Feb 8, 2017, 9:00 am
Last edit by: mia
This thread covers how to use Ultimate Reward Points for booking all types of travel via the Ultimate Rewards portal.
1) How do I book a ticket? Choose my airfare class?
Login to ultimaterewards.com
Click: Use points > Explore and Book Travel
Click the button that defaults to [1 Traveler, All]
Change "Class" (the first entry in the pull-down) from All to Business
Click: Close
2) How far in advance can I book?
In mid-November 2017 it was reported that airline reservations are available only 270 days in advance. Read HERE.
3) How do I book hotels?
Follow the steps above to log on. There are standard looking search engines offered for airfare, hotel, etc at that point.
4) How do I get the better redemption rate offered on some Chase cards?
The upper left corner of the UR page will show you which card you are logged in with. If you hold a Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you will be shown a better price on points bookings, as a 1.5 redemption rate is offered as one of the benefits of this card. If you log in to the UR portal from a different UR card, such as the Ink, you will not be offered this rate.
5) Where else can I find information?
This thread is a consolidated resource which covers topics including:
Fare buckets, here
Price differences between open market air fares and UR bookings, here
Selecting seat classes
Using cash and points to pay for tickets
and more.
The previous discussion, through 2016, can be found here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase...ly-2015-a.html
1) How do I book a ticket? Choose my airfare class?
Login to ultimaterewards.com
Click: Use points > Explore and Book Travel
Click the button that defaults to [1 Traveler, All]
Change "Class" (the first entry in the pull-down) from All to Business
Click: Close
2) How far in advance can I book?
In mid-November 2017 it was reported that airline reservations are available only 270 days in advance. Read HERE.
3) How do I book hotels?
Follow the steps above to log on. There are standard looking search engines offered for airfare, hotel, etc at that point.
4) How do I get the better redemption rate offered on some Chase cards?
The upper left corner of the UR page will show you which card you are logged in with. If you hold a Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you will be shown a better price on points bookings, as a 1.5 redemption rate is offered as one of the benefits of this card. If you log in to the UR portal from a different UR card, such as the Ink, you will not be offered this rate.
5) Where else can I find information?
This thread is a consolidated resource which covers topics including:
Fare buckets, here
Price differences between open market air fares and UR bookings, here
Selecting seat classes
Using cash and points to pay for tickets
and more.
The previous discussion, through 2016, can be found here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase...ly-2015-a.html
Booking Flights, Rooms, Cars, etc. w/ Ultimate Rewards Points, 2014-2017
Sep 4, 2017, 7:32 pm
#361
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: AS 75K, DL Silver, UA Platinum, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Platinum + LT Gold
Posts: 10,517
Looking to buy roundtrip airline tickets from EWR-LHR in the Fall and noticed when I use the UR portal if I choose say Virgin Atlantic on the way to London it only gives me VA as choices on the way home. Is there a way to choose different airlines for the different legs? I am torn as VA is a 787 which I've never flown but UA is my main airline and I understand I may get Mileage Plus points booking through the UR portal. Any thoughts on both of these? Thanks.
You can have miles credited for both segments. Virgin's can be credited to its plan or a partner (e.g. Delta).
Sep 4, 2017, 8:11 pm
#362
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 160
Another example: When I search hotels in St. Barths I only get 2-3 on the chase portal. On Expedia, I get 20+.
Sep 5, 2017, 6:51 am
#363
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,959
Sep 6, 2017, 11:56 am
#364
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: NYC/LA
Programs: DL Plat, AA Plat Pro, Marriott Titanium, IHG Diamond Amb
Posts: 7,489
With basic economy fares now rolled out to the majority of AA and UA's domestic network, I'd be curious to see if people have tried calling in when redeeming UR points for flights through the travel portal, and requesting an upfare to the lowest non-basic economy fare, and whether they were successful.
Sep 6, 2017, 3:22 pm
#365
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,786
My points refund adventure continues. So now it has been more than 30 days and I still have not seen the points refunded. Call Chase UR again and this time they said they have to initiate a ticket refund, and I should wait another week and check. He said "it doesn't mean the points will be there but you could check in a week." Oh well... the wait continues.
Sep 7, 2017, 10:25 pm
#366
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 64
Booking thru Ultimate Rewards for first time flights
Good evening. I have a few questions using Chase's Ultimate Rewards portal that I haven't been able to get concrete answers on and the wait times are high due to the weather so I thought I would post and see if anyone knows the answers:
- If I make a booking via the UR portal and not use any points, do I still earn miles with the appropriate airline? For instance if I book a United flight, do I earn United miles with Mileage Plus that I would have earned if I had gone to united.com?
- It seems like even if I use all or partial UR points, I still earn miles with United as well?
- And booking through the portal still gives you the option to cancel without penalty within 24 hours - assuming that that airline has that cancelation rule?
Thanks for any insight.
- If I make a booking via the UR portal and not use any points, do I still earn miles with the appropriate airline? For instance if I book a United flight, do I earn United miles with Mileage Plus that I would have earned if I had gone to united.com?
- It seems like even if I use all or partial UR points, I still earn miles with United as well?
- And booking through the portal still gives you the option to cancel without penalty within 24 hours - assuming that that airline has that cancelation rule?
Thanks for any insight.
Sep 7, 2017, 11:52 pm
#367
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 137
The UR portal basically acts like a travel agent. You will get united miles (RDM/PQM/PQD) no matter if you pay all cash, partial cash/points, or redeem all points. I don't see the point to paying all cash on UR portal instead of booking on united.com
Yes there is a 24hr cancel policy based on airline but you have to call in to cancel.
Yes there is a 24hr cancel policy based on airline but you have to call in to cancel.
Sep 9, 2017, 10:15 am
#368
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,786
My points refund adventure continues. So now it has been more than 30 days and I still have not seen the points refunded. Call Chase UR again and this time they said they have to initiate a ticket refund, and I should wait another week and check. He said "it doesn't mean the points will be there but you could check in a week." Oh well... the wait continues.
Sep 9, 2017, 11:20 am
#369
Join Date: Jan 2015
Programs: Marriott Titanium and LTP, Hilton Gold, United Silver
Posts: 786
The UR portal basically acts like a travel agent. You will get united miles (RDM/PQM/PQD) no matter if you pay all cash, partial cash/points, or redeem all points. I don't see the point to paying all cash on UR portal instead of booking on united.com
Yes there is a 24hr cancel policy based on airline but you have to call in to cancel.
Yes there is a 24hr cancel policy based on airline but you have to call in to cancel.
Sep 9, 2017, 9:56 pm
#370
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 240
i paid for a flight round trip for 2 passengers with 32,580 UR points. Cancelled my trip without penalty due to weather advisory. Is been about 9 days and no refund of points yet... anyone know how long this will take? I contacted chase and they were not helpful and blew me off with a 30 day message. I have an immediate need for the points...
Sep 10, 2017, 11:23 am
#371
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,786
i paid for a flight round trip for 2 passengers with 32,580 UR points. Cancelled my trip without penalty due to weather advisory. Is been about 9 days and no refund of points yet... anyone know how long this will take? I contacted chase and they were not helpful and blew me off with a 30 day message. I have an immediate need for the points...
Sep 10, 2017, 3:03 pm
#372
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: A3 *G, AA exePlat, AS MVP 75k Gold, JL sapphire, UA silver
Posts: 4,035
so. can people still access bulk fare on AA using UR? when i click on fare rule, it doesnt show anything. also, the aa flight is listed as B (Basic Economy) which I want to avoid.
Sep 11, 2017, 11:14 am
#373
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 240
You must have made the same mistake as I contacting them via secure message. That won't work. You have to call them and tell them to issue a "ticket refund". I waited 30 days and call them then they said "Oh you need to have a ticket refund." I could have gotten them much sooner...
Sep 12, 2017, 3:48 pm
#374
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Washington D.C. via Sao Paulo via Houston via Washington D.C. via Boston via New York
Posts: 1,172
So a hotel has a great rate on it's own website, I called into UR and they told me to screw off, I want to use UR to book the hotel, but the rate UR is charging is almost 600USD more than the hotels website. Any luck in having UR honoring the hotels website? FWIW no other third party booking site I've looked at had the rate. So it may be a lost cause.
Sep 13, 2017, 11:09 am
#375
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Chicagoland/ORD
Programs: UA Million Miler (Gold), Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,458
National Car rental
I've booked National with UR points 3x. The first two showed up in my Emerald account within a couple of days. This last one, booked weeks ago, has not. I'm not concerned about the reservation, but I find it odd that it hasn't posted in my account. Or is this something that's hit or miss?