Red259

Hi all, with all the changes that have been happening with programs I just wanted to get an opinion on the best program to transfer chase URs into if I had to empty my account before I had a redemption lined up. My trips are usually international and I prefer to fly in premium cabin, F is my first choice but J will suffice if necessary. To date I mainly use my Chase URs for Hyatt stays and typically get a bit over 2 cents back per point. The reason I do this is because for most trips I am typically using my Amex MRs to redeem flights or Alaska miles. I think if I had to suddenly dump my chase URs in to one program I'd probably want to put it into one where I can get the most bang for my buck out of airline redemptions. For destinations I would like to return to China at some point, I'm considering South america (colombia or argentina) and returning to continental europe is always a possibility (France or further east as far as eastern europe, ukraine etc). I have used krisflyer in the past but the point redemptions seem quite high in comparison to some other programs. I hear good things about korean skypass and United.

mia

How many passengers?

If the number of points you have is small (not enough for one/two intercontinental business class roundtrip), I would transfer to one of the four airline programs that also accept transfers from American Express: AF, BA, SQ, VS. (Three of these also accept transfers from Citi ThankYou Rewards.)

If the number of points is enough to pay for a complete trip, I would focus on the airlines that are exclusive to Chase: KE, UA. Make sure you understand the limitations on using KE miles for passengers other than yourself, and of course be aware of each partner's expiration policy.

philemer

Changes will never stop--mostly devaluations. You say "if I had to empty.." Why would you have to? Are u closing down an eligible card? I'll never empty mine completely. It's worth the AF to have an emergency stash for future trips. I'll probably use 200K just on lodging (condos and nice hotels) for my next two trips. I wouldn't fret the devaluations. Nothing you can do about it. Burn 'em and have fun! But save some for the unexpected trip.

freeflyin

It sounds like you may be anticipating that Chase may shut your card(s) down. If that is the case, my suggestion would be to move quickly and transfer into partners that you cannot earn miles or points through your other cards.

vh_bu98

I would dump the points to Korean Air since they have good redemption to Asia even in F.

NWplatinum

beltway

This thread is for general debate/discussion/advice on strategies for which travel partners you should transfer UR points to. For example,

If your desired endpoints are covered by one of the existing master threads,please review that thread (and post there instead as needed).

For discussion focused on the mechanics of points transfer—qualifying Chase cards, eligible partners, and typical speed of transfer—see Ultimate Rewards - Airline and Hotel Transfer Partners, Rules, Timelines, (2017 on)

wco81

Wow, I'm surprised there isn't a long thread on this already.

I'm looking for J TATL awards out of SFO for this fall (late August, early Sept). Looked at UA, which is the only airline with which I have status and they really don't have many J saver awards for that time period, other than really long travel times (20-30 hours or more) through Lot. I'm hopeful more awards will open up later in the calendar.

I checked VS and one possibility is to get an SFO-CDG round trip award on DL metal for 145k miles and about $150 in charges. Fewer miles than DL redemptions though.

Then I checked AF, which I'd been disregarding as the bloggers are really down on that program, particularly TPG. It won't get me to VRN, my ultimate destination, but they have awards to VCE, which is an hour train ride away. Not ideal but I think other airlines may not have better availability direct to VRN since it's a smaller market. They have some awards as low as 57k each way. Well too good to be true as there are charges of $250 each way and the TATL segment is on either an A388 without their lie-flat seats in J or a KLM 772 which is does have lie-flats in a 2-2-2 config.

So I could get one of those (one thing of note, if I fly into VIE, the lowest-price award goes up to 72k plus fees) AF awards or wait to see if UA gets more awards, which would most likely be on *A partners so it would be 140k. But I wouldn't have to pay $250 each way in fees either. Thus the options are 26k more UR points to transfer to UA vs. AF, assuming availability of awards materializes on UA MP in a couple of months, or pay $500 in fees but transfer 114k miles to AF vs. 140k to UA MP (where I already have a lot of miles too).

Has anyone transferred to AF and redeemed international J awards with AF FB recently?

mia

There are threads organized by destination. Your topic is here:

UR points for USA to/from Europe [Consolidated]

beltway

I’ve collected links to the existing consolidated threads in post #1,

jasonNYC85

Any topics for USA to Central/South America or Caribbean?

I have 300,000 UR to blow and no specific travel goals in mind right now. I might just go lay on a beach for a while!

Cledaybuck

This looks nice. Only 15k points per night if you book before March 18th.
https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/co...papagayo/liraz

ginmqi

Hyatt is an incredible cpp deal. Lot of VERY nice properties at 15k/night. One of the most valuable use of Chase UR pts for hotel stays imo

jasonNYC85

Awesome find, thanks!

stan1162

Husband and I are either going to Galapagos or Antarctica, so I'm interested in this as well. UIO or GYE, or EZE or USH. November or December 2019. Wondering if there are peals of wisdom out there...