Several Chase no-annual-fee credit cards can earn more Ultimate Rewards than their premium brethren. The problem is that those cards only let you redeem your points for cashback or gift cards. The value of your Ultimate Rewards is directly related to the account where you hold them. Points in a Freedom Flex, Freedom Unlimited or Ink Cash account are worth 1 cent each. No more, but occasionally less. Once you transfer those points to a Sapphire Preferred, Ink Business Preferred or Sapphire Reserve; those points immediately become more valuable when used to make bookings through the Chase travel portal or by using Pay Yourself Back (1.25 to 1.5 cents each) or by transferring them to one of Chase’s travel partners where they can be used to book flights with partner airlines, like when we flew in Business Class on Singapore Airlines.
Here’s how to move your points from your no-annual-fee Chase card to your premium Chase card.
Log into the account where your points are the least valuable. That would be one of the no-annual-fee Chase cards. When you have your account up, choose the account that earns Ultimate Rewards and click on the link on the right side of the screen.
This will take you to the Ultimate Rewards Portal. Once there, click on the “Earn/Use” dropdown box and you should see this two-row list of options.
The “Combine Points” button is at the bottom of the second row. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
This will bring up the transfer screen. You’ll need information from the credit card you want to transfer points TO when you get to this next part.
The card account you are logged into will be on the left. There should not be a card on the right unless you’ve done this before. The website will prompt you for the account number and the last name on the account you want to move your points into. Enter that and then click “continue.”
On the next screen, you’ll be asked how many points you want to move. If you’re doing this for the reasons listed above, you should move all the points from the no-annual-fee card. Just leave the “All my points” box checked.
The last step is the confirmation page. There’s a warning about the transfer being final and not reversible. Click on the “Confirm & Submit” button and you’re done.
The points should transfer between accounts immediately. If you log into the account you transferred points TO, the new balance should reflect the increase from the transfer. There’s one thing I need to stress if you are going to do this.
DO NOT CLOSE THE ACCOUNT YOU TRANSFERRED THE POINTS INTO!!!
Transferable points only stay active if you keep the account open. If you’re planning on closing the Chase “premium” card with the annual fee, don’t transfer points to it. When you close an account, any Ultimate Rewards points you have in the account are gone. There are things you can do to keep your points, but that’s for another article.
Rumors have bounced around that Chase is considering eliminating the ability to move points from their no-annual-free cashback cards to their premium cards. Until they do, take advantage of this ability to add an easy 25% to 50% or more to your Ultimate Rewards points.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
