I am asking how much the 16GB computer will cost if purchased with money rather than points. It may be better to redeem points for cash, and use the proceeds to buy the computer that you actually need.

Indeed. At the point costs shown above, the redemption rate is exactly 1¢/point. It absolutely would be better to redeem points for cash and then buy the computer, because you can charge the computer purchase to the credit card and earn additional points.

Occasionally Chase runs a special where points are worth more for Apple redemptions, but it doesn't appear that there is such a special now.

and you can buy from Apple and configure it however you want instead of choosing from whatever configs the supposedly authorized reseller Chase is working with uses. Also take a look at some of the threads on Reddit about the customer service experience people had with this.

Why are you buying through Chase Shopping - there's currently no discount transfer or buying option, so you're just paying Apple MSRP for a limited selection. Why would you not just go to an Apple store, get exactly what you want, and get a $.01/point statement credit? You've got up to $2550 in points to spend.

Didn't realize getting cash was an option! That path definitely makes sense given that I want more RAM.

Are the reports of dealing with the reseller not so good? I've looked around, and this board was where I found best info.

Oh, are there promotions on Chase Shopping points? What kind of bonus did the last promotion provide?

Thanks everyone for the ideas and help.

Like MR points, where Amex will sometimes offer a 10% or 20% bonus to transfer them to an airline or hotel program, occasionally Chase will offer a higher than $.01/point redemption option with certain retailers through their shopping portal.

But there are currently no such discounts with Chase UR points and Apple. That was my point. Apple products through the Chase shopping portal are currently at full MSRP/$.01/point. There is no advantage for you to buy your laptop through the Chase shopping portal.

So why not either transfer your UR points for cash into to your checking account or go buy exactly what you want at the Apple store with your credit card and redeem your points as a statement credit, both at $.01/point.

Back in May I got this offer via email from Chase:

”Limited-Time Offer for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers: From 05/01/2023 – 05/31/2023, each point you redeem for Apple merchandise in the Apple® Ultimate Rewards® Store is worth $0.0150, which means that 100 points equals $1.50 in redemption value.”

I am too lazy to dig through my email archive to see how often such offers occur (also, I may have deleted messages, so the result would be unreliable)

With the month nearing its end, I'll wait a week to see whether any promotion comes up. Otherwise, will transfer points to cash and buy a laptop directly.

This may not be a complete list, but searching through my email I see they ran this same offer:

• Oct 15-Nov 15, 2020
• June 1-30, 2021
• Sep 1-30, 2021
• Nov 1-30, 2021
• May 1-31, 2022
• Nov 1-30, 2022
• and, as notquiteaiff said, May 1-31, 2023.

Before that, there were a couple times when they offered a 20% bonus.

Also, in June of this year, the offer was "Save 15% on this popular gift card", which was Apple. I don't know if there was a limit to the amount you could redeem at that price.

The summer dates are probably aligned with some Back to School Promotions, and November dates are geared toward Black Friday Apple sales. Neither would get me 16GB on my Macbook, but those might also relate to official sales on Apple's website. Now I'm thinking of just waiting a month to see what November brings to Apple Store, but that's getting beyond the scope of this forum.

Have there ever been bonuses/discounts for the "Transfer to Cash" option?

Not unrestricted that I'm aware of. Pay Yourself Back was/is the closest thing to it. It isn't the great value it used to be, but I guess it works for some people. (I'll probably use it to pay for my annual fee if they still offer that option next quarter.)

Chase/Apple up to 50% bonus promo is back

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/redee...e-10-15-11-15/

Thanks for the catch! The deal is pretty good with the following caveats:
1) All Macbook PROs are gone. This includes the 13" (which Apple discontinued on Monday), 14" and 16" models, none of which are available for purchase. The only computers available for purchase with Chase Points are:
a) Macbook Air 13" (M1/M2) or 15"
b) iMac 24"
c) Mac Studio
d) Mac Mini
2) Getting more than 8GB is still impossible on a laptop since all Apple computers come with 8GB standard, but no upgrades are available via Chase.


As for me, I was looking into cashing out points to pick up the 13" Macbook Pro with 16GB during some Black Friday Apple sale, but that wish looks far off with the 13" model being discontinued. It's still possible to get it on the Apple Refurbished Store for around $1300 with the M1 CPU (but not M2 at the moment).

The discount is really good, so I might go with a 13" Macbook Air M2 and 8GB of RAM for ~73K points or ~$730 instead of $1100 when cashed out. At that savings, going to to 16GB would cost 130K points or nearly $600... no worth it...

-Martin

The new MacBook Pros don't start shipping until November 7 so they might appear before the month is out. On one of the previous sales the HomePod Mini had just been announced and it did get added in time for me to order one before the sale ended.

In fact, they are available now! 14" and 16" models, M3 Pro or Max, 18, 36, or 48 GB RAM and 512 GB or 1 TB SSD depending on CPU configuration. All with the 50% point bonus. Tempting! :tu: