How to Use 100K Chase Ultimate Rewards
100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards are a lot of points, but surprisingly easy to obtain. Right now, you can earn 100,000 URs with just one welcome offer from the Chase Ink Preferred. The card currently has an awesome offer of 100,000 Ultimate Rewards with a reduced spending requirement, only $8,000 versus the standard $15,000.
So once you meet the minimum spend, you'll find yourself with at least 108,000 URs. With many of us on the receiving end of these juicy welcome offers, I figured I would share some ideas on how to use 100K Chase URs. For each scenario, I included what you could do if your spouse or significant other also opened a Chase Ink Preferred and you had another 100,000 points or so to play with.
Four Nights at a Category 6 Hyatt
In the World of Hyatt program (a Chase transfer partner), category 6 properties charge 25,000 points per night for a standard room during standard nights. Off-peak nights go for 21,000 points. With 100,000 URs, you can spend 4 nights at a category 6 property.
Hyatt has 8 categories of hotels. So when it comes to category 6 properties, we're not talking about airport hotels. In fact, one of the best stays I've ever had was a 5-star hotel in Madrid that will soon go up from a category 4 to a 5.
And of course, you can spend even more nights at a Hyatt property in a lower category.
Player 2 Mode: Upgrade yourself to a suite! Standard suites at category 6 properties go for 40,000 points per night (36,000 at off-peak, and 44,000 peak). 200,000 URs is enough for 5 nights in a standard suite at a category 6 Hyatt. If you don't want a suite, you can of course spend twice as many nights at a category 6 hotel instead.
Three Nights at a Category D Hyatt All-Inclusive Resort
If you're into all-inclusive options, we have you covered. Hyatt has a separate award chart for all-inclusive properties. Category D properties require 30,000 points per night for standard nights, while off-peak is 25,000 points and peak pricing is 35,000 points.
You could also score 4 nights at a category C all-inclusive. These go for 21,000, 25,000, and 29,000 points per night for off-peak, standard, and peak pricing. We can still get great value out of Hyatt all-inclusives even though Hyatt recently increased the prices for a lot of these properties.
Player 2 Mode: Use P2's points to cover flights down to your all-inclusive destination. Check out the section about short-haul flights on American and Alaska below for some suggestions. Or you can again spend twice as many nights in the sun by doubling down on your vacation.
Weekend Trip to Disneyworld / Universal for Up To Three People
Ever wondered how to use 100K Chase URs for a trip to Disney? 100,000 URs can be enough to cover flights AND hotel for a quick trip to Orlando for a family of 3. I picked a random city in the middle of the country (Kansas City) and within a few minutes found saver availability on United to Orlando for a weekend this year. 60,000 UA miles + $22.40 round-trip for two people. But we can do better. Aeroplan (another Chase partner) charges only 25,000 + $54.20 CAD for the exact same flight per person. So for 75,000 miles + $162.60 CAD, you can fly three people round-trip to Orlando.
After spending 75,000 URs on flights, we have 25,000 points left to use. For hotels, I again looked on Hyatt's website and found the Hyatt Place Lake Buena Vista. This is one of the closest Hyatt options to the Disney parks and they offer a free shuttle. If you're more interested in Universal Studios, there's the Hyatt Place across from Universal. This Hyatt Place is walking distance to Universal (but they also offer a free shuttle).
Both of these properties are category 2. They go for 8,000 points per night at standard rates, 6,500 points off-peak, and 9,500 points peak. At standard or off-peak pricing, we still have enough URs to cover a three-night stay at either of these hotels.
While I used Kansas City as a departure airport for this example, this of course can be replicated from elsewhere throughout the country. And the same goes for the destination. You can take this same approach for visiting different cities all over the US!
Player 2 Mode: With another 100,000 points, you could turn this into a full family trip! Bring the grandparents or other relatives along and grab a second room. Or you can just redeem some of those additional points for some nice Hyatt resorts in the area, like the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress.
How to Use 100K Chase Ultimate Rewards: Round-Trip to Europe on Delta One
Virgin Atlantic offers many sweet spots, including Delta One flights between the US and Europe for 50,000 one-way. This sweet spot is a favorite of Rick's. Departure airport options include Atlanta, Detroit, Seattle, and New York (JFK). This is by far one of the best deals for getting across the pond in a premium cabin. Not only is it quite cheap, but Delta One is an excellent product. Finding the saver space can be the challenge. If you are flexible you should be able to pull it off though.
Player 2 Mode: Help P2 avoid FOMO and have them join you on the trip by booking their own round-trip flight on Delta One.
Lots of Short-Haul Flights on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines
11 flights to be exact. British Airways is a oneworld partner of American Airlines, meaning you can redeem BA Avios for flights on AA and Alaska. This is my favorite way to use URs to fly on American or Alaska, since neither of them is a Chase transfer partner. BA charges just 9,000 miles for a one-way flight of up to 1,150 miles on AA or Alaska. This means 100,000 URs, you can take 11 one-way flights on AA or Alaska!
This is a great option that can get you half-way across the country and even down to the Caribbean! Here are a few examples that fall within 1,150 miles:
- Boston (BOS) – Chicago (ORD)
- Charlotte (CLT) – Bermuda (BDA)
- Chicago (ORD) – New Orleans (MSY)
- Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) – Cabo San Lucas (SJD)
- Miami (MIA) – Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW)
Miami in particular offers tons of non-stop options, including:
- Aruba (AUA)
- Belize City (BZE)
- Cancun (CUN)
- Grand Cayman (GCM)
- Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ)
- Punta Cana (PUJ)
- San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU)
Even Charlotte has some non-stop flights to the Caribbean for only 9,000 points, including:
- Cancun (CUN)
- Grand Cayman (GCM)
- Nassau (NAS)
- Providenciales (PLS)
Two-Player Bonus: A Long Weekend in Europe for Two in Business Class
Virgin Atlantic's sweet spot for Delta One is great, but when it comes to the cheapest business class flights across the pond, Iberia takes the cake. For flights between 3,000 and 4,000 miles, Iberia charges only 34,000 miles one-way in business class during off-peak! This covers Iberia destinations in the US like Boston, New York, and Washington, DC. Flying out of other cities like Chicago or even the west coast isn't a bad deal either. Iberia's destination of off-peak is quite generous and you can check their calendar for peak/off-peak dates here.
If you and P2 were to book round-trip business class flights for 68,000 points each, you'd still have 64,000 URs remaining for a hotel stay. Again, Hyatt is your best bet here. 64,000 points can get you 4 nights at a category 4, 3 nights at a category 5, or even 2 nights at a category 6 or 7 (all at standard pricing).
How to Use 100K Chase Ultimate Rewards: ToP Thoughts
Earning 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards from a single Chase Ink Preferred welcome offer is amazing. The flexibility we get from transferable currencies like Ultimate Rewards allow you to pursue many different booking options for any given trip. These are just some ideas out of many other incredible things we can do with 100,000 points.
How do you plan to use 100K Chase URs? Come share your thoughts in our Facebook Group!
