Feb 14, 2017, 7:47 am
Last edit by: beltway
This thread is for discussing the mechanics of points transfer: qualifying Chase cards, eligible partners, and typical speed of transfer. For advice on which partner to transfer to for a given travel goal, see Ultimate Rewards - Which airline/hotel should I transfer points to? and the master threads compiled there.
Holders of non-premium Chase UR cards,
Q. What airline or hotel programs can I transfer UR points into?
A. UR points may be transferred at no charge to these airline programs at a 1:1 exchange rate:
ONEWORLD
Transfers to Amtrak were previously available, but ended permanently on December 8, 2015. See Announcement regarding Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Q. Are transfers instant?
A. In many cases, yes, although transfers to at least one partner (Marriott) may take several days. A summary:
Q: After I transfer, when will my miles expire at that airline/hotel program? Is there anything I can do to avoid expiration there?
The Miles/Points that Do and Don't Expire wiki now lists all of the above Chase UR airline/hotel transfer partners and their respective expiration policies.
Q. Can I transfer to another person's airline or hotel program account?
A. Ultimate Rewards rules explicitly permit transfers to a spouse or domestic partner's frequent traveler account, and prohibit all other transfers. On November 13, 2015, Chase announced the further complication (and perhaps additional restriction) that effective November 15, 2015, as a holder of a UR-earning business card "you can only transfer points to yourself or an owner of the company who is listed as an authorized user on your card account." For discussion of this policy statement and its impacts, see this thread.
Transferring UR points from one household member to another's FF account:
If, for instance, you'd like to transfer UR points from your spouse to your United Airlines account, here are the rules: To transfer directly from [her] UR account to your UA account you would have to be members of the same household -and- you would have to be an Authorized User on [her] Chase card account.
Points can only be transferred to yourself, or one additional household member who is listed as an authorized user on your card account. Once you transfer points to an authorized user, that person will be the only authorized user on your account eligible to receive point transfers.
Combining UR point accounts: To combine points from a UR account with your UR account you would have to be members of the same household. Here are the rules:
You can move your points, but only to another Chase card with Ultimate Rewards belonging to you, or one member of your household. If we suspect that you've engaged in fraudulent activity related to your credit card account or Ultimate Rewards, or that you've misused Ultimate Rewards in any way (for example by buying or selling points, moving or transferring points with or to an ineligible third party or account, or repeatedly opening or otherwise maintaining credit card accounts for the sole purpose of generating rewards) we may temporarily prohibit you from earning points or using points you've already earned. If we believe you've engaged in any of these acts, we'll close your credit card account and you'll lose all your points.
Q. I heard that Chase has closed accounts for unauthorized transfers. What's the story?
A. Those reports involve sharing (aka combining) points from one Ultimate Rewards account to another Ultimate Rewards account. Ultimate Rewards rules explicitly permit combining points with a spouse's or domestic partner's UR account, and prohibit all other internal sharing of UR points. See this thread:
Chase closed my Sapphire Preferred account due to transfers to other UR accounts.
Credit card and rewards accounts may also be closed if Chase decides to close your personal or business bank accounts for any reason.
For the pre-2017 version of this thread, go here.
Q. Can I transfer UR points to airline/hotel programs?
A. Yes, but only from a UR account tied to one of the following premium (i.e., fee-based) Chase cards:
Q. Can I transfer UR points to airline/hotel programs?
A. Yes, but only from a UR account tied to one of the following premium (i.e., fee-based) Chase cards:
- Sapphire Reserve
- Sapphire Preferred
- JP Morgan Reserve
- JP Morgan Palladium (discontinued)
- JP Morgan Select (discontinued)
- INK Preferred
- INK Plus (discontinued)
- INK Bold (discontinued)
Holders of non-premium Chase UR cards,
- Freedom
- Freedom Unlimited
- Freedom Flex
- Sapphire (discontinued; different from Sapphire Preferred)
- INK Cash
- INK Classic (discontinued)
- INK Unlimited
Q. What airline or hotel programs can I transfer UR points into?
A. UR points may be transferred at no charge to these airline programs at a 1:1 exchange rate:
ONEWORLD
- British Airways Executive Club (BA)
- Iberia (IB)
- Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) (AF)
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (VS)
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (SQ)
- United Airlines MileagePlus (UA)
- Air Canada Aeroplan (AC)
- Chase Aeroplan credit cardmembers get a 10% transfer bonus after transferring 50,000 or more Ultimate Rewards points in a single transaction from an eligible Chase credit card to their Aeroplan account. Maximum of 25,000 bonus points per calendar year. This offer was previously scheduled to end on 12/31/23, but has now been made permanent.
- 20% bonus on transfers ended Jan. 15, 2024
- Aer Lingus (EI)
- Emirates Skywards (EK)
- JetBlue (B6) - 25% bonus on transfers ended on Jan. 10, 2024
- Southwest Rapid Rewards (WN)
- IHG Rewards Club - 60% bonus on transfers through March 1, 2024
- Marriott Bonvoy
- World of Hyatt
Transfers to Amtrak were previously available, but ended permanently on December 8, 2015. See Announcement regarding Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Q. Are transfers instant?
A. In many cases, yes, although transfers to at least one partner (Marriott) may take several days. A summary:
- AC: Variable. Generally posts instantly (as noted in this July 2023 post). On the other hand, a report from August 2021 indicated a delay of 72-96 hours and a June 2023 post reflects a delay of roughly 30 hours.
- BA: usually Instant
- SQ: "Most Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer point transfers process within 2 business days." Several reports suggest it takes 24-48 hours, although there appears to be a lot of variation.
Post #128 reports 7 business days; post #214 reports a turnaround of 2hrs 15mins. NOV 2017 - 24 hours - WN: Normally Instant but see posts starting at #451 about delays
- UA: Normally instant, but see this thread: UR to United transfer is not reliably instant
- AF: Instant
- VS: Instant.
- Hyatt: Occurs within a minute or less (numerous reports)
- IHG:
One business day.Instant on 10/30/19. Instant on 9 March 2022. - Marriott: Transfers "will process by the next business day"; actual experience is approx. 2 business days
- Ritz:
Q: After I transfer, when will my miles expire at that airline/hotel program? Is there anything I can do to avoid expiration there?
The Miles/Points that Do and Don't Expire wiki now lists all of the above Chase UR airline/hotel transfer partners and their respective expiration policies.
Q. Can I transfer to another person's airline or hotel program account?
A. Ultimate Rewards rules explicitly permit transfers to a spouse or domestic partner's frequent traveler account, and prohibit all other transfers. On November 13, 2015, Chase announced the further complication (and perhaps additional restriction) that effective November 15, 2015, as a holder of a UR-earning business card "you can only transfer points to yourself or an owner of the company who is listed as an authorized user on your card account." For discussion of this policy statement and its impacts, see this thread.
Transferring UR points from one household member to another's FF account:
If, for instance, you'd like to transfer UR points from your spouse to your United Airlines account, here are the rules: To transfer directly from [her] UR account to your UA account you would have to be members of the same household -and- you would have to be an Authorized User on [her] Chase card account.
Points can only be transferred to yourself, or one additional household member who is listed as an authorized user on your card account. Once you transfer points to an authorized user, that person will be the only authorized user on your account eligible to receive point transfers.
Combining UR point accounts: To combine points from a UR account with your UR account you would have to be members of the same household. Here are the rules:
You can move your points, but only to another Chase card with Ultimate Rewards belonging to you, or one member of your household. If we suspect that you've engaged in fraudulent activity related to your credit card account or Ultimate Rewards, or that you've misused Ultimate Rewards in any way (for example by buying or selling points, moving or transferring points with or to an ineligible third party or account, or repeatedly opening or otherwise maintaining credit card accounts for the sole purpose of generating rewards) we may temporarily prohibit you from earning points or using points you've already earned. If we believe you've engaged in any of these acts, we'll close your credit card account and you'll lose all your points.
Q. I heard that Chase has closed accounts for unauthorized transfers. What's the story?
A. Those reports involve sharing (aka combining) points from one Ultimate Rewards account to another Ultimate Rewards account. Ultimate Rewards rules explicitly permit combining points with a spouse's or domestic partner's UR account, and prohibit all other internal sharing of UR points. See this thread:
Chase closed my Sapphire Preferred account due to transfers to other UR accounts.
Credit card and rewards accounts may also be closed if Chase decides to close your personal or business bank accounts for any reason.
Ultimate Rewards - Airline and Hotel Transfer Partners, Rules, Timelines, (2017 on)
Jun 18, 2022, 3:35 pm
#436
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Bham, AL
Programs: Marriott Gold, AmEx Plat, Agnostic on Airline Programs
Posts: 394
Still waiting on Marriott after 2 days: Nada. I'm assuming they're running behind?
Also, just transferred to SQ today (Saturday): are most positing w/in the 2 days or should I expect longer wait times right now?
Also, just transferred to SQ today (Saturday): are most positing w/in the 2 days or should I expect longer wait times right now?
Jun 19, 2022, 4:43 pm
#437
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,900
Here is my nitpick about sapphire reserve. You can transfer to the airline or hotel program of 1 additional cardholder. The catch is additional cards are free for other types of sapphire but not free for CSR. How can chase not fix this transfer benefit?
Jun 20, 2022, 7:21 am
#438
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,857
CSR additional cardholders receive their own Priority Pass membership. IMO, that's the reason for the additional fee.
Jun 20, 2022, 8:04 am
#439
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,900
Yes and the fee for PP is justifiable. Chase should still let the cardholder designate 1 household member for transfers, so Reserve is not a downgrade from all personal/business Sapphires. To stop abuse, only allow the selection once per year or quarter.
Jun 21, 2022, 1:28 pm
#440
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
Once upon a time, Citi issued two types of AU cards on Prestige (or a forerunner). A $75/year card for those who wanted a Priority Pass membership, and a free version for those who only wanted to use the card for purchases. Chase could do the same with Sapphire Reserve.
Jun 21, 2022, 3:46 pm
#441
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Bham, AL
Programs: Marriott Gold, AmEx Plat, Agnostic on Airline Programs
Posts: 394
Tra
Sorry for the heading confusion: it's about a hiccup in point transferring.
This is X-list from the SQ site, and perhaps this question might be better served on the Chase threads.
IOver the weekend, I did two points transfers from CSR to SQ: 1 for 9k, and the other for 55k. As of last night, both transfers went through and I proceeded to make an award booking for next year.
However, later this morning, I see a message from Chase that there was a problem with the 55k transfer and it didn't go through. They reapplied the 55k back to the CSR account.
Except, according to SQ, it did transfer and my book as of right now stands. I called Chase about the confusion and the rep told me it best to "re-transfer" the 55k, which I did.
My concern: will SQ eventually cancel this booking now? Is there anything I can do to head off any potential trouble? Or odds are will things be fine?
Thanks for any help.
This is X-list from the SQ site, and perhaps this question might be better served on the Chase threads.
IOver the weekend, I did two points transfers from CSR to SQ: 1 for 9k, and the other for 55k. As of last night, both transfers went through and I proceeded to make an award booking for next year.
However, later this morning, I see a message from Chase that there was a problem with the 55k transfer and it didn't go through. They reapplied the 55k back to the CSR account.
Except, according to SQ, it did transfer and my book as of right now stands. I called Chase about the confusion and the rep told me it best to "re-transfer" the 55k, which I did.
My concern: will SQ eventually cancel this booking now? Is there anything I can do to head off any potential trouble? Or odds are will things be fine?
Thanks for any help.
Jun 24, 2022, 10:02 am
#443
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 39
I'm running into the same issue with BA. The points transfer had always been instantaneous for me, but I guess it really can take up to 7 business days now for unknown reasons. It's extra irritating knowing the award spaces I planned on booking are most likely gone by then.
Jun 26, 2022, 7:57 am
#446
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: AUS
Programs: BAEC Gold, AA PPro, Hyatt Globalist, Amex Plat
Posts: 7,029
I just find all this crazy. This entire process, with all partners (and across all credit card companies, Amex/Chase,Citi/CapOne) should be completely automated and instant. I mean, we actually have computers and networks these days. Why in the world do these transfers require any manual intervention to complete? It's just crazy...
Regards
Regards
Jun 26, 2022, 11:31 am
#447
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: JZRO
Posts: 9,169
Agreed. Everybody knows that award availability can disappear in an instant. Thus, transfers must be reliable and timely.
RNE, opining that the onus is on Chase to get this ironed out with its partners or risk undermining the utility of Ultimate Rewards.
RNE, opining that the onus is on Chase to get this ironed out with its partners or risk undermining the utility of Ultimate Rewards.
Jun 26, 2022, 3:54 pm
#448
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 39
I'm running into the same issue with BA. The points transfer had always been instantaneous for me, but I guess it really can take up to 7 business days now for unknown reasons. It's extra irritating knowing the award spaces I planned on booking are most likely gone by then.
Jun 26, 2022, 4:17 pm
#449
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
If an account transfer has this kind of issue once, it’s more likely to be a recurring issue for the same kind of transfer or even perhaps for other transfers from the same Chase account.
Last edited by GUWonder; Jun 26, 2022 at 4:45 pm
Jun 27, 2022, 7:36 pm
#450
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,637
Any recent data points for AF/KLM? I see it’s supposed to be instantaneous but upthread there’s a report of delay.
edit: to contribute one DP, transferred points last night and they’re still not there 12 hours later, so definitely not instantaneous
edit 2: this was my parents, so of course when I asked them to confirm the points left Chase, they realized the transaction didn't go through. Submitted again, and the miles posted instantaneously.
edit: to contribute one DP, transferred points last night and they’re still not there 12 hours later, so definitely not instantaneous
edit 2: this was my parents, so of course when I asked them to confirm the points left Chase, they realized the transaction didn't go through. Submitted again, and the miles posted instantaneously.
Last edited by ucdtim17; Jun 28, 2022 at 8:55 am