On Friday, we received the disappointing news that United MileagePlus would be ditching its award charts. Instead of requiring a set number of miles, United is moving to dynamic (or variable) award pricing. With that change, you’ll no longer be able to confidently plan for how many miles you’ll need for a trip.
While the move was frustrating in and of itself, we should also think about what it means for United’s partnership with Chase. United has long been a staple of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program and many have loved the perks of the Chase United cards. But, with the United landscape, where do things stand with Chase?
Another Blow to Chase Ultimate Rewards
This is a blow to the value of Chase Ultimate Rewards points plain and simple. If someone else would like to spin it and tell you it’s great, they’re more than welcome to do so but we don’t have time for that mess. The sad part is that this is the second major blow to the Ultimate Rewards program since late August 2018.
When Chase lost Korean Air SkyPass as a partner, we lost one of the best ways to use points on flights to Asia. Previously, you could transfer 80,000 Chase points to Korean Air to book a one-way first class flight from the US to Korea.
Even folks who wanted to book economy flights were hurt by this change. Korea SkyPass provided a great option to book flights to Hawaii with miles thanks to its SkyTeam partner Delta. You only need 25,000 miles — 45,000 miles for business class which is also great — for a round-trip ticket.
Now, your only options are to transfer Marriott Bonvoy points or use a pretty weak co-branded Korean Air credit card issued by US Bank. If you book a ton of paid stays at Marriott properties, you might be okay but when it comes to everyday spending on credit cards, the breakup of Chase and Korean really hurts.
Don’t worry, there are still a bunch of great ways to redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Chase Needs To Make A Move
For years, Chase Ultimate Rewards points have been considered many to be the most valuable points out there. However, American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou Points have been fighting back with the addition of new — and useful — airline transfer partners. And, of course, Capital One jumped into the transferable points game late last year.
Chase still provides some great options with partners Air France-KLM Flying Blue, British Airways Executive Club, Singapore KrisFlyer, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and more. However, those airlines partner with at least one other bank — often more than one. It’s time for Chase to make a move and add a new transfer partner to expand its reach and provide more value to its customers.
Why Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Are Still Valuable
Don’t get us wrong, Amex’s partnership with Choice Privileges can be useful as well. However, unless you’re booking a hotel stay in northern Europe, you can generally get much more value out of your Membership Rewards points by transferring to airline partners.
Next, the Chase 5/24 rule forces you to make Chase a top priority if you want to earn Ultimate Rewards points. For those unfamiliar, the rule restricts you from getting Chase cards once you’ve opened 5 personal cards — and business cards from Capital One and Discover — within 24 months. Basically, if a credit card shows on your personal credit report, it counts as one of the 5.
Finally, Chase Ultimate Rewards cards still offer some great bonus categories that make it easier to earn points on dining, travel and more. There’s just no denying that 2X, 3X and even 5X bonus categories make it tough to pass on Chase.
What About The Addition of JetBlue?
Shortly after losing Korean Air, Chase added JetBlue as a partner. While it’s always nice to see banks bring in new partners, JetBlue True Blue just isn’t on the same level as Korean SkyPass. It’s pretty simple, really. JetBlue has revenue-based awards — just like Southwest Airlines — which means the number of True Blue points you need is tied to the cash price of a ticket.
This has its place but it doesn’t provide the aspirational travel opportunities that Korean SkyPass did or United has offered for that matter. In the end, the addition of JetBlue just isn’t enough to offset the loss of Korean Air.
Are Chase United Cards The New Amex Delta Cards?
One of the biggest perks of having one of the co-branded Chase United cards is that you have access to extra saver level award space on United flights. With United removing award charts for its own flights, how will they handle this? Is saver level just going to be whatever they feel like in the moment? Think about it. It’s not really much of a perk if you can have access to more space if you still need 70,000 miles for a one-way economy ticket to Europe.
Amex Delta cards don’t provide extra award space but the United change makes these cards more similar. The Delta cards are often considered a low priority because it’s so hard to predict how useful the welcome bonus will be with wildly variable award rates. Again, we come back to the fact that not knowing how many miles you’ll need for a ticket is a huge negative.
With United going the way of Delta, can we really expect the United cards to maintain their value? The United cards already have a disadvantage in that you only get a free checked bag on United flights when you pay with your United card. With Delta, you merely have to be an Amex Delta cardholder to get that benefit.
It’s tough to look at this United devaluation as anything but a 1-2 punch to Chase.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, this move by United shouldn’t be the thing that spurs Chase into action. One would hope that they were already thinking about potential partners to add to the portfolio of airlines since the lost off Korean Air.
If Chase wants to continue to be a leader in the transferable points world, it needs to act. Otherwise, they’re going to see Amex, Capital One and Citi start becoming bigger and bigger priorities. Heck, we were already hearing chatter about people moving personal and business spend away from Chase as other banks improved their offerings. Hopefully, Chase will respond soon.
seems like those triple point categories with a chase care now just let us break even now
Well, that’s a depressing thought! Hopefully, they’ll make some positive changes soon.
Ultimate Rewards, as you mentioned, have a single out-sized use: Hyatt. Full stop.
Hyatt really is what sets Chase apart.
I have been saying this for awhile, Chase needs to bring another transfer partner on board. The question is who and why? If they decide not to bring on a new transfer partner, then I would like to see them offer tranfer bonuses like Amex and Citi regularly offer. Not sure why that isn’t being offered already. United is going to be more of a blow when they start messing with the partner award chart which is inevitable at this point.
Won’t get any arugment from me! At this point, another Star Alliance parnter would be nice. If they really wanted to shake things up they could partner with AA or Alaska, though both seem unlikely. Transfer bonuses could at least offset the struggles a bit. Here’s hoping United doesn’t do anything with partner awards for quite awhile.
Your point is well taken IF and ONLY IF you are transferring Ultimate Rewards points to United Miles…
If you book with Chase Ultimate Rewards, and not transfer to United… There is no change to the value since the price in UR Points to linked to the CASH value of the United ticket NOT a United rewards value
Hey MikeL – Only talking about transfer options. The portal rates are what they are. However, losing Korean Air and United moving to variable award rates devalues the Ultimate Rewards program as a whole. Won’t impact every single traveler who uses UR points, but it impacts the broader program.
There were some rumors about a month ago that Chase was toying with just increasing the Chase Travel Portal redemption scheme to 1.75x bonus for CSR, and 1.5x bonus for CSP. I think they’d smart to move that direction as there aren’t too many mileage programs that partner.
If they were going to add transfer partners, Alaska would be the only domestic carrier that I could see as a win (their current MileagePlan card is issued via BoA but their points do not transfer). For international, assuming that Korean is off the table, JAL would make the next most reasonable transfer partner for Asia but their reasonable redemption rates do incur fees. Asiana would also be interesting but not nearly as useful IMO (you can already book Asiana fares through United using their not-changing-as-of-yet partner chart).
Hey Adam L – The 1.75x portal rate would certainly shake things up. I think a lot of people would love to see Alaska as a partner or, perhaps, even American. Tough to see either happening, in my opinion. As to international partners, JAL, Asiana, Miles & More, Aegean, etc. could be fun. Even if a new partner or two overlaps with other bank programs, I’d like to see a couple added.
I didn’t mention AAdvantage because if anyone were to partner with them on transferable miles, I’d think Citi TYP would have right of first refusal, or something like that. Alaska is just the tiniest more possible of two improbable new transfer partners.
JAL and Asiana came to top of mind because they’d be something that no other transferable currency offers… there has to be a unique factor when they’re not giving the highest multipliers on spend. Given the way award charts are going, an automatic 1.75x portal bonus seems like the best way to keep people spending on your card since no other transferable points currency offers a 1.75¢/point floor.
For the past 6 months I have been using the AMEX Gold and CITI Prestige almost exclusively, with the CSR sitting in my drawer. This latest move makes it even harder for me to use the CSR.
Right there with you. The Citi Prestige has been my go-to since they moved to 5X dining and airfare plus 3X hotels. Amex Gold’s 4X dining and grocery is also great. While you could justify the CSR if you travel internationally a lot vs the Amex Gold, the Citi Prestige clearly has the advantage on that front. Harder to justify the CSR these days.
The one area where CSR is still dominant is in non-air travel (especially for those of us urbanites who spend money on ride share, car sharing, local train service, etc.) and even in air travel when it comes to the travel protections.
Other travel purchases is certainly an advantage for the CSR. I’ve actually been quite happy with the Prestige’s trip protections.
Citi Premier has you covered with all travel other than air. Prestige, Premier and Rewards Plus with the 10% back with combined accounts is making Citi the front runner in my wallet.
Groceries go on Amex Gold, anything non bonused in BBP
Chase only used for 5x on telephone and cable bill plus whatever the freedom is offering 5x on ….. still racking up several thousand Chase points a month
Citi and Amex really do pair well with their partners and bonus categories. I’ve been using my Citi Prestige and Amex Gold quite a bit lately.
We really need to boycott United. Im tired of all these companies making changes for the worse. Can you name a positive change you have seen from United in the past 5 years? We need to raise our voice and send them letters.
Love that passion!
Just to note that Flying Blue is a total dogs dinner of a program now.
Haha, so not a fan?
Chase should engage Aeroplan to become their next partner and become the de facto replacement for United as their “North American” airline partner. While some Aeroplan redemptions have high fuel surcharges, some do not, and they still have a fixed reward chart (until Air Canada chooses to overhaul it).
After November, my use of United miles will strictly be on Air Canada flights within North America, and on cheap/short haul United RT itineraries where I can exploit free segments internationally thru the Excursionist Perk.
Aeroplan would certainly be a boost!
Can I get Hyatt status by spending with the Chase Hyatt CC
Absolutely. Comes with comp status, and you can earn nights from spend.