Mar 30, 2018, 8:02 am
Last edit by: 747FC
This thread covers how to use Ultimate Reward points for booking all types of travel via the Ultimate Rewards portal.
In 2018 Chase changed the outsourced booking portal operator from Connexions to Expedia. Posts from January to mid-October 2018 have been archived to a separate thread. Those posts discussed the portal as operated by Connexions, -and- the transition process to Expedia.
There is another thread to discuss booking by transferring to airline of hotel programs: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chas...tc-2017-a.html
Pay special attention to booking via Chase UR/Expedia with regard to rewards and benefits. Chase UR + Expedia is considered OTA (Online Travel Agency). Travelers purchase or pre-pay travel with the OTA and is subject to the T&C from the OTA. In general, travelers receive miles rewards on flights, but do not receive night credit on hotel stays. Also, in general, travelers lose the airline or hotel status and do not receive the associated benefits (free breakfast, room upgrade etc).
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.
3.5) How to book cruises?
Chase outsources this to a travel agency specializing in cruises. (I believe they are available solely by telephone.) Agents there can book cruises for you using your URs for payments from initial deposit to final payment. It's also possible to transfer an existing cruise booking to that travel agency. That agency can then make payments (full or partial). However, to transfer a booking, there are some constraints to be aware of. A) The booking and deposit has to be made directly with the cruise line. If you use another agency, you're out of luck. B) The cruise lines limit the window when you can transfer a booking from their control to an agency's. It closes as early as 30 days after initial deposit up to final deposit due date (typically 75-120 prior to sail date) depending on the particular cruise line's rules (which are subject to change).
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 or JPMR 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.
4.5) How do Refunds Work?
When cancelling a booking (and a refund is due), points will be added back to your UR balance and dollars will be refunded to the credit card account used.
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 2017, can be found here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chas...14-2017-a.html
In 2018 Chase changed the outsourced booking portal operator from Connexions to Expedia. Posts from January to mid-October 2018 have been archived to a separate thread. Those posts discussed the portal as operated by Connexions, -and- the transition process to Expedia.
There is another thread to discuss booking by transferring to airline of hotel programs: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chas...tc-2017-a.html
Pay special attention to booking via Chase UR/Expedia with regard to rewards and benefits. Chase UR + Expedia is considered OTA (Online Travel Agency). Travelers purchase or pre-pay travel with the OTA and is subject to the T&C from the OTA. In general, travelers receive miles rewards on flights, but do not receive night credit on hotel stays. Also, in general, travelers lose the airline or hotel status and do not receive the associated benefits (free breakfast, room upgrade etc).
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.
3.5) How to book cruises?
Chase outsources this to a travel agency specializing in cruises. (I believe they are available solely by telephone.) Agents there can book cruises for you using your URs for payments from initial deposit to final payment. It's also possible to transfer an existing cruise booking to that travel agency. That agency can then make payments (full or partial). However, to transfer a booking, there are some constraints to be aware of. A) The booking and deposit has to be made directly with the cruise line. If you use another agency, you're out of luck. B) The cruise lines limit the window when you can transfer a booking from their control to an agency's. It closes as early as 30 days after initial deposit up to final deposit due date (typically 75-120 prior to sail date) depending on the particular cruise line's rules (which are subject to change).
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 or JPMR 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.
4.5) How do Refunds Work?
When cancelling a booking (and a refund is due), points will be added back to your UR balance and dollars will be refunded to the credit card account used.
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 2017, can be found here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chas...14-2017-a.html
Booking Flights, Rooms, Cars, Cruises, Activities through Chase/Expedia portal.
Mar 10, 2019, 4:26 pm
#286
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,755
DPs
Hotels - UR has higher prices than Expedia on the same property identical rooms identical cancellation policy. For a property at Osaka Japan, Expedia shows $118 before taxes while UR shows $133 before taxes, a 12.8% padding.
Airlines - UR has higher prices almost always on international flights than airlines own websites (and google flights agree with airlines sites). A YVR-YYZ on West Jet, it is CAD223 on West Jet site. Google flight translates it to $166. UR shows $174, a 5% mark up.
On a domestic flight MIA-NYC, UR prices match with what Google flights show.
It seems whenever it is international flights or hotels, the chances of encountering inflated prices are very high. Personal experiences have been well over 60 to 70% - some are outrageously higher some are within 5%. Domestic travels seem to be on target.
Talked to a front line rep on the above discrepancies. She claimed the inventory for UR portal is different than for Expedia. There is absolutely no ability anyone can do to find the matching prices / adjust anything. She did say she would file a complaint on the hotel price discrepancy.
More tidbits, but probably a lot of us already know / suspect
The rep said they are not Expedia employees but when I put the inquiry a different way, such as, you are not Expedia consumer site employee but you still work for an entity owned by Expedia that handles corporate bookings and award bookings, and you do not work for Chase? Do I understand it correctly? She said yes.
Did some web search and found a few blog pieces since Expedia took over - several have pointed out the inflated price issues. I dont know other than Buyer Beware and make own judgment call on whether to use UR as payment form, there is anything one can do. Chase simply does not care. They rather you to get frustrated and just use your UR pts as transfer currency or worse, redeem it at 1c per pt instead of playing fair to fix the UR portal booking issues.
Hotels - UR has higher prices than Expedia on the same property identical rooms identical cancellation policy. For a property at Osaka Japan, Expedia shows $118 before taxes while UR shows $133 before taxes, a 12.8% padding.
Airlines - UR has higher prices almost always on international flights than airlines own websites (and google flights agree with airlines sites). A YVR-YYZ on West Jet, it is CAD223 on West Jet site. Google flight translates it to $166. UR shows $174, a 5% mark up.
On a domestic flight MIA-NYC, UR prices match with what Google flights show.
It seems whenever it is international flights or hotels, the chances of encountering inflated prices are very high. Personal experiences have been well over 60 to 70% - some are outrageously higher some are within 5%. Domestic travels seem to be on target.
Talked to a front line rep on the above discrepancies. She claimed the inventory for UR portal is different than for Expedia. There is absolutely no ability anyone can do to find the matching prices / adjust anything. She did say she would file a complaint on the hotel price discrepancy.
More tidbits, but probably a lot of us already know / suspect
The rep said they are not Expedia employees but when I put the inquiry a different way, such as, you are not Expedia consumer site employee but you still work for an entity owned by Expedia that handles corporate bookings and award bookings, and you do not work for Chase? Do I understand it correctly? She said yes.
Did some web search and found a few blog pieces since Expedia took over - several have pointed out the inflated price issues. I dont know other than Buyer Beware and make own judgment call on whether to use UR as payment form, there is anything one can do. Chase simply does not care. They rather you to get frustrated and just use your UR pts as transfer currency or worse, redeem it at 1c per pt instead of playing fair to fix the UR portal booking issues.
Mar 11, 2019, 7:14 am
#287
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 10
Guys - happy to report that I just booked something successfully on the Travel portal! Last Thurs/Fri I wasn't even able to search the portal, I kept getting "Whoops" error which was new as my prior issue had been a "Sorry" error when booking (searching worked fine). So I was thinking maybe they were actually fixing all these buggy issues. I logged in today, the search worked, and low and behold for the first time in months I was able to book a hotel!
Mar 11, 2019, 8:33 pm
#288
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,755
Guys - happy to report that I just booked something successfully on the Travel portal! Last Thurs/Fri I wasn't even able to search the portal, I kept getting "Whoops" error which was new as my prior issue had been a "Sorry" error when booking (searching worked fine). So I was thinking maybe they were actually fixing all these buggy issues. I logged in today, the search worked, and low and behold for the first time in months I was able to book a hotel!
Mar 12, 2019, 12:55 am
#289
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Hawai'i Nei
Programs: Au: UA, Marriott, Hilton; GE
Posts: 7,138
Cancelling UR Portal Flights
I've never used my UR points to book flights through the UR portal. Rather, I am used to transferring to UA, and my experience there is that I never have problems cancelling flights for a modest fee to return the mileage to my UA account.
So I am reading the Wiki, and see this:
-----
4.5) How do Refunds Work?
When cancelling a booking (and a refund is due), points will be added back to your UR balance and dollars will be refunded to the credit card account used.
----
Does this really mean that if I spend 200,000 points on an airline ticket, and then I cancel, I'll get 200,000 points returned to my UR account?
Many thanks!
So I am reading the Wiki, and see this:
-----
4.5) How do Refunds Work?
When cancelling a booking (and a refund is due), points will be added back to your UR balance and dollars will be refunded to the credit card account used.
----
Does this really mean that if I spend 200,000 points on an airline ticket, and then I cancel, I'll get 200,000 points returned to my UR account?
Many thanks!
Mar 12, 2019, 6:37 am
#290
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 10
No idea. From all the calls, it sounded like they knew that some people were having issues and they were working on a fix. Like I said, when I couldn't even search the site a few days ago (new error for me) I was holding out hope that they were fixing whatever bugs they had. Looks like that was the case, at least for me. Wish I could be more help but I honestly have no clue 1) what caused this issue or 2) what fixed it.
Mar 12, 2019, 7:00 am
#291
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,953
Mar 12, 2019, 9:19 pm
#292
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 600
Anyone having issue with booking with UR points right now? I can't search flights.
Mar 12, 2019, 9:27 pm
#293
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Hawai'i Nei
Programs: Au: UA, Marriott, Hilton; GE
Posts: 7,138
When I look at the T&Cs, it says "Refundable," but the fine print says it is only fully refundable if there is a documented medical condition or death, otherwise there is a $500 charge per ticket. Well, that seems to be clear, but I will not be paying for the ticket in dollars, but in points. So, will I get my (e.g.) 200,000 points back--but need to pay $500. or will they refund 200,000 points minus the JPMR-equivalent of $500 worth of points?
Many thanks for any insights.
Mar 13, 2019, 7:18 am
#294
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,785
Good question: I don't know what to expect since this is a point of sales that I have never experienced.
When I look at the T&Cs, it says "Refundable," but the fine print says it is only fully refundable if there is a documented medical condition or death, otherwise there is a $500 charge per ticket. Well, that seems to be clear, but I will not be paying for the ticket in dollars, but in points. So, will I get my (e.g.) 200,000 points back--but need to pay $500. or will they refund 200,000 points minus the JPMR-equivalent of $500 worth of points?
Many thanks for any insights.
When I look at the T&Cs, it says "Refundable," but the fine print says it is only fully refundable if there is a documented medical condition or death, otherwise there is a $500 charge per ticket. Well, that seems to be clear, but I will not be paying for the ticket in dollars, but in points. So, will I get my (e.g.) 200,000 points back--but need to pay $500. or will they refund 200,000 points minus the JPMR-equivalent of $500 worth of points?
Many thanks for any insights.
I have never done the paid refund, but I had done the medical emergency one without having to pay. Basically airline will refund to UR, and UR will refund back in points. It takes weeks to the points back last time.
Mar 13, 2019, 11:18 am
#295
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Hawai'i Nei
Programs: Au: UA, Marriott, Hilton; GE
Posts: 7,138
If you call UR, they will tell you the ticket is non-refundable. So you will call the airline and pay them the $500 and the airline will refund the $ to the original credit card used by UR (Expedia). And you will call UR and tell them the ticket is refunded and wait. The 200,000 points will eventually refunded to your UR account.
I have never done the paid refund, but I had done the medical emergency one without having to pay. Basically airline will refund to UR, and UR will refund back in points. It takes weeks to the points back last time.
I have never done the paid refund, but I had done the medical emergency one without having to pay. Basically airline will refund to UR, and UR will refund back in points. It takes weeks to the points back last time.
Mar 18, 2019, 4:54 pm
#296
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: NJ
Programs: United Silver, Hyatt, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Amex Plat, Global Entry
Posts: 751
Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.....
I have the CSR...if I use The UR portal to rent a car using points or combo points and cash, can I still rent a car and be covered by this cards Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver? Meaning i dont have to accept the rental car company insurance?
Mar 20, 2019, 11:23 am
#297
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 1
I've been getting the error message below for the last few days when trying to search hotels. Tried different browsers, phones, incognito mode, etc. Any one else getting this, or found a way past it? I really don't want to call as I'd like to browse.
Whoops! We apologize for the inconvenience, but we’re unable to load the
Chase Travel site at this time
Whoops! We apologize for the inconvenience, but we’re unable to load the
Chase Travel site at this time
Mar 20, 2019, 2:40 pm
#298
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,785
I've been getting the error message below for the last few days when trying to search hotels. Tried different browsers, phones, incognito mode, etc. Any one else getting this, or found a way past it? I really don't want to call as I'd like to browse.
Whoops! We apologize for the inconvenience, but we’re unable to load the
Chase Travel site at this time
Whoops! We apologize for the inconvenience, but we’re unable to load the
Chase Travel site at this time
Mar 20, 2019, 6:16 pm
#299
Join Date: Jun 2006
Programs: UA Premier 1K, Star Alliance Gold, Titanium Elite Marriott, Celebrity Elite, IHG, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 343
Website errors
The website becomes unstable at times maybe for updates or system errors. If you need immediate assistance I would contact chase@twitter. You have a record of your request and someone will respond with an answer that you can trust.
Mar 20, 2019, 6:18 pm
#300
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,755
I think the site was unstable. I got that last weekend and I was in the middle of trying out different hotels and pricing them. It was working fine then all of the sudden can't get to UR site. Log back in Chase and it can't even show me how many UR points I got. The next day, it was working again.
I suggest to do the search (price comparison) on Expedia site - so you can take time to narrow down the final choices - then open a different window, or better, different browser also, to log in Chase then to UR site - from there you can quickly find your narrowed down choices.
Just keep in mind, the prices shown on UR site are almost ALWAYS padded anywhere from 5 to 15%, whether it is for hotels or for airlines. I guess the padding is the way we the cardholders pay for the "powered by Expedia" set up. I have not used cards like Ink Plus / Preferred or CSP to see if the before discount prices are the same as using CSR. However on the net I have read about people said using different cards yield different before discount prices.
Last edited by Happy; Mar 21, 2019 at 12:39 pm