Happy

Thank you for the update. I notice now they have a lot more cruises displayed. May give it a try this holiday season if there are some deals popping up like last year.

On the other hand, AMEX offer just came out with a $150 statement credit of $750 booking applied to several brands owned by Carnival corp. This is a lesser offer than the $100 / $500 offer in the past several times but still a good saving if paying with real money.

Super Mario

Chase told me they can book "just about any cruise, except for Cuba". The ones displayed aren't the only offerings. They also book them direct at the same prices.

CFFrost

If anyone is curious, I was able to get this to work through much diligence and patience after an approximately ~90 minute phone call. The Preferred rep told me it was not possible, but the Freedom rep was able to get it done.

dprocuk

I'm considering the same thing.... I'm looking at Hy@tt Mexico all-inclusive over Labor Day weekend 2019. Start of trip would be Aug 27, 2019, which is not yet bookable via Reserve portal, but I can get it via Freedom portal (expedia). I would like to book it with the additional 50% value of the Reserve of course.

There are a few other key differences too.... if I look up earlier Aug 2019 dates which are available in both Freedom and Reserve portals, the rooms are fully refundable per terms of hotel policy, yet the only rooms which are displayed on the Reserve portal are for non-refundable. For a trip nearly a year out, I need refundable option.... I'm seeing this "non-refundable" across numerous dates in the Reserve portal, so it isn't just by chance.

Additionally, when on the Freedom portal, there are additional daily charges for our 2 kids. Whereas if I look up the same property and dates directly via Expedia, it adds language that "Free kids meal for 2 per day", however during check out the kids are not free, and the cost is the same as the Freedom portal.

Ironically, if I book it directly with the hotel the kids are free regardless, which makes is even more perplexing.

I've got plenty of UR points, so the trip will be paid in UR points. However, if I transfer to Hyatt I need to pay the 20k per night for 2 guests, and the additional 10k per night per child...so it's 40k Hy@tt points. However, if I can get this to work via the Reserve portal at the listed rate, excluding the add "additional guest" charges, it costs me roughly 22k points per night - a huge savings!

Can't I have my cake and eat it too? I want to book a refundable room on UR points at the 1.5 Reserve value, but keep it at the comparable rate as if I booked it directly, thus saving nearly 100k points.... HA!

dprocuk

**UPDATED**

I spoke to a rep at Chase and she was pretty blunt and clear. In regards to hotels, whatever the portal states is the best they could do. Unlike flights, they cannot book anything past the shorter availability calendar, even if hotel is excepting reservations for further dates, either directly or via third party (expedia, etc.). Even worse, whatever they show as rooms is what they have for bookings; so the Reserve portal only shows non-refundable, while the Freedom portal via Expedia shows refundable for the same price.

So while the Reserve is providing greater value for each point (1.5 vs 1), it is much more limited in capability/true value vs the new Freedom portal serviced by Expedia - at least for hotels.

mia

It sounds as if you spoke to someone at Connexions. If you also have a Freedom card you may wish to trying booking by telephone through the Expedia portal, and ask if they can honor the $0.015/point rate which applies to Reserve cardholders. I think we have at least one report that this can be done.

dprocuk

Not a bad idea! I called the Chase phone number on my card/listed on UR portal and that is who I spoke with. So perhaps I was routed to Connexions, but I called Chase directly.

Now the only challenge is the "additional guest fees" which are showing via the Freedom portal. If I go direct to Hyatt, the price is the same whether I list 2 adults or 2 adults and 2 kids; thus making the kids free. However in the Expedia engine, the additional guests + taxes and fees raise the cost significantly.

I'll keep trying!

elg26

Any update on when Chase is moving their travel service from Connexxions to Expedia (same as their Freedom travel portal)? It really is so frustrating how many hotels were pulled from their menu....especially in the Hong Kong area...

So strange that Freedom card holders have ability to book the full list of HK hotels but CSR card holders cannot at this point....and now one at Chase can say when that will change...

mad cow disease

Well, this is puzzling. A flight to Asia is showing up as $1100 on the Expedia site, but when I log into my UR account under both Freedom (now Expedia) and CSR it is showing up as $1800?

Ugh, guess I'll have to pony up real money for this one.

thunderlounge

I logged into the UR site earlier, and...


it was Expedia.



Did a double take, and had to pinch myself. Then double checked, and yep, not under a freedom card.

I'm not sure if this is rolled out, or maybe they are doing it in stages or something. But there is no doubt that I was under my CSR and not a freedom card, and it was definitely powered by expedia.

elg26

Was it on the ultimaterewardstravel. chase.com website? I just tried it again and no change. Or did you get in another way?

thunderlounge

Went into my main chase account, clicked the UR link on the left (the blue area with your UR total), then clicked to select my card.

It goes over to the UR main page, pops up a modal with “take a tour” this and that, with an option to take or skip the tour.

I X’d the popup closed, then clicked on travel.

thunderlounge

elg26

Ok...thanks for sharing.... definitely havent got that yet....

bobnchi

We've had the Expedia link available for our CSP cards for about week. Time to play with it.