Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points is one of my favorite transferrable points currencies. The Bank of Morgan has fewer transfer partners than its competitors. But what they lack in quantity they make up for in quality. Such quality has increased recently as Chase Ultimate Rewards adds Emirates as a transfer partner.
What’s Going On?
Chase has added Emirates as a new transfer partner on Sunday. This is great news for Chase cardholders as UR points have become more valuable. Some travelers have left Chase or put less spend on their Chase cards since they lost Korean Air SkyPass. These travelers believed that UR points became less valuable when Chase dropped Korean. However, adding Emirates gives Chase cardholders another transfer partner option. And in turn, the value of UR points should increase for some travelers.
UR points can be transferred to Emirates at a 1:1 ratio just like the other Chase partners. This puts UR points in line with American Express Membership Rewards (MR) points which can also be transferred to Emirates at the same ratio. Capital One also has Emirates as a transfer partner. However, points can be transferred at a dismal 2:1 ratio. You can use any combination of these points to transfer to Emirates if one currency is not enough.
As of August 25, 2019, Chase UR points can be transferred to the following partners:
- Hotels
- IHG
- Marriott / Ritz-Carlton
- World of Hyatt
- Airlines
- Aer Lingus
- Air France / KLM Flying Blue
- British Airways
- Emirates
- Iberia
- JetBlue
- Singapore Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- United Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
Final Draw
Chase Ultimate Rewards points cover all three of the major areas of travel: hotels, domestic airfare, and international airfare. The latter category is bolstered a little more with the addition of Emirates.
However, the value of Emirates’ rewards program is limited because their airfare is expensive. Redemption rates, fees, and surcharges are extremely high. That means points transferred to Emirates are best used for upgrades. In other words, you can use a points and cash combo to fly first class for the price of coach.
Nonetheless, remember that your mileage may vary. Some travelers will probably never fly on Emirates either because there’s no need to or its simply too expensive. But there are others who might use their UR points to get a first class seat on Emirates for a dream vacation.
