Originally Posted by
WineCountryUA
Welcome to FT!, coloradotraveler
The two approachs are very different.
Use the Chase portal, you are purchasing a "cash" ticket and the points are used to offset the cash transaction.
Move to UA and you will purchase an award ticket with the points converted to UA MP miles.
You will need to research the "price" of each method. One may be better than the other this week but next week it may be different.
The cash tickets will be mileage and status earning, the award ticket will not.
The award ticker will have lower cancel and change fees than the cash ticket.
The points once moved to UA can only be used for UA tickets,
The points at Chase have more flexibility in there use.
Simple, huh?
just a couple of points to add on and clairify here:
- the points once moved to UA can be used for UA tickets - technically that is correct, but they can be used across any UA partners, which are mostly *A. The UA miles are also less flexible in that there needs to be availability for award tickets
- when determining the true cost, many consider the mileage/status thing - if these flights will bring you over the next status level, booking annaward through UA May cost more than you think, but as always, YMMV
- note that using Chase points also allows you to split the cost between cash and points. So if you have a cash ticket that costs $500, you’d need 33,334 UR to buy that ticket outright. But Chase allows you to split that in any increment you want - you could pay $250 cash and 26,667 UR, $100 cash and 26,667 UR, or $450 and 3,334 UR.
Another thing to consider is is that I believe there is still the potential UA/Expedia spat/lawsuit that if it continues, means you may not be able to purchase tickets using UR for flights after some date in October, and Expedia/UR won’t be able to changeoreciously ticketed UA flights after that date as well. Stay tuned.
Oh, also, IME, Chase doesn’t always offer every single option you might find elsewhere. Not sure why. I had trouble finding the flights on SQ I was looking at at some point, and at another, couldn’t find some infra-Asia tickets on TG I know we’re available. Calling didn’t help.
Personally, I tend to use UR to lower the cost of higher priced flights I don’t want to pay the full price for, especially when traveling with the family. For me, it allows me to adhere to a budget even if flight prices aren’t cooperating. Maybe it’s a better use of points sometimes, maybe not? But it’s how I like to use them. Everyone will have a different opinion, so do what seems right to you.