We love Chase Ultimate Rewards points not just because they’re so valuable, but for their flexibility, too. Sure, you can use Chase points to book flights for pennies on the dollar. But that’s not all: You can save big when using Chase points to book hotels, too.
There’s no shortage of ways to use Ultimate Rewards to cover lodging while you travel, whether that’s next month or next year. You can transfer points to popular hotel chains, or book directly with Chase using your points. Add it all up, and we’d consider Chase points some of the best for booking hotels.
So let’s dive into all of the different ways you can use Chase points to stay for free on your next trip.
Read our master guide to earning and redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points!
Stay at Hyatt Hotels
One of the absolute best ways to redeem Chase points, period, is using them to book Hyatt hotels. The World of Hyatt program has some of the best point rates of any hotel program – and because it’s a Chase transfer partner, you can easily transfer your Chase points to Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio.
With a ton of amazing properties scattered all around the world, including a growing list of all-inclusive resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean, there’s no shortage of ways to put Hyatt points to good use.
Read our guide on how to transfer Chase points to partner programs!
Before making a transfer, you’ll just need a World of Hyatt loyalty program account. If you don’t already have one, be sure to sign up ahead of time.
A big reason why we consider Hyatt to be the best option for hotel transfers is because of its insanely reasonable redemption rates, starting at just 5,000 points per night (or 3,500 off-peak) for Hyatt Category 1 properties. Here’s a look at Hyatt’s full award chart – the amount they charge for a night when redeeming points – including peak- and off-peak pricing.
As you can see, it doesn’t take a lot of points to earn a free night and Hyatt has a ton of amazing values within its portfolio of properties.
If all-inclusive properties are your thing, these are some of the only resorts in the world that can be booked with points. Sadly, Hyatt uses a separate award chart for its all-inclusive properties, and the latest round of award chart changes gutted many of our favorites. But that doesn’t mean all is lost. With rooms at these all-inclusive resorts starting at just 15,000 points per night for a standard night, you can still find some good value when redeeming points … even if it is getting harder.
Read more: Where to Get Good Value With Hyatt All-Inclusives
The top-of-the-line Park Hyatt hotels scattered throughout the world are another great way to put your Chase points to use. Park Hyatt’s start as low as 12,000 points per night depending on the location.
Read our review of the Park Hyatt Dubai.
Just be warned: Like all transfer partners, once you send Chase points to Hyatt, you can’t get them back. So be sure you’ve got your Hyatt redemption lined up before transferring points.
Book IHG One Rewards Stays
Another hotel transfer partner for your Chase Ultimate Rewards is IHG One Rewards – the company behind Holiday Inn, InterContinental, Kimpton, Crowne Plaza, and many others.
Like Hyatt, Chase points transfer instantly to IHG on a 1:1 basis. This means that one Chase point will equal 1 IHG point. You’ll just need a free IHG One Rewards loyalty program account before you make the transfer.
Now for the bad news: Just because you can transfer points to IHG Rewards Club doesn’t mean you should. Unlike Hyatt, there is no set cost for an award night with IHG: Rates can swing wildly based on a number of factors like time of year, events happening close to the property, etc.
Often, that’s a bad thing when it comes time to use your points – but not always. Sometimes, that means properties you want to book will be much cheaper than normal. Case in point: The InterContinental Resort Tahiti can cost as much as 80,000 to 90,000 points each night. But IHG’s dynamic pricing means you can find nights for 62,000 points a night as well.
It is certainly worth checking the IHG program when you are looking to make an award booking but that doesn’t mean that transferring Chase points will always make sense. In fact, the only situation I would recommend transferring points from to IHG is if you are just a few thousand points short or there’s a big transfer bonus.
Book Marriott Bonvoy Stays
Chase’s third and final hotel transfer partner is Marriott Bonvoy. Like all the others, Ultimate Rewards points will transfer to Marriott on a 1:1 basis, so 1 Chase point equals 1 Marriott Bonvoy point. You’ll just need a Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program account before you make the transfer.
Much like IHG, just because you can transfer points to Marriott, doesn’t mean you should. With Marriott’s dynamic award pricing, you just never know what a given night will cost when using points – sometimes it’s worth it and other times it’s not. That’s not to say that transferring Chase points to Marriott will always be a bad deal – far from it.
For example, a random night at the Four Points by Sheraton in Fargo, North Dakota is going for an all-in price of $159.
Meanwhile, if you wanted to use points for that exact same room, you’d need 11,000 Bonvoy points for an award night. At over 1.4 cents per point, that’s a surprisingly good use of Marriott points.
The value you’re getting for your points won’t always be this good though. In many cases, you’ll likely be getting less than one cent per point, which means you’d be better off cashing out your Chase points for a penny a piece and using those to pay for the hotel. Or better yet, book through the Chase Travel℠ portal … more on that in a second.
Compared to Hyatt, your Chase points simply won’t go as far when using them to book Marriott properties. That said, there can be some fringe cases where transferring to Marriott makes sense, especially if you’re just a few thousand points short of booking a free night or if you can get in on a limited-time transfer bonus.
Book Hotels Through Chase Travel℠
When you book hotels through the Chase Travel℠ portal, your points are worth more. Depending on which Chase card you have, you can book a $200 hotel stay for as few as 13,333 Chase points. While not outstanding, it’s worth looking into and comparing it against some of the transfer partner options – especially when cash hotel rates are relatively cheap.
Here’s how it works: If you hold the *chase sapphire preferred* or the *chase ink preferred*, your points can be redeemed for 1.25 cents each. That means 10,000 points will be worth $125 towards travel. Meanwhile, if you’ve got the top-tier *chase sapphire reserve*, your points are worth 1.5 cents each, so 50,000 points will be worth $750 towards travel.
But there’s a big caveat to keep in mind. Since Chase Travel is technically an online travel agency (OTA), you won’t earn hotel points or hotel elite night credits on the vast majority of bookings. In most cases, any benefits you have from hotel status won’t be honored, either.
In our opinion, using Chase Travel is a great way to book hotels that are not affiliated with a major hotel brand like Marriott, Hyatt, IHG, or Hilton. This allows you to use points when you otherwise couldn’t.
Take the Kempinski Hotel in Berchtesgaden, Germany, for example. Because it is not part of a major chain, you can’t use traditional hotel points to book it.
But if you’ve got Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you can book it through Chase Travel for as low as 20,000 points per night, depending on the nightly cash rate and which Chase card you have.
Bottom Line
Chase Ultimate Rewards points are some of the best points you can use to book your next hotel stay, period. They offer a ton of flexibility no matter where you’re heading which is a big reason why we think they are so valuable.
Whether you want to book a night with a chain hotel like Hyatt or use the Chase Travel portal for a smaller boutique properties, there’s no shortage of great ways to redeem Chase points for a free night.
