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Booking Flights, Rooms, Cars, Cruises, Activities through Chase/Expedia portal.

Old Mar 30, 2018, 8:02 am
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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 Posts from January to mid-October 2018 have been archived to a separate thread.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
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Booking Flights, Rooms, Cars, Cruises, Activities through Chase/Expedia portal.

Old Apr 4, 2019, 7:59 am
  #316  
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Originally Posted by Weekend Away
Unfortunately it's rebook and pay the fare difference. I'm not interested in paying double what I initially paid. Usually it's whomever your travel agent is, which I figured was Chase/Expedia. I'll give MU a call. Thanks !
Please report back with your results. Your experience may help other members.
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Old Apr 4, 2019, 9:10 am
  #317  
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Originally Posted by Weekend Away
Unfortunately it's rebook and pay the fare difference. I'm not interested in paying double what I initially paid. Usually it's whomever your travel agent is, which I figured was Chase/Expedia. I'll give MU a call. Thanks !
MU should rebook you than Chase/Expedia reissue the ticket to reflect the itinerary. That is how normally Expedia would do, if no Chase get involved.

Please do let the community know what eventually happens. We hope you can get reaccommodated with just a reissuance of ticket without having to pay fare difference.

It is not uncommon the airline has schedule change and then the auto-rebooking does not take into account of the connection flight. I once had AC canceled our afternoon flight YUL-FLL and rebooked us in a morning flight departing when we would still on the AC CDG-YUL flight! The whole itinerary was on AC as a UA award ticket. Called AC and then UA and they squared out the misconnect.

Quite often the airlines would need to "take control" of the reservations, i.e. moved from the OTA to them, before they can accommodate. This can be done by UA, AA, DL as far as I know. Some agents are more helpful than others but it can be done.
Unfortunately with Chase UR, there is an additional, very opaque layer inserted there. To the airlines, tickets are booked THRU Expedia. To Expedia, tickets are booked by UR, paid by Chase thru whatever agreement they have, and the same applies to cardholder. This makes reaccommodation on schedule changes exceedingly difficult.

My recent experiences with the "Chase Ultimate Reward powered by Expedia" show a few things that we all need to be aware -

1) the inventory is NOT identical to Expedia.
2) the pricing almost always is 10 to 15% higher on international stuff - be it hotels or airline tickets. Domestic stuff the padding is commonly at 5% sometimes there is none.
3) it is major headache when flight schedule changes and itinerary needs to be rebooked - this marked a MAJOR difference comparing if you book your ticket with Expedia, not to mention book directly with airlines. Even booked thru the regular OTA channel, you are far better reaccommodated than if you book thru UR.

My conclusion is, DONT book anything in far future as schedule changes are inevitable, also try to keep itinerary as simple as possible. Else gamble your luck that things a) dont go wrong. b) should things go wrong, you would be super lucky to get someone to help you from the "Chase Powered by Expedia" dept. - they are part of Expedia but not the consumer side and from the bits and pieces fished out on calls, they are strictly bound by the books, and how the system spit out - nothing manually done is allowed.

Last edited by Happy; Apr 4, 2019 at 9:16 am
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Old Apr 7, 2019, 8:30 am
  #318  
 
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while I can understand Chase's decision to use Expedia I have found it to be substandard compared to the old system managed by Chase. First inventory Expedia's inventory at certain hotels differs with the hotel website for awards, I am finding this to be the norm rather than spotty. The "cost" of awards via Expedia is higher as well and others posting. This has lead me to simply accumulate points then transfer to an appropriate account such as Marriott/Air France etc. Less hassle, easier booking and most of all Availability. Frankly this will play into my decision in renewing or cancelling later on this year.
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Old Apr 7, 2019, 7:30 pm
  #319  
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Beside two FC to AK I use all my points for car rentals and indy hotels. The vast majority of hotels on Expedia show "sold out" when trying to book with UR. We're getting the shaft!
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Old Apr 8, 2019, 6:35 am
  #320  
 
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Originally Posted by philemer
Beside two FC to AK I use all my points for car rentals and indy hotels. The vast majority of hotels on Expedia show "sold out" when trying to book with UR. We're getting the shaft!
Exactly every time I would get "Sold Out" would go to hotel website and yes availability with points !! This makes having the Sapphire Reserve other than PP useless, more or less.
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Old Apr 8, 2019, 7:21 am
  #321  
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Emphatically I agree that Chase should get the portal fixed. Whether it's by having Expedia fix it or changing vendors is not significant.

Originally Posted by edgewood49
This makes having the Sapphire Reserve other than PP useless, more or less.
I almost replied to your earlier comment about how the portal will "play into my decision in renewing or cancelling" the card, but I expect to use my UR points by transferring them, and I thought most people believed this was the best use. Again, Chase should not allow Expedia to devalue the points, but since a fully functional portal would still be a secondary use for my points, I don't expect to cancel. YMMV, but I am interested to hear other opinions.
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Old Apr 8, 2019, 10:08 am
  #322  
 
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Originally Posted by serpens
Emphatically I agree that Chase should get the portal fixed. Whether it's by having Expedia fix it or changing vendors is not significant.



I almost replied to your earlier comment about how the portal will "play into my decision in renewing or cancelling" the card, but I expect to use my UR points by transferring them, and I thought most people believed this was the best use. Again, Chase should not allow Expedia to devalue the points, but since a fully functional portal would still be a secondary use for my points, I don't expect to cancel. YMMV, but I am interested to hear other opinions.
While as a businessman I can understand Chase's reasoning in having a company such as Expedia run their rewards program the problem is that Expedia is running it their way. Repeatedly I have looked at international booking availability over a six to 9 month period and every hotel I chose was not available for rewards call Expedia something. Yet when one goes to the hotel chain websites and seek the same exact booking it shows available. These are specific real booking request for up coming trips. Prior to Expedia Chase Rewards was pretty good, great service now it's Expedia. So I am transferring points to a hotel chain account and an airline, to be fair I take advantage of AMEX bonus points transfer at times this month 125% to AF which to me is a deal.
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Old Apr 9, 2019, 9:57 am
  #323  
 
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Payment Error when booking w/ UR

Hi all, I've been trying to book a flight through the Chase travel portal with UR and have been running into a technical issue for the past two weeks and I'm at my wits end with Chase customer service.

I'm attempting to book a particular flight itinerary (5/29/19 - Air Seychelles Flight 61 - SEZ to JNB, 2 pax in economy, if anyone is curious) and every time I attempt to book, I get an error "Sorry, there's an issue with the payment information below." & "Please try a different card or contact your card issuer."

I've been up and down and all over with Chase Customer Service and they are simply not answering why this message is coming up and they can't figure it out. Anyone know how to kick this up to any execs or get this solved? I can't listen to Chase hold music anymore or explain the situation to another Chase CSR. All advice appreciated!
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Old Apr 9, 2019, 10:00 am
  #324  
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Originally Posted by FishTX22
.... there's an issue with the payment information....
Are you paying with points, or by card, or a combination?

Have any of your cards that earn Ultimate Rewards been replaced due to loss, damage, fraud, etc?
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Old Apr 9, 2019, 10:07 am
  #325  
 
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Originally Posted by mia
Are you paying with points, or by card, or a combination?

Have any of your cards that earn Ultimate Rewards been replaced due to loss, damage, fraud, etc?
Paying with points only but I've even tried to do a combo (with charging 1 cent to the card) and still get the same error.

They have not. Chase continually confirms my cards are in good standing and the points are available to use.
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Old Apr 9, 2019, 10:50 am
  #326  
mia
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We have reports of "similar" problems. Scroll back to post 153 and read forward. If you have not already, try booking by telephone, and if it fails escalate to a higher level agent,

Recognize that when you are speaking to the travel booking department you are not working with Chase employees. This service is outsourced to Expedia.
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Old Apr 9, 2019, 11:59 am
  #327  
 
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Originally Posted by FishTX22
Paying with points only but I've even tried to do a combo (with charging 1 cent to the card) and still get the same error.

They have not. Chase continually confirms my cards are in good standing and the points are available to use.
Suggestion transfer to the carrier of choice then book, I have given up on Chase Rewards other than transferring. Just saying
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Old Apr 9, 2019, 12:09 pm
  #328  
 
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Originally Posted by edgewood49
Suggestion transfer to the carrier of choice then book, I have given up on Chase Rewards other than transferring. Just saying
What carriers have you had good experiences with in terms of finding reward seats remaining after you transfer your points?
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Old Apr 9, 2019, 12:11 pm
  #329  
mia
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Originally Posted by FishTX22
.... Air Seychelles....
Originally Posted by edgewood49
Suggestion transfer to the carrier of choice ....
Is there an Ultimate Rewards transfer partner that offers redemptions on this airline?


Originally Posted by 747FC
... finding reward seats remaining after you transfer your points?
That's backwards. You would locate the award inventory first, then transfer.

Discussion:

Ultimate Rewards - Airline and Hotel Transfer Partners, Rules, Timelines, (2017 on)

Ultimate Rewards - Which airline/hotel should I transfer points to?

Last edited by mia; Apr 9, 2019 at 12:18 pm
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Old Apr 9, 2019, 1:27 pm
  #330  
 
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Originally Posted by mia
Is there an Ultimate Rewards transfer partner that offers redemptions on this airline?




That's backwards. You would locate the award inventory first, then transfer.

Discussion:

Ultimate Rewards - Airline and Hotel Transfer Partners, Rules, Timelines, (2017 on)

Ultimate Rewards - Which airline/hotel should I transfer points to?

If one reads up a few posts regarding my opinion, yes I would check first then transfer. I have had great luck with AF which is one of my favorites, plus you can book main/Premium/Biz and sometimes catch Le Premier. Most major hotels are transfer partners I use Marriott. Case in point we are going to Venice and Florence next year the hotels of choice showed unavailable when I checked on the Marriott site wide open for points. I do the same with my Amex points especially when they run the bonus transfer this month AF.

Finally of course look before transfer
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