LivelyFL

I have had the same problem when trying to rent cars that are not at the airport.

RJ1

I have recently started using UR and the Mall, so it is all still new to me.

I'm using the UR portal to access hotels.com in order to take advantage of the current 5 point bonus.

3 questions:

Is there some way to determine the individual hotel's reservation number (i.e., the number in their system, not the hotel.com number) ?
[Edit: yes, hotels.com rep can give you the hotel's resv number]

And as a followup, can we add our frequent guest number to the reservation in order to take advantage of applicable perks?
[Edit: generally yes for perks, but you might not be able to earn points in the indiv hotel program (i.e., Marriott)]

Would accessing the reservation directly on the hotel's own website somehow invalidate the 5 point bonus offer?
[Edit: per Chase SM rep, as long as you pay with the CSP card, points will be earned as advertised]

pointmiler

I am sorry if this is addressed here but wanted to clarify as I am booking flights relatively soon and wanted to take take advantage of this benefit before it goes away. I am about to book travel worth about $5K and fortunately the prices align between the different portals. So I can either get 1% cash back or 1 UR point per dollar spent if booked through Ultimate Rewards. While I have both a CSP and Ink Plus, I am trying to finish some minimum spend on an Amex card and would prefer to use that.

I have two questions - First, can I use a non-chase card to book travel through Ultimate Rewards travel? Secondly, if I use an Amex, will I still get the 1 point per dollar on booking travel through UR?

Thanks

aoumd

So I normally like to book hotel rooms on Hotels.com through the UR Mall to get 7 (yes, I know, 6 in the future) UR points per dollar on top of a free night every 10 from Hotels.com. Great way to earn the most points on the greatest variety of properties possible!

While most hotels are prepaid on hotels.com, I have two hotel stays in Europe coming up which I cannot seem to be able to prepay and must pay at the hotel for after booking on hotels.com.

Do I still qualify for the 5 extra points per dollar for those stays? Or do I only get the 2 points per dollar for travel since payment was not taken on hotels.com at time of booking?

Thanks!

RJ1

I am new to UR and hotels.com, so someone else may want to chime in... however, I recently posed a question to Chase about this recently. Specifically, my question was: If I go in to a reservation made through the UR/hotels.com portal on the hotel's own website (i.e., Hilton or Marriott), would that action impact my ability to earn the points (UR and hotels.com). Answer was NO. The Chase SM rep said as long as I paid for the stay with my CSP card, I should be credited the points.

This answer is not exactly the answer to your specific question, but I presume the same would apply... as long as you pay for your stay with your Chase card, you should be OK.

aoumd

Thanks for the added info. Still hoping I'll get 7 points per dollar instead of 2 for those bookings!

aoumd

Actually, I have another question regarding the 5 extra points per dollar on hotels.com bookings through the UR Mall: I booked several hotel nights a few months ago when the hotels.com UR Mall offer was only 3 extra points per dollar. The "extra points per dollar" do not post until after the hotel STAY, which aren't for another couple weeks to months. Since the rate for this vendor has gone up from 3 to 5 extra points per dollar after the booking but before the stay that triggers the point credit, will I receive 3 or 5 points per dollar when it is all said and done?

emcampbe

Hoping someone can help me on potential fees if I need to cancel a reservation booked through the Ultimate Rewards Mall. This is all hypothetical right now - looking to book.

Would be using UR points from CSP for a hotel night. Its at a Hyatt - only there is no room description - just a very basic headline - Grand Room - double bed - full breakfast. T&Cs in the travel cart were very generic. Seems it is refundable up to 3 days prior to arrival. Didn't want to click "checkout" in case it reserved it without showing me the full T&Cs.

Question is, the terms also suggest that canceling at any time is subject to "program service fees" - which suggest to me those are from UR (or the travel partner carrying out the booking). Does anyone know what these are? Talked to an agent about what this meant, she had no clue and went to find out. All she could tell me was that these are between $15 - $45. When I asked how I could figure out what exactly it would be beforehand, she said there is no way to do so beforehand - that it will only tell you when you try to cancel. Seems a little deceptive to me - especially with the room description missing so I can't tell any beyond very basic info on the kind of room it is until I book, find out from the hotel, and then determine whether its actually what I want.

Has anyone ever been able to tell what these "program service fees" are specifically for what they are booking beforehand. It is a Hyatt, so I can always transfer the points to my Gold Passport instead, however, the room, with the 20% off though chase is actually about 65% of the price in points, and also includes breakfast with the UR rate, but not with GP. But I think its fair that even with paying less, I should still be able to tell what kind of room I'm getting, and how much I would have to pay if I need to cancel, before confirming everything.

adschnei

I had the same question regarding UR/Hotels.com on hotels you pay at the hotel! Hoping someone knows the answer(s) asked in the last few posts!

waygora

I have a question.

Is there any situation where anyone would be OK with using URs booking through the Chase travel portal? We are planning a trip to Banff, but don't have the Fairmont card. We are traveling in October and applying for Fairmont cuts it too close. We do have IHG points, but the 25k is a bit steep for that Holiday Inn.

We are thinking of just using the portal to buy 2 hotel nights at around 10k UR each. I know this is very frowned upon.. But we don't really have another option. Any thoughts?

LivelyFL

I think that's a great use of points.

bribro

Why don't you just pay $250 or whatever it is for the 2 hotel rooms and save your UR points for a better redemption?

skitch23

I feel like I have a dumb question, but I'm going to ask anyway...
When booking a car rental with UR points, is it inclusive of the taxes and fees? I'd hate to make a reservation only to be charged an extra $50-60 by the rental agency at pick up.

This is what I found in the fine print...which is confusing to me as it only seems like it applies to cash prices instead of UR points.
ETA I also found this in the fine print. We'd be renting from Thrifty in Hawaii if it makes a difference.

bulletin2007

Why not rental car with cash, you can even earn a few thousands of AA miles if you rent in airport.
http://www.avis.com/car-rental/html/...rspecials.html
UR ponts are more valuable if you redeem for UA/BA/hyatt.

bulletin2007

I read all the information in this thread but can not find my answer. So I hope I can get some hints from Marriott experts.
I booked a Marriott hotel through Chase UR Travel Center so that I can earn 1x extra UR point. And hopefully I can still earn the stay credit and Marriott points as well (I'll report the result after I finish it on Sep). I am pretty sure the price I paid to Chase UR Travel Center (Price A) is much more than the price they paid to Marriott (Price B) due to agency's bulk quote. And both prices are far less than the listed price in Marriott.com (Price C). In best scenario, I paid less than the published price in Marriott.com and earned both UR points and Marriott stay and points.
However, it's a business trip and in order to get my reimbursement, I need the receipt from Marriott when I check out, showing I paid price A, or at lease showing the balance is 0 without mentioning total paid amount. I am worried about that I may get a receipt showing that Marriott just receive price B. In this case, I have to eat the difference (A-B) by myself. Anybody has any experience or solution? Thanks in advance!