I used to think that Chase Ultimate Rewards were the be-all and end-all of transferable points currencies. With a focus on their transfer partners United and Hyatt and a value of 1.25 cents per point booking through their portal (using a Chase Sapphire Preferred at the time), I didn’t see how another program could compete. But now when comparing Membership Rewards vs Ultimate Rewards, I default to American Express’ program as the better of the two.
For years I was aware of the Membership Rewards program and had an Amex Everyday card, but I didn’t give them the same focus as I did Ultimate Rewards. But things have changed significantly, both in the relative value of each program, but also in my understanding of each currency’s potential. Here’s why Amex solidly wins the transferable currency battle:
Membership Rewards vs. Ultimate Rewards: The Showdown
When it comes to transferable points currencies, I’m glad there are options. It used to be that you really only had three: Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Points. Then Barclaycard and CapitalOne both got in on the action, which has been a boon for consumers (although admittedly Barclays attempt at a currency is pretty weak). Among all of the currencies, however, Chase and American Express reign supreme. At least in my mind.
The Membership Rewards vs Ultimate Rewards debate might be old at this point, but if either of the currencies are unknown to you, hopefully this analysis is illuminating. When boiling down the value of either currency, there are various thins to consider. Specifically:
- Number and uniqueness of transfer partners
- Value of transfer partners
- Ability to earn each currency
- Underlying value of the currency
I’ll walk through each as we compare Membership Rewards vs. Ultimate Rewards.
Array of Transfer Partners
Both Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards have a number of airline and hotel transfer partners. You can transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards to nine airline programs and three hotels programs. That may seem like a lot, at least until you compare them to American Express. Membership Rewards transfer to a whopping 17 airline programs and two hotel programs. Except in the hotel arena, Membership Rewards solidly beat Chase Ultimate Rewards.
This is made worse, however, when you realize that three of Chase’s partners are essentially the same one: Avios. British Airways Avios, Iberia Avios and Aer Lingus Avios are all interchangeable. You can transfer between them, so it’s really like having one partner. American Express also repeats this, but only with Iberia and British Airways. So, Chase really has seven airline partners and Amex has 16. Amex still wins.
Uniqueness of Transfer Partners
The weakness I see in Chase’s program is its relatively low number of completely unique transfer partners. At the end of the day, they only have one: Hyatt. But if you discount hotel transfer options, such as converting Bonvoy points to airline miles, they have three, when compared to Membership Rewards:
- World of Hyatt
- United MileagePlus
- Southwest RapidRewards
I should caveat my list of three by stating that their other hotel partners, IHG and Marriott, are not worth transferring points to 99.5% of the time. I didn’t want to even mention them, but I guess I should. The remaining transfer partners are also effectively partners of American Express Membership Rewards, and in some cases, partners of Citi ThankYou as well. The programs both transfer to the following programs either directly or indirectly:
- British Airways Avios
- Iberia Plus Avios
- Aer Lingus AerClub Avios
- Air France FlyingBlue
- Singapore KrisFlyer
- JetBlue
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
American Express Membership Rewards, on the other hand, has far more unique transfer partners. These include:
- Aeromexico
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Alitalia Millemiglia
- ANA Mileage Club
- Avianca LifeMiles
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Choice Hotels
- Delta Air Lines SkyMiles
- El Al
- Emirates
- Etihad Airways
That’s 11 unique, useful partners (well, Emirates is marginally useful, and I know nothing about El Al, so maybe just 9). I guess Membership Rewards also has Hilton, but don’t make me cry by transferring American Express Membership Rewards to Hilton Honors at a 1:1.5 ratio. You lose so much value.
Chase fortunately has two high-value unique partners (United and Hyatt), which is their saving grace. The loss of Korean, formerly a great option for Delta loyalists, was quite a blow.
Value of Transfer Partners
I started down the road of applying different scenarios, my personal valuations, and such to the different transfer partners. Things got complicated fast. Too complicated. So I settled on a much easier method: average the current value of the various partners in each program. We’ll go with what The Points Guy currently thinks Membership Rewards and Ultimate Rewards are worth. This yields:
- Membership Rewards: 1.2 cents/point
- Ultimate Rewards: 1.3 cents/point
I had to find a second source for a few values (Matmid points, anyone?) since TPG didn’t list them. Surprisingly, the average value of the various partners is completely different than the value TPG assigns to each transferable points currency itself. Odd. I don’t understand how they can value both Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards at 2.0 cents each when none of the partner program values they list are this high. Small critique of their methodology.
But take my values (and theirs) with a grain of salt. Both of these are much lower than the value I give them. It was just a simple (and fair) exercise. And also useless. If you aren’t getting at least 1.5 cents per Ultimate Reward point with the Sapphire Reserve, you are doing something wrong.
This analysis also completely fails to consider any transfer bonus. Assuming these are regular with Membership Rewards (valid), I’ll peg them both at 1.3 cents each. There. We’ll call it a tie after some hand waving.
Ultimately, the value of each program is a whole lot more subjective. It is highly dependent on the airline(s) you fly, the awards you’re targeting, and your hotel chain of choice. This is where there really isn’t a definitive winner.
The Earn Versus Burn Ratio
Another way in which the Membership Rewards vs Ultimate Rewards battle tips in American Express’ favor is in how easy it is to earn their points. There is room for debate here, given the earning rate achievable with Chase’s various Ink business cards. The Ink Cash earns 5x at office supply stores and on phone, cable and internet services. The Ink Preferred also earns 3x on shipping, advertising and travel. The easiest hack here is getting 5x at office supply stores.
However, what I’m really getting at is the value of the Blue Business Plus card. This plastic rectangle of goodness earns 2x Membership Rewards points on all purchases, everyday, all the time, up to $50,000 per year. If you max that out, you’ll be sitting on 100,000 Membership Rewards points. The best comparison in my mind is using the Chase Freedom Unlimited to earn 75,000 Ultimate Rewards points.
If you treat the two currencies as equal in value (and we shall for the sake of this discussion), American Express wins. Get a Blue Business Plus. The Points Pundit calls the BBP the most underrated points and miles credit card.
Underlying Value of Each Currency
This is where Chase finally shines. Membership Rewards may have better coverage when it comes to the number and uniqueness of their various transfer partners, but Chase points hold more value if you need to quickly cash them out. You’ll get 1 cent per Chase point as opposed to the abysmal 0.6 cent you get when using them for an American Express statement credit. There are a variety of other ways that you can “cash” out Membership Rewards where you get more value. But strictly speaking, the cash value is terrible.
Likewise, the value of Chase points is greater when redeeming for travel. American Express Membership Rewards are only worth 1 cent each through their portal, where Chase points fetch 1.25 to 1.5 cents each, depending on which card you hold.
Chase wins in this respect. But this is the only area in which they definitely take the field.
So… Membership Rewards vs Ultimate Rewards? Which Win?
If the point wasn’t clear, I see a whole lot more value in American Express’ corner when comparing Membership Rewards vs Ultimate Rewards. Don’t get me wrong. I still love Chase points and collect them routinely (primarily for portal bookings or Hyatt transfers). However, I have fallen more and more in love with American Express as they continue to add value to their program through additional partners. Avianca LifeMiles are the most recent addition, and I’m really digging this option.
What do you think of the two currencies? Do you have a favorite?
“I don’t understand how they can value both Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards at 2.0 cents each when none of the partner program values they list are this high.”
“This analysis also completely fails to consider any transfer bonus.”
You partially answered your own question there.
I think it has to do with probabilities, too. If the probability of finding a valuation of 1.5 cpp through each of 10 airlines programs is 10%, and the probability of finding a valuation of 2.0 cpp through each of those is 1%, they’ll settle at the 10% value for them, i.e. 1.5 cpp. However, if all 10 of those are transfer partners of one currency, the probability of finding a valuation of 2.0 cpp through the currency is the sum of the individual probabilities, i.e. 10%. That assumes random distributions and that you are even considering all 10 airlines… but these are my numbers, not theirs.
With most airline miles expiring, there’s also the chance you’ll “have to” redeem for poorer value, so that may skew the probabilities as well (what’s the chance you’ll get book that 1% if you have 1-3 years to do so?). Yeah, I know, most miles can be kept alive by going through a portal or redeeming for small purchases or whatever… but that doesn’t apply to all, and there’s still a fear you’ll forget to do so.
There’s also a chance that Chase, with its poorer partners, got inflated via premium cabin bookings at 1.5 cpp. If you’re earning tons of miles (like, 300%) on the operating carrier’s partner, those points are effectively a rebate in a different currency.
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Aside from all that, on the earning side – I’ve been a TYP/MR guy for a long time, because they earn more points per dollar on day-to-day spending, the Premier had great travel protections at a low cost, and KrisFlyer is one of the best ways to use points to fly United (so currency doesn’t matter)… and my home airport is EWR. I’ll be switching from TYP to UR soon enough, even with the loss of Southwest at Newark. One of the things Chase has going for it over Amex is the continued ability to earn points on GCs; I was earning 4X on most of my purchases, but now I’m afraid to buy GCs for more than $50 or so. That makes for easier MSing, too (not my jam), if you’re so inclined.
I did. Partially. 20-40% transfer bonuses in one program still wouldn’t pull it up to 2.0.
But I’m not arguing with the 2.0 cent valuation. Given your other logic, it’s totally acceptable, and at least what I shoot for.
If MSing dies completely on these cards, it’ll make it hard to keep up with MR.
Small clarification – Ultimate Rewards transfer directly to Southwest Rapid Rewards.
Correct. I don’t think I mentioned they didn’t, just wrote “direct and indirect”, as some Avios options are indirect.
Eh. To me Amex only wins if you’re looking to transfer points to a airline not covered by Chase and using the miles for a first or business class reward. There are a whole hell of a lot of us with families who aren’t using points to try to get a $9000 flight for 100,000 points. We’re looking to fly a family of 4-5 in economy and stay at moderately priced hotel. Chase wins hands down for the flexibility to use earn and use points with the combination of Reserve and Freedom. With more and more airlines going to variable reward pricing – the Amex transfer options will not be looking as good shortly. It’s rare that I find an economy fare where I’d be better off transferring* and redeeming miles as opposed to booking through the portal.
I can agree with that. Chase does have high value and flexibility. Most of my recent redemptions have been through the portal.
But for premium cabin flights, I’d rather spend 55,000 Aeroplan miles instead of 70,000 United miles. In most cases.
Hyatt hyatt hyatt! I love both of these currencies. But….chase wins hands down for me every time. The Hyatt value is simply too good if you are earning 5x with ink and have sapphire reserve earning potential. Amex doesn’t have a viable hotel transfer partner. Zero. It breaks down like this for me: chase has valuable hotel AND airline partners where amex only has airline partners. I already have a ton of airline miles with AA and United. The only way to get hyatt points for cheap 5k hyatt place stays and luxury 25-30k stays without paying hyatt for rooms is to accumulate chase points. You simply can’t overlook this amazing option. If you only need international first class awards then I can understand why you would say amex is the winner but you will be shelling out money for a nice hotel unless you have hotel points already. Our goal it save cash and chase makes that happen.
I get it. I love Hyatt. Personally, I’ve been putting spending on my WoH Visa for the elite night credit, and it has just kept up with my points outlay. We do mostly Cat 1 or 2 stays. If I needed a *lot* more, using a 5x Chase card would pretty much be a must.
I’m a Hilton & IHG person, so my Chase/AmEx points are primarily used for transfers to airlines. I have to admit I’m patiently waiting for Chase to partner with more airlines, but AmEx’ customer service is so lame that I just cancelled my MR gold card and probably won’t ever get another one. Even tho I rarely need it, having to explain a simple problem on the phone to someone who is incapable of understanding it just grates on me. With Chase, I can ask via secure message. And if I do need to call, a human being answers, at least for CSR cardholders. Gotta admit that it feels really weird not to have an AmEx card after 40 years! Ultimate Rewards are so good for booking hotels that I can’t imagine a card that’s better for me.
I’ve hardly had to deal with Amex in that regard. I usually try chat, and issues are typically resolved. But bummer if you’re having issues!
It would do Chase good to pick up a couple other airlines, especially one or two that are fairly unique. Korean was great, an excellent SkyTeam option. Something with an attractive award chart like Asiana, would be amazing.