If you’re collecting miles & points through credit card spending, I always recommend doing what you can to accrue transferable points currencies.
That’s because these points are much more flexible than when you’re earning an individual airline or hotel points currency. You have the ability to transfer these points to all kinds of travel partners, and you’re safeguarded from a devaluation in a specific points currency.
With that in mind, in this post I wanted to address all the basics of transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points. How many partners does Chase Ultimate Rewards have, how long does it take for points to transfer, who can you transfer points to, etc.
In this post:
How many airline and hotel partners does Chase Ultimate Rewards have?
As of now, Chase Ultimate Rewards has 14 airline and hotel transfer partners — that includes eleven airline partners and three hotel partners.
The 11 airline partners include the following:
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- British Airways Executive Club
- Emirates Skywards
- Iberia Plus
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Southwest Rapid Rewards
- United MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
The three hotel partners include the following:
- IHG Rewards Club
- Marriott Bonvoy
- World of Hyatt
Some might argue that Chase really only has 12 partners, since you can transfer points between Aer Lingus, British Airways, and Iberia pretty freely, assuming your accounts meet certain requirements.
How long does it take to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points in December 2022?
Below is a chart with how long it typically takes to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points:
Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partner | Transfer Ratio | Transfer Time |
|---|---|---|
Aer Lingus Aer Club | 1000 : 1000 | Instant |
Air Canada Aeroplan | 1000 : 1000 | Instant |
Air France KLM FlyingBlue | 1000 : 1000 | Instant |
British Airways Executive Club | 1000 : 1000 | Instant |
Emirates Skywards | 1000 : 1000 | Instant |
Iberia Plus | 1000 : 1000 | Instant |
JetBlue TrueBlue | 1000 : 1000 | Instant |
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1000 : 1000 | ~ 1 to 7 days |
Southwest Rapid Rewards | 1000 : 1000 | Instant |
United MileagePlus | 1000 : 1000 | Instant |
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1000 : 1000 | Instant |
IHG One Rewards | 1000 : 1000 | Instant |
Marriott Bonvoy | 1000 : 1000 | ~ 1 to 2 days |
World of Hyatt | 1000 : 1000 | Instant |
As you can see:
- Transfers to 12 partners are typically instant
- Transfers to Marriott Bonvoy and Singapore KrisFlyer are the only ones that aren’t instant; the KrisFlyer transfers are most inconsistent, and sometimes take less than a day, and sometimes take significantly longer
Are there fees associated with transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points?
No, there are no fees associated with transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points. This is one advantage of Chase Ultimate Rewards over Amex Membership Rewards, since Amex imposes small fees when you transfer points to US airline partners.
Can you transfer Chase points to someone else’s Chase account?
Chase lets you pool the points you earn on all cards in your name that accrue Ultimate Rewards points. On top of that, you can move your points to another Chase account of someone in your household. Do note that if you abuse this benefit, Chase may close your account.
Here are the terms associated with that:
You can move your points, but only to another Chase card with Ultimate Rewards belonging to you, or one member of your household. If we suspect that you’ve engaged in fraudulent activity related to your credit card account or Ultimate Rewards, or that you’ve misused Ultimate Rewards in any way (for example by buying or selling points, moving or transferring points with or to an ineligible third party or account, or repeatedly opening or otherwise maintaining credit card accounts for the sole purpose of generating rewards) we may temporarily prohibit you from earning points or using points you’ve already earned. If we believe you’ve engaged in any of these acts, we’ll close your credit card account and you’ll lose all your points.
Can you transfer Chase points to someone else’s airline or hotel accounts?
You can transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to a loyalty program belonging to you, or one additional household member who is also listed as an authorized user on your card. Once you transfer points to an authorized user, that person will be the only authorized user eligible to receive points transfers.
What cards earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points?
Some of the best cards for earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points include the following:
- The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review) offers 3x points on dining, online groceries, and select streaming services, and 2x points on travel; the card has a $95 annual fee
- The Chase Sapphire Reserve® (review) offers 3x points on dining and travel, plus a $300 annual travel credit; the card has a $550 annual fee
- The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (review) offers 3x points on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases annually on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable, and phone services, and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines; the card has a $95 annual fee
On top of that, the following four no annual fee cards earn points that can be converted into Chase Ultimate Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio in conjunction with one of the above cards:
- The Chase Freedom FlexSM (review) offers 5x points in rotating quarterly categories, on up to $1,500 of spending per quarter, plus 3x points on dining and drugstores; the card has no annual fee
- The Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review) offers 1.5x points on everyday spending, plus 3x points on dining and drugstores; the card has no annual fee
- The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (review) offers 5x points on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each anniversary year on cellular phone, landline, internet and cable TV services, plus 2x points on the first $25,000 spend in combined purchases each anniversary year on gas stations and restaurants; the card has no annual fee
- The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (review) offers 1.5x points on everyday spending; the card has no annual fee
Note that you can earn the welcome bonus on each of the above cards, with the exception of the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve, where you can only earn the bonus on either card if you don’t have either card, and haven’t earned the welcome bonus on either card in the past 48 months.
You can pool all those points towards one Ultimate Rewards account. However, the biggest restriction in getting approved for the above cards is Chase’s 5/24 rule, where Chase typically won’t approve you for one of those cards if you’ve opened five or more new card accounts in the past 24 months.
Should you transfer Chase points to travel partners?
In general, the best use of Chase Ultimate Rewards points is to convert them into airline miles or hotel points. Specifically, my favorite transfer partners are Air France-KLM Flying Blue British Airways Executive Club, Emirates Skywards, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, and particularly World of Hyatt. However, you only want to do this once you’ve figured out the award you want to book, have verified availability, and are sure you understand how that program works.
If you’re someone who prefers to redeem your points as cash back towards travel, be sure you at least maximize the value. You get different value out of the points depending on the most premium card you have:
- If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can redeem each point for 1.5 cents towards a travel redemption
- Otherwise, if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, you can redeem each point for 1.25 cents towards a travel redemption
Personally, I value Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, so this isn’t how I’d choose to redeem them. That being said, if you can get 1.5 cents of value per point, that’s potentially a great deal if you have the right card combo.
For example, if you have the Chase Freedom Unlimited® in conjunction with the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you’d be looking at a return of 2.25% towards travel on everyday, non-bonused spending (since the Freedom Unlimited offers 1.5x points on all purchases).
Bottom line
Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the all-around most valuable points currencies out there. Chase Ultimate Rewards has some great transfer partners, and some might find it worthwhile to redeem the points for 1.5 cents each towards purchases.
On top of that, the points are pretty easy to rack up thanks to all the great cards that accrue Ultimate Rewards points.
If you have any data points on how long Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfers have taken you, please share them below, so that I can keep the chart as accurate as possible!
| Want to learn more about points transfer times? See our series about how long points transfers take with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou. |
Transfer to Flying Blue definitely not instant. Transferred Amex points today and they were instantaneous or nearly so. Chase is ....pending.
In the past year I have transferred UR to Southwest, Marriott, IHG, and today Hyatt. None has been instant. The Southwest delay actually cost me the entire award flight as the price went up between initiating the transfer and the transfer actually happening.
I'm actually going to book a nearby hotel stay with my current Hyatt balance just in case the target booking is gone by the time the transfer happens.
I don't...
In the past year I have transferred UR to Southwest, Marriott, IHG, and today Hyatt. None has been instant. The Southwest delay actually cost me the entire award flight as the price went up between initiating the transfer and the transfer actually happening.
I'm actually going to book a nearby hotel stay with my current Hyatt balance just in case the target booking is gone by the time the transfer happens.
I don't know if it's just bad luck or if something is up with my UR account, but it really sucks since instant transfer is a big part of the benefit of these great transfer points.
I have made two transfers to united recently and both took between 24 and 36hrs. Also made a transfer to aer lingus today that has taken 8 hours and counting.
In the past week, I've initiated transfers from Chase to both Flying Blue (KLM/Air France) and Hyatt, and none have been instant. A Flying Blue transfer that I initiated on Friday took 36 hours to complete. I did Hyatt and additional Flying Blue transfers yesterday that have yet to complete. I haven't experienced these kinds of delays in the past, and it's quite frustrating when there's a seat/room you're looking to grab before it disappears.
Ive been waiting >48hrs for a 37000 point transfer to Hyatt
How long does it take for Chase to transfer 100,000 bonus miles earned on Iberia chase card?
“ No, there are no fees associated with transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points. This is one advantage of Chase Ultimate Rewards over Amex Membership Rewards, since Amex imposes small fees when you transfer points to US airline partners.”
But no one with a brain is transferring to Delta anyway, so…
Agreed re transfers not always being instant, particularly if multiple transfers within the same day. I was transferring to Hyatt to get enough points for award booking. Kept getting an error rate that I didn’t have enough points, so tried a second (and eventually third) transfer. Those last two took multiple days to post.
Issue arose because of new dynamic pricing. App displays standard room price per night, but total cost may be actually...
Agreed re transfers not always being instant, particularly if multiple transfers within the same day. I was transferring to Hyatt to get enough points for award booking. Kept getting an error rate that I didn’t have enough points, so tried a second (and eventually third) transfer. Those last two took multiple days to post.
Issue arose because of new dynamic pricing. App displays standard room price per night, but total cost may be actually higher. There is no way to see the total cost until you get to the booking screen, and you can’t get to the booking screen until you have enough points. App stated 15,000/night (in the property screen where you select a room, not just the list of properties with standard rates) so I assumed I needed 105,000. I actually needed 117,000.
Chase has been really slacking with transfers as of late. 2-3 days seems standard for Marriott now and I had my Hyatt transfer take over 24 hours as well recently. Thankfully I was smart enough to transfer to Singapore via Amex recently and that one happened nearly instantly allowing me to grab up 2 J award seats.
My UR transfers to United and Air Canada in the past year have ALL taken a minimum of 24 hrs and as long as 72 hrs (to Aeroplan). In one case, I even received a notification after 48 hrs that the transaction (transfer to United) had failed and I should re-attempt it (which then took another 24 hours). The "instant" thing is very much hit-or-miss nowadays.
I transferred Chase UR points to United about a month ago. To my surprise, it took a full 4 days before the points were transferred. I was nervous as I was afraid my preferred award flight might disappear. Fortunately, it did not. Lesson learned. Transfers to United are NOT always instant.
+1. United transfers are instant, except when they aren't. More than once it has taken 24-48 hours for me.
I had to call in because the app wouldn’t work but the customer service was good. My CUR transfer to Emirates took just over 48 hours. I was so paranoid my flight award wouldn’t still be available . Well it was. In fact there was even more availability.