How to Earn the Southwest Companion Pass in 2020

The Chase Southwest Companion Pass is one of, if not the, best airline perks out there. For people who fly domestically, it is an absolute must-have.

Even for people who don’t fly domestically that often, it can still provide incredible value and is probably worth getting.

Read on to find out what the Southwest Companion Pass is, how to get it, and our favorite ways to use it.

Jump to:

What Is the Southwest Companion Pass?

The name of the card is not intended to fool; the Southwest Companion Pass is exactly what it says it is.

The pass allows a companion (spouse, mother, friend, favorite blogger) to fly free with you when you fly on Southwest.

And unlike many other airlines, Southwest does not make the rules super confusing. In fact, the process is fairly straightforward:

  1. Once a person earns the Companion Pass (how to earn it is discussed below) they will designate the individual they want as their companion.
  2. The Companion Pass arrives in the mail.
  3. When the person is booking their tickets online, there is an option to choose to use the Companion Pass. When the person is booking over the phone, they simply have to tell the representative they want to use the Companion Pass.
  4. The companion flies for free.

About as easy as it gets, right?

Here’s a closer look at how you can earn the Companion Pass:

How to Earn the Southwest Companion Pass in 2020

Technically, there are two different ways to earn the Companion Pass:

  1. By flying 100 qualifying one-way flights with Southwest in a calendar year.
  2. Earn 110,00 Southwest points in one calendar year.

Since 99% of people won’t fly enough on Southwest to earn it the first way, we will focus on how to earn 110,000 Southwest points in one calendar year.

At first glance, this may seem difficult, but in fact, it’s not hard AT ALL – below are all the options for earning 110,000 Southwest points in one calendar year.

Option 1: Open Two Southwest Credit Cards

Getting the Companion Pass is so easy because Chase is currently offering three different Southwest credit cards that EACH earn you Southwest points that count toward the Companion Pass.

The amount of points each credit card earns changes throughout the year, but you can generally get these cards with bonuses between 25-60k.

All you have to do is open up two of these credit cards and you’ll be at 110k Southwest points (and the Southwest Companion Pass) before you know it!

Plus vs. Premier Southwest Credit Cards

The first thing to be aware of is that there are two types of Southwest cards, the Plus and the Premier. These cards differ slightly:

  • The Plus has an annual fee of $69 and offers 3,000 Southwest points as an anniversary bonus each year you keep it open. Also, it charges a foreign transaction fee of 3%.
  • The Premier has an annual fee of $99 and offers 6,000 Southwest points as an anniversary bonus each year you keep it open. It has no foreign transaction fee, so you pay nothing extra when you use it abroad.

The second thing to understand is that Chase offers both a personal and a business version of the Southwest Premier card.

That means there is a Plus personal card, a Premier personal card, and a Premier business card — three opportunities to make the Southwest Companion Pass yours!

To ensure that you get the sign-up bonus for both cards (more than enough points to qualify for the Companion Pass), we recommend opening both a business and a personal card.

Since one is a personal card and one is a business card, you can apply for them at the same time without issues getting approved.

It is possible to reach the necessary number of points by opening two personal Southwest credit cards, but we don’t recommend it, as Chase is unlikely to approve an application for two personal credit cards so close together.

If applying for a business credit card feels intimidating, don’t worry. Here are some tips to get approved for a business card.

Other Ways to Earn Qualifying Points

If you only get approved for one Southwest credit card, or just want to apply for one of the cards, don’t worry, there are plenty of other ways to rack up points towards your Southwest Companion Pass.

Just a quick (but very important) heads-up: Not all the ways that you can get Southwest Rapid Rewards points to count towards the Companion Pass, so be careful.

For example, buying 6,000 Southwest points WILL NOT count towards the Southwest Companion Pass, nor will transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points directly to Southwest. Transferring points from hotel loyalty programs was also cut out of the equation early in 2017.

Option 2: Spend with the Southwest Credit Card

For each dollar you spend, you’ll earn one Southwest point, so if you spend $6,000, you’ll earn 6k points!

Plus, any Southwest flights you purchase on the card earn you an additional point, making it that much easier to rack up those Rapid Rewards points! For instance, if you use your Southwest credit card to buy a $300 ticket, you’ll earn 600 points instead of just the regular 300.

I’d recommend this for anyone who has a big purchase planned or plenty of monthly expenses that you can pay with a credit card.

Your regular monthly spending could earn you your Southwest Companion Pass in no time!

Option 3: Book Hotels Through Southwest Hotels

If you are planning any travel in the near future, consider booking your hotel through Southwest Hotels.

The base rates for points will count towards your Southwest Companion Pass.

Generally, you’ll earn one point per dollar spent on hotels. This isn’t bad, but we can do better — some hotels give you up to 10k points!

For instance, a quick search for a one night stay in Las Vegas shows many hotels with 1-2k Rapid Rewards points per night. A $254 night at The Palazzo will earn you 7,000 Rapid Rewards points when you book it with your Southwest credit card.

Southwest Hotel Deals Vegas

And when you pay for the hotel with your Southwest credit card, and you’ll earn an additional two points per dollar. Meaning that, in the above example, your total earnings would be ($254 x 2) + 7,000 = 7,508 points.

Option 4: Shop Through the Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal

Everyone shops online – so why not earn something for it?

There are lots of stores on the Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal that you probably already shop at, so make sure you visit those shops through the portal and earn points towards your Southwest Companion Pass for buying what you were already going to buy!

Earn Rapid Rewards points at websites like Restaurant.com, Home Chef, Shutterstock, Bass Pro Shops, Lord & Taylor, Tumi, Apple, and Nike.

Buying a new iPad Pro? That’s 650 points towards your Southwest Companion Pass.

Buying $100 worth of clothes for the kids at JCPenny? That’s three points per dollar equalling 300 points!

The best part is that you can double dip when you pay with your Southwest credit card. This means iPad Pro purchase has turned into 1300 Rapid Rewards points and the clothing from JCPenney has become 400 points.

All of these points count towards your Southwest Companion Pass!

There are hundreds of websites listed, so make sure you check the Rapid Rewards portal before you click “buy” and you’ll be well on your way to the Southwest Companion Pass!

Option 5: Go out to Eat with Rapid Rewards Dining

If you go out to eat a lot, be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to earn points towards the Southwest Companion Pass.

Signing up for Rapid Rewards Dining Program will earn you up to three points per dollar towards your Southwest Companion Pass at participating restaurants.

That means a $20 dinner would net you 60 Rapid Rewards points!

If you use your Southwest credit card, you can double dip and earn even more!

Your $20 dinner just turned into 80 Rapid Rewards points just by using the right credit card. Who thinks double dipping is bad now?

Option 6: Fly Southwest Airlines

This might seem like a no brainer, but it really does make sense. You’ll earn miles for your fare, plus an additional two points per dollar when you book with your Southwest credit card.

You’ll earn Rapid Rewards points based on the fare you buy:

  • 6 points for Wanna Get Away
  • 10 points for Anytime
  • 12 points for Business Select

If you book a $200 Wanna Get Away fare, you’ll earn 1,200 Rapid Rewards points.

If you book that same fare with your Southwest Credit card, you’ll earn an additional 400 points for a total of 1600 Rapid Rewards points!

A $300 Anytime fare will earn you 3000 Rapid Rewards points (300×10=3000!)

If you’re a little short on Companion Pass qualifying points, spending a little extra on your next Southwest flight could bump you up to two for one travel for the next year!

5 Awesome Southwest Companion Pass Benefits

Still not convinced of the value of the Southwest Companion Pass? There are five things that make the Companion Pass especially awesome. Let’s take a look at them:

1. You Can Use the Pass Unlimited Times

This is not a one-time pass, but instead allows a companion to fly free with you EVERY TIME you fly Southwest.

Yes, you are hearing me correctly: EVERY SINGLE TIME you fly Southwest.

Theoretically, I could fly Southwest every day and my companion would fly free with me each and every time.

2. The Companion Pass Can Remain Valid for Up to 2 Years

You may think you are mishearing misreading me, but you aren’t. The Companion Pass is good for the year you earn it and the next calendar year as well.

Example: Let’s say you get your Companion Pass on October 1st. Your Companion Pass will then be good for October, November, and December of 2020 and then all of 2021, for a total of 15 months.

Of course, the way to squeeze maximum value out of it is to get it as early in the year as possible (like January) and then you’d have it for a full two years.

Bingo!

3. Your Companion Flies Completely Free

With most things in life, free doesn’t mean free, and a lot of times there is enough red tape and rules to make the “free” item not even worth it.

This is NOT the case with the Southwest Companion Pass.

In this case, free really does mean free.

The only thing that the companion will be required to pay is a government-mandated September 11th security fee and taxes which is about $5.60 one way.

Other than that, there are no costs for the companion whatsoever.

And in case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last two years, you should be aware that bags fly free on Southwest (awesome commercial evidence here, here, and here), so the companion won’t even have to worry about that cost!

4. You Can Use the Companion Pass on Both Paid and Award Flights

Whether you pay out of pocket for your flight or use some of the Southwest miles you’ve accumulated to get an award ticket, your companion can still fly free with you.

This is basically unheard of in the airline world, as every other companion pass (that I’m aware of) requires the original person to pay for their ticket.

Not on Southwest.

So whether you pay $500 for a last-minute ticket, $150 for their normally cheap regular fares, or fly free yourself using your Southwest miles, your companion can come along as well.

What’s better than one person flying free on Southwest?

TWO PEOPLE FLYING FREE ON SOUTHWEST!

5. You Can Change Your Designated Companion Up to 3 Times Per Year

After you originally designate your companion you can change it and get a Companion Pass reissued with another person’s name up to three times a calendar year each year you maintain your Companion Pass.

This can be done instantly over the phone and is an awesome perk that often gets overlooked among all the other amazing things about the pass.

I’ll give you a good example of how I plan to use this to my advantage.

Naturally, Heather (my wife) will be my companion on many of my trips.

However, instead of designating her as my original companion, I plan on designating my best friend Jon because we are planning a trip together down to Florida.

After we take our trip and he flies for free (saving him anywhere between $150-300), I’ll call in and ask to designate Heather as my new companion.

Then, we’ll use the Companion Pass to fly all over this awesome country of ours.

You can even designate a new companion (i.e. Jon), change it to someone else (Heather) and then change it back to the original person (Jon).

FINAL WORD(S)

The Southwest Companion Pass is an amazing, amazing perk and even those who only occasionally fly domestic should consider it. Southwest is expanding its route network every year with flights to the Caribbean and Latin America already happening.

For anyone who flies a decent amount (or would if it was cheaper), it’s an absolute must.

Grab a personal and business card, find a good companion, and experience the joys of free travel!

If you’ve got the Southwest Companion Pass, weigh in below. Is my love for it justified? Where have you gone with it? If you don’t have it, how do you plan on getting it? Fire away!

How to Earns Tons of Frequent Flyer Miles for Paying Your Mortgage, Student Loans, or Anything Else You Can’t Pay with a Credit Card

Frequent Flyer Miles Mortgage

[UPDATE:  You can no longer use the steps below to pay your mortgage, student loans, etc. with a credit card.  HOWEVER, there is another, even better way.  Click here to learn how.]

(Want to see a video of me doing it?  You can check it out here!)

Earning frequent flyer miles for big, recurring monthly bills, such as a mortgage, rent, or student loan payment, has been the holy grail of frequent flyers for years.  They’ve searched high and low for ways to do it, but to no avail…

Until now!

Let me show you, step by step, just how to earn frequent flyer miles for paying your big monthly bills.

Step 1:  Apply for a Bluebird card

How to do it:

  1. Go to bluebird.com and sign up for your free Bluebird card.
  2. You’ll receive it in the mail in a few days.
  3. Activate it online at bluebird.com

Cost: $0

Step 2:  Buy Vanilla Reload Cards At CVS with a Credit Card

CVs is the only place I know that allows you to buy Vanilla Reload cards with a credit card.

Make sure you are buying the Vanilla Reload card that looks EXACTLY like this:

VanillaReload

Get the card that looks EXACTLY like this!

How to do it:  

  1. Find the Vanilla Reload cards that look exactly like the one above.  Don’t buy anything that says Vanilla but doesn’t look the same (Frequent Miler has a great round up of all the Vanilla cards).
  2. Make sure to load each Vanilla Reload card with $500.  Again, you’ll have to pay the $4.95 activation fee regardless of the denomination, so always load with $500.
  3. Pay for the Vanilla cards with your credit card.

Cost: $3.95 activation fee per card.

Step 3: Load the Vanilla Reload Cards on to Your Bluebird Card

How to do it:

  1. Go to Vanillareload.com.
  2. Put your Bluebird card number in the “Card Number” box.
  3. Scratch off the back of the Vanilla Reload card and put that number in the “PIN Number” box.
  4. The money will automatically be transferred to your Bluebird card.

Cost: $0.

Step 4:  Use the Bluebird Card to Pay Your Mortgage or Student Loans

How to do it:

  1. Go to Bluebird.com and sign in to your account.
  2. Go to Pay Bills.
  3. Search for the company you want to pay (i.e. I’ll search for Wells Fargo for my mortgage).
    1. If it shows up, simply select it and enter your account information.
    2. If it does not show up (ex. Discover Student Loans did not show up for me), input the information and the address and Bluebird will send a check.
  4. That’s it.  You’ve paid a major bill that you previously were never able to earn miles for.

Cost: $0

Step 5:  Watch Those Miles Roll In

Self explanatory!

Is It Worth it?

I would say that this is definitely worth it to help you meet the minimum spend requirement.  As long as you live near a CVS, it’s pretty painless.

Also, because you are paying $3.95 for 500 miles, you are buying those miles for 0.8 cents per miles.

While doing this every month when not meeting a minimum spend requirement may be too much of a hassle for some people, I do it each month.

0.8 cents per mile is much less than an airline charges you to buy miles outright, and so it’s definitely worth it for me.

So, who is going to be running to the nearest CVS?

And if you’re already doing it, what places other than CVS allow you to buy Vanilla Reloads with a credit card?

Comment below, folks!

(photo courtesy of kenobiwanX)

How To Combine Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Between Accounts (with video tutorial)

 

The combining we’ll be doing won’t get us this messy!

This is Part #3 in the Ultimate Guide to Ultimate Rewards series.  Other posts include:
#1:  How to Earn Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Through Credit Card Signups
#2:  How to Earn Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Through Online Shopping

#4:  How to Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to Travel Partners (with video)

(UPDATE:  DO NOT transfer points between people who ARE NOT SPOUSES OR DOMESTIC PARTNERS.  Chase no longer allows this and may shut down your account.)

One of the major benefits of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program is that they allow you to combine points between accounts for no charge AND the transfer happens instantly.

Thanks Chase!

The ability to combine points comes is a HUGE SCORE for people who want to turn their “limited” UR points in to “premium” UR points.

(If you’re unsure about the difference between a “limited” account and “premium” account, read the first post of the Ultimate Guide to Ultimate Rewards series before continuing.)

To briefly recap, “limited” points are only allowed to be used as cash for purchasing travel through Chase (at 1.2 cents per point) or as cash-back (at 1 cent a point).  They are NOT allowed to be transferred to travel partners like United, Hyatt, Southwest, etc.

“Premium” points are much more valuable because they ARE allowed to be transferred to travel partners like United, Hyatt, and Southwest.  This opens up tons of possibilities, and if you’re good, you can make each Chase premium point worth 2 cents or more!

So, the goal is to turn “limited” points in to “premium” points, which amazingly, can be done…and done quickly and easily!

Combining Points from a “Limited” Account and “Premium” Account

Most people who are earning large amounts of “limited” points are doing so by using the Chase Freedom, but the Chase Sapphire, Chase Ink Classic, and Chase Ink Cash also earn “limited” points.

To turn these “limited” points to “premium” points, you’ll need to have one card that earns “premium” Ultimate Rewards points.  These cards include the Chase Sapphire Preferred (my review), Chase Ink Bold (my review), or Chase Ink Plus (my review).

If you have one of those cards, it is very simple to transfer your “limited” points to “premium” points.  All you’ll have to do is sign in to to your Ultimate Rewards account and combine your points.  Just make sure you are transferring your points FROM the “limited” account TO the “premium” account.

Voila….you’ve got all “premium” Ultimate Rewards points.

Don’t believe it’s that easy?  Watch me do it in less that 2 minutes WHILE explaining exactly how to do it!

Ok, so that’s great for people who have a “premium” UR account, but what if you only have a “limited” account?  Fear not!

Transferring Points From One Person To Another

Another awesome benefit:  Chase allows you to combine points between people!  And get this…the people don’t even have to be related.

You can transfer points from your account to ANYONE!  

The real benefit of this comes when one person DOES NOT have a “premium” account but wants to transfer their “limited” points to a travel partner.

They can use someone else who has a “premium” account as a middleman!

This exact situation happened a few days ago with an EPoP reader.  Jason had earned “limited” UR points from his Chase Freedom card and had no other Chase accounts.

Jason wanted to turn transfer his points to Hyatt, but because they were “limited” UR points, he wasn’t allowed.

Instead, I offered to allow him to transfer his “limited” points to my Ultimate Reward account that was tied to my Chase Sapphire Preferred card, and therefore, a “premium” account.  All he needed was my account number and my full name.  After putting that in, the points arrived in my account in less than a minute.

Since the points were now in my “premium” account, they could be transferred to Hyatt.  I simply used Jason’s Hyatt number and full name when transferring the points to Hyatt, and within a few minutes, they were in his account.

All told, it took less than 5 minutes for Jason to turn his “limited” points in to Hyatt points.

Just follow these easy steps:

1.  Transfer your limited points to a friend who has a premium account.  You’ll need that person’s premium UR account number and full name.

2.  Have your friend transfer the points, which are now premium points, to the travel partner you want.  They’ll need YOUR full name and membership number.

That’s it!

Final Word(s)

If you don’t have a “premium” card yet, you should definitely consider getting one!  You’ll be earning one of the best currencies of points out there AND you’ll be able to turn your “limited” points in to more valuable ones!  You don’t have to involve anyone else, and it takes less than 2 minutes.

If you’re not able to get a “premium” card, find a friend or family member who does and ask them to act as the middleman.

You should NEVER keep your Ultimate Rewards points as “limited” points since they are FAR LESS valuable than “premium” points.  Since Chase makes it so easy to upgrade your points from “limited” to “premium”, you’ve got no excuses!

How do you change your “limited” points to “premium” points?  What’s your favorite Chase card?  Let me know below!

(photo courtesy of D@lbo)

 

How to Earn Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Through Online Shopping

Start shopping online and never deal with those pesky store monkeys again!

This is part #2 in the Ultimate Guide to Ultimate Rewards Series.  Other posts include:
#1- How to Earn Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Through Credit Card Signups
#3- How to Combine Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Between Accounts (with video)

#4- How to Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to Travel Partners (with video)

It’s no secret that earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points through credit card signups is the quickest way to amass tons of points but does that mean that after you earn your signup bonus you’re done earning UR points?

HECK NO!

If that was the case, then I probably wouldn’t be writing this post, right?

In fact, there are a few other ways to earn large amounts of UR points AFTER you get your credit card sign up bonus.  Today, I’m going to teach you about the most under appreciated and overlooked way to earn Chase UR points.

In fact, I’m continually stunned that 90% of people fail use this method that I use to earn TENS OF THOUSANDS of Ultimate Rewards points every year.  Yes, TENS OF THOUSANDS! 

That’s like getting a free roundtrip ticket to Europe every year!

Ready for it?

ONLINE SHOPPING!

Before you think “I don’t know how to do that” or “eh, that’s too hard and complicated” and close this window, hear me out for one minute.

Truth:  I ABSOLUTELY HATE SHOPPING (my wife enjoys it enough for the both of us).

As much as I love frequent flyer miles, I hate shopping equally as much (want proof?  I’m currently wearing my high school’s tennis t-shirt that I got as a senior…12 years ago!)

If this was hard or difficult in the slightest way, I wouldn’t do it.

So if I do it, you know it must be a cinch!

And, it gets even better.  To make things even easier for you, I’ve created a video (only 3 minutes) to show you EXACTLY how to use the best online shopping portal of them all, the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall!

How the Online Shopping Portal Works

No pushing around a too-full cart when shopping online!

Every time you shop through the Chase Ultimate Rewards mall, you’ll be earning Chase UR points.  The reason this can be so lucrative is because many merchants will offer bonuses (sometimes really big ones) for you to shop at their store if you route through the Ultimate Rewards Mall first.

Let’s look at J. Crew (Heather’s favorite store) as an example:

If you go directly to J. Crew’s website, either through Google or by typing in jcrew.com, you’ll only receive 1 Chase UR point if you use a Chase credit card (such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred orInk Plus), exactly the same way you would if you went to the store.

However, if you take the 2 minutes or less to sign in to the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall and THEN redirect to J. Crew’s website (which is exactly the same one you would have went to if you went to it directly), they will offer you bonus UR points for each dollar you spend.  Currently, the bonus is 5x at J. Crew.

So, in addition to the regular 1 UR points you’ll get for using your Chase credit card for shopping, you’ll get an ADDITIONAL 5 UR points for every $1 you spend.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that by routing through the Chase Ultimate Rewards mall, that $200 you spend will earn you 1,200 UR points instead of a measly 200.  And it only takes an extra 2 minutes (max) to sign in to the UR Mall and then redirect to your favorite store!

1,000 points for 2 minutes?  If you’re time is that valuable, what are you doing wasting time reading my blog!

I could give you example after example of times I’ve used the Ultimate Rewards Mall to score big points, but I’ll just leave you with the one that got me to go all-in on using shopping portals (a decision that has earned me tens of thousands of points).

A Personal Example (or How the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall Gave Me a Very Merry Christmas)

Rewind to pre-Christmas, 2011.  My siblings and I wanted to get my parents something special and so my sister suggested a hot air balloon ride.  We all thought that was great, so she started searching around and found one on Groupon for $300.

Luckily, I had just gotten an email about Groupon offering 30x Chase UR points for every $1 spent.  I checked it twice to make sure I read it correctly.

Yep, 30 Chase UR points for every $1!  Un freaking believable!

I called my sister immediately (not an easy thing to do when your in Australia and she’s in America) and walked her through exactly how to purchase the balloon ride through the Chase UR mall (luckily for you, I’ve created a video that will explain it much quicker)!

BOOM! 

Just like that, I was 9,000 Chase points richer!

From that day, I was a convert, and I haven’t looked back since!

I’ve never lead you astray before, have I?  Take 3 minutes, check out the video, and start watching those UR points pour in in droves!

Additional Resources

If you’re gung-ho about online shopping (and you should be!), check out my partner post, which also has a 3 minute video.

It explains how to use Evreward, an awesome website that shows you which online shopping portal gives you the best deal for every store you can think of!  It’s not always the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall, so learn to use this tool!

Get out of the Stone Age and Start Using Shopping Portals (with an Evreward Video Tutorial)

If you’re somehow not convinced yet and want to read another writeup I’ve done of the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall, check out one my most famous posts to date:

The Champ Is Here: Introducing the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall

Of course, if you have any questions I don’t answer here, feel free to leave a comment below or email me directly.

Final Word(s)

If you’re serious about earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points, don’t rely solely on signup bonuses.  If you aren’t using the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall for buying products, especially large ticket items like a computer, tv, etc. than you are leaving THOUSANDS of points on the table.

Even if you’re a complete newbie to online shopping, I implore you to give it a shot.  Try buying one item and see how it goes.  At the very least, you won’t have to drive to the store, and you’ll be earning extra points for sitting on your butt!

What are you feelings on online shopping?  If you’re a convert, share the reasons why.  Did you have an “A-HA” moment like I did with the hot air balloon ride?  If you haven’t committed yet, what reservations do you have?  Share, share, share below folks!

(photos courtesy of z the lego man, Jemppu M, v&a steamworks)

How to Earn Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Through Credit Card Signups

No mention of the world Ultimate is complete without this guy!

This is part #1 of my The Ultimate Guide to Ultimate Rewards series.  Other posts include:
#2- How to Earn Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Through Online Shopping
#3- How to Combine Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Between Accounts (with video)
#4- How to Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to Travel Partners (with video)

Introduction

Chase Ultimate Reward (UR) points are the currency that Chase uses to reward people who use their cards that are not tied to a specific airline or hotel chain.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points offer some incredible value, and if used right, can actually be more beneficial than credit cards that offer miles with a specific airline because they UR points are extremely flexible.

UR points are in direct competition with American Express Membership Rewards points and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) points.

This series will explain all the facets of Chase Ultimate Rewards points, including ways to earn them, ways to use them, how to transfer them (both between accounts and to partner airlines and hotels), and lastly, the best ways to maximize them.

By the end, you’ll be a Chase Ultimate Rewards pro and you’ll see why they are my preferred frequent flyer currency!

For now, though, let’s start with how to earn UR points.  You can love them all you want, but if you don’t have any, they aren’t doing you any good!

The absolute easiest way to earn a huge amount of Ultimate Rewards points at one time is through credit card signups.  Luckily, Chase has quite a few good offers out there, so unless you’ve collected them all already, you have some good options to pick from.

Before we start looking at cards, there is one VERY important distinction that you must understand; the difference between “premium” Ultimate Rewards points and “limited” Ultimate Rewards points.  

This is an area that quite a few people get confused on, so its time to set the record straight.

Premium Ultimate Rewards points vs. Limited Ultimate Rewards points

“Limited” UR points vs. “Premium” UR points is just as one-sided!

 As the name implies, premium UR points are much more valuable than limited UR points.  Premium UR points can be used two ways:

  1. To transfer, at a 1:1 ratio, to a range of airline and hotel partners, including United, Southwest, and Hyatt. (a full list of partners can be found here)
  2. To redeem as cash for travel bought through the Chase Ultimate Rewards mall, at a value of 1.2 cents per point.

Limited UR points can only be used as cash for travel bought through the Chase Rewards Mall, at a value of 1.0 cents per point.

And while it is nice that the premium UR points are worth 20% more when redeemed as cash for travel, the MAJOR difference is that premium UR points can be transferred to partners whereas limited UR points cannot be transferred.  

This opens up a range of possibilities and usually gives you much better value than simply redeeming them for 1.2 cents per point.

Now, it’s important to know which Chase cards earn you which type of points, as many people often get confused about this.

What Cards Earn Which Type of Points

The following cards earn you “premium” Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which ARE transferable to partners:

  • Chase Sapphire Preferred
  • Chase Ink Bold [No longer available]
  • Chase Ink Plus

The following cards earn you “limited” Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which ARE NOT transferable to partners:

  • Chase Freedom
  • Chase Sapphire
  • Chase Ink Classic
  • Chase Ink Cash

So does this make cards that offer you limited points worthless?

Luckily, no!

Chase allows you to combine your Ultimate Rewards points by transferring between your accounts, regardless of if they are “limited” or “premium” points.  

What this means is that as long as you have one of the cards that earns “premium” points, you can transfer the points you earn on the “limited” cards to “premium” account and VOILA!, those “limited” points are now “premium” points.

Just remember though:  You need to have at least ONE “premium” card to transfer the “limited” points to or else they will remain limited points and have very little value.

To recap:  Premium UR points are great, limited UR points are not that great.  If you have a card that earns limited UR points, get a card that earns you premium points and combine your points in that premium account.

Now that you understand the difference between the two types of UR points, let’s take a look at which cards will earn you what points and how many!

Chase Ultimate Rewards Credit Card Signup Bonuses

Below is a list of the cards that earn Chase UR points and the current signup bonus.

Personal cards

  • Chase Sapphire Preferred: 40,000 “premium” Chase UR points (full review here)
  • Chase Freedom:  10,000 “limited” Chase UR points
  • Chase Sapphire:  10,000 “limited” Chase UR points

Business cards:

  • Chase Ink Bold:  50,000 “premium” Chase UR points (This card is no longer available)
  • Chase Ink Plus:  50,000 “premium” Chase UR points (full review of the Ink Plus here)
  • Chase Ink Classic:  25,000 “limited” Chase UR points
  • Chase Ink Cash:  25,000 “limited” Chase UR points

My Recommendations

The Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Ink Bold, and Chase Ink Plus my three favorite credit cards.  Yes, they are #1, #2A and #2B in my mind (the Ink Bold and Ink Plus are virtually identical cards).  I use them for all of my everyday spending.

Obviously, I highly recommend all three of the cards.  The signup bonuses for all three cards are substantial (40k and 50k) and because they earn “premium” Ultimate Rewards points, they are super valuable since they can be transferred to many partners, including my favorites, United and Hyatt!

In addition, all three cards also offer some nice category bonuses for spending, which we’ll discuss in a later post.

The Freedom, which offers 5x points on different rotating categories, is another card to consider.  I wouldn’t suggest it right now since the signup bonus is a paltry 10k, but if the bonus gets bumped up to 20k or 30k, then go for it!

Just remember that you’ll need either the Sapphire Preferred, Ink Bold, or Ink Plus to turn those “limited” points you earn with the Freedom in to “premium” points.

I’d only recommend applying for the regular Sapphire, Ink Classic, or Ink Cash after you’ve received all the “premium” cards.  The signup bonuses are lower, and unless you have a premium card, you’ll be earning limited points.

If you have exhausted all the “premium” options, wow, good for you!  Then, it’s time to start thinking about nabbing the 25k signup bonus for the Ink Cash or Ink Classic.

Final Word(s)

Signing up for a Chase credit card (or two…or three) is BY FAR the quickest way to build up your Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

However, when signing up, make sure that you applying for cards that earn “premium” points, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Ink Bold, and Chase Ink Plus.

Since these are all different products, you can earn the signup bonus from each.  Opening these three cards would net you a quick 140k Chase Ultimate Rewards points.  Talk about a nice jump-start!

Personally, Chase UR points are my favorite frequent flyer currency and the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Ink Bold, and Ink Chase are three of the best cards out there.  If you don’t already have them, I would strongly suggest you consider getting one and start earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points now!

What Chase signup bonuses have you snagged?  Which ones are you targeting in the future?  Let me know in the comments below!

(photos courtesy of mario zucca illustration, asianboyprodigy)

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