If you look around the internet, you’ll find a lot of articles talking about the value of a miles or points currency. Over the years, many have considered Amex and Chase points to be the gold standard of the points game. However, over the last few years, I’m starting to see a few cracks in the coveted Chase Ultimate Rewards ecosystem. What are those cracks and are Chase points losing their allure? Let’s have a look.
Also Read: Amex Platinum Card changes imminent, does it make sense to get the card now?
Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
Before we assess what has changes, let’s have a look at some basics. I value any flexible points currency based on the following criteria:
- Rate at which you can earn points
- Diversity of airline and hotel partners (airline partners from different alliances and regions as opposed to just one or two)
- Consistency of transfer ratios and frequency at which transfer bonuses are run
- Value while redeeming points directly through the bank’s portal
If you look at 1 and 3, then I think Chase is doing pretty well. However, I’m not quite sure about 2 & 4. That’s where my thesis about Chase’s points being less valuable now comes in.
Airline and Hotel Partners
How unique are Chase’s partners? On the positive side, we have a consistent transfer ratio of 1:1, which is great. Transfer bonuses only help to boost those ratios further. However, how unique are Chase’s partners?
- United: In a way, United was exclusive to Chase, unless you planned to transfer from Marriott Bonvoy to United at a 3:1 ratio. United has nixed its chart to adopt dynamic pricing and their miles and worth a lot less than what they used to be back in the day when they still had an award chart. However, with the arrival of Bilt, United is no longer exclusive just to Chase.
- Hyatt: This is one partner that really still carries a lot of value. However, it’s not unique any more with the arrival of Bilt. Also, if you’ve been in the game for long enough, you’d know that Hyatt has also increased points prices over the years, adopting a peak, off peak and standard pricing chart as opposed to the chart they used to have earlier.
- If you look at some of the other partners, you’ll see those partners available also with other points currencies. For example, Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines, British Airways and many more are easily accessible via cards from other banks.
So where does this leave Chase? If you don’t have any Bilt cards, then you’d probably still stick to Chase. However, if you’re a Bilt customer, then you have more options and your Chase points wouldn’t necessarily give you an edge over others.
Value for Fixed Redemptions
Why do people throw so much shade when a loyalty program removes award charts and moves to dynamic pricing? The reason is predictability. As consumers, we like predictability and consistency in pricing. Why is inflation such a huge political issue that often leads to governments getting voted out? Because at their core, people like consistency in pricing and get particularly annoyed when those prices become variable, more often than not to the upper side.
That brings me to Chase’s most recent announcements. One of the best features about Chase points was the fact that when you booked with Chase Travel, you could redeem points for a fixed value of:
- 1.5 cents per point with the Chase Sapphire Reserve
- 1.25 cents per point with the Chase Sapphire Preferred
However, Chase is going to phase that out by 2027 as well. Instead we have Chase’s Points Boost. Now, some of you may be finding great value with Points Boost (I’m glad you are!). However, I come back to the point about the lack of predictability. Firstly, without points boost, you will only be able to redeem your points at a 1 cent per point value. Secondly, when I tried out Points Boost, I wasn’t particularly impressed. I found the prices to be pretty inflated when I compared them with direct booking channels. Also, many of the airlines and hotels that I was looking for weren’t available
The Pundit’s Mantra
For someone who has been in the space for close to 15 years now, I’d say that I find my Chase points less valuable now compared to let’s say 2020. However, that doesn’t mean that I plan to drop my Chase cards. I’m staying light by still carrying the Chase Sapphire Preferred and a couple of Freedom cards keep the points earning machine going.
I’m not a Bilt customer so I still find value in keeping my Preferred card to help transfer points to Chase. Every now and then, when there’s a transfer bonus, I transfer to Air Canada Aeroplan or British Airways Avios depending on my travel plans.
How has your Chase Ultimate Rewards points strategy evolved over the years? Do you still find your Chase points as valuable as you did a few years ago? Tell us in the comments section.
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I’m in a similar timeframe as you for earning and using Chase points. I’d have to say that the options are frankly worse than previously. I can’t think of a card that has consistently better UR earnings now then a decade ago, annual fees certainly haven’t gone down, and as you noted award prices at Hyatt hotels don’t top out at 25,000 points a night (or even close). Toss in the loss of Korean Air as a transfer partner and United’s cornucopia of devaluations and the only thing that’s generally better is the signup bonuses and recently Chase made some harsh changes to those as well. Ultimately – see what I did there? – Hyatt is still the most valuable Chase travel partner by far but the points and category inflation has been truly impressive, making Hyatt worth a lot less as well. When you have to go with weak sauce like “It could be worse” you know things are awful. What I want is credit cards that offer genuine value without going through contortions to use coupons that have largely replaced benefits. Chase, as the largest bank in the world, should be blazing the way in such moves rather than engaging in enshittification but figuring ways to offer value while making a buck is apparently not how they see things.