How To Use 150K Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase Ultimate Rewards points are one of the most valuable transferrable points currencies. You can redeem even a small stash of Chase points for a free (or nearly free) flight or hotel stay. But a collection of 150,000 Chase points opens up even more options to book some truly memorable trips. Earning 150,000 Chase points is not as difficult as it may seem. Chase is currently out with an all-time-high offer on the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card for 150,000 Ultimate Rewards points. Now, we'll show you how to use 150K Chase Ultimate Rewards.
RELATED: Here are great options for redeeming 100K Chase Ultimate Rewards. With this new offer, 50,000 more Chase points makes some standout redemptions possible, especially if you if you want to fly in a premium cabin, book flights for you and a partner, or fly the whole family for cheap. The key is using Chase's long list of excellent transfer partners.
Earning 150K Chase Points
Currently, the Chase Sapphire Reserve has a welcome offer where you can earn 150K Chase points after spending $6,000 on the card in the first six months ($795 annual fee). But after hitting that minimum spending requirement, you'd actually end up with at least 156,000 Chase points since you earn 1X-8X points on every purchase you make with the card.
There are also elevated offers on several other Chase cards. Right now, you can earn 200K Ultimate Rewards on the Sapphire Reserve For Business℠ or 100K on the Chase Ink Business Preferred and other cards in the Ink Business family, and 75K on the Chase Sapphire Preferred®. If your spouse or significant other also opened one of these cards, you'd end up with another 75K-200K Chase points or more.
Remember, Chase regularly offers transfer bonuses, ranging from 20-80% bonus points. These bonuses can make your 150K Chase Ultimate Rewards stretch even further. You can track all current bonuses, as well as anticipated transfer times, on the ToP Partner Transfer Tool on the website.
Fly The Whole Family To Europe
Chase transfer partners like Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air France/KLM, British Airways, Iberia and others, offer several ways to book economy flights to Europe for not many points at all. With 150K Ultimate Rewards in your account, you'd have enough points to fly a family of four (or more!) to Europe and back. These are a few of the ways to do it.
- Transfer your Chase points to Aer Lingus or British Airways to book nonstop flights from the U.S. to Europe for as few as 13,000 Avios each way or 26,000 Avios roundtrip, plus taxes and fees. You may be able to connect onward to other cities in Europe for just a few thousand Avios more. The cheapest rates are for off-peak dates. Expect to spend more points if you're planning a trip during a peak travel season like summer.
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue Promo Rewards. Each month, Air France and KLM's joint loyalty program, Flying Blue, puts select routes on sale for up to 50% off. It's the best time to score a great deal using miles. Right now, for example, you can book flights from several U.S. cities to Europe for as low as 18,750 miles each way or 37,500 miles roundtrip, plus taxes and fees.
- Iberia now charges as few as 16,000 Avios each way or 32,000 roundtrip, plus taxes and fees, for nonstop flights between the U.S. and Spain. Again, the cheapest rates are for off-peak dates.
- Thanks to Virgin Atlantic's dynamic pricing model, flights between the U.S. and London (LHR) can be booked for as few as 12,000 points roundtrip from the East Coast, and 18,000 from the West Coast. Virgin Atlantic does charge higher taxes and fees than many other programs, but there are fewer cheaper ways to cross the pond with points.
But Beware Of High Taxes And Fees
Keep in mind that taxes and fees can be quite high for many of these redemptions, especially coming home from Europe. Aer Lingus, British Airways and Iberia all use a distance-based award chart to price their award flights. While many flights from the U.S. to Europe fall into the 3,000-4,000-mile distance band, flights from the West Coast will cost slightly more. Regardless, if you're trying to fly the whole family to Europe with points, 150K Chase Ultimate Rewards are more than enough for several roundtrip flights.
Roundtrip Business Class Flights To Spain
Iberia is also offers one of the cheapest ways to fly to Europe in business class. For flights between 3,000 and 4,000 miles, Iberia only charges 40,500 Avios each way in business class during off-peak dates, plus taxes and fees. That covers flights from cities like Boston (BOS), New York (JFK) and Washington, D.C. (IAD). Peak rates are 59,000 Avios each way. Iberia business class award rates are slightly higher than they used to be thanks to a recent devaluation, but it's a great deal nonetheless.
With 150K Ultimate Rewards, you could fly roundtrip to Spain in business class—and if you earn a few thousand more Chase points, you could book a lie-flat seat for another person, too!
Business Class to Europe on Almost Any Airline
Iberia business class may be one of the best award deals out there, but it’s far from the only lie-flat seat to Europe you can book with Chase points. Having 150K Chase points means you’ve got the flexibility when it comes to finding business class award availability to Europe. Through Air France/KLM’s Flying Blue program, you can book business class flights on either airline for just 60,000 miles each way, plus taxes and fees. Award rates are the same whether you’re flying into Paris (CDG) or Amsterdam (AMS) or connecting onward throughout Europe. Even better, you can book free stopovers with Flying Blue, so you can tack on a few extra days in Paris or Amsterdam on either end of your trip without paying a single mile more.
Air Canada Aeroplan is a great, easy-to-use program for booking flights on Star Alliance airlines like Lufthansa, SWISS Air, TAP Air Portugal, United and more. Even after a recent devaluation, most business class flights to Europe can be booked for between 60,000 and 75,000 Aeroplan miles each way. Take this Chicago (ORD) to Zurich (ZRH) flight in SWISS business class, for example.
Chase frequently offers transfer bonuses to these programs, meaning you’d need even fewer points to book these flights. With a transfer bonus, you can easily turn 150K Ultimate Rewards into roundtrip business class tickets on some of the world’s best airlines for you and a travel companion.
Japan In Business (Or First!) Class
With 150K Ultimate Rewards at your disposal, you can afford to dream big. For me, that's flying in a lie-flat seat to Japan. With Chase transfer partners, you've got a few different options to get to Japan in business class.
British Airways and Japan Airlines (JAL) are both members of the Oneworld airline alliance, which allows you to book JAL flights through British Airways. It's not the cheapest way to book JAL, but it's the best way to do so with Chase points. BA charges 92,500 Avios for a one-way JAL business class flight. Taxes and fees can be quite steep. But even at those rates, 150K Chase points are enough to get you to Japan and back in a lie-flat seat. Or, you could book one-way flights for yourself and your spouse or another person so you both can experience the luxury of a lie-flat seat.
Fly First Class to Japan With Chase Points
But if you have 150K Chase points to spare, you might as well use them to fly at the front end of the plane, right? First class seats don't come cheap. You can book a one-way flight in JAL First Class through British Airways for 123,750 Avios and the same taxes and fees. Considering that flight costs tens of thousands of dollars, you're getting outstanding value for your Chase points. But don't expect to just head to BritishAirways.com and book these seats. Award availability for JAL first and even business class can be extremely hard to find.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) business class is another option. While ANA isn't a Chase transfer partner, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is. ANA business class flights between the U.S. and Japan cost between 52,500 and 60,000 points each way, plus taxes and fees. For first class, Virgin charges 72,500 to 85,000 each way, depending on the route. But you have to call Virgin to book: ANA award flights can't be booked through Virgin's website. Finding business class award availability through ANA partner airlines is tough, but finding first class seats bookable through partners is near impossible. Still, if you can pull it off, it's a great way to use your Chase points. Learn more on booking ANA via Virgin Atlantic here.
A Multi-Night Stay in Hawaii
Lodging in Hawaii can often be the priciest part of the trip. So why not use your Chase points to cover the cost of your stay—and at a luxury resort, at that? In the World of Hyatt program (a Chase transfer partner), there are numerous properties in Hawaii you can book with points. However, I've got my eye on two in particular.
The Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa is a Hyatt Category 8 hotel. (Read our review here.) A standard award night costs 35,000 Hyatt points at the “lowest” rate. This family-friendly luxury resort features a spa, onsite dining, multilevel pools, a saltwater lagoon and waterslides, and it is just steps away from an incredible white sand beach. On the island of Maui, there's the Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort, a luxurious, sprawling retreat on Maui's southern coast. This property is known for a series of pools overlooking the ocean. The Andaz Maui is a Hyatt Category 8 hotel, so a standard room costs 35,000 points per night at the “lowest” rate.
Since they were already Category 8s, both these properties escaped Hyatt's latest round of category changes. So 150K Chase Ultimate Rewards points can still get you up to a four-night stay on either island, depending on which Chase card you hold and the nightly award rate.
How To Use 150K Chase Ultimate Rewards: ToP Thoughts
Chase is out with the biggest welcome offer we've ever seen for its Chase Sapphire Reserve Card. Earning 150,000 Chase points or more from a single bonus is huge. Thanks to Chase's powerful stable of transfer partners, that massive pile of points can help you book some of the best redemptions for flights and hotels—and likely even leave you with points to spare! How would you use 150K Chase Ultimate Rewards points? Let us know in the ToP Facebook group!
