase points, let’s explore the various methods to redeem them for domestic flights, answering the core question: how many Chase points to fly?
1. Transferring Points to Airline Partners: Strategic Alliances
Chase partners with a diverse range of airlines, each offering unique strengths and route networks. Transferring your points to these partners at a 1:1 ratio can often unlock the best value, especially for maximizing point redemption for specific airlines or routes.
Chase’s Airline Transfer Partners:
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- British Airways Executive Club
- Emirates Skywards
- Flying Blue (KLM and Air France)
- Iberia Plus
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
- United MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
While only a few of these are U.S.-based carriers directly, the beauty lies in airline alliances and partnerships. These programs allow you to transfer Chase points to one partner airline and then use those points to book flights on a completely different airline within the same alliance or partnership.
Example Strategies for Domestic Flights:
-
United Airlines: Transfer to United MileagePlus directly. United uses dynamic pricing, so award costs vary. Alternatively, transfer to Air Canada Aeroplan for potentially better value on fixed-price saver awards for United flights, particularly for shorter and mid-range domestic routes.
- Example: A flight from Chicago to Denver might cost fewer points through Aeroplan’s award chart compared to United’s dynamic pricing.
-
Delta Air Lines: Chase doesn’t directly partner with Delta. However, you can transfer points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club to book Delta flights. Virgin Atlantic has a distance-based award chart for Delta flights, which can be advantageous, especially for nonstop flights.
- Example: A nonstop flight from New York to Atlanta on Delta could be booked using Virgin points transferred from Chase, potentially at a lower point cost than other methods.
-
American Airlines & Alaska Airlines: Transfer points to British Airways Executive Club. British Airways is part of the Oneworld alliance with American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Their distance-based award chart can be excellent for shorter domestic flights on these airlines. For longer flights, consider Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer for Alaska Airlines flights, especially for routes to Hawaii.
- Example: A short hop on American Airlines, like Dallas to Austin, could be a sweet spot using British Airways Avios points transferred from Chase. For Alaska Airlines to Hawaii, Singapore KrisFlyer miles might offer a surprisingly good deal.
Important Note: Award flight availability can be limited, especially “saver” awards which are typically bookable with partner airlines. Always check for award availability before transferring points, as transfers are usually irreversible.
Aeroplan Award Chart Example (Partner Flights within North America)
| Distance (miles) | Economy | Business |
|---|---|---|
| 0 – 500 | 6,000 pts | 15,000 pts |
| 501 – 1,500 | 10,000 pts | 20,000 pts |
| 1,501 – 2,750 | 12,500 pts | 25,000 pts |
| 2,751 + | 22,500 pts | 35,000 pts |
British Airways Partner Award Chart Example (U.S. Domestic Flights)
| Distance | Economy | Business Class |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 650 miles | 12,000 | 24,000 |
| 651 – 1,150 | 16,000 | 32,000 |
| 1,151 – 2,000 | 18,000 | 40,000 |
| 2,001 – 3,000 | 20,000 | 50,000 |
These charts illustrate how many Chase points to fly based on distance when using partner programs like Aeroplan and British Airways. Use these as benchmarks when planning your award bookings.
2. Booking Directly Through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal: Simplicity and Value
For those seeking a user-friendly and straightforward approach, the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal is an excellent option. It functions like any online travel agency (e.g., Expedia), but with the added benefit of allowing you to redeem Chase points for bookings.
Key Advantages of the Travel Portal:
-
Ease of Use: Search for flights, hotels, car rentals, and cruises in one place, with a familiar booking interface.
-
Earn Airline Miles on “Free” Flights: Unlike traditional award bookings, you often earn airline miles and elite qualifying credit on flights booked through the portal with points.
-
Fixed Point Value: Your points have a fixed value when redeemed through the portal, ranging from 1 cent to 1.5 cents per point depending on the Chase card you hold (higher for Sapphire Reserve).
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® & Ink Business Preferred®: 1.25 cents per point
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®: 1.5 cents per point
-
Book Almost Any Airline: Access a wide selection of airlines, including many that are not Chase transfer partners, and even some low-cost carriers (though some may require phone booking).
When to Consider the Travel Portal:
- Dynamic Award Pricing Airlines (JetBlue & Southwest): For airlines like JetBlue and Southwest, where award prices are linked to cash prices, the portal can sometimes offer better value than transferring points. Compare the point cost in the portal versus transferring to their loyalty programs.
- Simplicity is Key: If you prefer to avoid the complexities of award charts and partner bookings, the portal offers a convenient “one-stop-shop” for flight redemptions.
- Maximizing Point Value (Sapphire Reserve): With the Sapphire Reserve’s 1.5 cents per point value, the portal can be a very competitive redemption option, sometimes rivaling or even exceeding the value you might get from transfers, especially when considering the earnings on point-booked flights.
Example Scenario:
Let’s say a domestic flight costs $300.
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Portal: This flight would cost approximately 24,000 Chase points ($300 / $0.0125 per point).
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® Portal: The same flight would cost approximately 20,000 Chase points ($300 / $0.015 per point).
This example highlights how many Chase points to fly a specific route when using the travel portal, and how the card you hold impacts the point cost.
Caveats of the Travel Portal:
- Fixed Value May Not Always Be Optimal: While convenient, the fixed value might not always be the absolute highest value you could extract from your points, especially for premium cabin redemptions or leveraging specific transfer partner sweet spots.
- Limited Access to Some Low-Cost Carriers Online: Some ultra-low-cost carriers might not be bookable online through the portal, requiring phone booking.
3. Comparing Point Values: Portal vs. Transfers – Finding Your Sweet Spot
Deciding whether to transfer points to partners or use the travel portal often comes down to comparing the value you get in each scenario and understanding how many Chase points to fly using each method.
Key Considerations for Comparison:
- Desired Airline and Route: Some airlines and routes are better suited for transfer partners, while others might be more cost-effective through the portal.
- Point Value Goals: Are you aiming for maximum cents-per-point value, or is convenience and simplicity a higher priority?
- Chase Card Portfolio: The redemption bonus offered by your specific Chase card (especially Sapphire Reserve) significantly influences the portal’s competitiveness.
- Award Availability: If your desired award flights are not available through transfer partners, the portal might be your only option to use points for those flights.
- Dynamic Pricing vs. Award Charts: For airlines with dynamic award pricing (JetBlue, Southwest, United), compare portal prices to estimated transfer values. Award charts of partner airlines offer more predictable point costs for certain routes.
General Guidelines:
- Portal for Simplicity & Earning Miles: For straightforward economy flights, especially on JetBlue or Southwest, or when earning miles on point-booked flights is desired, the portal is often a strong contender.
- Transfers for Maximizing Value & Premium Cabins: For potentially higher cents-per-point value, especially for business or first-class redemptions, or for leveraging specific partner award chart sweet spots, explore transfer partner options first.
- Always Compare: Before making a decision, take a few minutes to compare the point cost of your desired flight through both the travel portal and relevant transfer partners. Websites like Point.me or Roame.travel can help with award availability searches and point redemption valuations across different programs.
Bottom Line: Chase Points Open Doors to Domestic Skies
Understanding how many Chase points to fly domestically is about mastering the flexibility of the Ultimate Rewards program. Whether you choose the strategic route of airline transfers to leverage alliances and award charts, or opt for the convenience of the Chase travel portal, your points hold significant value for domestic travel.
By strategically earning points with the right Chase credit cards and understanding the nuances of redemption options, you can significantly reduce your travel expenses and explore the destinations on your bucket list. Chase Ultimate Rewards points truly are a powerful tool for unlocking affordable and rewarding air travel within the United States.
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