1. Cash back
2. Merchandise
3. Gift cards
4. Travel (hotels or airfare)
ok
1. Cash back is good but only get 1 cents per point value
2. merchandise can usually be found at other retailers for a cheaper price, much better to buy the product at a store like amazon in most cases and just get a cash back credit.
3. gift cards if the gift cards are on a 1:1 ratio don't get it. You'll actually lose points from purchasing the card with your card, then getting cash back.
So 1 through 3 Cash back is the best option, much easier to buy things somewhere else and redeem for cash back in most cases. Although promotions exists that are better.
Now 4. Travel is very tricky.
a) Domestic travel is good for Chase.com booking since 25% bonus. Meaning each point = 1.25% with Sapphire. So a $179 ticket (Tampa to NY) would cost around 14,300 UR points not bad. 1.25 cents per value
b) Transfered to UR points to United would cost 25,000 points about 0.7 value per point
c) pay for the ticket $179 then get the points 358 points then get cash back. $179 = 17900 points - 358 earned =17,542 each point in this case would be worth slightly above a 1 cent value.
Also for A or C you would get frequent flyer miles for miles flown. So this further makes B a terrible deal.
But internationally B is the winner during high season.
To Asia it costs upto $2,800 for a economy ticket vs 65,000 points for round trip through United. 1 point value is over 4 cents, for first class saver award 130,000 points for round trip is around $12,800 making the value about 10 cents a piece.
Now if you used Chase.com booking. You would need 350,000 points for Economy @ $2,800, and over 1,025,000 points for a $12,800 ticket.....
No matter what there's a way to use your points properly, just don't fall for all their gimmicks =)
Cash back is the easiest to understand but expand your mind and explore all options 
I got it as cashback. Let it pile up and go straight to checking 
Unless you want to travel or vacation.
Cash is king, err I mean credit is king.
@bribro wrote:
@ "Now if you used Chase.com booking. You would need 350,000 points for Economy @ $2,800." With the 25% bonus, it's 224,000 UR points to book a $2,800 flight, not 350,000. I think you multiplied when you should have divided.
Bottom line: The best use of UR points is when they're transferred to travel partners (specifically United, Hyatt, Korean Air and BA).
opps nice catch
posting while clients are waiting is meh lol
anyways yea a lot of people use it for cash back, but definately not the best way to spend them, just wanted to point it out travel airfare or hotel partners are much better than cash back. I get over a 4 cent value for economy to Asia, but I'm tryin out first class this summer. Unfortunately I can't travel much off season =\
@armbenderc wrote:I got it as cashback. Let it pile up and go straight to checking
Unless you want to travel or vacation.
Cash is king, err I mean credit is king.
+1 Yeap, that works great for me.
@CreditScholar wrote:
@bribro wrote:You left out Southwest, which usually redeems at 1.6-1.9 cpm. You can also get 2-5 cpp with certain Hyatt Gold Passport bookings.
I also question the math and assumptions in your analysis:
"Transfered to UR points to United would cost 25,000 points about 0.7 value per point." 0.7 cpm is close to a worst case scenario. Of course, if you're booking an S or T fare class domestic flight on United with miles, it would be a poor redemption rate. However, when only higher fare classes are available and for saver awards, using miles for domestic redemptions can easily yield >3 cpm. It's potentionally even better for international flights and business/first class tickets, as you alluded to.
@ "Now if you used Chase.com booking. You would need 350,000 points for Economy @ $2,800." With the 25% bonus, it's 224,000 UR points to book a $2,800 flight, not 350,000. I think you multiplied when you should have divided.
Bottom line: The best use of UR points is when they're transferred to travel partners (specifically United, Hyatt, Korean Air and BA).
I have to disagree with the analysis of 2-5 cpp for Hyatt bookings. 2 cpp yes, 5 cpp definitely not. I used to value them in this way, but when compared to Hyatt certificates the value drops significantly.
For example the Park Hyatt Tokyo costs about $500 per night or 22k points, which equates to 2.27 cpp. However you can purchase a stay certificate for $325 which gives the exact same room. Neither the certificate nor the award night gets you stay credit, and both cover applicable taxes in addition to the room cost. In this sense they are equal. Running the numbers against the certificate ($325 vs 22k) = 1.48 cpp. The PH Sydney is $461 for a certificate or 22k points, which nets a value of 2.1 cpp.
Prior to the merger, US miles could be bought for 1.88 cpp during a 100% bonus. I can't speak about after the merger is complete, but for the past few years they've been running those sales almost every month (if you're targeted). Unless you need the double open-jaw and stopover provided by United, they have very similar Star Alliance inventory access.
This is why my redemption targets are ~ 2 cpp. The alternatives are close enough that I can't value UR points above 2 cpp.
I guess I got lucky when I booked a Hyatt property in Napa a few months ago at 5+ cpp. 
Good to know about the Hyatt certificates though, I'll check that out. That definitely changes the math.
Of course, points valuations are ultimately a personal thing. If you never fly, United miles aren't worth anything. It's also silly to say United miles are worth 15 cpm because of some arbitrary international first class redemption rate, unless you were really going to spend $12,000 or whatever on that ticket. In my case, I have been able to consistently get 3 cpm or more in value out of my UR points, so that's what I go with. It'll be different for everyone.