Miles & Points Tutorials

If you haven’t heard of the Southwest Companion Pass, you’re about to be enlightened on the best travel deal in the airline industry.  It is the best travel deal ever to be seen in the airline industry.  If earned, a Southwest Companion Pass allows for you to fly with a complimentary companion on every flight you take for up to two years (on cash-paid or points flights).  Achieving Southwest Companion Pass status is done by earning 125,000 Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards points in one calendar year.

While that may sound impossible for the regular traveler, it’s not.  My wife and I have done it on three separate occasions.  Earning the 125,000 Southwest points does not have to be done solely through flying.  In fact, it can be achieved without flying a single flight.  The points can also be earned through the Chase Rapid Rewards credit cards. This means that both the credit card introductory bonuses and the money spent on the cards will earn points towards the Southwest Companion Pass!

What is the Southwest Companion Pass?

When you earn a Southwest Companion Pass, you’re essentially getting status that grants you and your companion unlimited (BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE) flights for both the year you earn it and the following year.  Yes, you heard that right. If earned in January 2019, you’d have it for all of 2019 and 2020!  The free companion tickets are valid on both paid flights and reward flights.  That essentially means that those 125,000 points you just earned are now worth double.  They’re worth 220,000 points if you always take your companion along for free.  The only thing to say is about this deal is WOW!  It doesn’t get much better than that.  If you decide to travel a lot on Southwest while you have the companion pass, you can save thousands upon thousands of dollars.

I almost forgot to mention that Southwest has grown their flight routes over the past few years. They now fly to more destinations than just the USA.  They fly to Mexico, Central America, and much of the Caribbean.  Also, they plan to begin flights to Hawaii in late 2018 or early 2019.  I’m guessing you’re starting to understand why this is my favorite deal in the airline industry.  Southwest doesn’t fly worldwide, but for people who are looking to travel within the U.S.A. and to our southern neighboring countries, it’s an amazing deal.  Who doesn’t love a good deal?

Who is the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass Right For?

While Southwest doesn’t have first class, they lack a large international route map, and they don’t have seat selection, they make up for it with their excellent customer service and flexibility.  All Southwest flights can be rescheduled up to ten minutes before the flight time for no fee.  You can also check your bags for no fee.  It’s truly an airline that tries to make their customers happy and it shows.  That’s hard to say about other airlines these days.

Some people dislike Southwest’s seating procedure, but if you know how it works and you’re on top of checking in exactly 24 hours before your flight, it works out quite well.  I simply set an alarm 24 hours and 5 minutes before my departure time.  When my alarm goes off I open the Southwest app on my phone and check-in when the time hits.  This ensures you will get in the A or B boarding group and likely ensures that you will have a seat with your flight mates.  I have never missed out on getting a seat next to the person I was flying with by using this check-in procedure.

The Southwest Companion Pass is perfect for flyers who want to travel within the United States and nearby countries.  Their destinations within the US are actually very good.  There are few places in the country that you cannot get to by flying Southwest.  The addition of Hawaii will add even more options for vacation using a Southwest Companion Pass for flights.  I have been flying Southwest for six years and have nothing bad to say about them.  I love flying Southwest, especially when I’m flying with my free companion beside me!

How to Get Southwest Companion Pass: The Hard Way or The Easy Way

In order to earn a Southwest Companion Pass, you have to earn 125,000 qualifying points or fly 100 qualifying one-way flights each year.  While, for most people, taking 100 flights is out of the question in a single year, it is possible to earn 125,000 points.  It’s possible due to the different options available to earn qualifying points.  Qualifying points include points earned through revenue flights on Southwest, credit card points (including credit card introductory offers) and points earned through Southwest partners.  Points that don’t qualify are purchased points, points transferred from other members (even family), points converted from other loyalty programs (the likes of Chase Ultimate Rewards), e-rewards, e-miles, Valued Opinions, Diners Club, points earned from program enrollment, tier bonus points, flight bonus points and partner bonus points.

• Credit Card Bonuses (The Easy Way)

The best way to earn large amounts of Rapid Rewards points is through the introductory offers of the Southwest credit cards.  However, you need to be aware of Chase’s rules on applying for Southwest credit cards before you hit submit.  Because Chase has it’s 5/24 rule, if you’ve opened more than five credit cards (not just Chase cards) in the past 24 months, you’ll likely be denied. You can’t earn the bonus on any of the Southwest cards if you’ve earned an introductory offer bonus with that specific card in the past two years.  Also, a new rule (as of April 2018) prohibits you from owning two of their personal credit cards at once.  Meaning you can no longer sign up for two personal cards to earn the bonuses in a single year.

You are, however, allowed to have one personal card and one business card at the same time.  Therefore, to earn the most points from credit card bonuses you’d need to apply for one of the three personal cards along with the business premier card.  Qualifying for a business card is not as difficult as you might think.  Any side hustle or extra income may qualify you.  With introductory offers ranging from 40-75,000 points, signing up for two of the Southwest credit cards will get you most of, if not all the way to earning the Companion Pass.  As a rule, I wait to apply for any of these credit cards until the introductory offer is at least 50,000 points.

• Southwest Credit Card Referrals

Credit card referral bonuses are another great way to rapidly accumulate points toward the Companion Pass. Chase offers 10,000 points for every friend whom you refer through your personalized link and is approved for a Southwest credit card. These referrals are limited to a total earning of 50,000 Rapid Rewards points per year.

• Southwest Flights

Other than credit card bonuses and referral bonuses, flying very often on Southwest is your best option for earning Rapid Rewards points. Depending on the fare type, you earn between 6 and 12 points per $1 spent on Southwest airfare. With this method alone, you would need to spend at least $9,000 on airfare to earn enough points for the companion pass.

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  Sign up for Rocketmiles here: Get 1000 extra bonus points when you book.

  Rapid Rewards Partners

Southwest has several travel and shopping partners that allow you to earn extra Rapid Rewards points by purchasing rental cars, hotel stays, transportation and experiences.  One of the best partners is Rocketmiles We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. , where you can earn up to 10,000 Southwest points per night on certain hotel stays (extra bonus offer points don’t count towards Companion Pass – base points do).  A hotel room booked for a few hundred dollars can earn thousands of points alone.  For instance, the booking to the right shows a hotel room that costs $379 and earns 5000 Rapid Rewards points.  This is a great way to meet the last of the points you may need to earn the SW companion pass.

• Credit Card Spend

Any points you earn through purchases made on the Southwest credit cards will count toward the Companion Pass. All the Southwest credit cards offer the same earning rate: 2X points per $1 spent on Southwest purchases, Rapid Rewards hotel purchases, and partner car rental purchases.  1 point per $1 spent is earned on all other purchases. This would be a difficult way to earn a companion pass unless you spend a very large amount of money each year.  You would need to spend over $100k on a Southwest credit card to earn the Southwest Companion Pass through credit card spending only.

• Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining program is another good way to add a few extra points to your balance. You’ll earn up to two points per $1 spent at qualifying restaurants.  You must sign up for this program and designate your credit card to earn these bonuses.

• Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal

You can also earn extra Rapid Rewards points by clicking on a retailer’s link through the Rapid Rewards shopping portal before purchasing. The Rapid Rewards shopping portal includes many retailers you probably use, like Best Buy or World Market. You’ll earn varying point multipliers depending on the retailer but it’s usually between 1-4 points per dollar.

Southwest Credit Card Companion Pass: Earn it Without Flying a Single Mile

As you can see above, the only quick and easy way to earn the Southwest Companion Pass is through credit card bonuses.  The other ways to earn Rapid Rewards points are good for topping off any last points you need to meet the 110,000 points for the Southwest Credit Card Companion Pass.  Chase currently offers four Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards and they all typically have introductory bonuses of 40-75,000 points each.  Out of the four Southwest credit cards,  you can often get approved for two of them (1 personal and 1 business), meet the minimum spends for both, and you’ll instantly earn a Southwest Companion Pass.

Chase offers three personal credit cards ( Plus We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. , Premier We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. and Priority We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. ) and one business credit card ( Business Premier We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. ).  Yes, you must have your own business to qualify for a business credit card. However, a sole proprietorship is valid. That means if you have any kind of “side hustle” or side income you have a business. Do you sell things on eBay or Craigslist? That’s a business. Maybe you have garage sales… Get creative!  If you need inspiration, check out these two blogs: Smart Passive Income & Side Hustle School.

Getting Approved for Southwest Credit Cards

Getting approved for both a personal and business card at the same time is absolutely possible, and even probable if you try.  I’ve done it on multiple occasions, my wife has done it, and many travel bloggers have done it as well.  Call the reconsideration line If you’re not approved for one of the cards.  You can ask them if they’ll manually review your application. You may want a personal card and a business card to keep expenses separate, which is a valid reason for two similar credit cards.

Two Southwest credit card approvals at once are possible. If you aren’t able to get two credit cards at the same time, you can always apply for one and then wait 3 months or more to apply for the other.  As long as you are awarded the introductory bonuses in the same calendar year, they will combine to earn points towards the southwest companion pass.

How to Earn Your Southwest Companion Pass in January to Maximize Your Value

Once you are approved for your Southwest credit cards, you’ll need to meet the minimum spends to earn your bonus.  If you are trying to earn the Southwest Companion Pass in 2019, you can actually apply for the credit cards at the end of 2018.  Because you get 3 months to complete the minimum spends, you can get your credit card anytime after October starts.  If you do this, you must make sure to not reach the full minimum spend until after January 1st, 2019.  That is when you will earn your bonus points.

For instance, if you were approved for one of the Southwest credit cards on October 15th, 2022 (that earns the bonus after $3000 in first 3 months), you would have until January 15th, 2023 to complete the minimum spending.  You could put, say $2800 in spending on the card in 2022, then wait to complete the other $200 of needed spending until after January 1st, 2023.  This will allow you to earn your companion pass earlier in the year to maximize the time you have to use it.  Just be sure to not complete the minimum spending too early, because you must earn all 125,000 points in the same calendar year.

Southwest Companion Pass Trick: Combine Two Credit Card Offers

Below are the four Southwest credit cards offered by Chase.  To help earn a Southwest Companion Pass, it’s possible to be approved for two of the credit cards.  You can get one of the personal cards as well as the business card.  This is how I have earned the companion pass three separate times, and have had a free flight companion for nearly six straight years.  It’s pretty simple.

See our full review of the Southwest Plus card.

See our full review of the Southwest Premier card.

See our full review of the Southwest Priority card.

See our full review of the Southwest Premier Business card.

How to Earn Even More Southwest Points to Use with Your Companion

It’s your lucky day. Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer to Southwest at a 1:1 ratio. That means that when you earn your Southwest Companion Pass, you can stack your Southwest points account balance by earning Chase Ultimate Rewards to transfer over. Below are the three best credit card offers to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

If you’re looking to travel a lot in the next year with that Companion Pass, you might also be interested in priority airport security screening and airport lounge access. You can receive those travel benefits and much more with the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

How to Use Southwest Companion Pass Effectively

Now that you know the easy way to get the Southwest Companion Pass, here’s how you’ll use it.  Since every flight you take on Southwest in the year you earn companion pass and the year after will include a free companion ticket, you should take advantage of it as much as possible.  The more you use your companion pass, the more valuable it is.  For instance, if you only use it once for a $300 flight, it’s value is $300.  But, if you use your companion pass for 20 $300 flights, it’s value is $6000.  The Southwest Companion Pass can be extremely valuable, but it’s inevitably up to you how valuable it will be.

Southwest Points to Dollars: How much is each point really worth?

Each Southwest point is worth about 1.6 cents when used to book a “Wanna Get Away” flight.  This is the lowest available price for flights with Southwest and will get you the most value.  If you earn the Companion Pass that means you will have 125,000 points to use.  You don’t actually have to spend the points you earned for the Companion Pass.  You get to keep them.  Those 125,000 points are valued at $1760 towards Wanna Get Away flights.  But, now that you have a free companion for every single flight, those points are worth double.  An astonishing $3520 value if you take a companion on every flight!

How to Use Southwest Points to Book a Flight and Add Your Companion

You’ve got $3520 worth of points if you earned the Southwest Companion Pass.  You’ll surely want to know how to use them effectively.  I follow the rule of only booking flights at the Wanna Get Away price.  Southwest points prices always coincide with the cash prices (~62.5 points per $1).  When using your companion pass, you will book your flight as usual, except only book the flight for one person, whoever holds the companion pass status.  You’ll add your companion to the flight after booking.

Remember, you can use either cash or points to book even when you’re adding a companion.  Sign in to your Southwest account, Find your flights, complete your bookings, and then go to My Account and then My Trips.  There you will find all of your upcoming trips and a button that says Add Companion.  You’ll click that on each itinerary that you want to add your companion and follow the prompts.  You’ll have to pay the taxes and fees to complete booking your companion.

Using Your Companions Rapid Rewards Points to Book a Companion Flight

In my wife and I’s case, she has the companion pass, but I have some Southwest points in my own account.  Those points aren’t transferable, but I can use my points to book her a flight.  After I book her flight, she can add that flight to her Southwest Rapid Rewards account using the confirmation code.  Then, she can add me as a companion for the flight using the process detailed above.  This is a great way to take advantage of Southwest points that your companion may have in their account.

Always Book One-Way Flights Separately

Whenever booking flights on Southwest, it’s smart to book each one-way flight separately (not as a round-trip ticket).  Southwest offers no fee rescheduling of all flights, so if one of your flights becomes cheaper after purchasing it, you can easily reschedule either the departing flight or arriving flight.  It makes sense to only book one-way tickets because if, for instance, your departure flight gets cheaper and your arrival flight gets more expensive, you can’t reschedule just half of your itinerary if booked together as a round-trip.  Using this one-way booking process, you’ll easily be able to change your flights, guaranteeing the best price.

Book Your Flights During a Sale

Southwest has sales on their flights very often.  The great thing about their points being equal to a dollar amount is that when they have flight sales, the points price becomes cheaper as well.  During past sales, I’ve been able to find flights for as little as 2-3000 points.  Remember that there are no fees to reschedule a flight, so you can book your flight now, but continue to check prices, especially during sales.  If either way of your flight becomes cheaper, just reschedule it for the cheaper price.  You will be refunded the difference of points or dollars.

Southwest Companion Pass Rules

• You are allowed to change your designated companion up to three times each calendar year.
• Once you qualify, you can begin booking flights with your Companion Pass immediately, and it is good through the remainder of the year you earn it as well as the next calendar year (up to two years, depending on when you qualify).
• You can pay for your flight with cash or points before you add your companion.
• Your companion can’t fly without you – they must be booked on the same flight and dates.
• If you cancel your ticket, the companion ticket will also be canceled.
• You have to pay for your ticket (cash or points) to bring a companion (you can’t use a companion pass to fly with a partner also using a companion pass).

Where Does Southwest Fly?

As of October 2018, Southwest Airlines flies to 99 destinations across the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Central America, and the Caribbean.  Also, they will be adding four new destinations come this winter.  Southwest will fly to Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island of Hawaii.  Soon, there will be over 100 Southwest Airlines destinations to use your Southwest Companion Pass on including Hawaii.

Here are some of my favorite locations to fly via Southwest Airlines:

• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
• Charleston, South Carolina
• San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Boston, Massachusetts
• Austin, Texas
• Tucson, Arizona
• Havana, Cuba
• Virginia Beach, Virginia
• San Diego, California
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Niagara Falls, New York
• Nassau, Bahamas
• Washington D.C.
• Los Angeles, California
• San Francisco, California
• Hawaii

Think of all the amazing adventures and vacations you and your companion could take advantage of with a Southwest Companion Pass.  For a full list of Southwest destinations: Check out our post: Where Does Southwest Fly?

Southwest Hawaii Flights

Beginning in March of 2019 Southwest began flying to Hawaii for the first time.  Flights are to all of the major islands: Oahu (HNL), Maui (OGG), Kauai (LIH), and the Big Island (KOA).  The original four mainland departure airports will be Sacramento (SMF), San Jose (SJC), Oakland (OAK), and San Diego (SAN).  In the future, I would expect to see more departure airports along the west coast.  The airports that could be next are Portland (PDX) and Seattle (SEA).  They both have similar flight times to California to Hawaii flights.

Southwest Airlines Hawaii Inter-Island Flights

Southwest will also offer inter-island routes.  Currently, there aren’t many options to fly between the islands.  This will hopefully create some cheaper fares to get from island to island.  It currently costs around $100 with other carriers.  I love Hawaii and travel there often, so it’s nice to be able to split up a vacation between multiple islands, like my wife and I did for both our honeymoon and our one year anniversary.  It also brings another option to use points to travel between islands.  Plus if you have a companion pass it will be 2 for 1 pricing.

Who Will You Choose to be Your Companion?

If you’re looking to do a lot of traveling in upcoming years with a companion, this deal is perfect for you.  It’s absolutely worth attempting to achieve, especially for couples or best friends.  I choose my wife as my companion, and she chooses me.  As long as this deal stays alive through credit card bonuses, we’ll likely have one for a long time to come.  My wife and I now have a Southwest Companion Pass status for the third straight year (and 4th next year) thanks to the Southwest credit cards.

My wife, Allison applied for both the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. , and the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. credit cards at the same time.  The personal card was automatically approved.  The business credit card, on the other hand, received a pending status.  After about a week, they approved her business card as well (patience is a virtue).  At the time, the introductory bonuses for those two credit cards were 60,000 Rapid Rewards & 75,000 Rapid Rewards respectively.  After meeting the minimum spends on both Southwest credit cards, she earned around 130,000 Southwest points and one SW Companion Pass (it used to be earned with 110,000 miles)!

Now we have a free companion ticket on every flight we take for the rest of 2023 and the entirety of 2024.  Even better is that those 115,000 points are essentially doubled (230,000 points) worth approximately $3,700.  That’s a lot of Southwest Airlines destinations we’ll be able to fulfill without spending any money (besides taxes & fees)! This is the best deal in the travel industry.  Don’t miss out.  It likely won’t be around forever.  Who will be your companion?

I’ve now traveled to Hawaii seven times, flown across the country five times, gone to college football games in new cities, visited friends in other states, stayed in resorts that normally cost more than my weekly salary per night, flown first class, stayed in hotel suites, and relaxed in countless airport lounges where free drinks and food are always available. Whew, I’m out of breath… All of this and much more, I’ve done in just the past five years by traveling with points and miles. Yes, FIVE YEARS! That’s it. No joke. I want you to count up your past vacations really quick in your head, and see if your travel amounts to this much over your lifetime. Does it? Hold on to that thought…

HOW MUCH DID THAT COST?

Looking at all the trips and vacations I’ve taken, you’d think that I must be wealthy and spent a huge amount of money on my travels. I mean, look at the price of an airline ticket. Currently, the average round trip U.S. flight is over $350! That’s crazy! Oh, and Hawaii flights… I don’t even want to look at those prices. Well, to tell you the truth, I didn’t pay very much at all to travel as much as I did. I’ve only paid a tiny fraction of the price anyone else would have paid. I’ve been able to do all that traveling using POINTS and MILES to cover the costs. You may think that you can only earn airline miles and hotel points by flying and staying a ton of nights at hotels, because that’s what you’ve heard. It’s NOT TRUE!!! I’ve earned almost all of mine, NOT by flying or by staying at hotels, but through TRAVEL CREDIT CARD INTRODUCTORY BONUSES.

Ok, now back to YOUR travel count… Was it less than mine over your whole life? Close? Either way, would you like your next five years to look like mine, or even better and more filled with travel and adventure? Would you like to start turning those travel dreams into reality? Hawaii, Thailand, Iceland, Europe, maybe Brazil… Do you have a bucket list that seems to be getting deeper and deeper with nothing being checked off? GOOD NEWS! You can start traveling with points and miles just as easily as I did. You too, can earn thousands upon thousands of miles and points to kick start your life filled with travel.

OK, BUT HOW?

I’m sure you’re curious to learn how all this traveling with points and miles business works, and you’re probably thinking “what’s the catch?”. I’ll tell you now, the one thing you’ll have to trade for this life full of travel, is a bit of time. Time up front to learn, and time to put your knowledge to work earning and spending your points and miles. Trust me though, it’s absolutely worth it. If I hadn’t learned how to travel this way, I probably wouldn’t have taken 90% of those vacations. Unfortunately, like most people, I would not have been able to afford it.

WHO IS TRAVELING WITH POINTS & MILES FOR?

You’re in? Where do you sign up? Well, first things first… Travel with points and miles isn’t for everyone. There are a few key prerequisites that you’ll need before you can get started.

1.  You will need to have a credit score in the range of 700 or greater. Scores go up to a maximum of 850, so this is a very good score. If you’re well below this level, you will first need to work to raise your score. If you don’t know what your score is, you can check for free at creditsesame.com. I’ve found that this site will give you a pretty accurate estimation of your credit score.
2. You must be someone who pays your credit cards and bills off FULLY and ON-TIME, every month. If you’re running a balance, there is no point in earning points and miles because the interest on credit cards far outweighs the value of points.
3. You aren’t looking at taking out a major loan such as home mortgage in the next one to two years.

Do you fit the bill? Great! I want to share my knowledge of traveling with points and miles, so that your life can be full of travel and adventure like mine is. For me, travel has improved my life greatly. So much, that I now can’t see my life without it. I hope travel can do the same for you now that you’re on your way to becoming an expert points and miles traveler.

HOW DOES TRAVELING WITH POINTS AND MILES WORK?

Now that you know you want to travel like I do, by using points and miles, and you’ve met the prerequisites mentioned above, let’s move on to how this process works… The number one way to earn tons and tons of points and miles is through credit card introductory bonuses. This is where that good credit score comes into play. Banks are willing to give you a tremendous amount of value to add you as a customer. This means that they will regularly give introductory bonuses of 50,000 miles or more and occasionally even stretch those up to 100,000 miles. The best bonus I have earned to date, gave me enough miles to purchases five round trip flights to Hawaii using the method explained in my blog post “How I Fly Round Trip to Hawaii for $11”. I’ll say that again… FOUR ROUND TRIP FLIGHTS TO HAWAII. That’s pretty generous of the banks, I’d say! (Thanks Chase – wink).

OTHER WAYS TO EARN POINTS & MILES

Although, credit card introductory bonuses are the best and quickest way to earn points, they’re not the only way. Once you have a credit card that earns points, you can earn through spending. Many cards have category bonuses that earn extra points for certain purchases, so you can earn extra points on things you already buy every day. Some common bonuses are on things like gas, groceries, travel and dining. Another way to earn extra points is through online shopping portals that many airlines and credit cards have available. They will give you extra points to click through their links before purchasing products and services on popular online retailers. One more way to earn points is through promotions that the airlines and hotels have directly. Usually, they are for staying at a particular hotel chain so many stays within a period of time they will give you a bonus, or flying so many flights in a period of time they will also give you a bonus. These are just a few ways to earn enough points and miles to travel very well for the rest of your life.

IMPROVE YOUR LIFE BY TRAVELING WITH POINTS AND MILES

I have travel freedom, and I would like to teach you how to have the same. I spent hundreds if not thousands of hours researching and reading to understand how to travel with points and miles instead of money. My goal is to take what I’ve learned and make it much simpler and quicker for you. To continue learning about traveling with points and miles, and how to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity, follow along with Travel Freedom.

PS: If you’re interested in traveling more often or more luxuriously, check out our FREE 5-DAY MINI COURSE.

Free flights… Upgraded to first class… Free hotel rooms… Upgraded to a suite… Free food and drinks in that fancy airport lounge… Sounds nice, right?!? These are some of the points and miles travel benefits and perks available to anyone who decides to travel using credit cards to earn miles and points.

EXPERIENCES FROM POINTS & MILES TRAVEL

These are all parts of travel that I have experienced over the past few years. I have flown countless flights where I paid nothing but the taxes and fees (as low as $6). I’ve have flown in first class. I have stayed at hotels without paying any money. I’ve been upgraded to suites in some of those free hotel stays. And, I now can’t stand a layover where I don’t have access to an airline lounge where they have free food, drinks, sockets to charge my phone, and comfortable chairs.

BEFORE TRAVELING WITH POINTS AND MILES

It’s hard to think that just a few years ago, I had no idea that these things would ever be possible, let alone that I could afford to travel much at all. Before points and miles travel appeared in my life, I didn’t think much about travel besides dreaming of places that I wanted to visit someday when I was much wealthier and could afford it. Is this you right now? I want you to know how easy and how available travel can be.

TRAVEL CREDIT CARD BENEFITS

Whether you want to start traveling for the first time and be able to do it for very small amounts of money, or you already travel and want to upgrade how you do it, travel with points and miles can open new doors to either option. The quantity of your travel as well as the quality of your travel can be boosted tenfold by following the simple steps of traveling with points and miles.

FLIGHT BENEFITS

The major flight benefit that comes from travel with points and miles is the airline miles you can acquire without actually traveling to earn them. Through very generous credit card introductory bonuses, you can almost instantly earn multiple free flights. For instance, I just signed up for a Chase Ink Preferred Business card which offered me a introductory bonus of 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards. This bonus alone, has the possibility of being used for 3 round trip flights to Hawaii if redeemed how I explained in the blog post “How I Fly Round Trip to Hawaii for $11”. Different credit cards all offer different introductory bonuses that all differ in value, depending how you want to spend the points.

Another benefit from some of these credit cards, is access to lounges which are in all major airports. American, United, Delta, Alaska and many other airlines all have lounges within airports for customers to enter and relax in before and after flights. Normally you would need to be flying first class or pay somewhere around $40 to enter such lounges. Thankfully, there are a handful of credit cards that grant you unlimited access. When you’re traveling often, having access to a lounge is a great benefit. It gives you somewhere to get away from the hustle and bustle of airport terminals, allowing you to also get a snack and charge your phone.  You can see where these lounges exist by visiting LoungeBuddy who has an extensive list (code JnSjMo28aP gives a $10 credit).

If you’re looking to up your quality of travel, you can use miles and points to book first class flights.  You can even upgrade to first class on a flight you’ve already purchased. I mostly use points to upgrade the quantity of my travel, but I’ve upgraded quality a couple times.  It’s quite nice sitting in first class. I definitely suggest trying it out at least once!

HOTEL BENEFITS

Now for the benefits that traveling with points can give you towards hotels… The major benefit, similar to the flight benefits, is the ability to redeem points for free hotel stays. There are credit cards and points systems that can be used at most major hotel chains. Hilton, Hyatt, Intercontinental, and Club Carlson are a few of the main brands. Each of these brands has different chains that are part of their reward system. While I find that points and miles are often more valuable when used towards flights, I do still use them for hotels when it deems advantageous.

Along with point bonuses, some credit cards offer elite status for certain hotel chains. If you had ever heard of elite statuses at hotels, like me, you probably thought that the only way to earn it was by staying at hotels all the time. While that is one way of earning status, you can also earn it simply by having the right credit card. Once you have status at a hotel chain, you are very likely to have your room upgraded. Sometimes, you’ll even be upgraded to a suite if one is available at your check-in time.

GETTING STARTED TRAVELING WITH POINTS

Now that you see what some of the travel benefits are, I can imagine you may be interested. Remember to keep the following in mind when getting started.  When I first learned how to earn nearly unlimited miles and points through credit cards, I jumped in.  I didn’t have much of a plan. If I could go back, I would make a plan before earning points. As I said earlier, all points and miles are not the same and are valued very differently. Having an idea of where you would like to travel is a good starting point.  That way you can earn the points that will be most efficient and beneficial to your personalized travel.

I hope this has given you an idea of what traveling with points and miles can bring into your life. It has opened the door of travel to me, and I would like to invite you in to join the party.

PS: If you’re interested in traveling more often or more luxuriously, check out our FREE 5-DAY MINI COURSE.

To get started on your travel freedom journey, there are a few important things you’ll need to do.  This will involve a bit of research and preparation so that you are confident and efficient in your plan of attack.  Make sure you do these before diving in, so that you do this the right way.  Remember, your credit is important in life, so don’t use it for travel points and miles if you aren’t in the right place to do so.  

CHECK YOUR CREDIT SCORE

First of all, You’ll want to go check your credit score if you don’t already know what it is.  Credit Sesame is a good way to check your approximate score for free.  If your score is around 700, you’re in good shape to use your credit to earn thousands or millions of miles.  Also be sure that you are in a good place personally to use your credit for points and miles.  As I’ve said before, if you’re looking to take out a large loan in the near future, it is not a good time to apply for any credit cards.

CREATE A POINTS AND MILES WALLET

Through your journey with Travel Freedom, you will be using many different types of miles and points from an array of service providers.  You may have miles with five different airlines, two banks, and 3 hotel groups at any given time.  You’ll want a way to organize these miles and points as well as the usernames and passwords used for each login.  The easiest way I’ve found to keep track of them all is to aggregate them all in one place – Award Wallet.  Here, you will create your own account, where you’ll input all of your account numbers so your logins, balances and expiration dates will be tracked.  

Their FREE version is fine to begin with, but as you have more accounts you may be interested in paying for their upgraded account that has a few more features.  If you will be using points and miles to travel along with your significant other, you will both want to make an account, and then link the two so you can see both while logged in.

REVIEW YOUR MONTHLY SPENDING BUDGET

Ok, now that you know your credit is in a good place, and you have a wallet to keep track of all your points and miles you’ll be accumulating, you’ll need to look at your monthly spending.  You’ll want to verify how much you spend that can be put on a new credit card per month.  This is because most credit card introductory bonuses are given to you after you spend a certain amount of money within the first few months of having the card.  You will need to know how much spend you’re able to put on the card so that you know if you can meet the minimum spend to release your introductory bonus.  

Once you know how much you spend monthly, you can calculate whether or not you can reach the introductory bonus of each card.  There are ways to get extra spend, to up this level if needed, which I will get into in another blog post.  A great resource to learn about meeting minimum spending limits, is at The Frequent Miler, travel blog.  Now you know what credit cards you can afford to meet the minimum spend for your bonus.

PLAN WHERE YOU WANT TO VACATION FIRST

At this point, you could jump in and apply for the best credit card offer you can find, but I don’t believe that’s the best option.  I made the mistake of doing this and wish I had started out slightly different.  Before applying for anything, MAKE A PLAN.  Where do you want to travel to?  Do you want to get a flight with miles, or do you want to book a free hotel with points.  

You have some research and decisions ahead of you.  Once you find the location you’d like to travel to, you’ll need to research what airlines fly between your home airport and your destination.  Then which of those airlines has the lowest price in terms of miles to fly between the two.  Or, if you would rather get free hotel rooms during your stay, you’ll need to know what hotels are in the area and of those, which ones have a rewards program (most do!).  

Google will be your friend in this research, but here are a few other resources from our friends over at Million Mile Secrets – another travel blog:

Airline Award Charts

Hotel Award Charts

How to get to _______ – Guides

CHOOSE A CREDIT CARD OR CARDS

Ok, final step!  Depending on all the research you’ve done in the above tasks, find a credit card or multiple credit cards that fit your travel plan.  There are credit cards that offer points and miles directly with hotels and airlines, and there are credit cards that offer their own points system.  Some of these bank reward systems such as Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Member Rewards, offer the ability to transfer to a multitude of airlines and hotels.  These are my favorite types of credit card bonuses because of the versatility of the points.  Remember, not all points are valued equally.  Some may be better for one vacation and another may be better for your next vacation.  

You’re so close to your first vacation using points and miles, you can probably smell it!  Let me know how it’s going.  I’m here to help you!

PS: If you’re interested in traveling more often or more luxuriously, check out our FREE 5-DAY MINI COURSE.

This week I booked a 16 night Hawaii vacation, for my wife and I, to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary.  It’s our favorite place to travel, and it’s where we went on our honeymoon. I’d been waiting for reward space on flights to open up for the date range we had available, and finally they did! OH YEAH!!!

 

HOW I BOOKED OUR FLIGHT

I found flights on Alaska Airlines that had reward space, so I jumped on the opportunity and booked them with British Airways miles (who is a partner airline of Alaska Airlines).  If you want to learn how I did this, here’s a post about it. This summer, we’re headed to The Big Island and then Maui for our two island Hawaii vacation. Eight days at each location. I’ve been to all of the Hawaiian islands (some multiple times), and Maui is my favorite.  The Big Island is my second favorite, so I’m excited for my wife, Allison, to explore it for her first time! She’ll surely be shocked on our drive from the airport, and possibly think we landed on Mars instead… (if you’ve been there, you know what I mean).

 

OUR ACCOMMODATIONS

As soon as I knew the dates we would be traveling, I started looking for our accommodations.  I knew we wanted to at least spend most of our time in a condo with a kitchen. My go-to website for this type of booking is VRBO.com because they have a great variety of homes in Hawaii.  The reason for wanting to book a condo, is so that we can prepare a lot of our meals and snacks, which significantly cuts down on our eating expenses.

 

By preparing our breakfasts, snacks, lunches and some dinners, we won’t be paying inflated restaurant prices or tips for every single meal.  16 days multiplied by three meals for two people, is a lot of meals to be eating out. When we arrive in Hawaii, we make a Costco run to get enough food and drinks for our stay, which usually costs between $100-200 for a week.  After our trip, I’ll report back on how much money we spent on food.

 

HAWAII VACATION COSTS/EXPENSES RUNDOWN

Flights: $22.40 ( +50,000 miles which are free through a credit card introductory bonus! ) SAVED $1331.60 on these flights!!! Booyah! 

 

Condo: $2279.53 ( $954.71-Big Island  $1324.82-Maui ) We splurged!!! It comes out to $142.50 per night, which is cheaper than most decent hotels in Hawaii.

 

Car Rentals: To be determined – Haven’t booked yet because I’m hoping the prices go down.  I usually check Hotwire and Costco Travel. (current price ~$900)

 

Excursions: To be determined – Mostly, we will be spending time at the beach, snorkeling, hiking and exploring which only cost the price of whatever gas it takes to get to our destination.  One thing that we’ll definitely be doing is stand up paddle boarding (SUP).  I’ve found Kona Boys to be a good place to rent a board.  Hopefully, we’ll get lucky and see the pod of dolphins that frequents the Kona coastline!

 

Food: To be determined – Costco food, restaurant meals, and coffee won’t be too much higher than we’d spend regularly on food at home.

CANT WAIT FOR OUR HAWAII VACATION

We saved a ton on our flights, so we could splurge a little bit on where we’re staying.  Really, if we weren’t splurging, we could have taken a shorter trip and used points to stay at hotels for free-ish.  $142 per night isn’t too bad, considering how high the taxes and fees were for renting. Over the next year or so we plan on traveling as much as possible, before

having children.  Because of this we’ll likely take some long trips during the summers when we have more time away from work. This is one of those trips and we can’t wait!

 

Saving money on trips like this, is possible for anyone who has the right travel tools and understanding of travel points and miles. If you’re interested in having a life full of travel, without paying a pocket full of money, I suggest following along with Travel Freedom.  An easy way to follow is by entering your email below to join our email journal. You’ll stay updated with news, tips and giveaway information. Mahalo. Talk to you soon. Aloha!

Have you heard of the famous Alaska Airlines Companion Fare? If you’ve ever flown on Alaska Airlines, I’m sure you’ve at least heard it mentioned. Typically, toward the end of your flight, they offer an application for their branded credit card which comes with the Companion Fare. It also usually comes with 30-40,000 miles to be used for reward flights. While it’s not always the most lucrative offer points-wise, the Alaska Companion ticket can prove to be quite valuable.

What is the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare?

The Alaska Airlines Companion Fare is a one-time use discount code that grants you a second ticket for the same flight by paying only $99 and the taxes and fees (which starts at $22 for a round trip flight) while purchasing one full price ticket. I’ve found the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare to be very beneficial to have when I have specific dates that I need to fly and there are no reward flights available on those dates.

For me, this happens somewhat often because my wife is a teacher and only has specific dates that she can travel (the whole Summers off thing). This makes budget travel quite difficult. In particular, around the holidays and spring break for school, are difficult times to find available reward flights. With the Alaska companion fare, at least we save almost half the price we would otherwise have to pay.

How the Alaska Companion Fare Has Saved Me Over $1000

The more your flight costs, the more savings you’ll receive from using the companion fare. I’m currently looking for flights to Hawaii around the holidays and let me tell you, they are not cheap!

There are also no available reward flights on the dates that we need to travel, so I’m most likely going to use our yearly Alaska Airlines Companion Fare that I get from my Alaska Airlines credit card. Because the flights around that time are so ridiculously expensive, I will likely save nearly $800 by using it. Keep in mind that you can only book economy seats with your Alaska Air companion pass.

It is, although, possible to book a flight with your companion pass and then upgrade it with guest upgrades if you have them. They’re acquired by having elite status. With Alaska Airlines, it’s possible to status match elite status from another airline you may have.

After using the Alaska Companion Fare just twice, I’ve saved over $1000 on flights by having it. If you end up having expensive flights each year, getting one of the Alaska Airlines credit cards might work well for you too. After my upcoming flight, it could be nearly $2000 saved over 3 round trip flights.

How to Get a Companion Fare Discount Code

The one and only way to get an Alaska Airlines Companion Fare discount code is to have either of the Alaska Airlines credit cards. Bank of America offers both a personal credit card and a business card, both of which offer a signup bonus of miles and the companion pass ticket each year. The two cards offer nearly identical benefits other than that. It’s also possible to have multiple Alaska credit cards and therefore multiple companion fares each year.

Alaska Airline Personal Credit Card

Alaska Airlines Business Credit Card

We mentioned that Alaska Airlines Companion Fare’s are only bookable in economy class. You can actually turn this into a first class flight by getting upgraded. One way to get upgraded on your flight is to status match from another airlines loyalty program to Alaska’s. If you have an upper level of elite status with another airline you can potentially get a status match to MVP Gold or MVP Gold 75k. With either of these levels, you receive 4 guest upgrade promo codes that can be used to upgrade your flights. If you’ve never flewn in first class, this is a way to achieve it without paying the big bucks.

Decision Time: Could You Use a Companion Pass?

If you’re someone who often flies with a partner and ends up having to pay money for flights, one of these credit cards is likely a good option. Having a companion ticket for as little as $121 each year can really pay off. Other airlines have companion passes similar to this, but none of them are as easy to earn. Many other companion passes are only given to you after a certain amount of spend on a credit card each year (like $10,000). The best part of the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare is that you automatically recieve it each year.

Chase Ultimate Rewards are the best travel points in all of the industry. They’re the most lucrative because they’re also the most flexible. There are four ways to earn Ultimate Rewards. It’s much easier than you might imagine.

Chase Ultimate Rewards can be earned through credit card signup bonuses, credit card spending, the online Chase shopping portal, and through referring friends to the credit cards. After you earn your Ultimate Rewards, there are three ways to redeem them. The best of the three ways is to transfer your points to airlines and hotels to save thousands of dollars on your bookings. You can also book travel through Chase directly, or use your points for cash back.

Let’s go ahead and find out all the details about Chase Ultimate Rewards. Because they’re so valuable, it literally pays to know as much as possible about them.

Important Things to Know about Ultimate Rewards

There are Two Types of Ultimate Rewards Credit Cards

While there are seven Ultimate Rewards credit cards in total, they’re not all equal. There are two types of Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards, including primary cards and secondary cards. The difference between the two types of cards is how their points can be redeemed. The primary Chase cards have distinct advantages over secondary cards.

Primary Ultimate Rewards Credit Cards

Primary Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards have the ability to be redeemed in three ways. They can be redeemed for cashback-like purchases including on Amazon, Apple, for gift cards, and for experiences valuing the points at 1 cent per point. They can also be used for travel in one of two ways. First, through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal to book flights, hotels, cruises, rental cars and more directly through Chase at a value of 1.25-1.5 cents per point. And the third way, by transferring points to any of the Ultimate Rewards travel partners to book directly through their programs at a value of up to 2 cents per point, or more.

Secondary Ultimate Rewards Credit Cards

Secondary Ultimate Rewards credit cards aren’t quite as valuable by themselves. They only have the option to redeem points for the cashback-like purchases and through the Chase travel portal, both at redemption rates of just 1 cent per point. I said they aren’t as valuable “by themselves” because if you also have a primary Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card, you can transfer your points from the secondary card account to get better redemptions.

Let’s see which are primary Ultimate Rewards cards and which cards are secondary.

As you can see, the three primary Ultimate Rewards credit cards are the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, and Ink Business Preferred. They all have higher redemption rates in the travel portal, and have access to the Ultimate Rewards transfer partners. If you have both a secondary card and a primary card, you should always transfer points to the primary card for redemption.

The 5/24 Rule and What it Means

One thing to consider when applying for Chase credit cards is their “5/24 Rule”. This rule states that you can only be approved for a Chase-branded credit card if you are under the limit of five credit card approvals in the past 24 months. These five approvals don’t just count Chase cards. They count any and all personal credit card approvals. Yes, only personal credit card approvals count toward your tally.

When you’re approved for a business credit card, it does NOT count toward your five approvals. But, when you’re applying for one of the Chase business cards you still need to abide by the 5/24 rule to be approved for it.

Transfer Points Between Accounts

The Chase Ultimate Rewards program is the best points system in the travel business due to its extreme flexibility. The ability to transfer points to most of the best airlines and hotels is so valuable. There’s also a lot of value in the fact that Chase allows you to transfer Ultimate Rewards points between accounts.

You can transfer points between your own card accounts or between two accounts of household members. That means if you and your significant other are both earning points, you can eventually pool them together for a redemption. Be careful when pooling points from two peoples’ accounts and make sure your addresses match up. Also, don’t attempt to combine Ultimate Rewards with non-household members as it’s against Chase’s terms and could result in forfeiting your Ultimate Rewards.

“You can move your points, but only to another Chase card with Ultimate Rewards belonging to you or one member of your household.”

-Chase Terms & Conditions

Now that you know a few of the important things about Chase Ultimate Rewards, let’s learn how to earn and redeem Ultimate Rewards points.

How to Earn Chase Ultimate Rewards

There are four ways to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards. One way that can easily earn thousands and thousands of points and three ways that aren’t quite as lucrative, unless you spend a lot of money.

1. Chase Credit Card Signup Bonuses
2. Category Bonuses on Credit Card Purchases
3. Chase Ultimate Rewards Shopping Portal
4. Chase Refer a Friend Bonuses

By far, the signup bonuses from Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards will earn you the most points. Those points can turn into tens of thousands of dollars of travel!

1. Chase Credit Card Signup Bonuses

There are seven Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards in total. Chase offers four personal credit card options and three business cards. All seven cards have their own distinct features that make them valuable to the right person. These credit cards offer high signup bonuses, great earning potential from spending, excellent travel benefits, and much more. Remember that some of the cards are primary travel cards and some are secondary (better if used alongside a primary card).

Does It Make Sense to Have More than One Ultimate Rewards Credit Card?

It makes a lot of sense to have more than one Ultimate Rewards credit card working together. By pairing multiple Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards, you’ll be able to get the best features from multiple cards. Many travel bloggers speak of an “Ultimate Rewards Trifecta” of cards that go well together. There are many ways to mix and match the Chase credit cards, but my favorite “trifectas” are the following pairings.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Credit Card Trifectas:

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

The Ultimate Rewards Quadfecta:

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

With these four Chase credit cards working together (“Quadfecta”) you end up with the following features and benefits:

• 195,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards from signup bonuses.
• 5X earned on office supply stores, cell phone, cable, internet, and rotating quarterly bonuses. 3X on travel, dining, and some business expenses.
• $300 Travel credit
• Airport Lounge Access
• TSA PreCheck
• 1.5 Cents per point in the travel portal
• Ability to transfer points to partners
• All for $545 Annual fees

Now, let’s check out all seven of the Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card offers.

Personal Chase Ultimate Rewards Credit Cards

Chase Sapphire Preferred We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Chase Sapphire Reserve We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Chase Freedom We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Freedom Unlimited We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Business Chase Ultimate Rewards Credit Cards

Chase Ink Business Preferred We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Chase Ink Business Cash We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Ink Business Unlimited We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

2. Category Bonuses on Credit Card Purchases

Certain spending categories will earn a bonus on purchases depending on what Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card you use. Some of the cards have bonuses on travel and dining, while other have bonuses at gas stations and on business expenses. We’ll go over some of the most popular spending categories and see which Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards earn bonuses on them.

Travel Purchases

All three primary Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards offer spending bonuses for travel purchases. According to Chase travel includes things like airfare, hotels, car rentals, cruises, travel agencies, train fares, taxi rides, rideshare services, and many more.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve: 3X Ultimate Rewards on every dollar spent on travel.
• Chase Ink Business Preferred: 3X Ultimate Rewards on every dollar spent on travel. ($150,000 limit)
• Chase Sapphire Preferred: 2X Ultimate Rewards on every dollar spent on travel.

Restaurants & Dining

There are also three Ultimate Rewards cards that offer spending bonuses for restaurants and dining. This category also includes things like bars, cafes, lounges, and fast food. Basically, most anywhere that serves food will be included.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve: 3X Ultimate Rewards on every dollar spent on dining.
• Chase Sapphire Preferred: 2X Ultimate Rewards on every dollar spent on dining.
• Ink Business Cash: 2X on restaurants and gas stations combined. ($25,000 limit)

Groceries

Unfortunately, grocery stores are not a spending bonus category for any of the Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards. That does NOT mean that you can’t earn more than one point per dollar spent on groceries though.

• Chase Freedom: The grocery category has been known to appear as a quarterly bonus on the Chase Freedom calendar, earning 5X points per dollar spent. ($750 quarterly limit)
• Chase Freedom Unlimited: 1.5X Ultimate Rewards on every dollar spent on EVERYTHING.
• Ink Business Unlimited: 1.5X Ultimate Rewards on every dollar spent on EVERYTHING.
• Ink Business Cash: This card technically doesn’t earn a bonus on groceries, but it does earn 5X at office supply stores who happen to sell grocery store gift cards. ($25,000 limit)

Gas Stations

Filling up your gas tank is no fun, but at least there are a couple ways to earn bonus points when you have to do it.

• Ink Business Cash: 2X Ultimate Rewards on every dollar spent on gas. Even better, get 5X at office supply stores while purchasing gas gift cards. ($25,000 limit)
• Chase Freedom: Occasionally, gas is a quarterly spending bonus that earns 5X on every dollar spent. ($750 quarterly bonus)

Office Supplies

If you own a business you’re likely going to end up spending money on office supplies. Stores like Office Depot and Staples are considered office supply stores. They sell things like pens, paper, computers, chairs, desks, printers, coffee, and more. They also sell gift cards to many other places you may shop regularly.

• Ink Business Cash: 5X Ultimate Rewards on every dollar spent at office supply stores. ($25,000 limit)

Other Business Expenses

Not everything you purchase for your business can be found at an office supply store. Things like cell phones, internet, and advertising also have spending bonuses.

• Ink Business Preferred: 3X Ultimate Rewards on every dollar spent on shipping, internet services, cable services, phone services, and online advertising on social media and search engines. ($150,000 limit)
• Ink Business Cash: 5X Ultimate Rewards on every dollar spent on internet services, cable services, and phone services.

Remember, that if you’re purchasing something that isn’t in a spending category bonus you can still earn 1.5X points on whatever it is by using either the Chase Freedom Unlimited or Ink Business Unlimited. They both earn 1.5X Ultimate Rewards on all purchases, no matter what they are.

3. Chase Ultimate Rewards Shopping Portal

Shopping online for most purchases is regular these days. Don’t miss out on extra points that you can earn by making online purchases through the Chase Ultimate Rewards shopping portal. Using the shopping portal is easy.

1. Sign in to your Ultimate Rewards account.
2. Click “Earn Bonus Points” in the menu on the upper left.
3. Find the retailer you want to shop at and click “Shop Now”.
4. Make your purchases.
5. Earn bonus points! Chase says they typically show up on your statement in 3-5 business days.

Almost every store you can imagine is available in the Ultimate Rewards shopping portal. As you can see from the image above, some retailers offer more bonus points than others. They typically also have special offers at a handful of retailers that offer extra bonus points for a limited time.

4. Chase Refer a Friend Bonuses

Chase often offers the opportunity to refer a friend for the credit cards that you have to earn extra Ultimate Rewards. The referral prize usually ranges from 5,000 points to 20,000 points, depending on the credit card. Here are some of the offers I’ve seen recently:

Chase Sapphire Preferred: 10,000 Ultimate Rewards per referral, up to 50,000 points per year.

Ink Business Preferred: 20,000 Ultimate Rewards per referral, up to 100,000 points per year.

Chase Freedom Unlimited: 10,000 Ultimate Rewards per referral, up to 50,000 points per year.

If you already have one of these cards, you can check your qualification status at the Chase Referral page.

How to Redeem Ultimate Rewards

Now that you know the four ways to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards, let’s learn how to redeem them. There are three ways to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards. Two ways that involve travel and will earn good point redemption rates, and one way that is essentially cash back and will give an average redemption rate. We recommend using your points for travel, considering we’re Travel Freedom.

1. Chase Travel Portal
2. Chase Transfer Partners
3. Cashback-Like Redemptions

If you’re interested in travel, you should redeem your Ultimate Rewards either in the Chase travel portal or by using the Chase transfer partners. Redeeming Ultimate Rewards for travel will get you much more value for your points.

1. Chase Travel Portal

(Redeem at 1-1.5 cents per point)

If you want to travel, but you don’t want to worry about transferring points, learning about airline and hotel award charts, or finding the most value for your points, the Chase travel portal is likely the right redemption method for you. It’s simple and depending on what Ultimate Rewards credit card you have, you may get a higher redemption rate. As mentioned before, the primary Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards get 25-50% more value on travel portal redemptions.

• Chase Sapphire Preferred: 1.25 cents per point in the Chase Travel Portal
• Ink Business Preferred: 1.25 cents per point in the Chase Travel Portal
• Chase Sapphire Reserve: 1.5 cents per point in the Chase Travel Portal

All secondary Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards have a redemption value of just 1 cent per point. But, remember that if you have both secondary and primary cards, you can transfer your points to the primary card before redeeming. This also allows you the ability to transfer your Ultimate Rewards to Chase transfer partners for an even better redemption.

2. Chase Transfer Partners

(Redeem at up to 2 cents per point or more)

The second way to redeem Ultimate Rewards for travel is by transferring your points to partner airlines and hotels. There are 13 Chase transfer partners, of which 9 are airlines and 4 are hotels. All of the Chase transfer partners’ points exchange at a ratio of 1:1 and most of them transfer instantly.

This is the redemption method that can get you the most bang for your buck. You can get a redemption rate of more than 2 cents per point by transferring to airlines and hotels. In fact, I regularly transfer to Hyatt, British Airways, and Southwest to earn redemptions well over 2 cents per point.

For instance, my wife and I used 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points that we earned from a signup bonus, to fly to Hawaii (saving us over $1300). Our redemption value for those Ultimate Rewards was 2.7 cents per point! That’s almost three times the value of redeeming for cash back.

Now that you know that using Chase transfer partners is the best way to get the most value out of your Ultimate Rewards, let’s find out what airlines and hotels are partners.

Airline Transfer Partners

Hotel Transfer Partners

Chase Transfer Partner Redemption Ideas

• Transfer Ultimate Rewards to British Airways for a roundtrip transatlantic award flight on Aer Lingus for 26,000 Avios on off-peak dates from Boston to Shannon or Dublin, Ireland.
• By transferring 30,000 Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt and spending just $375, you can stay 3 nights at the Park Hyatt Dubai, which normally would cost over $1,500.
• Transfer 17,800 Ultimate Rewards to JetBlue to fly one way from Boston to St. Lucia in JetBlue Mint, the airline’s lay-flat premium class seats.
• By transferring 76,000 Ultimate Rewards to Singapore Airlines you can fly in their luxurious Suite Class, one way from New York City (JFK) to Frankfurt. A redemption that can be worth over 12 cents per point.
• Transfer Ultimate Rewards to British Airways for a roundtrip award flight from the west coast to Hawaii on Alaska Airlines for 25,000 Avios.

How Frequent Travelers Use their Ultimate Rewards with Transfer Partners

“118,000 points for Bali to Singapore in business and Singapore to LAX in first on Singapore Airlines. It would have cost about $8,500 but was a great deal with points, plus, I can’t wait to try Singapore Airlines!”

– Anthony M

“Transferred 8,000 UR points to Hyatt for a newly opened Hyatt Place near me. Rooms were going for $320 a night!”

– Marc L

“Used 90,000 to fly business class from Chicago to Taipei, then to Singapore with a large enough layover to go out and explore, and finally to Australia.”

– Stephy M

“Park Hyatt in NYC is fun for 30,000 points. Pay an extra $120, get a nice double upgrade and stay in a room that costs more than $1,500.”

– Jonathan F

Remember, all Chase transfer partners convert at a 1:1 ratio. So, 1,000 Ultimate Rewards will turn into 1,000 miles or points of your choice from the list of 13 transfer partners.

How to Transfer Points to a Travel Partner

It’s easy to transfer points to a Chase travel partner. Make sure that your desired redemption is available with points before transferring. Once you transfer Ultimate Rewards to a travel partner, they can’t be brought back.

1. Sign in to your Ultimate Rewards account.
2. Click “Transfer to Travel Partners” in the upper menu.
3. Find your airline or hotel and click “Transfer Points”.
4. Enter the recipient and membership number.
5. Then select the number of Ultimate Rewards you’d like to transfer and click continue.
6. Your transfer is complete! Most points transfer instantly but check the table above for each programs timeline.

3. Cashback-Like Redemptions

(Redeem at 1 cent per point)

Using your Ultimate Rewards on cashback-like purchases is the least valuable way to redeem them. It is not a recommended way to use your points, especially if you are interested in traveling. Travel can get you more than double the value for your Ultimate Rewards. If you are interested in using your points for purchases other than travel, you will be redeeming them for 1 cent per point or less. Here are your options.

• Amazon: Redeem your Ultimate Rewards for any Amazon purchases. You can link your accounts to get started. Using Ultimate Rewards to make purchases on Amazon gives the worst redemption rate value at just 0.8 cents per point.
• Apple: Redeem your Ultimate Rewards for Apple products. The redemption rate at Apple is currently 1 cent per point.
• Cash Back: Simply get cash back at a redemption value of 1 cent per point. Cash can go towards a statement credit or be deposited into your banking account.
• Experiences: Use your Ultimate Rewards for unique experiences. Redemptions rates for experiences are 1 cent per point. Be sure to purchase these quickly as they tend to sell out fast. Also, you can purchase these events with money instead of points.
• Gift Cards: Shop 196 gift card options with your Chase Ultimate Rewards. Ultimate Rewards are worth 1 cent per point when used for gift card purchases. Some gift cards are offered at a 10% discount, which will give you a redemption rate of 1.1 cents per point.

PS: Did I mention, “Don’t do this“? Use your points for travel, where they’re much more valuable!

Decision Time: Should You Start Earning Chase Ultimate Rewards?

Chase Ultimate Rewards are the most valuable points in the travel industry. They’re so valuable because they’re so flexible. As you’ve found out, there are four easy ways to earn Ultimate Rewards, and three ways to redeem them. By earning hundreds of thousands of Ultimate Rewards through signup bonuses and then transferring them to your favorite airlines and hotels, you can get thousands of dollars worth of travel for nothing.

Can You Afford Not to?

If you’re not using Chase Ultimate Rewards to travel for next to nothing, you’re missing out. Along with many frequent travelers, I, myself have saved tens of thousands of dollars on travel. I’ve taken trips that I never would have been able to if it weren’t for points. I’ve also made vacations more extravagant than I could otherwise afford by using points. Chase Ultimate Rewards are just what they say they are. They’re the ultimate travel points program.

Our Favorite Chase Cards and Why

The only question you’re left with is which credit card or cards should you get. Ultimately, that’s up to you. All seven Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards are excellent choices in their own right. My personal favorites for specific reasons are the following:

Ink Business Preferred: We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. Best introductory offer

Chase Sapphire Preferred: We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. Best first travel credit card

Chase Sapphire Reserve: We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. Best luxury travel benefits for a frequent traveler

Ink Business Cash: We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. Best business card for earning bonus Ultimate Rewards on purchases

Chase Freedom: We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. Best personal card for earning bonus Ultimate Rewards on purchases

Ink Business Unlimited: We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. Best simple business credit card for spending with 1.5 points on all purchases

Chase Freedom Unlimited: We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. Best simple personal credit card for spending with 1.5 points on all purchases

Good luck! You really can’t go wrong with any of the Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards. Maybe we’ll see you on vacation!

Along with your World of Hyatt credit card comes the Hyatt Category 4 free night certificate. Since you’re able to use your free night at any Hyatt category 1-4 hotel, you’ll most often get the best value by staying at a Hyatt category 4. Many people wonder how much a free night at a category 1-4 Hyatt is worth. Some Hyatt category 4 hotels can cost upwards of $500 for a one night stay. By having a Hyatt credit card you will earn one free night automatically on every cardmember anniversary.

Earning the Hyatt Category 4 free night certificate through the credit card does come with a fee. The $95 annual fee of the World of Hyatt credit card. Theoretically, if you use your free night for a stay that would normally cost more than $95, it’s worth keeping the card and paying the annual fee. My wife has this credit card and chooses to keep it because we are able to use the free night each and every year. It’s also possible to earn additional free nights by completing the following tasks:

A great way to earn a lot of Hyatt points as well as a free anniversary night certificate is by getting a World of Hyatt credit card. It offers a nice introductory offer and also gives you the free night certificate each year. Hyatt is one of the best hotel chains when it comes to redeeming their points for free nights. It’s possible to get free nights at good hotels for 8,000 points or even fewer. You’ll also receive status at Hyatt hotels giving you the opportunity to be upgraded!

Known as one of the best-cobranded hotel credit cards, here is what the Hyatt credit card offers…

If you’d rather have more versatile points that can be used for Hyatt free nights as well as free flights, you may want to consider a Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card. You can transfer your Chase points into Hyatt points if you have one of the primary Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards. Ultimate Rewards transfer to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio through the Chase transfer partners.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Personal Credit Cards

See our comparison of the two Chase Sapphire cards.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Business Credit Cards

See our comparison of the three Chase Ink cards.

The Best Hyatt Category 4 Hotels in the United States & Canada (49)

Listed below are all the Hyatt category 4 hotels in the world. The ones marked with a * are travel blogger approved properties. These 18 hotels are deemed to be a great use of your Hyatt free night certificate. Have you been to any of these already?

Canada:

• Spirit Ridge BC
• Park Hyatt Toronto *

Arizona:

• Hyatt Place Page / Lake Powell
• Hyatt Residence Club Sedona, Piñon Pointe

California:

• Hyatt Centric Fisherman’s Wharf San Francisco *
• Hyatt Centric Santa Barbara
• Hyatt Place Santa Cruz
• Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine
• Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina
• Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa on Del Monte Golf Course

Colorado:

• Hyatt Place Keystone

Washington DC:

• Grand Hyatt Washington *
• Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill

Delaware:

• Hyatt Place Dewey Beach

Florida:

• Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami
• Hyatt Place Marathon/Florida Keys
• Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa *
• Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress *
• Hyatt Regency Orlando
• The Confidante Miami Beach

Georgia:

• Andaz Savannah *

Illinois:

• Hyatt Place Chicago/River North
• Hyatt Regency Chicago
• Hyatt Regency McCormick Place

Louisiana:

• Hyatt Centric French Quarter New Orleans *
• Hyatt Regency New Orleans
• The Eliza Jane

Maryland:

• Hyatt Place Ocean City / Oceanfront
• Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor

Massachusetts:

• Hyatt Regency Boston
• Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor
• Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Overlooking Boston

Nevada:

• MGM Grand *
• New York-New York
• Park MGM Las Vegas

New Mexico:

• Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa

Pennsylvania:

• The Bellevue Hotel *

Puerto Rico:

• Hyatt Residence Club Dorado, Hacienda del Mar

Tennessee:

• Hyatt Place Nashville Downtown *

Texas:

• Grand Hyatt DFW
• Hyatt Centric The Woodlands
• Hyatt Place Austin Downtown
• Hyatt Regency Austin
• Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa

Utah:

• Hyatt Place Park City *

Virginia:

• Hyatt House Virginia Beach / Oceanfront

Washington:

• Grand Hyatt Seattle *
• Hyatt at Olive 8 *
• Hyatt Regency Seattle

Best Hyatt Category 4 Hotels in the Caribbean & Latin America (6)

Trinidad and Tobago:

• Hyatt Regency Trinidad

Brazil:

• Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro *
• Grand Hyatt Sao Paulo

Chile:

• Hyatt Centric Las Condes Santiago

Costa Rica:

• Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo *

Peru:

• Hyatt Centric San Isidro Lima

Best Hyatt Category 4 Hotels in Europe (7)

France:

• Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile *

Germany:

• Grand Hyatt Berlin *
• Hyatt Regency Cologne
• Park Hyatt Hamburg *

Netherlands:

• Hyatt Regency Amsterdam

Russia:

• Hyatt Regency Sochi

Turkey:

• Grand Hyatt Istanbul

Best Hyatt Category 4 Hotels in Africa & the Middle East (6)

Oman:

• Grand Hyatt Muscat

Qatar:

• Grand Hyatt Doha Hotel & Villas

Saudi Arabia:

• Hyatt Regency Riyadh Olaya
• Jabal Omar Hyatt Regency Makkah

United Arab Emirates:

• Grand Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel & Residences Emirates Pearl
• Grand Hyatt Dubai *

Best Hyatt Category 4 Hotels in Asia (17)

Cambodia:

• Park Hyatt Siem Reap *

China:

• Andaz Xintiandi, Shanghai *
• Grand Hyatt Beijing
• Grand Hyatt Shanghai
• Hyatt on the Bund, Shanghai
• Hyatt Regency Hangzhou
• Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui *

India:

• Andaz Delhi

Indonesia:

• Park Hyatt Jakarta

Japan:

• Hyatt Regency Seragaki Island, Okinawa

Philippines:

• Grand Hyatt Manila

South Korea:

• Grand Hyatt Seoul
• Park Hyatt Busan *

Taiwan:

• Grand Hyatt Taipei

Thailand:

• Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok
• Hyatt Regency Hua Hin *

Vietnam:

• Park Hyatt Saigon *

Best Hyatt Category 4 Hotels in Australia & the Pacific (3)

• Hyatt Hotel Canberra – A Park Hyatt Hotel *
• Grand Hyatt Melbourne *
• Hyatt Regency Guam

How to Book Your Free Night

Combined, you have 88 options of Hyatt category 4 properties to choose from. A lot of your decision rides on where you will be needing a hotel room. It’s pretty hard to take advantage of the amazing Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo if you won’t be in Costa Rica this year. By the way, that was the hotel mentioned by almost every travel blogger as the best Hyatt category 4 hotel. You need to find a hotel that gives you good value in an area that you’ll be traveling.

After your cardmember anniversary, a free night certificate will appear in your World of Hyatt account. To find your certificate, log in to your account and go to “My Account”. There, you will click on the “My Awards” tab to see your free night. To book your free night using the certificate, you will search for availability at hotels with Hyatt category 4 or below by checking the “Use Points” box. Instead of booking with points, you will have the option to use your “Promotional Award Free Night”. This option will be on a tab next to your points options.

Be aware that only hotels with standard award rooms available will be bookable. Also, know that you can only use one free night certificate per online reservation. If you want to use two free night certificates for one stay, you will either need to call Hyatt reservations or book two separate one night stays, then call and have Hyatt link the reservations. If you’re wanting to add your free night to either end of a longer paid stay, be sure to book the more expensive night (between the first and last) with your certificate. Then, again, call to have the reservations linked.

Using Points to Book Free Nights at Hyatt

If you’re looking to book a Hyatt Category 4 hotel using points, it will cost you 15,000 points for a standard room. There are seven categories ranging from 5,000 to 35,000 points per night for a standard room. Hyatt points can be earned in a few different ways. The easiest way is by applying for the World of Hyatt credit card We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. . You’ll earn Hyatt points through the introductory offer as well as by making purchases on the credit card. Here is a chart that includes all Hyatt Categories and how many points it will take to book a free night.