Originally Posted by
zack14
why do you want to book through the chase portal?
Good question.
Some people earn so many UR and they want something easy. Or they can't find enough value elsewhere. So they redeem UR as cash value.
But in order to do it, they have to book it through Chase travel (Expedia?) portal. This is fine with airlines. But most hotels won't recognize the elite status when it is booked through OTA like Expedia. So you forego the elite status. This can be huge to some people, like club lounge, free breakfast and elite credit.