@Anonymous wrote:
@nachoslibres wrote:
@galahad15 wrote:
Sorry if this may have already been asked before earlier, but I tried searching and could not seem to locate any very meaningful replies, so I was j/w, what makes the Chase UR program a really special for some forum members? From my rudimentary understanding, I am aware that Chase UR allows you to transfer points between Chase cards(?), but even with that feature, why do members here consider it to be such a prominent perk? Again sorry I honestly don't mean to sound snarky or overly uninformed, but I guess I'm just not quite getting why it is so outstanding? I've had a Chase Freedom myself for a few years, but in my own experience, the UR I received were not really anything super-special IME?
1. Chase UR Program allows you to take the 1%, 2%, 5% "cash back" you receive on their cards and increase its value by transferring to partners like Southwest, United, Hyatt, Marriott, etc.
2. It does allow you to transfer between cards - such as the Freedom, Ink Cash, etc. - but in order to maximize these points you need a card with an annual fee like the Ink Plus, Sapphire Preffered, or Sapphire Reserved to transfer to partners.
3. For example - I earn 5% "cash back" on my cell phone bill on my Ink Cash (cash back card). So my cell phone bill is $300 - so I earn $15 a month from that. Well, I could cash that $15 out or I could take those 1,500 points and transfer them to Hyatt where I typically get at least 3.5 cents of value per point. That means that instead of cashing out that $15 I just earned myself $52.50 worth of travel by transferring instead.
4. They won't be special for you as the Freedom is a cash back only card UNLESS you transfer those points to another card like the Ink Plus, CSP, or CSR where you can then transfer those points to a partner where it can greatly increase their value.
Curious, how are you managing "at least" 3.5 cents per point out of Hyatt? I haven't used their reward program but if this is possible, it sounds lucrative and I might have to get on board
Most sites I've seen show Hyatt at about 1.5-2 cents per point on average.
I've gotten more than 3.5 cents per point but this all depends on supply and demand - the more demand a hotel is in the higher the price but the points needed for redemption doesn't change so the value per point goes up. Consider right now a room at the Grand Hyatt in Denver Colorado (I like staying at Grand Hyatts as they typically don't cost more points than a regular Hyatt - at least the ones I stay at). The current price is $379 a night before taxes, consider 10% sales tax and other fees and that puts the price at $417 a night (this is just an estimate - I don't know what the actual sales tax and hotel tax would be). It only costs 12,000 Hyatt points for the room, which essentially gets you 3.475 cents per point. Also Hyatt House in Denver is currently going for $256 a night, consider with taxes and fees would be aorund $282 a night or 8,000 points a night. This gets you 3.525 cents per point.
