chase travel price match

Advertiser Disclosure

Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which we receive financial compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). However, the credit card information that we publish has been written and evaluated by experts who know these products inside out. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers that are on the market. See our advertising policy here where we list advertisers that we work with, and how we make money. You can also review our credit card rating methodology .

The Complete Guide To Using the Chase Travel Portal — Maximize Your Options

Katie Seemann

Senior Content Contributor and News Editor

343 Published Articles 49 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 28 U.S. States Visited: 29

Senior Editor & Content Contributor

88 Published Articles 653 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 41 U.S. States Visited: 28

Flexibility

You can earn frequent flyer miles, cards that earn chase ultimate rewards points, transfer your points between credit cards for maximum value, earning chase points by booking travel, how to access the chase travel portal, how to book a flight through chase travel, the luxury hotel and resort collection, how to book a rental car through the chase travel portal, how to book activities through chase travel, how to book a cruise through the portal, car rentals, earn bonus ultimate rewards points, pay with points, apple purchases, experiences, pay yourself back, transfer to travel partners, final thoughts.

We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the major transferrable points programs and a favorite among many travelers. Points are easy to earn and can be transferred to many different hotel and airline partners. But you can also book travel directly through Chase’s travel portal using Ultimate Rewards points.

Booking travel through the Chase Travel portal is simple and can be a great way to use your points.

We’ll show you everything you need to know about how to redeem your points, including the benefits, how to know what your points are worth, and how to book airlines, hotels, and more through the Chase Travel portal.

Why Book Travel Through the Chase Travel Portal?

Generally, you can get maximum value from your Chase Ultimate Rewards points by transferring them to the Chase airline and hotel partners , so why are we talking about using points through a travel portal? While it’s true that the only way to get the highest value redemptions is by transferring, there is still a lot of value to be had by booking directly through the Chase Travel portal.

Flexibility is not often available with points bookings. Unlike an award booking, booking through Chase Travel is like using any other online travel agency (OTA) . There are no blackout dates or limited inventory award seats. If a flight or hotel is available, you can book it with points through the Chase travel portal.

One of the major bummers of booking flights with frequent flyer miles is that you don’t earn miles on award bookings. You can end up doing a lot of travel without earning miles. However, any booking you make with your Chase Ultimate Rewards points through the Chase Travel portal will earn frequent flyer miles and accrue status points. Unfortunately, hotel and car rental bookings still won’t earn points.

We have talked to so many people over the years that love the idea of collecting points and miles but don’t want to deal with the hassle. While many don’t mind putting a little work into getting an awesome redemption, others are just looking for a simple way to book travel and hopefully save some money in the process.

That’s where the Chase Travel portal comes in. With this method of redeeming points, there is no transferring, comparing points values, blackout dates, limited award availability, or multiple travel accounts. You only have to deal with 1 type of point and 1 travel portal but can still retain many of the benefits of collecting points and miles in the first place.

Bottom Line: You can book flights, hotels, rental cars, activities, and cruises through the Chase Travel portal.

If you like the idea of using the Chase Travel portal, you’ll need a credit card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points:

Chase Sapphire Preferred ® Card

A fantastic travel card with a huge welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred ® card is one of the best travel rewards cards on the market. Its bonus categories include travel, dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services, which gives you the opportunity to earn lots of bonus points on these purchases.

Additionally, it offers flexible point redemption options, no foreign transaction fees, and excellent travel insurance coverage including primary car rental insurance . With benefits like these, it’s easy to see why this card is an excellent choice for any traveler.

• 5x points on all travel booked via the Chase Travel portal
• 5x points on select Peloton purchases over $150 (through March 31, 2025)
• 5x points on Lyft purchases (through March 31, 2025)
• 3x points on dining purchases, online grocery purchases, and select streaming services
• 2x points on all other travel worldwide
• $50 annual credit on hotel stays booked through the Chase Travel portal
• 6 months of complimentary Instacart+ (activate by July 31, 2024), plus up to $15 in statement credits each quarter through July 2024
• Excellent travel and car rental insurance
• 10% annual bonus points
• No foreign transaction fees
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs like United MileagePlus and World of Hyatt
• $95 annual fee
• No elite benefits like airport lounge access or hotel elite status
• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
• Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more.
• Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
• Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024.
• Member FDIC

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 21.49%-28.49% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Card Categories

• Credit Card Reviews
• Credit Cards
• Travel Rewards Credit Cards
• Best Sign Up Bonuses

Rewards Center

Chase Ultimate Rewards

• The Chase Sapphire Preferred 80k or 100k Bonus Offer
• Benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Score Requirements
• Military Benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Chase Freedom Unlimited vs Sapphire Preferred
• Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Reserve
• Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred

Chase Sapphire Reserve ®

A top player in the high-end premium travel credit card space that earns 3x points on travel and dining while offering top luxury perks.

If you’re looking for an all-around excellent travel rewards card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve ®  is one of the best options out there.

The card combines elite travel benefits and perks like airport lounge access , with excellent point earning and redemption options.  Plus it offers top-notch travel insurance protections to keep you covered whether you’re at home or on the road.

Don’t forget the $300 annual travel credit which really helps to reduce the annual fee!

• 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase TravelSM immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually
• 10x points on Lyft purchases March 31, 2025
• 10x points on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $250 through March 31, 2025
• 5x points on airfare booked through Chase Travel SM
• 3x points on all other travel and dining purchases; 1x point on all other purchases
• $300 annual travel credit
• Priority Pass airport lounge access
• TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, or NEXUS credit
• Access to Chase Luxury Hotel and Resort Collection
• Rental car elite status with National and Avis
• $550 annual fee
• Does not offer any sort of hotel elite status
• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
• $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
• Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $900 toward travel.
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
• Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select and up to $100 application fee credit every four years for Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck ®
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more
• APR: 22.49%-29.49% Variable
• Chase Sapphire Reserve 100k Bonus Offer
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Benefits
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Airport Lounge Access
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Travel Insurance Benefits
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Military Benefits
• Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Amex Platinum vs Chase Sapphire Reserve

Ink Business Preferred ® Credit Card

The Ink Business Preferred card is hard to beat, with a huge welcome bonus offer and 3x points per $1 on the first $150,000 in so many business categories.

The Ink Business Preferred ® Credit Card is a powerhouse for earning lots of points from your business purchases , especially for business owners that spend regularly on ads.

Plus the card offers flexible redemption options, including access to Chase airline and hotel transfer partners where you can achieve outsized value.

Business owners will also love the protections the card provides like excellent cell phone insurance , rental car insurance, purchase protection, and more.

• 3x Ultimate Rewards points per $1 on up to $150,000 in combined purchases on internet, cable and phone services, shipping expenses, travel, and ads purchased with search engines or social media sites
• Cell phone protection
• Purchase protection
• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
• Rental car insurance
• Extended warranty coverage
• No elite travel benefits like airport lounge access
• Earn 100k bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,000 cash back or $1,250 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Travel℠
• Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
• Round-the-clock monitoring for unusual credit card purchases
• With Zero Liability you won't be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information.
• Redeem points for cash back, gift cards, travel and more - your points don't expire as long as your account is open
• Points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase Travel℠
• Purchase Protection covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
• APR: 21.24%-26.24% Variable
• Best Business Credit Cards
• The Chase Ink Business Preferred 100k Bonus Offer
• Benefits of the Ink Business Preferred
• Chase Ink Business Preferred Cell Phone Protection
• Chase Ink Business Preferred vs Amex Business Gold
• Ink Business Cash vs Ink Business Preferred
• Amex Business Platinum vs. Chase Ink Business Preferred
• Ink Business Preferred vs Ink Business Unlimited
• Best Chase Business Credit Cards
• Best Business Credit Card for Advertising
• High Limit Business Credit Cards
• Best Credit Cards with Travel Insurance
• Best Credit Cards for Car Rental Insurance

There are also some great cash-back cards from Chase that can be used to book travel through Chase Travel. The points earned on these cards can be converted into cash-back or alternatively, they can be used in the Chase travel portal.

• Chase Freedom Flex℠
• Chase Freedom Unlimited ®
• Chase Freedom ® card (no longer open to new applicants)
• Ink Business Cash ® Credit Card
• Ink Business Plus ® Credit Card (no longer open to new applicants)
• Ink Business Unlimited ® Credit Card
• Ink Business Premier ® Credit Card

What Are Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Worth?

It’s easy to earn lots of Chase Ultimate Rewards points , but do you know how much they are worth ? If you’re transferring your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to a travel partner, their value will go up or down depending on the type of redemption.

However, when you are booking your travel directly through Chase’s travel portal, each Chase Ultimate Rewards point has a set value that won’t change . The credit card you have will determine the value of your Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

If you have multiple Chase credit cards, it makes sense to transfer your points to the card with the most valuable redemption rate. The only exception to this is the Ink Business Premier card because points earned on this card can’t be transferred to any other card.

1. To transfer your points between 2 cards, log on to the Chase dashboard and select Combine Points .

2. Then you will be able to select the card you want to transfer points from and the card you want to receive the points. After you choose, click Next.

3. You can transfer all of your points or just what you need. Click Review to continue.

4. Double-check the details and click on the Submit button to complete the transfer.

Bottom Line: Your credit card will determine the value of your Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Your points are worth between 1 to 1.5 cents each depending on which credit card you’re redeeming points through. 

What if you’d prefer to pay for your travel with a Chase credit card to earn Ultimate Rewards points? The number of points you’ll earn through the Chase travel portal is dependent on which credit card you have and what type of travel you’re purchasing.

You can log into your account in 2 ways.

First, you can go directly to the Ultimate Rewards website to log in or you can log in through your Chase account .

If you’re in your Chase account, click on one of your Ultimate Rewards credit cards and then click on Redeem next to the card’s Ultimate Rewards balance.

Then choose the card you want to use.

From here you can access Chase Travel by clicking on Travel  in the top search box or you can switch to another card’s account by clicking on the 3-line icon in the upper left-hand corner.

1. In the Travel section of your Ultimate Rewards account, click on Flights to start your search for a flight. As with any other OTA, you begin your search by inputting basic information such as departure and arrival city, travel dates, and the number of passengers.

2. Next, you will be able to narrow your search results . At the left-hand side of the page, you can filter your results by things like airline or flight times. Then you can sort your results by price, trip duration, or times using the drop-down box at the top of the search results.

3. For each flight option, you’ll be able to see the price in dollars and in points on the right-hand side of the results box.

4. Once you’ve found the flight you want, click the blue Select button. Next, you can choose your return flight using the same process as you did for selecting the outbound flight. Click the blue Select button once you have made your choice.

5. From here you can confirm your flight details and select a fare upgrade if you wish. Then, you’ll be able to choose how to pay for your flight . You can pay for the entire purchase with points or a Chase credit card, or you can split your payment between points and a Chase credit card.

6. Finally, input your passenger information next. Don’t forget to add a frequent flyer number, a Known Traveler Number, or a Redress number if you have them.

Hot Tip: When purchasing travel through the Chase travel portal, you can split your payment between Chase Ultimate Rewards points and a Chase credit card.

How To Book a Hotel Through Chase Travel

1. To book a hotel through the Chase Travel portal , you’ll need to start by clicking on the Hotels tab in the main search box. Then, input your destination, check-in and check-out dates, and the number of travelers. Next, click on the blue Search button.

2. Your search results will look like other sites that you may be familiar with. You’ll see filtering options to the left and sorting options above your search results.

3. Each search result will show the price in both dollars and Chase Ultimate Rewards points. These prices include taxes and fees with the exception of resort fees.

4. Once you select your hotel, click on Add to Itinerary . You can choose to pay for all or part of your hotel cost using Ultimate Rewards points. Click Begin Checkout to input your reservation details and finalize your booking.

Hot Tip: When booking a hotel through the Chase Travel portal, you won’t be eligible to earn points in the hotel’s loyalty program or take advantage of any elite status you may have.

The Luxury Hotel and Resort Collection (LHRC) is exclusively for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders. From the Ultimate Rewards travel home page, just click on The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection tab.

Once you are on the LHRC homepage, type in your destination and click Search to view available properties. Each listing will display the property’s unique cardmember benefits. Click on the listing for more information and to continue the booking process.

When booked through the Chase Travel portal, these properties offer the following benefits:

• Daily breakfast for 2
• Special amenity (varies by property)
• Room upgrades (based on availability)
• Early check-in and late checkout (based on availability)

The Luxury Hotel and Resort Collection properties are reservation-only bookings. You’ll make your reservations online and payment doesn’t happen until you check out from the hotel. These bookings will not take Chase Ultimate Rewards points as payment.

Bottom Line: Luxury Hotel and Resort Collection properties are only available to Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers. These properties can’t be booked with points.

1. To rent a car through the Chase Travel portal, start by clicking on the Cars tab in the main search box. Then, input your pick-up location, drop-off location, dates, times, and age of the driver. Click on the blue Search box to continue.

2. You can then narrow your search with the filtering options on the left-hand side of the page.

3. For each car option, you will be able to see the car details, rental company, and price in both dollars and Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Once you have selected the car you want to rent, click on Add to Itinerary .

4. You can pay for the entire purchase with points or a Chase credit card or split your payment in any amount. Double-check all of the details before completing your purchase.

Did you know you can also book activities through Chase Travel?

1. Click the Activities tab on the Ultimate Rewards travel homepage to get started. Then, input your destination and travel dates and click the Search button to continue.

2. You can narrow your search by selecting 1 or more categories at the left-hand side of the page. Categories can include things like:

• Classes & workshops
• Cruises & sailing
• Food & drink
• Outdoor activities
• Seasonal & special occasions
• Tickets & passes
• Tours & sightseeing
• Transfers & ground transport
• Unique experiences

3. Each activity will show the price in both dollars and points to the right side of the screen. Click on Show Details and Pricing for more information and to book the activity.

6. Double-check all of the details on the final page before completing your purchase. Click the box confirming you understand the travel disclosures, then click Complete Checkout to finish your purchase.

Bottom Line: You can book lots of activities through the Chase Travel portal, including airport transfers!

If you’re a fan of cruises, you’ll be pleased to know you can book them through your Chase Travel portal. To get started, click on the Cruises tab on the Ultimate Rewards travel homepage.

This will bring up a list of available cruises, but there’s also a search box at the top of the screen, so you can input a specific destination or cruise line.

Each listing will display the cruise line, ship, ports of call, sailing dates, and baseline pricing for an interior or oceanview cabin. Unfortunately, if you want any more specific information or if you want to book, you will need to call 855-234-2542 .

You’ll notice that only cash prices are listed for cruises, however, they can be booked using your Chase Ultimate Rewards points, too.

Hot Tip: You can book a cruise through Chase Travel but you’ll have to call to make your reservation as they can’t be booked online.

How Do the Prices Compare to Other Sites?

Are you getting a good deal by booking through Chase? Let’s look at how the prices available through the Chase Travel portal stack up to other OTAs and search engines including Hotwire , Kayak , and Expedia .

We did some flight searches and found there’s no clear-cut pattern on prices between the Chase portal to other websites.

Example #1: Round-trip flight between Philadelphia (PHL) and San Francisco (SFO) for 1 person in economy.

We searched this route in the Chase travel portal and the cheapest option was a flight that was split between Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines for $526.20. This worked out to be the cheapest price we found, and Priceline had the same low price. Expedia and Hotwire both charge booking fees, making the price a little higher. Each airline’s own website couldn’t split the itinerary between different airlines, so those ended up being much more expensive.

If you are in doubt or would like to check prices yourself, Kayak is a great place to start. Kayak will show you prices for a flight on all of the OTAs as well as the airline’s website. It’s a great one-stop shop to compare flight prices.

Example #2: Round-trip flight between New York City (JFK) and Paris, France (CDG) for 1 person in economy.

We searched this route in the Chase travel portal and the cheapest option was a flight that was split between American Airlines and British Airways for $689.78. This wasn’t the overall best price we found, though. That award goes to Expedia and Priceline.

Hot Tip: You will earn frequent flyer miles when you book your flight through the Chase Travel portal.

Example #1: Here’s how prices looked for a week-long stay at the JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa in Mexico for 2 people including all taxes and fees. The $291.55 resort fee can’t be paid with points.

In this example, the best cash rate by far was through Marriott. However, if you wanted to pay with points, booking with Chase Ultimate Rewards points through the travel portal would be your best bet.

Keep in mind that Marriott doesn’t have an award chart, so different time periods can have different point costs. A 7-night stay at this hotel can dip down to 240,000 points for a 7-night stay. If you’re going to pay for your hotel stay in points, it’s always smart to calculate how many points it would cost to book through Chase versus transferring points . This information can help you make the best and least expensive choice.

Hot Tip: You won’t earn hotel loyalty points when booking a hotel through Chase and any elite status you have may not be recognized.

Example #2: Let’s look at an example of a hotel that doesn’t have a loyalty program. We priced out a 2-night stay at Almond Tree Inn Hotel in Key West, FL for 2 people. The highest prices were direct via the hotel with all other websites surveyed being cheaper.

Here’s how the prices stacked up:

Chase’s low price matched the other online travel websites and was actually lower than the hotel’s own website, so it would be a great option in this case. It also affords the opportunity to use points for a hotel that doesn’t have its own loyalty program.

In many cases, car rental prices found through the Chase Travel portal were similar to prices found on the rental agency’s own website.

The main difference in booking through Chase vs. directly through a car rental agency is that the car rental agency often has the ability to book the car without paying up front. With the Chase portal, you will be paying at the time of booking and there may be change or cancellation fees if you need to modify your reservation.

In both of these examples, Chase Travel didn’t offer the lowest price, however, that won’t always necessarily be the case. Of course, the advantage of booking through Chase is the ability to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards points. It’s always a good idea to price out your car rental on a few different websites before booking to ensure you’re getting the best price.

Chase actually offered the lowest prices on activities for both examples:

Other Ways To Use the Chase Travel Portal

The Chase Travel portal also helps you earn bonus points.  With the Shop through Chase feature, you can earn extra Ultimate Rewards points through your online shopping.

Just click Earn Bonus Points in the top search bar to access the shopping portal. Click on a featured store or search for a specific one. Then simply click through the portal to your website of choice to make your purchase. Your bonus points will be added to your Chase Ultimate Rewards points total within 3 to 5 days in most cases.

Did you know you can use your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to make purchases at Amazon and PayPal? Click on Pay with Points in the top search bar, then select either Amazon or PayPal to enroll and shop.

Unfortunately, the redemption value you get when shopping through Amazon or PayPal is pretty bad — only 0.8 cents per point. While it’s great to have this as an option, we don’t recommend using points to shop at Amazon or PayPal as your main use of Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Bottom Line: The value of using your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to shop through Amazon or PayPal isn’t great: you will only get 0.8 cents per point!

By clicking on Apple in the main search box in your Ultimate Rewards account, you can use your Chase points to make purchases. Normally, you’ll get 1 cent per point in value when using your points for Apple purchases, but there are occasional bonuses offered to get a better redemption rate.

You can also redeem your Ultimate Rewards points for cash-back. To do this, simply select Cash-back from the main search bar at the top of the screen. You will then be able to see choose how many points you’d like to redeem for cash-back at a value of 1 cent per point .

You can choose to have your cash direct deposited into a checking or savings account or as a statement credit. The deposit or statement credit will be posted within 3 days.

Bottom Line: Your Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth 1 cent each when redeemed as cash-back. We do not recommend this as a primary redemption option because you can get more value via the Chase Travel portal, and a lot more when transferring to airline and hotel partners.

This is a really cool section of the Chase Travel portal. When you click on Experiences in the main search bar, you’ll see a list of exclusive events, preferred seating, and other offers for select Chase cardmembers.

Experiences can be purchased with a credit card or with points. You will get 1 cent per point in value when redeeming points for experiences. Some experiences are only available to cardholders of specific cards so be sure to check all of your cards if you have more than 1 to make sure you don’t miss anything.

If you prefer gift cards, you can purchase them through the Chase Travel portal using points. Just click Gift Cards in the main search bar to get started. From here, you will be able to scroll through all of the available gift cards. You’ll get 1 cent per point in value, with occasional sales offering better redemption rates.

Hot Tip: Points redeemed for gift cards have a 1-cent per point value. However, you might notice some cards offer discounts, so there is the opportunity to get a bit more value!

Another way to use your Ultimate Rewards points is through the Pay Yourself Back feature. This allows you to redeem your points for a statement credit for purchases in select categories. The current categories include groceries, dining, select charities, credit card annual fee, internet, cable, phone, and shipping and the redemption value varies by card.

Transferring points to travel partners is the best way to get the most value out of your points . By transferring, you can potentially get 2, 3, or more cents per point value.

Chase Airline Transfer Partners

Chase Hotel Transfer Partners

To transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to any of the above airline and hotel partners, log on to your account and click on Transfer To Travel Partners in the top search box. Choose your airline or hotel and then select Transfer Points . You’ll need to fill out your frequent flyer information or hotel loyalty membership number to complete the transfer.

Bottom Line: You can currently transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to 14 different hotel and airline partners.

There are many ways to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards points. While transferring points to one of Chase’s airline and hotel travel partners can get you maximum value, there are a lot of benefits for booking travel directly through the Chase Travel portal .

In addition to hotels and flights, you can book car rentals, activities, and cruises. Or, you can use your points for cash back, shopping, gift cards, or Chase exclusive experiences. With so many ways to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards points, your next trip is only a few clicks away!

The information regarding the Chase Freedom Flex℠ was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Chase Freedom ® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do chase ultimate rewards points expire.

No. As long as you keep your Chase credit card open, your points will not expire.

Can I transfer my Chase points to someone else?

Yes. You can transfer your points to another member of your household who also has a Chase Ultimate Rewards account.

What are Chase Ultimate Rewards points worth?

When redeeming points through the Chase travel portal, the credit card you hold will determine your points’ value.

When redeeming for travel, your points have the following value:

• 1 cent : Freedom card, Freedom Flex card, Freedom Unlimited card, Ink Business Cash card, Ink Business Premier card, Ink Business Unlimited card
• 1.25 cents : Chase Sapphire Preferred card or Ink Business Preferred card
• 1.5 cents : Chase Sapphire Reserve card

When using your points to shop through Amazon or Chase Pay, they are worth 0.8 cents per point.

When redeeming your points for cash back, gift cards, or experiences they are worth 1 cent per point.

What airline partners can I transfer my Chase Ultimate Rewards points to?

Chase airline partners include Air Canada, Air France-KLM, British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Emirates, JetBlue, Singapore Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic.

What hotel partners can I transfer my Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to?

You can transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to the following hotels at a 1:1 ratio: IHG, Marriott, and Hyatt.

Was this page helpful?

About Katie Seemann

Katie has been in the points and miles game since 2015 and started her own blog in 2016. She’s been freelance writing since then and her work has been featured in publications like Travel + Leisure, Forbes Advisor, and Fortune Recommends.

INSIDERS ONLY: UP PULSE ™

Get the latest travel tips, crucial news, flight & hotel deal alerts...

Plus — expert strategies to maximize your points & miles by joining our (free) newsletter.

We respect your privacy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA. Google's privacy policy and terms of service apply.

Related Posts

UP's Bonus Valuation

This bonus value is an estimated valuation calculated by UP after analyzing redemption options, transfer partners, award availability and how much UP would pay to buy these points.

• Credit Cards
• All Credit Cards
• Find the Credit Card for You
• Best Credit Cards
• Best Rewards Credit Cards
• Best Travel Credit Cards
• Best 0% APR Credit Cards
• Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards
• Best Cash Back Credit Cards
• Best Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses
• Best Credit Cards to Build Credit
• Best Credit Cards for Online Shopping
• Find the Best Personal Loan for You
• Best Personal Loans
• Best Debt Consolidation Loans
• Best Loans to Refinance Credit Card Debt
• Best Loans with Fast Funding
• Best Small Personal Loans
• Best Large Personal Loans
• Best Personal Loans to Apply Online
• Best Student Loan Refinance
• Best Car Loans
• All Banking
• Find the Savings Account for You
• Best High Yield Savings Accounts
• Best Big Bank Savings Accounts
• Best Big Bank Checking Accounts
• Best No Fee Checking Accounts
• No Overdraft Fee Checking Accounts
• Best Checking Account Bonuses
• Best Money Market Accounts
• Best Credit Unions
• All Mortgages
• Best Mortgages
• Best Mortgages for Small Down Payment
• Best Mortgages for No Down Payment
• Best Mortgages for Average Credit Score
• Best Mortgages No Origination Fee
• Adjustable Rate Mortgages
• Affording a Mortgage
• All Insurance
• Best Life Insurance
• Best Life Insurance for Seniors
• Best Homeowners Insurance
• Best Renters Insurance
• Best Car Insurance
• Best Pet Insurance
• Best Boat Insurance
• Best Motorcycle Insurance
• Travel Insurance
• Event Ticket Insurance
• Small Business
• All Small Business
• Best Small Business Savings Accounts
• Best Small Business Checking Accounts
• Best Credit Cards for Small Business
• Best Small Business Loans
• Best Tax Software for Small Business
• Personal Finance
• All Personal Finance
• Best Budgeting Apps
• Best Expense Tracker Apps
• Best Money Transfer Apps
• Best Resale Apps and Sites
• Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) Apps
• Best Debt Relief
• Credit Monitoring
• All Credit Monitoring
• Best Credit Monitoring Services
• Best Identity Theft Protection
• How to Boost Your Credit Score
• Best Credit Repair Companies
• Filing For Free
• Best Tax Software
• Best Tax Software for Small Businesses
• Tax Refunds
• Tax Brackets
• Taxes By State
• Tax Payment Plans
• Help for Low Credit Scores
• All Help for Low Credit Scores
• Best Credit Cards for Bad Credit
• Best Personal Loans for Bad Credit
• Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit
• Personal Loans if You Don't Have Credit
• Best Credit Cards for Building Credit
• Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score Lower
• Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower
• Best Mortgages for Bad Credit
• Best Hardship Loans
• All Investing
• Best IRA Accounts
• Best Roth IRA Accounts
• Best Investing Apps
• Best Free Stock Trading Platforms
• Best Robo-Advisors
• Index Funds
• Mutual Funds
• Home & Kitchen
• Gift Guides
• Deals & Sales
• Sign up for the CNBC Select Newsletter
• Subscribe to CNBC PRO
• Privacy Policy
• Your Privacy Choices
• Terms Of Service
• CNBC Sitemap

Follow Select

Our top picks of timely offers from our partners

Find the best credit card for you

How to use the chase travel portal, you can use chase points to book flights, hotels, car rentals and more through its travel portal..

With the right amount of planning, it's possible to book your entire vacation, including flights , hotels , cruises , car rentals , tours and other activities, entirely on points through the Chase travel portal.

But are you getting the best deal by doing this instead of transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards® points to travel partners and booking directly? It turns out there's a lot more to consider — everything from travel date flexibility and brand variety to the credit card you're using — if you want to get more value for your points by booking through Chase Travel SM .

Below, CNBC Select breaks down the best ways to book flights, hotels, cruises, tours and vacation activities through the Chase travel portal with Ultimate Rewards® points.

How to use the Chase travel portal

• How to earn and redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points

How to get started with the Chase travel portal

How to book flights through the chase travel portal, how to book rental cars, cruises, and other travel activities, bottom line, how to earn and redeem chase ultimate rewards® points.

To access Chase Travel SM , you'll need to have a credit card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card , Chase Sapphire Reserve® , Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card , Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card , Ink Business Cash® Credit Card , Chase Freedom Unlimited® or Chase Freedom Flex℠ .

The easiest way to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points quickly is by taking advantage of the lucrative welcome bonuses offered by certain rewards cards: 

• You'll earn 60,000 points by signing up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and spending $4,000 within the first three months of opening your account.
• With the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card 's welcome bonus, you'll earn 100k bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,000 cash back or $1,250 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Travel SM.
• The Chase Sapphire Reserve 's welcome bonus gives you 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

The card you're using to redeem UR points will also affect your point redemption value . For instance, if you're using the Chase Sapphire Preferred to book through the Chase Travel SM portal, points are worth 25% more (1.25 cents per point). But if you're booking through Chase Travel℠ with the Chase Sapphire Reserve , points are worth 50% more (1.5 cents per point) — the other $0 annual fee Chase cards each carry a redemption rate of 1 cent per point.

That means the bonus points you'd earn from either the Chase Sapphire Preferred's welcome bonus is worth $750 towards travel and the Chase Sapphire Reserve's is worth $900 towards travel.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, and $50 annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more.

Welcome bonus

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

Regular APR

21.49% - 28.49% variable on purchases and balance transfers

Balance transfer fee

Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater

Foreign transaction fee

Credit needed.

Excellent/Good

Terms apply.

Read our Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card review .

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

Earn 3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases in select categories each account anniversary year (travel; shipping purchases; internet, cable and phone services; and advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines), 1X point per $1 on all other purchases

Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

21.24% - 26.24% variable

Good/Excellent

Read our Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card review.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Earn 5X total points on flights and 10X total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3X points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases plus, 10X points on Lyft rides through March 2025

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

22.49% - 29.49% variable

5%, minimum $5

Read our Chase Sapphire Reserve® review.

To reach the Chase travel portal, log into your Chase account, then click the area near the right side of the screen where it says the amount of your Chase UR points. Depending on how many Chase credit cards you have, you may be asked to choose which one you want to proceed with.

The next screen is your credit card's main dashboard, showing how many UR points you currently have, as well as any deals or bonus opportunities. On the top of the page, you'll see several menus with redemption options.

While not the best redemption in terms of overall value, you could choose to use your Chase points for Apple and Amazon purchases, cash them in for gift cards and experiences, or reimburse yourself for certain recent charges through Chase's Pay Yourself Back tool . This is also where you can transfer points directly to one of Chase's 14 travel partners if you have a specific flight or hotel in mind. Otherwise, click "book travel" to enter the Chase travel portal.

From here, you'll be able to search for flights, hotels, rental cars, activities and cruises. Simply choose your category, plug in your desired dates and details, and book with points, cash or some combination of the two.

There are a few pros and cons to consider when booking flights through the Chase travel portal. You won't have to worry about blackout dates or limited award availability, which makes it great if you're not flexible with dates and flight times. Just make sure you compare the number of points needed through the Chase travel portal with how many points the airline would require if you were using its own miles, especially if you're hunting for a good deal on economy seats.

The catch with using the Chase travel portal is you won't be able to shop for tickets on low-cost carriers like Spirit Airlines, Frontier Airlines, or Allegiant Air — you can search for flights on Alaska, Southwest, Delta, JetBlue, American, and United. You'll also be able to book flights on most international carriers.

Remember that you can still earn miles and elite credits on flights, as tickets booked through the Chase travel portal are categorized as "paid" rather than as an award flight since you're "paying" for them with points instead of cash. Consider the taxes and fees you might have to pay if you were to transfer the points straight to one of Chase's travel partners versus booking directly through the portal, and to calculate and compare how many points and miles you'd earn by booking with either method.

You'll be able to search, filter, and sort by price, airline, booking class, departure time, arrival time, and departure airport. For this example, below, consider a round-trip flight from Seattle to Austin with sample dates of Feb. 1–7, 2024, booked through the travel portal with a Chase Sapphire Preferred card (redemptions are worth 1.25 cents per point):

Results included 107 results with an economy mix-and-match United and Delta fare for $370 or about 29,600 points being the most affordable option. For comparison's sake, the points price is about the same as what United and Delta are currently charging if you were to book the awards directly through the airlines, but Delta isn't a transfer partner of Chase. You also won't earn miles if you were to book these awards through the airlines, whereas you will earn miles when booking through Chase.

To finish booking your flight through the travel portal, select your route(s), review the details, choose how many points you'd like to use and complete your purchase.

How to book hotels through the Chase travel portal

While the best redemption rates are usually realized when you transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio to hotel partner World of Hyatt, if you're not a huge fan of chain hotels or prefer boutiques or brands like Hilton, Choice Hotels, or Wyndham, it can be a good idea to book them through the travel portal. 

As with flights, you won't have to worry about blackout dates or limited award night availability. However, keep in mind that hotels treat the Chase travel portal as a third-party booking agency, so you won't be able to earn hotel points on stays as you might by booking your stay directly with the hotel.

Hyatt hotels usually offer better deals when you book directly, and since it's one of Chase's hotel partners, you can transfer UR points instantly at a 1:1 ratio. Marriott and IHG are usually more varied, so you may score a better deal by booking via the Chase travel portal instead of transferring points over. For this reason, it's a good idea to ring up how much your hotel stay would cost in points through the portal as well as the hotel's website.

Start by searching by destination so you can see a list of all the available hotels. For this example, let's try looking for hotels in Downtown Austin from Feb. 1–7, 2024. Once the results appear, you'll be able to narrow down your search with filters based on price, star ratings, guest ratings, amenities and neighborhood.

Let's go over a couple of options within the Chase travel portal, each booked with a Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card. One option is the Four Seasons Hotel Austin, which is listed for $556 or about 44,500 points per night through Chase. If you book through Four Seasons, directly, you'll pay $561 per night. The hotel chain also doesn't have a rewards program but going through Chase provides a way to pay with points.

Another example is the Hyatt Place Austin Downtown for $288 or about 23,000 points per night through Chase. If you were to book this directly through Hyatt, you'd pay $279 per night as a member of its loyalty program or just 15,000 World of Hyatt points per night if you booked with points. Since you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio, in this case, transferring would make more sense.

As you can see, it's worth comparing points required by the travel portal and each hotel's website, as the time of year, location, and other factors may play a part in pricing. To book your stay through the travel portal, select your room type, review the details, choose how many points you'd like to use and complete your purchase.

It's a pretty similar process if you want to book rental cars, tours and other travel activities through the Chase travel portal. Cruises can also be booked as well, but you'll need to call.

As far as car rentals, make sure you're booking through the travel portal with points that are connected to Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve to take advantage of extra perks like primary rental car insurance — you'll also need to decline the rental car company's auto collision damage waiver when you book to activate this. You'll want to charge at least a few dollars to the card and not use points to cover the entire booking which ensures that you're still "paying" for the car rental with your Sapphire card, which means you'll be entitled to the card's rental car insurance.

Beyond that, simply plug in your itinerary and search. Here's an example for a rental in Austin from February 1–7, 2024, booked with a Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card:

You'll be able to filter your search by capacity, car type, price per day, company, and car options (like air conditioning and automatic transmission). For a seven-day rental, it would cost around 24,800 points or $310 for the cheapest option. As with other travel portal purchases, you'll be able to enter how many Chase Ultimate Rewards points you wish to put toward the final price. It works the same way for booking tours and other travel activities, so you could potentially enjoy a free — or nearly free — vacation solely on Chase points if you were to plan it all out properly.

Booking through the Chase travel portal can be a great use of your Ultimate Rewards® points, but make sure to compare the rates against booking directly with an airline or hotel itself. Finally, consider transferring your points to one of Chase's travel partners, especially if you're looking to book a luxury hotel or flight in business class.

Money matters — so make the most of it. Get expert tips, strategies, news and everything else you need to maximize your money, right to your inbox.  Sign up here .

Why trust CNBC Select?

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card guide is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products . While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

Catch up on CNBC Select's in-depth coverage of  credit cards ,  banking  and  money , and follow us on  TikTok ,  Facebook ,  Instagram  and  Twitter  to stay up to date.

Information about the Chase Freedom Flex℠ has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.

• 5 things to avoid if you’re applying for a mortgage Kelsey Neubauer
• Best sole proprietorship business credit cards Jason Stauffer
• This is the best budgeting app to help investors track their money Jasmin Suknanan

• What is the Chase Travel Portal?

Benefits of Using the Chase Travel Portal

Chase ultimate rewards credit cards.

• Points Value
• How to Use the Portal to Book Travel

Chase Travel: Explore Destinations and Savings with Chase Ultimate Rewards

Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us and terms apply to offers listed (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate credit cards to write unbiased product reviews .

The information for the following product(s) has been collected independently by Business Insider: Chase Freedom Flex℠, Chase Freedom® Student credit card. The details for these products have not been reviewed or provided by the issuer.

• The Chase Travel℠ portal works just like an online travel agency.
• You can use points, cash, or a combination of both to book flights, hotels, rental cars, and more. 
• Several Chase cards offer better redemption values or bonus points when you book through the portal.

The Chase Travel Portal℠ is an online booking platform for flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, activities, and vacation rentals, similar to an Online Travel Agency (OTA). If you're a Chase Ultimate Rewards® cardholder, you can use points to book travel through the portal — or pay with your card or a combination of points and cash.

Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the most flexible and lucrative credit card rewards programs, and its benefits can be even greater depending on the Chase cards you have. With a no-annual-fee card like the Chase Freedom Flex℠ or Chase Freedom Unlimited® , your points are worth 1 cent each toward travel booked through the portal.

But if you have a Chase travel credit card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® , Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card , or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card , you'll get 25% to 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel, plus the ability to transfer your points to Chase airline and hotel partners . 

Some Chase cards also offer bonus points for paid bookings you make through the portal. Chase added lucrative new bonus categories to the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, including certain types of travel booked through the portal.

Here's everything you need to know about booking airfare, hotels, and more through the Chase travel portal — and how to make the most of your Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

What Is the Chase Travel Portal?

The Chase Travel portal works like any other Online Travel Agency (such as Travelocity or Priceline), and the searches you do for hotels, airfare, and more will produce similar results to what you see on that OTA. 

You must be a Chase credit card customer to use Chase travel to book with cash or with points. In fact, you'll only access the Chase Travel portal when you log into your account management page with Chase.

Chase travel lets you book travel directly with Chase Ultimate Rewards points, use your credit card to pay, or combine the two. This is one of the main benefits of using Chase travel — you can spend the rewards points you earn directly on the travel you want without having to worry about dealing with specific hotel or airline loyalty programs. 

There are a few other key benefits to know:

• You'll still earn airline miles and work toward elite airline status: You won't earn points or elite night credits when you book a hotel stay with Chase travel because it's considered a third-party booking. However, you can earn airline and elite-qualifying miles on flights you book as long as your frequent flyer number is attached to the reservation. 
• Your points are worth more with certain Chase credit cards: Also be aware that some Chase credit cards give you more than the standard rate of 1 cent per point when you redeem your rewards for travel through Chase. We'll go into more detail on the cards that offer this perk below.
• The Chase Travel portal is easy to use: If you don't want to deal with a bunch of hotel and airline award charts, booking through Chase travel can help keep your rewards game simple. You'll always be able to use your points for any booking you want without having to worry about blackout dates or capacity controls you would normally encounter with loyalty programs.

To be eligible to use the Chase Travel portal, you'll need a Chase credit card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points . 

No-annual-fee Chase cards open to new applicants (points are worth 1 cent each through the Chase Travel portal):

• Chase Freedom Unlimited® (read our Chase Freedom Unlimited review )
• Chase Freedom Flex℠ (read our Chase Freedom Flex review )
• Chase Freedom® Student credit card (read our Chase Freedom Student review )
• Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (read our Chase Ink Business Unlimited review )
• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (read our Chase Ink Business Cash review )

Chase travel rewards cards open to new applicants (points are worth more with Chase travel, plus these cards allow you to transfer points to airline and hotel partners):

• Chase Sapphire Reserve® (read our Chase Sapphire Reserve review )
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (read our Chase Sapphire Preferred review )
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (read our Chase Ink Business Preferred review )

If you have more than one Chase card, you can transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points between accounts. It makes the most sense to pool your points in the account that gives you the best redemption value — for example, if you pair the Chase Freedom Unlimited® and Chase Sapphire Reserve®, moving all of your Chase Ultimate Rewards to your Sapphire Reserve account will increase the value of your points when you redeem through the Chase Travel portal.

To pool your points onto one card, log into your Chase online account, navigate to the "Redeem" section for your Chase Ultimate Rewards card, then select the option to combine points in the "Earn/Use" tab:

From there, you can move your Chase points between accounts in any increments you want. 

Points Value in the Chase Travel Portal

Some Chase credit cards give you a bonus when you redeem points through the Chase Travel portal. Here's a summary of how much your points are worth with each Chase card:

It's important to note that Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth, on average, 1.8 cents apiece based on Personal Finance Insider's points and miles valuations . That's because it's possible to get outsized value when you transfer points to partners for award travel.

How to Use the Chase Travel Portal

Using the Chase Travel portal is a breeze, but it all starts with logging into your online account management page. From there, you'll click on the right side of your screen where it shows your Chase Ultimate Rewards account balance. 

Once you click on the account balance, you'll have the option to select the card you want to access. And remember, this step can be important because some cards give you more value from your points when you redeem them for travel.

How to book a flight through Chase travel

Once you are logged into your Chase Ultimate Rewards account, you'll see different travel options to search for at the top of the page.

To search for a flight, make sure the prompt is on "Flights" and begin searching for the flight you want. Enter your departure airport, destination, travel dates, and the number of passengers.

Once your flight options pop up on the screen, you can filter your results by the number of stops, the airlines you want to fly, and arrival times.

Note that each of your flight options will include a payment amount in points as well as a cash price. 

You can also click on "Details and baggage fees" in order to find out the cost of carry-on luggage or checked baggage, as well as whether your flight charges any change fees.

When you click to "Select" a flight option, you'll get a rundown of what is and isn't included in the fare you selected. You may also get a note that you can upgrade before you check out.

Once you settle on a flight you want, you'll be taken to the "Trip Details" page that shows the final cost of your flight in points or in cash, as well as a summary of the added costs you may be charged for baggage or change fees.

After you agree to the terms, you'll be taken to a final payment page where you can decide how you want to pay. You have the option to cover your flight entirely in points if you want, but you can also choose to pay with your Chase credit card or with a combination of points and your credit card.

During the booking process, make sure to add your frequent flyer number to your reservation. That way, you can earn miles on your booking and your flight will count toward elite status requirements. You'll also want to add your Known Traveler Number or Redress number if either applies to you.

If you forget to do it during your booking, however, you can add your frequent flyer information to your flight later on using the airline's website.

How to book a hotel through Chase travel

Booking a hotel through Chase is similarly easy, and you'll find a lot of different types of lodging options available. For example, you'll find properties from major hotel brands, but you'll also find rental condo options and boutique hotels.

To search for a hotel,  enter the destination, dates, and the number of people you want to have in your room. Once you're presented with your options, you can filter hotels based on the hotel name you're looking for, the area or neighborhood, price point, guest rating, property type, and more. 

Once again, you'll see a price listed in points as well as a cash price per night.

These prices do not include taxes and fees, however, so your price in points or cash will be higher by the time you get to the final booking page. Also be aware that the price listed is the lowest you can get for the property, but that better or upgraded rooms and suites will cost more in points.

The major downside to booking a hotel through the Chase portal is that you won't earn hotel points or elite night credits for your stay, because it's considered a third-party booking. There's also a risk that the property won't recognize your hotel elite status or give you the perks you'd normally be entitled to, like late checkout or free breakfast . This shouldn't be an issue if you're booking an independent or boutique hotel, but if you're looking for hotel points or status, it's something to be aware of.

You'll have the option to select a hotel you want as well as a room type at the property you're considering. You can also pay with your booking with points, your Chase credit card, or a combination of the two. 

How to book a rental car through Chase travel

You can also book a rental car through Chase travel using the same set of steps. Once you log into your Chase Ultimate Rewards account, click on "Cars" and then select the destination and dates.

Once you are presented with your search results, you can select the types of cars you prefer, like an economy car or an SUV. You can also filter results based on a price range, the number of passengers you have, the rental car company, and the type of transmission you prefer (manual or automatic), as well as the total area you want to search in. 

Note that, once again, taxes and fees are not included on the initial search page. Instead, they are added to your total cost when you select a rental car. You can also pay for a rental car through Chase with points, your credit card, or a combination of the two.

How to book activities with the Chase Travel portal

Chase also lets you book a variety of activities through the portal, which they refer to as "Things to Do." Chase activities can include excursions like snorkeling or scuba diving, as well as tours of museums and historic sites. But you can also book more practical options through their activities tab, including airport pickups and other types of transportation.

To search for activities, enter the destination and dates for your trip. You'll be shown a price in points and in cash that does include taxes and fees. You can also filter options based on the type of activity, your interests, and more. Once again, you have the option to pay for activities with your points, your credit card, or a combination of the two.

How to book a cruise through Chase travel

If you're a cruise enthusiast, you should know you can also book cruises through Chase travel. When you select "Cruises" at the top of the Chase Ultimate Rewards search page, you'll be presented with a list of featured cruises and cruise specials.

You can also search for cruises based on the destination or the name of the cruise line. Note, however, that only cash prices are listed for each cruise on the portal, and that you'll have to call Chase to make a booking.

Either way, you can absolutely use your Chase points to pay for all or part of your cruise. Just have your credit card number handy and call their customer service line at 855-234-2542.

How to book a vacation rental through Chase

Chase also offers a selection of vacation rentals, which can include vacation condos, luxury villas, and more. To search, click on "Vacation Rentals" at the top of the main page, then enter your destination, dates, and the number of people in your party.

Once you start your search, you'll have the option to filter results based on the local neighborhood you want, star ratings, price range, guest rating, property type, and more. Like hotels through Chase, the price you are shown excludes taxes and fees, but they will be added to your total once you make a selection.

Also be aware that the price shown in your search results is for the lowest-tier option for each property, and that a larger rental or upgraded rental may cost more in points.

When you book vacation rentals through Chase, you can pay with points, your Chase card, or a combination of the two. 

Use the Chase Travel portal to book Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection properties

If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can book properties within the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection. This list of more than 1,000 properties can be reserved ahead of time, and you'll get extra benefits with each stay such as:

• Daily breakfast for two
• A special benefit worth up to $100
• Complimentary internet access
• Room upgrades when available
• Early check-in and late checkout

One detail to note with this program is the fact that you cannot pay with points. Instead, your online booking will reserve your room, and you'll be charged for the stay when you check out from the hotel. 

Should you transfer Chase points instead?

While you can book travel through the Chase Travel portal directly, many people prefer to transfer points to Chase airline and hotel partners instead. Doing so could let you get more value for each point you redeem , but you'll have to run the numbers to find out for sure.

Here's a good example of how transferring points to a Chase airline or hotel partner can be a better deal, as well as the math you'll need to do to figure this out on your own. Take this one-way flight on Air France from Chicago to Paris, for example, and assume you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card, so you're getting 50% more value when you redeem points through the Chase Travel portal.

If you were to book this flight through Chase Travel, you would owe 39,607 points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, compared with the cash price of $594.10.

However, you could book an award ticket on the exact same flight through Flying Blue (Air France's loyalty program) directly if you transferred your Chase points there first. In this case, the identical flight would set you back 22,000 miles plus $109.44. This means you would transfer 22,000 miles from Chase to your Flying Blue account, and pay the taxes and fees in cash, or by redeeming points for a statement credit to your account.

When you compare, you'll find that booking with miles directly is a better deal. After you subtract the taxes and fees from the cost of booking through Flying Blue, you wind up with a value of around 2.2 cents per mile.

With the Chase Travel portal, on the other hand, you're forking over 39,607 points for the same flight, and you're getting a value of 1.5 cents for each point if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. 

Accessing Chase Travel is simple. If you're a Chase credit cardholder with Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you can log in to your Chase online account. Once logged in, navigate to the 'Travel" or "Rewards" section, where you'll find the Chase Travel portal. From there, you can search and book flights, hotels, and other travel services using your earned points or card benefits. It's a convenient way to plan and manage your travel adventures.

Chase Travel refers to the travel booking and rewards platform offered by Chase Bank. It's part of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, allowing cardholders to use their earned points to book flights, hotels, car rentals, and other travel-related expenses. Chase Travel provides a convenient way to plan and book your trips while taking advantage of the rewards and benefits associated with Chase credit cards.

To earn 5% on Chase Travel, consider using a Chase credit card that offers bonus rewards on travel purchases. Cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve often offer 5 points per dollar spent on travel booked through the Chase Travel portal. Additionally, taking advantage of limited-time promotions and special offers can also help you maximize your rewards when booking travel with Chase.

Bottom Line

Keep in mind that, no matter which Chase credit card you have, there are other ways you can use your rewards points. You can redeem Chase points for statement credits or cash back, or cash them in for gift cards or merchandise. And if you have a premier Chase travel credit card, you can transfer your points to Chase airline and hotel partners at a 1:1 ratio.

However, booking travel through Chase can make your life considerably easier — especially if you don't like dealing with complicated hotel and airline programs. You may not get as much value from your points as you would if you booked a premium flight with airline miles, but the Chase Travel portal does offer the flexibility to book the flight you want without any blackout dates or hoops to jump through.

The Chase Travel portal offers yet another way to maximize rewards earned with a Chase credit card. Just make sure to consider all your options and the value you're getting for your points before you pull the trigger.

Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed in this article are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards .

Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.

**Enrollment required.

• Main content

Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal review: A messy trip, but not their fault

Advertiser disclosure.

We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.

Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover.

• Share this article on Facebook Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter Twitter
• Share this article on LinkedIn Linkedin
• Share this article via email Email

At Bankrate, we take the accuracy of our content seriously.

“Expert verified” means that our Financial Review Board thoroughly evaluated the article for accuracy and clarity. The Review Board comprises a panel of financial experts whose objective is to ensure that our content is always objective and balanced.

Their reviews hold us accountable for publishing high-quality and trustworthy content.

• • Credit cards
• • Credit scores

• • Rewards credit cards
• • Travel credit cards

• • Rewards strategy
• • Small business marketing

The Bankrate promise

At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity , this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money . The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer.

At Bankrate, we have a mission to demystify the credit cards industry — regardless or where you are in your journey — and make it one you can navigate with confidence. Our team is full of a diverse range of experts from credit card pros to data analysts and, most importantly, people who shop for credit cards just like you. With this combination of expertise and perspectives, we keep close tabs on the credit card industry year-round to:

• Meet you wherever you are in your credit card journey to guide your information search and help you understand your options.
• Consistently provide up-to-date, reliable market information so you're well-equipped to make confident decisions.
• Reduce industry jargon so you get the clearest form of information possible, so you can make the right decision for you.

At Bankrate, we focus on the points consumers care about most: rewards, welcome offers and bonuses, APR, and overall customer experience. Any issuers discussed on our site are vetted based on the value they provide to consumers at each of these levels. At each step of the way, we fact-check ourselves to prioritize accuracy so we can continue to be here for your every next.

Editorial integrity

Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.

Key Principles

We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.

Editorial Independence

Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU — the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information.

How we make money

You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey.

Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.

We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money.

Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories, except where prohibited by law for our mortgage, home equity and other home lending products. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range, can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.

Booking travel through a credit card issuer’s portal — which is essentially their version of an online travel agency (OTA) such as Expedia or Orbitz — has its pros and cons.

The main advantage is extra rewards. That’s what convinced me to book a recent trip through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal using my Chase Freedom Flex℠ *.

I earned 5 percent cash back on those flights, whereas I would have only earned 1 percent if I booked directly with the airline. I bought $1,137.26 worth of airfare, so there was a significant difference between 5 percent ($56.86) and 1 percent ($11.37).

Sometimes it can also make sense to use a card issuer’s travel portal if you’re redeeming rewards for the trip. That’s especially compelling if you have a card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card , which boosts the value of your rewards by 25 percent if you use them in this fashion.

The main drawback of any OTA — card issuer portals included — is that booking travel this way introduces an intermediary into the transaction. If anything goes wrong with your trip, you need to deal with the travel agency’s customer service instead of (or sometimes in addition to) the hotel or airline provider. This can make things more complicated.

Another important note is that hotel bookings made through OTAs typically do not earn loyalty points or count toward elite status. Airline reservations, on the other hand, are generally eligible for frequent flyer miles and elite status qualification.

In my case, I decided that an extra $45.49 in cash back was worth giving the Chase travel portal a shot. I also viewed it as a professional development opportunity to see how this works in the real world.

What happened with my trip

A Bankrate survey revealed that 79 percent of travelers who’ve taken an overnight trip outside their local area so far this year experienced at least one travel-related problem. These included high prices (57 percent), long waits (29 percent), poor customer service (27 percent), hard-to-find availability (26 percent) and lost money due to canceled or disrupted plans (14 percent). I experienced every single one of those things the night before my wife and daughter were scheduled to leave on the trip I booked through Chase.

Actually, I should back up. The problems started even earlier than that. Weeks before the trip, American Airlines made a schedule change that jeopardized my wife Chelsea and daughter Ashleigh’s chances of making their connecting flight. The new layover seemed impossibly short.

This was my first test of the customer service for the Chase travel portal. They passed with flying colors, efficiently rebooking Chelsea and Ashleigh at no extra cost and arranging the flights in such a way that it seemed much more likely they would be able to get from one plane to the other. It was fairly complicated because the connecting city needed to change, but the whole process was smooth. I was impressed.

Fast-forward to the night before the trip

We received an email from American Airlines that Chelsea and Ashleigh’s flight from Newark to Phoenix was canceled. There was no explanation, but we assume it had to do with either a staffing or equipment shortage since the weather was calm on both ends; the airline offered to rebook them on the same itinerary two days later. That was far from ideal, since the whole trip was only supposed to last five days (the ultimate destination was Monterey, California, where Chelsea’s parents live).

We simultaneously reached out to both Chase and American. Chelsea reported that the wait to speak with someone at the airline was listed at four hours. I got through to a Chase representative almost immediately.

I explained the situation, and the customer service agent and I started brainstorming alternatives. Was there a different way to get to Phoenix in time for the connecting flight to Monterey? We looked at Newark, JFK, LaGuardia — even as far away as Philadelphia and Hartford, but no dice. How about an entirely new routing? Could they fly from somewhere in the New York area to San Francisco, San Jose or Oakland, California? Those cities are all within a couple hours’ drive of Monterey.

After several attempts to find something that would work, we gave up. Nothing seemed to work. The Chase representative was great, and I feel like he did everything he could to try and solve our dilemma. American Airlines just didn’t have any availability.

We eventually got through to American Airlines and confirmed there were only two options: Travel two days later or cancel. We opted to cancel but — plot twist — we still found a way for Chelsea to visit her parents and for Ashleigh to see her grandparents. We rolled the dice and made an entirely new reservation with JetBlue. They had an early-morning flight from JFK to San Francisco with a few available seats.

The backup plan

The trip ended up costing $700 more due to higher-priced, last-minute plane tickets and a rental car to get them from San Francisco to Monterey, but the trip had a happy ending. It was ironic, too, because we had sworn off JetBlue after experiencing significant issues with them during family trips in the past. This time, they saved the day, and American Airlines dropped the ball.

I’ve heard that some people have taken to making backup flight reservations, especially on carriers such as Southwest, which have particularly generous cancellation policies. I’m not sure I would go that far, but there’s no doubt air travel has been a mess lately. In my view, airlines need to do a much better job of setting their schedules and sticking to them. Unfortunately, there’s little that passengers can do to protect themselves.

Travel insurance might help, and some credit cards provide travel insurance benefits at no added cost. But, at the end of the day, the airlines are the ones responsible for getting us from point A to point B.

The Chase portal wasn’t the problem; I would use it again. But given the current state of the airline industry, I’m going to be anxiously waiting to see if my next flight takes off as planned.

Have a question about credit cards? E-mail me at [email protected] and I’d be happy to help.

*The information about the Chase Freedom Flex℠ has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.

Related Articles

Chase Freedom Unlimited benefits guide

How to use the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal

Is it safe to give out my card details over the phone?

Does APR matter if you pay your credit card off on time?

UponArriving

Chase Travel Portal Review: (Airlines, Hotels, Car Rentals, Cruises) [2021]

The Chase Travel Portal can be one of the best ways to utilize your hard-earned reward points.

But how exactly does the Chase Travel Portal work and is it worth using?

This review article will walk you through step-by-step on how to use the portal for all forms of travel (airlines, hotels, rental cars, cruises) and I’ll also look at if travel through the portal is more expensive. 

But most importantly, I’ll show you when to use and NOT use the Chase Travel Portal in order to maximize the value of your points!

Table of Contents

What is the Chase Travel Portal?

The Chase Travel Portal is an exclusive online travel agency (OTA) powered by Expedia that allows select Chase cardholders to book travel with their Ultimate Rewards or by paying via a credit card.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

How do I get access to the Chase Travel Portal

This travel portal is only for Individuals with Ultimate Rewards earning Chase cards. So if you had a card like a Chase Southwest credit card you would not get access. Instead, you would need one of the following cards:

• Chase Freedom
• Chase Freedom Unlimited
• Chase Ink Cash
• Chase Ink Business Preferred
• Chase Ink Unlimited
• Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Chase Sapphire Reserve

Chase Travel Portal redemption values

When you use your Ultimate Rewards points to book travel you’ll get different levels of value from your Chase Ultimate Rewards earning credit cards, depending on the type of card that is used.

Take a look at how each point is valued based on the card you are using:

• Chase Freedom : 1 cent per point
• Chase Freedom Unlimited:  1 cent per point
• Chase Ink Cash:  1 cent per point
• Chase Ink Unlimited:  1 cent per point
• Chase Ink Business Preferred: 1.25 cents per point
• Chase Sapphire Preferred:  1.25 cents per point
• Chase Sapphire Reserve: 1.5 cents per point

Keep in mind that you can transfer Ultimate Rewards between spouses and household members so you can also use the card between you and others that has the best redemption rates for your travels.

The Sapphire Reserve with the 1.5 cents per point redemption rate is one of the top benefits of the Sapphire Reserve. It makes it much more tempting (and worthwhile) to use your points for travel redemptions when using the Chase Travel Portal.

But the Sapphire Reserve comes with a number of other stout perks including:

• $300 travel credit
• DoorDash $60 Credit
• 3X on dining and travel
• Priority Pass (with restaurant credits )
• TSA Pre-Check / Global Entry $100 credit
• Primary rental car insurance
• Annual fee: $550 (not waived first year)

All of these perks make the Sapphire Reserve one of the top travel credit cards on the market without a doubt.

Point values compared to to other programs (Amex)

You can get a sense of how great the value is with the Sapphire Reserve’s portal redemption rate by comparing its rate to other programs.

Just take a look at the Amex Travel porta l. For airfare you can redeem Amex Membership Rewards at a rate of 1 cent per point but things aren’t as good for other travel redemptions. For hotels, vacations, and cruises you’ll be redeeming at 0.7 cent per point.

So as you can see, redeeming points through the Chase Travel Portal with the Sapphire Reserve is much more lucrative than utilizing points with some other travel portals. 

Chase Travel partners

Chase allows you to use your points to travel in different ways. You can either use the Chase Travel Portal or you can transfer your points out to transfer partners.

Chase travel partners

Chase has a great line-up of airlines and also has the best hotel selection out of any other major transferrable points program, in my opinion.

Here are all of the current Chase transfer partners:

Chase Ultimate Rewards Airlines

• British Airways Executive Club
• Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
• Iberia Airways
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Chase Ultimate Rewards Hotels

• World of Hyatt
• IHG Rewards Club
• Marriott Bonvoy

Whether or not you should transfer points to these partners depends on a few factors and I will discuss those below when giving advice on when to use and not use the travel portal.

How do I use the Chase Travel Portal?

• Log-in to your Chase Ultimate Rewards dashboard
• Click on the travel button on the side panel
• Select your type of travel
• Book and enjoy!

Log-in to your Chase account

The first step to access the travel portal is to simply log-in to your Ultimate Rewards dashboard. You can  log-in to the travel portal here .

Click on the travel button on the side bar

Once you are in the Ultimate Rewards dashboard you need to pull up the Chase Travel Portal by selecting travel. Simply navigate to the side panel and you will see the travel menu button.

Select for your type of travel

Once you are in the travel portal, you will need to select the type of travel that you were interested in booking. Here are the different types of travel that you can choose from:

• Flights 
• Cruises 

Things to do

Vacation rentals.

The last step is to simply book your travel.

Keep reading below for more details on how to get to that step.

When to NOT use the Chase Travel Portal

There are a number of reasons why you might not want to use the portal.

Outsized value

One of the biggest reasons to NOT use the Chase Travel Portal is because you can get so much more value when transferring points to travel partners.

When you book through the Chase Travel Portal you are limited to the point value of the credit card account that you are using for the portal.

So if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you’re only going to get 1.5 cents per point out of your redemptions. That sounds impressive until you realize that if you transfer your points out to travel partners you could be getting redemptions at well over 10 cents per point.

So the benefit of transferring points is that you can receive amazing outsized value for your points that’s just not possible with the Chase Travel Portal.

Unforgettable travel experiences

And it’s just not about the monetary value, transferring points out to airlines allows you to experience some truly unforgettable flying experiences.

That’s because you’re able to fly in business class and first class cabins in some of the top airlines. You can experience your own private suites and live the high life rather than being stuck in economy.

These tickets can also get you access into some of the top airline lounges in the world for an unforgettable luxury experience. I’ve had some of my most memorable flights because of Chase Ultimate Rewards and some of the experiences that stick out are:

• First Class on the Korean Air A380
• First Class on the new Singapore Airlines A380
• Upper Class on the Virgin Atlantic 787 
• First Class on the British Airways 747

If I would have used my points to book travel through the Chase Travel Portal, I would have never gotten a chance to experience those amazing flights.

Hotels can offer cases of outsized value, too. I recently finished a stay at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vedome and received over 3 cents per point in value. 

I would have been limited to 1.5 cents per point with the Chase Travel Portal so transferring points would have made a lot more sense.

Hotel perks

One of the main reasons why you’d want to avoid the travel portal is when booking hotel stays.

That’s because when you use an OTA, there’s a chance that you won’t receive all of your elite benefits/credits and you won’t earn hotel points for the stay.

So if you’re a Hilton Gold member for example you might not receive your free breakfast and potential upgrade that you would have had. Some programs won’t even allow you to get complimentary wifi unless you book directly.

The good news is that sometimes you can still get these perks.

You just need to call into the hotel beforehand and give them your elite information. If you do that and work a little charm at check-in you might be surprised to receive your elite benefits.

When to use the Chase Travel Portal

There are sometimes when it really makes sense to use the Chase Travel Portal.

Cheap domestic flights

Sometimes flights are pretty cheap and it makes way more sense to just use the portal to book them.

For example, if you wanted to fly on United Airlines from Houston to Orlando, you may have to transfer 25,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards for a roundtrip flight in economy.

But if you used the travel portal, you’d be able to book that Orlando flight for much cheaper during many times of the year and potentially save thousands of points.

You will still earn your frequent flyer miles, too, so there’s no loss in value there.

Cheaper hotels

The same principle applies to hotel stays as well. Sometimes it will just be cheaper to book through the portal than to transfer your reward points.

The major exception to this is Hyatt which often has point redemptions worth over 1.5 cents per point.

You’ve also got to really think about the value you might be losing out on if you don’t receive your elite benefits. It’s not hard for two free breakfasts to add up quick on a trip and if you’re giving that up, it might be more worthwhile to ditch the portal for that booking.

Not good with points

The thing about transferring points is that you need to aware of how the process works. You need to know how to transfer your points and how to use those points efficiently once you have them.

Then you’ve got to deal with finding award inventory, black-out dates, and the actual booking process which can be tricky with some foreign airlines.

Not everybody has the time to learn how to do that (or even the desire to do it). And for those people, the Chase Travel Portal is often a much better suited option.

Booking different travel types

Since this is powered by Expedia , you’ll find robust filters for searching and filtering your particular type of travel. But just to give you an idea of all the possibilities, I’ve broken down some example search filters below for the different types of travel.

Chase Travel Portal Flights

The Chase Travel Portal allows you to easily search for flights.

Simply input your departure location and your destination, along with dates and passengers. You can also choose to search with your preferred airline or preferred class by using the “Advanced options.”

When I searched, the Chase Travel Portal pulled prices listed from the cheapest flights (which was directly on par with the lowest prices found in Google Flights).

I should note that many people complain about the pricing found on the portal and claim that many flights are also missing. So I would always double check the pricing with Google Flights and if I still had questions then I would just call the Chase Travel Portal number at 1-866-418-8872. 

Also, be on the lookout for basic economy fares like the one below which state “Basic Economy” under Select.

You can utilize several filters to narrow down the results including nonstop flights and also by airlines and preferences for departure time and arrival time.

You can also search the prices with the flexible dates feature. I prefer this search feature as it’s easy to spot the cheapest roundtrip prices and compare them to other websites.

Once you select your flights, you’ll be taken to another screen where you’ll need to confirm or upgrade your fare class. You’ll see the prices for upgrades and be able to confirm the options that your fare has or doesn’t have, such as seat choice.

At the next screen you’ll need to enter the names of the travelers and you’ll have a chance to enter in credentials for things like TSA Pre-Check and frequent flyer information.

You’ll also be able to choose how you want to pay for the travel. You can choose to pay with points, credit card, or a combination of the two. You’ll then confirm your booking on that screen.

Note that all booked flights can be canceled within 24 hours. 

Booking flights on Southwest

Southwest flights do not show up on the Chase Travel Portal. However, you can call in to request a booking with Southwest Airlines if you’d like.

Where can I view my flight booking confirmation?

• Go to My Trips to view, email, or print your itinerary or receipt.
• View your confirmation email.

How to change your seat

For most flights, you can choose your seat during booking. Chase should send your seat selection to the airline at the time of booking, but they note that they cannot guarantee your seat assignment.

You can access your seat assignment for most flights in your itinerary , or when you view your flight booking confirmation .

Your seat selection may not be confirmed if you:

• Booked a fare with an airline that assigns seats at the gate
• Booked a Basic Economy fare which doesn’t allow seat selection

Chase Travel Portal Hotels

The search feature for hotels is pretty standard as well.

There are a lot of helpful filters that you can apply to help you efficiently search for the right hotel.

Some of these include:

Property Class

This allows you to sort by star ratings.

Price Per Night

Sort properties based on price.

Vacation Rental Bedrooms

• Bedrooms 4+ Bedrooms

Guest Rating

• Exceptional!

Neighborhood

Sort through many local neighborhoods.

• High-speed Internet
• Air conditioning
• Swimming pool
• Breakfast Included
• Babysitting service
• Business services
• Childcare Children’s club
• Fitness equipment
• Airport Transportation
• Included Newspaper
• Included Parking
• Included Hair dryer
• Kitchenette
• Laundry facilities
• Dry cleaning/laundry service
• Pets allowed(conditions apply)
• Restaurant in hotel
• Room service
• Spa services on site

Property Type

• Apartment Hotel
• Private vacation home
• Guest house
• Bed & Breakfast Hostel/Backpacker accommodation
• Apart-hotel
• Country House
• Chalet Hotel resort
• Hostel (Budget Hotel)

Popular Locations

You can even search based on popular locations. Here are some examples from London that I found when searching for a hotel.

• Tower of London
• University of London
• London Bridge
• London Dungeon
• Buckingham Palace
• St. Paul’s Cathedral
• Olympic Stadium
• University College London
• East London Mosque
• Museum of London
• Natural History Museum
• Wembley Stadium
• London Stock Exchange
• Chessington World of Adventures

Accessibility

Accessible bathroom In-room accessibility roll-in shower.

Hotel pricing might be on the cheaper side sometimes or it may not.

For the most part, I’ve always found competitive prices but I would highly recommend that you check the prices with other OTAs before booking. Just like with airfare, there are plenty of reports of the portal not displaying the best prices for hotels.

Whenever you finally find the hotel you were interested in, be sure to view the cancellation policy. You should find it in green next to the room description and also under “price details.”

Chase Travel Portal Rental Cars

Searching for rental cars is pretty straightforward as well.

There are advanced search options for searching for car by type and by rental company. You can also filter for special equipment for things like infant seats, snow chains, navigation system, etc.

You can also find things to do in the Chase Travel Portal. You’ll find many of the major tourist options in the search results but there will be some unique things to do like craft beer tours.

What’s cool about these activities is that you can truly travel for free if you use your points. It’s pretty easy to cover hotels and airfare with points but it’s much more difficult to cover an entire trip with points (including activities).

With the Travel Portal, this is a possibility though.

What kind of activities show up?

When I searched for San Francisco, it pulled “154 things to do.”

Some examples of the things to do that popped up were:

• Golden Gate Bridge Tour
• Alcatraz Tour 
• San Francisco Mega Pass
• Yosemite National Park tour 
• Napa Valley wine tasting tour 
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

You can then sort the activities based on certain criteria.

Recommendations

• Local Expert Picks
• Family Friendly
• Likely To Sell Out
• New on Chase Travel
• Tours & Sightseeing
• Walking & Bike Tours
• Day Trips & Excursions
• Cruises & Water Tours
• Air, Balloon & Helicopter Tours
• Hop-on Hop-off
• Private Tours
• Attractions
• Food & Drink
• Sightseeing Passes
• Multi-Day & Extended Tours
• Water Activities

Transportation

• Shared transportation

You can also book vacation rentals through the portal.

Chase Travel Portal Cruises

You can book cruises with points, your Chase card, or both. Here are some examples of cruise lines and cruise ships you can find in the Chase Travel Portal.

• Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Equinox
• Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian Jade
• Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian Gem
• Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian Pearl
• Princess Cruises Regal Princess
• Royal Caribbean International Allure of the Seas
• Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas
• Royal Caribbean International Harmony of the Seas
• Royal Caribbean International Oasis of the Seas

For cruise information, call 1-866-951-6592 .

Travel profile

Under your Travel profile you can edit your travel details including:

Frequent Flyer Membership

This is where you’ll enter your frequent flyer numbers for various programs like United, Delta, American Airlines, etc.

Personal Info

This is where you can enter your personal contact information.

Flight Preferences

You can set your flight presences for things like window or aisle seats (sorry, no preference available for the middle seat).

Known Traveler Number and  Redress Number . The  Known Traveler Number will allow you to receive benefits like TSA Pre-Check or Global Entry if you are signed up for them.

Chase Travel Portal Promo code

Chase will sometimes send out emails with special promo codes for the Chase Travel Portal.

For example, there once was a code for $100 off $300.

However, it’s not clear who exactly gets targeted for these offers and they seem to be pretty rare so I wouldn’t go around expecting them to arrive in your inbox.

I’m not aware of publicly available promo codes.

If you do get a code it can be entered at checkout.

Price match

Others have tried their luck with seeking a price match from Chase but they haven’t been successful.

If you have any luck report back with your data points!

Chase Travel Portal (in the App)

You can use the Chase Mobile App to search and book travel through the Chase Travel Portal.

First, you just need to log-in to your Chase app on your mobile device.

Then select the “…” next to the card that you’d like to use and select “Redeem rewards.”

Next hit the three bars at the top of the screen and then select “”Travel” and that will take you right to the Chase Travel Portal on the mobile app.

Refunds and Cancellations

There are always a lot of non-refundable options when dealing with booking travel through an OTA so you always want to be on the lookout for any bookings that won’t allow you to collect a refund.

You can cancel most flight bookings online.

Keep in mind that for airfare if you cancel within 24 hours, there are usually no cancellation fees.

If you cancel a non-refundable flight reservation, the airline may issue you a flight credit for a future booking instead of a refund.

But note that some flight reservations are not eligible for a flight credit after cancellation. Canceling one of these will force you to lose the value of your ticket.

To cancel your flight booking online

• Go to My Trips to view your bookings.
• In Upcoming, select the itinerary you wish to cancel.
• Select Cancel Flight under Manage Booking

Chase allows you to cancel most hotel bookings online.

If your hotel’s free cancellation deadline has passed, you will have to pay a cancel fee and if you booked a non-refundable hotel, you will have to pay the entire cost of your stay.

To cancel your hotel booking

• In Manage Booking, select Cancel Room and follow the instructions.

Chase Travel Portal Phone Number

To speak to a Chase Travel Specialist, call 1-866-418-8872 .

Advisors specializing in flights, hotels, car rentals and activities are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Advisors specializing in cruises are available Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET, and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.

The Chase Travel Portal is just one of the many type of OTAs that you can find online. Here are some other OTAs and OTA aggregators you might consider trying out:

1. Bonwi 2. Expedia 3. Booking.com 4. Hotels.com 5. Orbitz 6. HotelTonight 7. Priceline 8. Hostelworld 9. Kayak.com 10. Hotwire.com 11. Hotelscombined.com 12. Agoda.com 13. Trivago

You can read more about these OTAs here .

Since the Chase Travel Portal is powered by Expedia you’d expect their results to be identical but I know from experience that things can get tricky on OTAs so I’d always double check the prices elsewhere before booking.

Chase travel notifications/alerts

The Chase Travel Portal will have travel notifications for certain countries if applicable and you should be able to see those when you log-in.

You should obviously do follow-up research with the US State Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ensure there are no travel advisories even if the Chase travel portal doesn’t mention these.

Also, if you’re wanting to set Chase travel notifications so that your debit card or credit card won’t have issues abroad, you can read how to do that here . 

Chase Shopping portal

If you’d like to utilize Ultimate Rewards to shop you can use your points at Amazon or to purchase gift cards. But if you’d like to earn more Ultimate Rewards via your shopping then consider trying out the Chase Shopping Portal where you can earn points when you shop at retailers including:

• American Eagle
• Under Armour
• Neiman Marcus
• And many, many more…

Read more about the portal here. 

Chase Travel Portal not working?

For the longest time I though that the Chase Travel Portal was down but it turns out that there was caching issue with my computer.

All I had to do was clear out my browsing history (or use an Incognito browser) and I was able to log-in and search for travel.

The portal might not be working from time to time but I’d also try to clear your browsing history/cache and see if that works if you ever run into performance issues.

The Chase Travel Portal is a great way to truly travel for free and in many instances it can be a much more valuable use of points.

The key is to be aware of what benefits you might be missing out on and to always compare prices across OTAs so make sure you’re getting a great deal.

Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo . He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio .

I regularly buy airline tickets through the Chase Travel Portal, because airfares tend to be identical on all sites, and the Chase portal gives me 5x points for using my Sapphire Preferred card. However, when it comes to hotels, I have found Chase’s room rates to be higher than on other OTAs, or the hotel websites. Part of this is because Chase does not honor AARP, AAA, or other discounts, but even the standard base rates are a few dollars higher at Chase. Also, you do not earn Hilton or Marriott points when you book through Chase. To book hotels, I go directly to the hotel website, and use my Chase Ink card, where I earn 3x points for ALL travel. The additional 2x points I could earn on the Chase site are not worth the higher rates and reduction in benefits.

Follow up to a June 19, 2022 post. I previously explained why I would not use the Chase Travel Portal for hotels or car rentals, though I would use it for flights. That is no longer the case, and I will not use Chase for anything. I recently bought my daughter a $1,900 ticket for a trip to Africa with a charity, which was canceled due to an ebola outbreak. The purchase confirmation email clearly indicated that the fare was refundable. After watching my statements for two cycles, there was no refund, so I had to call customer service. They had no record of the cancellation, even though I had an email confirmation of it. After more than an hour on the phone, they told me that I would only get a credit, not a refund. The credit cannot be used on line, so I will have to call them to use it, just like in the 1980s. Worse still, the credit must be used all at once. This was an unusual case to purchase an international flight, and it will be impossible to spend the entire $1,900 credit on a domestic flight. So, I will effectively be screwed out of $1,000+ dollars. Had I purchased the ticket directly from United, I would have gotten a refund, or at least a credit that could be used in increments toward several future flights. Chase is using deceptive practices and stealing money from customers.

The attraction to Chase Travel of the 5x reward points isn’t out weighing the poor offerings of flight schedules, the overall portal features, like travel itinerary data made available. But worst of all is the customer service provided when you call in and the lack of notice on critical schduled changes. An upcoming international trip was my first booking with Chase Travel. I’m in shock that Chase would provide or sub-contract this highly valued benefit/service with such a low level of professionalizm and such a poor portal, when compared to other well known sites. I’ve reported my experiences (which was difficult in itself) to Chase, but with little expectation that they cared. I don’t plan to use the offering again until improvements are made.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Privacy Overview

Trending Stories

15 Legit Ways to Make Extra Cash

6 Smart Strategies to Save Money on Car Insurance

Cards that still offer chase price protection & how to use it.

This article was subjected to a comprehensive fact-checking process. Our professional fact-checkers verify article information against primary sources, reputable publishers, and experts in the field.

We receive compensation from the products and services mentioned in this story, but the opinions are the author's own. Compensation may impact where offers appear. We have not included all available products or offers. Learn more about how we make money and our editorial policies .

More consumers are searching for the best credit cards with cash back programs and high-value rewards . In fact, 61% of consumers are most interested in cash back features when considering a credit card, according to a study by Escalent (previously Market Strategies International).

As card issuers look to give cardholders what they want, conventional card benefits are losing ground. A recent example is Chase price protection, which was once offered across many of its card products.

How does Chase price protection work?

Chase cards with price protection, what qualifies for chase price protection, what doesn’t qualify for chase price protection, how to submit a claim, how will i be reimbursed, non-chase cards that offer price protection, frequently asked questions.

You can take advantage of price drops and get reimbursed the price difference when using Chase credit cards with price protection. The benefit is restricted to a 90-day window from your original purchase date.

If you purchase a Dyson vacuum for $500, for example, and the following month you see a print or online advertisement for the same vacuum priced at $300, you can file a claim to have the $200 difference reimbursed.

However, effective Aug. 26, 2018, Chase discontinued this benefit for a majority of its cards. Thankfully, though, there is still a  credit card  that offers the benefit.

Here is the only Chase card that still offers price protection.

*Purchases must be made with your eligible card to qualify. Price protection covers up to $2,500 per year on eligible claims.

Although Chase’s consumer cards, like the  Chase Sapphire Reserve ® , no longer offer price protection, they still provide benefits, such as Chase purchase protection and extended warranty protection, that are useful to have.

An item qualifies for price protection if it was bought in the U.S. and at least a portion of the purchase was put on your eligible card. Claims made within 90 days of the original purchase date may be reimbursed up to a maximum of $500 per item. The annual benefit limit is capped at $2,500 per account.

For price-drop advertisements, like cash-only, going-out-of-business, liquidation, and close-out sales, the protection coverage drops to $50 per purchase and $150 per year.

Chase price protection also applies to purchases made using rewards points earned by your account.

Before submitting a price protection claim, keep in mind that not all purchases qualify for reimbursement. Purchases that don’t qualify include:

• Animals and live plants
• Motorized vehicles, like boats, cars, and their equipment and accessories
• Cell phone contracts
• Price-quote advertisements, and bids or final sales from non-auction sites
• Items returned to a store and layaway purchases
• Pre-owned, “as is,” or refurbished goods
• Items purchased for resale, professional, or commercial use
• Items purchased internationally
• Jewelry and antiques
• One-of-a-kind purchases, including special orders, custom goods, and tailored items
• Manufacturer or merchant rebates
• Perishables, services, and limited-life goods
• Price differences for shipping and handling fees, or sales tax
• Traveler’s checks, cash, tickets, and credit or debit cards

Advertisements that don’t qualify for Chase price protection include ads for flea markets, fire sales, limited quantity, seasonal, discontinued products, or auction sales.

To initiate a claim for Chase price protection, you’ll need to do the following:

• Ensure the purchased item and price-drop advertisement meet the qualifications above, and the ad was published within 90 days of your original purchase.
• Call the Chase Benefits Administrator at 1-888-880-5844 within 21 days of the ad’s date to request an official claim form.
• The original sales receipt
• The original card receipt showing the purchase was made on your Chase card
• The original printed or online advertisement showing the item, sale or advertisement date, price drop, and store name
• Complete the claim form and include the supporting documentation within 45 days after first requesting the claim form.

Card Benefit Services P.O. Box 72034 Richmond, VA 23255

If your claim is approved, your account will be reimbursed up to the portion of the purchase put on the card or up to the protection limit (whichever is less).

Claims will remain open up to 60 days after first initiating a claim. But any claim that can’t be substantiated within 81 days of the price-drop advertisement date will not receive payment.

If your Chase card recently lost this benefit, you're on the hunt for the best rewards credit card that includes this, or you’re looking for other credit cards with price protection , here are a few options to consider.

• Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card

Wells Fargo Visa Signature® Card

What is the difference between price protection and purchase protection?

Price protection is about covering a drop in price if an item you buy using a credit card goes on sale within a set period of time. On the other hand, purchase protection is a benefit that is about reimbursing you if your item is stolen or damaged within a certain amount of time.

Both of these benefits have time limits and require that you make purchases with the credit card.

Does the Chase Sapphire Preferred ® Card have price protection?

No, the Chase Sapphire Preferred  doesn’t have price protection. Chase discontinued the price protection benefit in August 2018. However, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card does come with purchase protection, as well as extended warranty protection.

Does the Chase Freedom Unlimited ® have price protection?

No. As with other Chase cards, the price protection benefit was discontinued in 2018. However, the Chase Freedom Unlimited does come with purchase protection and extended warranty protection.

Which Chase credit cards come with purchase protection?

Because Chase regards purchase protection as a general benefit, all Chase cards come with purchase protection — and Chase offers 30 credit cards, so you have many to choose from if you’re seeking this coverage. That said, be sure to double check your specific credit card benefits to confirm the actual terms and conditions as well as the time limits and claim caps.

Which Chase credit cards come with cell phone coverage?

Select Chase cards come with cell phone protection, which is active if you pay your monthly cell phone bill with that specific Chase card. For example, you can get cell phone protection with Ink Business Preferred ® Credit Card . This coverage will help cover damage or theft.

However, there are other cards that also offer cell phone protection, including:

• U.S. Bank Visa ® Platinum Card
• First Citizens Rewards Visa ® Card

Which Chase credit cards come with extended warranty coverage?

All of the Chase credit cards offer extended warranty coverage. So, when you use this card to make your purchase, your coverage will extend out by one year on top of the manufacturer’s warranty. If you think you may need to use this coverage, make sure you read your card’s benefits statement to be sure you understand how to make a claim.

Great for Flexible Travel Rewards

Chase sapphire preferred ® card.

FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Current Offer

• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening

Rewards Rate

5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠; 3X points on dining, select streaming services, and online groceries; 2X points on all other travel purchases, and 1X points on all other purchases

• 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
• 25% more value when redeeming rewards for travel through Chase Travel℠
• 10% anniversary point bonus each year
• $50 annual credit on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠
• Premium travel protection benefits
• Has annual fee
• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
• Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more.
• Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
• Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024.
• Member FDIC

Author Details

• Credit Cards
• Best Credit Cards
• Side Hustles
• Savings Accounts
• Pay Off Debt
• Travel Credit Cards

Want to learn how to make an extra $200?

Get proven ways to earn extra cash from your phone, computer, & more with Extra.

You will receive emails from FinanceBuzz.com. Unsubscribe at any time. Privacy Policy

• Vetted side hustles
• Exclusive offers to save money daily
• Expert tips to help manage and escape debt

Hurry, check your email!

The Extra newsletter by FinanceBuzz helps you build your net worth.

Don't see the email? Let us know.

Please update your browser.

We don't support this browser version anymore. Using an updated version will help protect your accounts and provide a better experience. 

Update your browser

We don't support this browser version anymore. Using an updated version will help protect your accounts and provide a better experience.

Credit Cards

Checking Accounts

Savings Accounts

Chase.for Business

Commercial Banking

• ATM & branch

Chase Ultimate Rewards redeem points

Please turn on javascript in your browser.

It appears your web browser is not using JavaScript. Without it, some pages won't work properly. Please adjust the settings in your browser to make sure JavaScript is turned on.

Chase Ultimate Rewards ®

Use your points to fuel your passions.

Not earning rewards? Apply for a Chase credit card with Ultimate Rewards today.

Explore the possibilities

Earn bonus points on select purchases and redeem for travel, gift cards, cash back and more.

Pay with Points

Use your points to pay for all or part of your eligible Amazon.com orders or when you check out with PayPal.

Apple ® Ultimate Rewards Store

Use your points to pay for all or part of your Apple purchases.

Shop over 175 of your favorite gift card brands.

Pay Yourself Back

Choose to receive a statement credit on one or more of your eligible purchases.

Chase Dining℠

Redeem your points for takeout, reservations or exclusive culinary experiences.

Plan your next getaway, and use your points to help pay for it.

Earn Bonus Points

Earn 1-15 bonus points per $1 spent at 450+ stores with Shop through Chase ® .

Turn your rewards into a statement credit or a direct deposit into most U.S. checking and savings accounts.

Experiences

Use your card and points to attend exclusive events curated around your passions with select cards.

Transfer to Travel Partners

Transfer your points to any of our airline and hotel partners at full 1:1 value with select cards.

Enjoy value, flexibility and choice

Here are just some of the perks you could get with Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Ready to get away?

Remember to book your travel through Chase. You'll get competitive prices plus the flexibility to use your points, your card or both.

Pay with points

Instantly redeem your points to pay for all or part of your eligible orders at Amazon.com or when you check out with PayPal.

Find something delicious

Visit Chase Dining℠ to redeem points for takeout, access exclusive reservations and book culinary experiences.

Si tienes alguna pregunta, por favor, llama al número de teléfono que está al reverso de tu tarjeta.

Chase Survey

Your feedback is important to us. Will you take a few moments to answer some quick questions?

You're now leaving Chase

Chase's website and/or mobile terms, privacy and security policies don't apply to the site or app you're about to visit. Please review its terms, privacy and security policies to see how they apply to you. Chase isn’t responsible for (and doesn't provide) any products, services or content at this third-party site or app, except for products and services that explicitly carry the Chase name.

Airlines that offer you a credit if the price of airfare drops

Purchasing airfare is often a guessing game. You never know for sure if you're getting the best deal or if the airline will launch a sale or offer a better price in the future.

If the fare drops after you book, you might assume you're out of luck. That's not necessarily true, though. Sometimes you can cash in on the savings even after you've booked your ticket.

Getting a lower fare within 24 hours of booking

The U.S. Department of Transportation requires a 24-hour free change , hold or penalty-free cancellation window for flights that originate or end in the U.S. on any airline (as long as the booking was made at least seven days before departure). This rule applies to paid and award tickets booked with miles.

If you purchase a ticket only to find out that it's on sale a few hours later, you can cancel the old ticket and receive a full refund. Then you can book an entirely new reservation at the lower price.

This is the easiest way to lock in a lower price on an already booked ticket unless the airline will reprice it for you, but it only applies to price changes within 24 hours of booking. However, if an airline offers a free 24-hour hold, it likely won't also offer the 24-hour cancellation window.

Ticket refund policies for the major US airlines

Once you get outside that 24-hour free cancellation window, you're subject to individual airline policies.

Here's how major U.S. airlines handle price drops on existing tickets.

Alaska Airlines

Alaska offers a limited price guarantee for tickets purchased online if you find a published price from a third-party site for at least $10 less than you paid (for the same flight) within 24 hours of booking. In this case, you can request a refund of the difference. However, it would make more sense to cancel your ticket within 24 hours (per DOT requirements) and rebook it yourself to save money.

After the 24-hour mark, you can still receive a credit if the fare drops depending on the fare type purchased because Alaska no longer charges change or cancelation fees for any fare except for saver fares.

If you book one of the more flexible fare classes and the price decreases, you can cancel and receive a travel credit to rebook.

Alaska's travel credits expire one year from the issue date, but you can still travel up to 11 months later. You can also gift the travel credit to someone if you're not flying Alaska within that timeframe.

Additionally, flights booked solely with Alaska Airlines miles do not incur a fee if canceled. So, if your flight goes down in price, you can always cancel and rebook. However, partner award fees are nonrefundable if you're using your miles to book a partner airline.

American Airlines

American Airlines does not charge change or cancellation fees on premium cabin, premium economy and main cabin fares. It does charge fees for basic economy fares and some travel originating outside of North and South America.

This means if you booked a flight that falls into the "no change or cancellation fee" category, you can call American to reprice your ticket at the less expensive fare.

For paid fares, the price difference will be given to you as a trip credit which you can use toward a future flight, expiring one year from the date of issuance. If you purchased a fully refundable fare, you can cancel your flight, receive a full refund to your original form of payment and then rebook at the lower price.

If you booked your flight with AAdvantage miles, you can always get the lower fare price (since basic economy fares aren't available when using miles). However, the type of award booked will determine the process to go through. If you purchased a regular award, American will reprice your fare within the same booking reservation.

If you booked a Web Special award, which doesn't allow voluntary changes, you must cancel the reservation and then rebook with the reinstated miles. In my experience, miles return to the account they came from almost instantly.

Delta Air Lines

Depending on the fare type, you can have your ticket repriced within the same reservation if the ticket price decreases the day after you reserved.

For most tickets originating from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean to anywhere in the world (excluding basic economy), there's no change fee . Basic economy flights cost between $99 and $199 to cancel, while flights originating outside of those fee-free regions incur a fee of up to $400 to cancel.

If your flight is eligible for a free change or cancellation, you can call Delta to reprice the ticket. For flights that incur a fee, you'll have to do the math to see if paying a change fee is worth the price difference. For paid fares, the difference in the price paid will be given to you as an eCredit, which normally expires one year from the date the original flight was purchased. If you booked a flight in 2022, all eCredits expire Dec. 31, 2023. That is the "book by" date, allowing you to still travel in 2024.

For flights booked with Delta SkyMiles, as long as your flight is cancellation-eligible (same rules apply as above), you can reprice your flight. The difference in miles will be redeposited into your account with no fee.

For reservations booked as basic economy, you can still cancel your flight, but with an associated fee in miles. For those flights, Delta will deduct between 9,900 and 19,900 miles from the amount it redeposits into your account when you cancel.

Frontier Airlines

Unlike many other airlines listed, Frontier Airlines doesn't offer an ongoing fare type that allows you to cancel for no fee.

Frontier's fee for canceling a flight is $99 for each direction of travel, so if you find that the price decreased more than the cost to cancel, you can always cancel. You'll receive a flight credit for the amount paid minus the cancellation fee. You can then use the flight credit to rebook at a lower price as long as you do so within 90 days of receipt (although you can still book for a future date as long as the schedule allows). Flight credits are nontransferable.

If you purchase the "Works" bundle as an add-on when booking your flight, one of the perks is that your flight is 100% refundable. This means if your flight drops in price, you can cancel and receive a full refund — including the price of the bundle — as a flight credit.

You can then use that credit to book the same flight at a lesser value, and the remaining value expires one year from the issue date. Frontier's Elite 100K status holders automatically receive the Works bundle at no additional cost on every flight.

You can cancel any Frontier Airlines flight booked with miles, but there's a $75 redeposit fee for your miles to go back into your account. This fee is waived for Last Seat Award flights.

With the elimination of change and cancellation fees on most fares except Blue Basic fares, repricing your JetBlue flight for less is possible.

As long as you purchase an eligible fare, you can cancel your flight for no fee and rebook with the travel credit you receive. Credits are valid for one year from when the flight was purchased and, unlike some of the other airlines, can be used to book a flight for another passenger. (If you booked prior to March 8, 2023, your travel credits expire one year after the credit is issued, not from the original purchase date).

The same policy applies when using JetBlue TrueBlue points to book a flight, and since it doesn't offer Blue Basic fares for points reservations, all fares are fully refundable. The taxes and fees paid are returned as a travel credit (almost instantly) but cannot be used in combination with reservations booked with points — leaving you with credits to use for a future reservation.

JetBlue also offers a Best Fare Guarantee against finding a lower fare on a third-party website, though you must find the lower fare on the same day you make the reservation. Rather than offering you a refund of the fare difference, the airline provides a $50 credit toward future travel on JetBlue. Note the fare price must be at least $5 less to qualify.

Southwest Airlines

Southwest makes it incredibly easy for you to see if your flight has gone down in price. Plus, since they have no change or cancellation fees , you can always change your flight to the exact same one you originally booked. You can do this easily online.

If you already purchased Early Bird Check-In , that benefit will stay intact if you reprice your flight as well.

If you paid for the fare with dollars, you'll end up with a credit for the difference in fare price, which you can use toward a future flight. Plus, flight credits no longer expire .

If you paid with Rapid Rewards points and you reprice the fare, you'll receive the point difference back into your account.

The process can be complicated if you have a Companion Pass and have a travel companion's reservation attached to yours. In this case, you'll need to cancel your companion, reprice the fare and then add your companion back on.

Spirit Airlines

Spirit Airlines also allows free flight cancellations if you cancel the flight at least 60 days before departure. If you see your flight price has dropped two months out, you can cancel and rebook to get back the exact fare difference.

For flights within the 60-day window, there's an associated fee, depending on when the flight is canceled. If the price drops when a fee is required, determine whether or not the price difference makes up for the fee amount.

When canceling and rebooking, you'll receive a reservation credit for the difference in fare, valid for trips booked within 90 days of issuance on any flight available in the system. However, you can always apply credits to bag and seat fees. So if you don't plan to use the credit for another flight, you can apply it to one of Spirit's many extra fees .

If you booked with points, there's always the possibility that the flight has also decreased. However, the cost to cancel an award ticket is $110, so you might not find the fee worth the savings.

United Airlines

Like most other major airlines, United has also eliminated change fees for most fare types (except basic economy tickets), which helps if a fare goes down. This includes most economy and premium cabin tickets for travel within the U.S. (which includes Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), between the U.S. and Mexico or the Caribbean, and for international travel that originates in the U.S. However, for basic economy tickets, there's no option to change or cancel your ticket.

United usually allows you to change your flights online, where the amount of credit you'll receive is clearly displayed. However, the system often does not allow you to modify the trip to the exact same flight and fare online, even if the price has dropped. To take advantage of fare fluctuations, you may need to change to a different flight that day to get a future flight credit . And then, of course, you could theoretically switch back to your original flight or fare if the price is right.

There are also tales of a little-known policy that may allow for a price adjustment within 30 days of purchase, sometimes with a $50 fee attached. So, it doesn't hurt to ask United if the above method doesn't work for you and you've booked your flight within the last month.

Redeposit fees are also waived for award travel with United for the same eligible fare type and route as paid fares. If your award booking goes down in price, you can cancel your award reservation without a fee and rebook at the lower price.

Other ways to get a refund after a flight price drop

There are some other ways to get a refund if the cost of your flight decreases after booking, and these will generally work across all carriers, depending on the circumstances.

Pay the change fee

Although most airlines got rid of their change fees, depending on your route and fare bucket, there might be a high fee to cancel your flight. If your flight doesn't qualify for free cancellation and the price difference exceeds the change fee, it could be worth making the change and eating the fee.

Get a cancellation fee waiver and rebook

You might also be entitled to a free cancellation and a refund if your fare doesn't already qualify for free cancellation. The most common situation is when there's a significant change to the flight's schedule. If your flight's schedule has changed, and you can rebook your ticket for a lower price, cancel the original reservation at no cost if or when you are eligible and receive a refund.

Book via a program that guarantees the price in case it drops

There are a small but increasing number of ways to book your airline tickets that offer a price protection guarantee in certain cases. Google Flights is experimenting with this feature, and the Capital One travel booking site sometimes offers built-in protections as well.

Bottom line

Air travel almost always involves dynamic pricing based on supply and demand. One person may pay $200 for an economy seat, while the person in the next seat has paid three times that amount.

Sometimes you're stuck with what you paid. Other times, if you're unlucky or mistimed the purchase of your ticket and see a significant price drop, you may be able to get some of your money (or miles) back. This all depends on the airline and timeline.

Related reading:

• Best airline credit cards
• How to change or cancel a JetBlue flight
• These are the best credit cards for booking airfare
• Understanding airlines' 24-hour hold and cancellation policies
• Delta extends all tickets and vouchers through 2023 in an industry-leading move
• How to change or cancel a Delta Air Lines flight
• JetBlue makes no-notice devaluation to travel credits

Caroline Tanner contributed reporting.