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 Posts from January to mid-October 2018 have been archived to a separate thread.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.
Jan 28, 2019, 7:08 pm
#181
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
I have a cruise from Cairns to Singapore. I can use Choice Air by the cruise company use American, JetStar and Cathay for $862.00 LAX to CNS and SIN to LAX the best price but I don't like American FF plan.
I am a member of Delta not to happy with the point system LAX to CNS $600.00 using UR. SIN to LAX using EVA Star Alliance about $600.00. I did look at Singapore the basic economy was not available on March 22, 2019. I just found a lower fare on Kayak for $812.73. I will book them one.
I am a member of Delta not to happy with the point system LAX to CNS $600.00 using UR. SIN to LAX using EVA Star Alliance about $600.00. I did look at Singapore the basic economy was not available on March 22, 2019. I just found a lower fare on Kayak for $812.73. I will book them one.
Could it be the issue of currency conversion that the system cannot handle? i.e. the ticket probably is priced in AUD, but displayed as USD - yet there is some glitches in the system that fail to correctly convert the AUD to USD for UR booking which obviously can only be done with USD pricing?
I am just doing some wild guessing here based on how difficult AA system to accept a USD denomination Travel Voucher from canceled ticket value, at an AA ticketing office.
Also whenever I do some searches on QF site, as soon as the origin city changes from inside Australia to outside Australia, QF site would pop up a warning that my itinerary will be billed by XXXX currency and I will be sent to XXXX QF site to finish the booking.
Many airlines do the currency conversation on revenue tickets behind the scene so customers hardly notice it. But since this is UR the funny money turned to real money, they may not have properly address the currency conversion issues.
Next time when you talk to whoever the support personnel, mention this possibility - they may never think about this front. It may just help them to look at a likely area where the issues may be.
Jan 28, 2019, 7:51 pm
#182
Join Date: Jun 2006
Programs: UA Premier 1K, Star Alliance Gold, Titanium Elite Marriott, Celebrity Elite, IHG, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 343
Booking flights on ultimate rewards
Sorry I haven't been following the saga from the beginning, so I want to make sure, your itinerary starts from Cairns, correct?
Could it be the issue of currency conversion that the system cannot handle? i.e. the ticket probably is priced in AUD, but displayed as USD - yet there is some glitches in the system that fail to correctly convert the AUD to USD for UR booking which obviously can only be done with USD pricing?
I am just doing some wild guessing here based on how difficult AA system to accept a USD denomination Travel Voucher from canceled ticket value, at an AA ticketing office.
Also whenever I do some searches on QF site, as soon as the origin city changes from inside Australia to outside Australia, QF site would pop up a warning that my itinerary will be billed by XXXX currency and I will be sent to XXXX QF site to finish the booking.
Many airlines do the currency conversation on revenue tickets behind the scene so customers hardly notice it. But since this is UR the funny money turned to real money, they may not have properly address the currency conversion issues.
Next time when you talk to whoever the support personnel, mention this possibility - they may never think about this front. It may just help them to look at a likely area where the issues may be.
Could it be the issue of currency conversion that the system cannot handle? i.e. the ticket probably is priced in AUD, but displayed as USD - yet there is some glitches in the system that fail to correctly convert the AUD to USD for UR booking which obviously can only be done with USD pricing?
I am just doing some wild guessing here based on how difficult AA system to accept a USD denomination Travel Voucher from canceled ticket value, at an AA ticketing office.
Also whenever I do some searches on QF site, as soon as the origin city changes from inside Australia to outside Australia, QF site would pop up a warning that my itinerary will be billed by XXXX currency and I will be sent to XXXX QF site to finish the booking.
Many airlines do the currency conversation on revenue tickets behind the scene so customers hardly notice it. But since this is UR the funny money turned to real money, they may not have properly address the currency conversion issues.
Next time when you talk to whoever the support personnel, mention this possibility - they may never think about this front. It may just help them to look at a likely area where the issues may be.
I use many sites to check prices Google Travel, Kayak, Expedia and a couple others. The only site that uses local currency is itasoftware I have change the sales city and the local currency to USD. All the sites default to USD since I am in the US.
My trip starts in Los Angeles to Cairns I was going to buy a one way ticket on UR which match the price in USD on most website including the cruise ship on Delta. The Multi City didn't work with Delta because the flight from Singapore to Los Angles leaves before 10:00 A.M. in the morning. This is not enough time to clear customs and the pier and arrive at the airport. The fare goes up about $200.00 per person for after 10.00 A.M. departures. The American Airlines flight Los Angles to Cairns and Singapore to Los Angeles allows enough time to make all connections. The fare was paid in USD and uses JetStar and Cathay Pacific connected flights.
Jan 29, 2019, 8:32 am
#183
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
So the 3rd tier Chase rep thinks your CSR card is being blocked due to security issues ... I feel this is just passing the bug or he has no clue what it really is and just makes up excuses because you have successfully used the CSR during the process of booking your travels.
When you said you have purchased the cruise and the AA tickets, did you pay with the CC itself or with UR points?
If you do not mind, would you give us a timeline as on what you have purchased, with what methods, prior to the attempts to buy the DL tickets with UR pts, because it is a bit hard for me to see the whole sequence of the events from your posts.
Having a clear timeline on what have been working till you encounter the errors would help us to see the picture better and also for you to suggest to the Chase support where to look for issues.
One key information is, were you successfully using UR pts to purchase your cruise and any other airline tickets on UR portal?
Or those purchases were made with CC instead of with UR pts?
This should help to identify where the system fails to "talk to each other" - if you are able to buy other travels with UR pts then the problem may lie between the interface Expedia and DL that is used for UR bookings because at least one more poster reported having same error messages when attempting a DL purchase using UR pts.
Basically we are playing the deduction game here trying to isolate the potential problems so to help ourselves because obviously Chase and its IT either have no clue or have no incentives to dig deep to find the issues so to fix them.
When you said you have purchased the cruise and the AA tickets, did you pay with the CC itself or with UR points?
If you do not mind, would you give us a timeline as on what you have purchased, with what methods, prior to the attempts to buy the DL tickets with UR pts, because it is a bit hard for me to see the whole sequence of the events from your posts.
Having a clear timeline on what have been working till you encounter the errors would help us to see the picture better and also for you to suggest to the Chase support where to look for issues.
One key information is, were you successfully using UR pts to purchase your cruise and any other airline tickets on UR portal?
Or those purchases were made with CC instead of with UR pts?
This should help to identify where the system fails to "talk to each other" - if you are able to buy other travels with UR pts then the problem may lie between the interface Expedia and DL that is used for UR bookings because at least one more poster reported having same error messages when attempting a DL purchase using UR pts.
Basically we are playing the deduction game here trying to isolate the potential problems so to help ourselves because obviously Chase and its IT either have no clue or have no incentives to dig deep to find the issues so to fix them.
Last edited by Happy; Jan 29, 2019 at 8:42 am
Jan 29, 2019, 12:21 pm
#184
Join Date: Jun 2006
Programs: UA Premier 1K, Star Alliance Gold, Titanium Elite Marriott, Celebrity Elite, IHG, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 343
So the 3rd tier Chase rep thinks your CSR card is being blocked due to security issues ... I feel this is just passing the bug or he has no clue what it really is and just makes up excuses because you have successfully used the CSR during the process of booking your travels.
When you said you have purchased the cruise and the AA tickets, did you pay with the CC itself or with UR points?
If you do not mind, would you give us a timeline as on what you have purchased, with what methods, prior to the attempts to buy the DL tickets with UR pts, because it is a bit hard for me to see the whole sequence of the events from your posts.
Having a clear timeline on what have been working till you encounter the errors would help us to see the picture better and also for you to suggest to the Chase support where to look for issues.
One key information is, were you successfully using UR pts to purchase your cruise and any other airline tickets on UR portal?
Or those purchases were made with CC instead of with UR pts?
This should help to identify where the system fails to "talk to each other" - if you are able to buy other travels with UR pts then the problem may lie between the interface Expedia and DL that is used for UR bookings because at least one more poster reported having same error messages when attempting a DL purchase using UR pts.
Basically we are playing the deduction game here trying to isolate the potential problems so to help ourselves because obviously Chase and its IT either have no clue or have no incentives to dig deep to find the issues so to fix them.
When you said you have purchased the cruise and the AA tickets, did you pay with the CC itself or with UR points?
If you do not mind, would you give us a timeline as on what you have purchased, with what methods, prior to the attempts to buy the DL tickets with UR pts, because it is a bit hard for me to see the whole sequence of the events from your posts.
Having a clear timeline on what have been working till you encounter the errors would help us to see the picture better and also for you to suggest to the Chase support where to look for issues.
One key information is, were you successfully using UR pts to purchase your cruise and any other airline tickets on UR portal?
Or those purchases were made with CC instead of with UR pts?
This should help to identify where the system fails to "talk to each other" - if you are able to buy other travels with UR pts then the problem may lie between the interface Expedia and DL that is used for UR bookings because at least one more poster reported having same error messages when attempting a DL purchase using UR pts.
Basically we are playing the deduction game here trying to isolate the potential problems so to help ourselves because obviously Chase and its IT either have no clue or have no incentives to dig deep to find the issues so to fix them.
I searched Choice Air for the Multi City LAX to CNS and SIN to LAX the prices were lower on AA with an afternoon departure from SIN. My call the price was $716.00 that was on January 21, 2019. I started checking UR. All UR flights on AA left before noon on March 22, 2019 and the prices were higher. I called Choice Air back the next day the price was $862.00. Choice Air told me the price changes subject to availability.
I searched itasoftware for the lowest one way flight from LAX to CNS on March 4, 2019. Delta had the lowest fare via BNE using another carrier to CNS about $607.00 per person. From SIN to LAX EVA a Star Alliance carrier had a flight leaving at 1:15 P.M. via TPE with additional flights later in the afternoon for about $625.00 per person.
The fare were a little high but with the 150% multiplier on UR I decided to use UR. I only want to book one leg at a time.
I started on the first leg about the January 23, 2019. I received the error message for the first time. I spoke to a CSR who said I will be very happy to assist you. The CSR collected all the information then told me she received the same error. Do have technical support staff to take of the web error? I can transfer you to my supervisor. The supervisor go through the same sound and dance and tells me to try in a couple of hours.
The next day I call I go through the same drill one CSR said I would receive 10,000 points for my troubles in my account. The points haven't arrived. We continue on the to the next level who tells me that UR is being upgraded and should be working in a couple of days.
I tried morning and night everyday because I knew the fares will be going up the closer to the sailing.
I checked with Kayak yesterday Multi City was $812.00 per person on AA and Choice Air with the cruise line was $862.00 per person. I booked on American with my CC before there anymore price changes
Last edited by breakthrough37; Jan 29, 2019 at 12:33 pm Reason: Grammar
Jan 29, 2019, 2:03 pm
#185
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
Got it. So all other purchases are CC purchases, not UR purchases.
The air tickets you tried to buy are DL code-share tickets, if I understand it correctly. This may also contribute the problem because this is DL marketed but not DL operated itinerary. DL does not fly these routes itself, it is the marketing partner airlines' flights but marketed by DL. The more I think about it the more I feel it is where the problem lies - UR and Expedia have not properly addressed code-share flights bookable on Expedia. Unless someone also has same issue booking DL's own flights, then it would be an issue DL specific.
One thing for sure is, your CSR card has NO security issue because you successfully used it to pay for 2 vendors - the cruise and the airline. Therefore the Tier 3 guy just had no clue of what was wrong when he told you to contact fraud dept. What a shame.
As for your 10K courtesy points, I dont know if this type of courtesy points would show up before statement close. I had some minor service issues with Chase on Ink Preferred. The courtesy points did not show up in the interim, not even in the Pending Points found on UR site, but eventually shown after statement closed. I hope you have documented the saga and have jotted down the name of the rep who promised you the 10K courtesy points.
The air tickets you tried to buy are DL code-share tickets, if I understand it correctly. This may also contribute the problem because this is DL marketed but not DL operated itinerary. DL does not fly these routes itself, it is the marketing partner airlines' flights but marketed by DL. The more I think about it the more I feel it is where the problem lies - UR and Expedia have not properly addressed code-share flights bookable on Expedia. Unless someone also has same issue booking DL's own flights, then it would be an issue DL specific.
One thing for sure is, your CSR card has NO security issue because you successfully used it to pay for 2 vendors - the cruise and the airline. Therefore the Tier 3 guy just had no clue of what was wrong when he told you to contact fraud dept. What a shame.
As for your 10K courtesy points, I dont know if this type of courtesy points would show up before statement close. I had some minor service issues with Chase on Ink Preferred. The courtesy points did not show up in the interim, not even in the Pending Points found on UR site, but eventually shown after statement closed. I hope you have documented the saga and have jotted down the name of the rep who promised you the 10K courtesy points.
Jan 29, 2019, 2:42 pm
#186
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,955
Unless he meant that there is a security hold on the Ultimate Rewards account associated with the Sapphire Reserve account. That wouldn't affect the card itself, only points redemptions.
Jan 29, 2019, 2:50 pm
#187
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
There was a poster whose CSR card was compromised and new replacement card sent. Since then he was getting errors whenever he tried to book anything, so as the Chase reps. Too bad the poster has not returned to tell the community whether his issues were fixed or not. That would be something the UR site has not recognized his replacement CSR card - a really serious programming fault because with today's world, almost everyone would have one or two compromised cards in any given period thus requires replacement cards which should carry all the account history from the compromised and now canceled card.
On top of that, none of the Chase regular customer service and tech support so far has had any clue on what is going on - from the front line to the Tier 3 - they are getting the SAME error messages and not a single explanation other than the "contact fraud dept" suggestion. Even that Tier 3 rep has backed off on this suggestion and supposedly would contact our poster in 48 hours.
Upthread I believe someone said his friend encountered similar issue booking a DL flight. No more details given. At least there is one common thing - it involves DL.
Jan 29, 2019, 2:53 pm
#188
Join Date: Jun 2006
Programs: UA Premier 1K, Star Alliance Gold, Titanium Elite Marriott, Celebrity Elite, IHG, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 343
Booking flights on ultimate rewards
Got it. So all other purchases are CC purchases, not UR purchases.
The air tickets you tried to buy are DL code-share tickets, if I understand it correctly. This may also contribute the problem because this is DL marketed but not DL operated itinerary. DL does not fly these routes itself, it is the marketing partner airlines' flights but marketed by DL. The more I think about it the more I feel it is where the problem lies - UR and Expedia have not properly addressed code-share flights bookable on Expedia. Unless someone also has same issue booking DL's own flights, then it would be an issue DL specific.
One thing for sure is, your CSR card has NO security issue because you successfully used it to pay for 2 vendors - the cruise and the airline. Therefore the Tier 3 guy just had no clue of what was wrong when he told you to contact fraud dept. What a shame.
As for your 10K courtesy points, I dont know if this type of courtesy points would show up before statement close. I had some minor service issues with Chase on Ink Preferred. The courtesy points did not show up in the interim, not even in the Pending Points found on UR site, but eventually shown after statement closed. I hope you have documented the saga and have jotted down the name of the rep who promised you the 10K courtesy points.
The air tickets you tried to buy are DL code-share tickets, if I understand it correctly. This may also contribute the problem because this is DL marketed but not DL operated itinerary. DL does not fly these routes itself, it is the marketing partner airlines' flights but marketed by DL. The more I think about it the more I feel it is where the problem lies - UR and Expedia have not properly addressed code-share flights bookable on Expedia. Unless someone also has same issue booking DL's own flights, then it would be an issue DL specific.
One thing for sure is, your CSR card has NO security issue because you successfully used it to pay for 2 vendors - the cruise and the airline. Therefore the Tier 3 guy just had no clue of what was wrong when he told you to contact fraud dept. What a shame.
As for your 10K courtesy points, I dont know if this type of courtesy points would show up before statement close. I had some minor service issues with Chase on Ink Preferred. The courtesy points did not show up in the interim, not even in the Pending Points found on UR site, but eventually shown after statement closed. I hope you have documented the saga and have jotted down the name of the rep who promised you the 10K courtesy points.
Jan 29, 2019, 3:04 pm
#189
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
The Delta Flight "1 DL 6794 & DL 7289 are operated by Virgin Australia." I am not sure if that was the only error because other cardholders were having problems booking. On Friday January 25, 2019 there were representatives from Chase main office at the UR location investigating the website outage. I spoke so many CSR and supervisors. I don't have any names but I do have the names in Chase Executive Office I spoke to. I do have the answer from Twitter in writing from Chase telling me they will get back to me within fourteen days.
This is what I normally do, with all vendors when issues arise - take down names and call center locations, date and time of the date of the call, the issues discussed and the "promises" made - after the call finishes, do a better summary to the main record sheet(s). This way it gives me a better reference on the whole matter.
Just keep a running list on each and every call either you make or they call you with the summary. I have found this very useful when dealing with Comcast, ATT and any providers when it takes forever to get a solution to problems not caused by the customer but the vendor.
Jan 29, 2019, 3:24 pm
#190
Join Date: Jun 2006
Programs: UA Premier 1K, Star Alliance Gold, Titanium Elite Marriott, Celebrity Elite, IHG, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 343
Booking flights on ultimate rewards
The CSR returned to the phone a couple later and said there were no holds. She said there were several notes about the problems that I was having with UR.They were trying to quickly resolve them but nothing negative or any holds on my card.
Jan 29, 2019, 3:42 pm
#191
Join Date: Jun 2006
Programs: UA Premier 1K, Star Alliance Gold, Titanium Elite Marriott, Celebrity Elite, IHG, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 343
Booking flights on ultimate rewards
Do keep names and locations of the higher level reps you talk to.
This is what I normally do, with all vendors when issues arise - take down names and call center locations, date and time of the date of the call, the issues discussed and the "promises" made - after the call finishes, do a better summary to the main record sheet(s). This way it gives me a better reference on the whole matter.
Just keep a running list on each and every call either you make or they call you with the summary. I have found this very useful when dealing with Comcast, ATT and any providers when it takes forever to get a solution to problems not caused by the customer but the vendor.
This is what I normally do, with all vendors when issues arise - take down names and call center locations, date and time of the date of the call, the issues discussed and the "promises" made - after the call finishes, do a better summary to the main record sheet(s). This way it gives me a better reference on the whole matter.
Just keep a running list on each and every call either you make or they call you with the summary. I have found this very useful when dealing with Comcast, ATT and any providers when it takes forever to get a solution to problems not caused by the customer but the vendor.
Jan 29, 2019, 4:46 pm
#192
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 10
I normally do that when I am planning on taking someone to Small Claims Court. In a case like this I try to work within the company all the way up to the corporate office which usually resolve the issue. I have dealt with AT&T and Time Warner it is not easy but a subpoena usually resolves the issues. These were cases of billing errors just paper work. If there is money out of my pocket then I may end up in Small Claims Court only twice in the last twenty years. Most of the time it can be resolve without going to court to the corporate office or local government offices. I do make copies of all the errors and keep copies of all correspondences.
Needless to say my first experience booking travel with Chase has been horrifying, and I feel your pain...
Jan 29, 2019, 5:25 pm
#193
Join Date: Jun 2006
Programs: UA Premier 1K, Star Alliance Gold, Titanium Elite Marriott, Celebrity Elite, IHG, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 343
Chase ultimate reward points
I'm having the exact same issue for the past two weeks (who knows if not longer). I first tried booking a flight last week but got an error, called in and they couldn't process on their end either. It didn't matter if I tried paying with credit card or points or combination of the two, every type of booking fails. I was trying to book different flights, dates, locations all to no avail. I've tried booking hotels and that doesn't work either. Effectively, I can't use the UR site to book travel at all and I've missed out on a few good flights as a result. I've called in numerous times and escalated to tier 3 etc, nothing. I even had a rep tell me "well if you value that benefit and you can't use it then yes you should cancel the card"...Some have told me it's a system wide issue, some have said they don't know what it is, and some have said oh this will fix itself on its own...eventually.
Needless to say my first experience booking travel with Chase has been horrifying, and I feel your pain...
Needless to say my first experience booking travel with Chase has been horrifying, and I feel your pain...
The change to Expedia seems to be the cause of the problem. I know it is system wide because the script goes how let me help you. There may be an effort to provide some type of assistance then oh I received the same error may you can try in a couple of hours. Maybe my supervisor can help. The supervisor collects the information places the caller on hold for a few minutes may you can try back in a couple of days. I was on the phone for over an hour day before I terminated the call. There is nothing UR can do accept submit trouble tickets. There is no link for the cardholder to find out what the status of the trouble ticket is. I saw a link on Twitter about UR errors. I submitted a chat request waited about forty minutes for a reply. The reply we are working on it and you should here from us within fourteen days. I like my Chase Sapphire Card the Priority Club Membership, the insurance coverage and the Ultimate Reward when it works. We are stuck here we accrued points we want to use them but we can't use them and don't know when they will be available for use.
Jan 29, 2019, 8:31 pm
#194
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,955
There is a simple two step solution that you can propose. The problem will be finding someone with the authority to authorize:
- You purchase the ticket on expedia.com with Sapphire Reserve.
- When the transaction posts you redeem UR points to offset the charge at the rate 66 per USD, exactly the same as if you had made the purchase though the Chase portal.
Jan 29, 2019, 10:36 pm
#195
Join Date: Jun 2006
Programs: UA Premier 1K, Star Alliance Gold, Titanium Elite Marriott, Celebrity Elite, IHG, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 343
Chase ultimate reward points
There is a simple two step solution that you can propose. The problem will be finding someone with the authority to authorize:
- You purchase the ticket on expedia.com with Sapphire Reserve.
- When the transaction posts you redeem UR points to offset the charge at the rate 66 per USD, exactly the same as if you had made the purchase though the Chase portal.
I didn't know what remedies would be available with Chase if any. I found the lowest fare for the multi-city on Kayak LAX to CNS and SIN to LAX on American Airlines. I booked the flight using my Chase Sapphire Reserve Card.
Why not a statement credit for the total amount of the tickets since the Chase Portal was not available? I made every effort to purchase the tickets through their portal.