Questions and Answers

Hi Lucky, I’m relatively new to the points and reward credit card programs, so I appreciate your insight and any advice you may offer. I’ve accumulated 70k UR points with my Chase Sapphire Preferred (which I’ve downgraded to a no-fee Freedom Unlimited after receiving my new Sapphire Reserve) and just completed the introductory promo for the CSR. So soon I’ll have 170k UR points. So now what? I’d like to use those points to book flights for myself, my wife and our two children for a trip to Oahu in mid-February. Can you suggest what is the best way to maximize the UR points for flights? I know from reading your previous articles that I can book flights directly from the Chase portal and you also mentioned transferring UR points to Chase partners… here’s where you lose me. I haven’t seen affordable flights from Alaska or Hawaiian. What am I doing wrong? Thanks in advance for your help!

I would check out these posts regarding redemptions for Hawaii via points.

[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/10/06/redeeming-miles-to-hawaii-can-be-tough/[/URL]

[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/08/26/miles-hawaii-first-class/[/URL]

You might not be doing anything wrong – Hawaii can just be expensive. Use Kayak or Google Flights to set alerts

And if you can’t find award availability, consider getting a couple of AS credit cards for the +1 vouchers and use those to buy cash tickets while saving your UR points for other travel.