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When shopping for a rewards credit card, you need to ensure that the platform is well suited to your preferences and expectations. The Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards are two of the most popular programs. Both offer flexible, high value points that could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars each year if you’re a frequent traveler.
Both programs appear almost identical, with travel focused points, extensive travel partners, additional travel perks and certain types of insurance. However, there are some key differences including the points value, the redemption options and the specific travel and card perks.
So, here we’ll explore both these programs in a little more detail, to help you decide which is best for you in a Chase Ultimate Rewards vs American Express Membership comparison.
Chase Ultimate Rewards Redemption Options
One of the most attractive features of the Chase Ultimate Rewards platform is the variety of redemption options. You can redeem your accumulated rewards in a number of ways including:
- Cash Back
You can also opt to use your points in the form of cash back. You can either request a deposit into your bank account or a statement credit for your card account. Points used in this way have a redemption rate of one cent per point.
- Gift Cards
Chase has a selection of gift card options, so you can purchase gift cards for popular brands at a typical rate of one cent per point.
However, there are often cards with a 5% or 10% discount, which would create a higher redemption rate. You’ll find gift card options for most major retailers on the Ultimate Rewards portal including Target, Best Buy, Starbucks and Sephora.
- Amazon and Apple Purchases
Chase allows you to use your points to pay for your purchases with Amazon and Apple. Amazon purchases attract a points redemption rate of 0.8 cents each, while Apple has a 1 cent per point redemption rate.
- Ultimate Rewards Experiences
Chase has a platform that allows you to shop for experiences such as private dinners, VIP tickets, exclusive sporting event access and concerts. This allows you to redeem your points for experiences. With this redemption method, each point is worth one cent.
- Points Transfer
Chase also allows you to use your points in the form of a transfer to programs offered by its list of partners. Chase currently has partnerships in place with 11 airlines and three hotel partners.
You can expect a 1:1 transfer rate, so each Ultimate Rewards point is worth one point or mile with the partnership program.
- Book Travel
Finally, you can use your points to book travel via the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal. Depending on which Chase card you have, you can get a redemption rate of 1.25 to 1.5 cents per point.
You can use the travel portal to book flights, rental cars, hotels, and cruises along with activities and vacation rentals.
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Amex Membership Rewards Redemption Options
The Amex Membership Rewards platform offers similar redemption methods to Chase Ultimate Rewards, but you need to check the terms and conditions to see the differences.
- Book Travel
Just like Chase, Amex has a travel portal that allows you to book flights, rental cars, cruises and hotels. However, the point redemption values vary. When booking flights, each point is worth one cent, but for rental cars, cruises and hotels, your points are only worth 0.7 cents each.
- Pay With Points
This redemption method allows you to use your points at checkout when shopping with a list of online retailers. This includes Amazon, Expedia, Staples, Walmart, Rite Aid, GrubHub, Best Buy, and Ticketmaster.
On some of these platforms, you can link your Membership Rewards account to automatically pay with points when you shop.
For example, this is possible with Amazon. However, you’ll only get a redemption rate of 0.7 cents per point when you pay with points.
- Gift Cards
The Amex Membership Rewards portal also offers a number of gift card options for popular retailers. However, the redemption rate can vary from card to card and retailer to retailer.
For example, for a $50 Crate & Barrel gift card, you’ll need 5,000 points, which is a reasonable one cent per point.
On the other hand, a $50 Target gift card will cost you 7,143 points, which is a redemption rate of approximately 0.7 cents per point. There are even some gift card options that only offer 0.5 cents per point. So, you need to shop for gift cards with care.
- Points Transfer
You can also Transfer your Amex membership points to programs from its list of transfer partners. American Express has 12 airlines and three hotel partnerships with a 1:1 transfer rate. Additionally, American Express runs promotions regularly which can boost the transfer rate for specific partners.
- Cover Card Charges
This is a little like cash back, but you select recent charges and cover them using your points. Essentially, you’ll erase these charges from your bill. However, this is one of the lowest value ways to redeem your cards, as each point is only worth 0.6 cents.
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Amex vs Chase: Travel Partners Comparison
Since both platforms have a similar number of travel partners, we’ll need to delve into the specifics of each to see which one is more suited to your travel preferences.
Amex Travel Partner List is Richer
American Express has 18 airline partner programs and partnerships with three hotel chains. The list of partners includes:
Amex Airline Partners:
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- Alitalia MilleMiglia
- All Nippon Airways Mileage Club
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Delta SkyMiles
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
- Iberia Plus
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Singapore KrisFlyer
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
While most of these partner programs allow you transfer points on a 1:1 ratio, this is not the case for all of them. For example, JetBlue has a transfer rate of 250:200. So, for every 250 American Express points, you’ll only get 200 JetBlue points.
You also need to watch out for fees and surcharges that may apply to your transfer. For example, with the Delta SkyMiles program, American Express charges an excise tax offset fee of 0.06 cents per point. This means that if you transfer 25,000 points, you’ll get a $15 fee.
The Amex hotel transfer partners:
- Choice Privileges
- Hilton Honors
- Marriott Bonvoy
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Chase: Fewer Options - But More Straightforward
Chase does have fewer travel partners with its Ultimate Reward platform, but it is more straightforward. All transfers have a 1:1 ratio, but you must transfer in increments of 1,000 points. The list of partner programs includes:
- British Airways Executive Club
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Emirates Skywards
- Singapore Airlines Krisflyer
- Southwest Rapid Rewards
- United MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Iberia Plus
As you can see, there are some overlaps, like with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Marriott Bonvoy. However, Chase doesn’t offer transfer bonuses as frequently. So, you might find that with promotional bonuses, your Amex points could be worth more in these programs than if you were transferring Ultimate Rewards points.
The Chase hotel transfer partners includes:
- World of Hyatt
- IHG Rewards Club
- Marriott Bonvoy
Amex vs Chase: Which Travel Portal Offers More?
As we’ve touched on above, both platforms have a travel portal that allows you to book flights, hotels and more using your reward points.
Where Amex Travel Portal Shines?
The key difference between the Amex travel portal and the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal is that Amex does not offer activities or trips. You can still book flights, hotels, rental cars and cruises, but with the exception of flights, at 1 cent per point, the points values are 0.7 cents per point.
Additionally, you may notice that the fares seem to be higher on the Amex platform. However, this is due to Amex not typically offering basic economy fares. You may pay an average of $100 more, but this will be for main cabin seats rather than basic economy.
Another feature of the Amex travel portal is the “Insider Fares”. These are domestic and international itineraries that represent better value compared to the standard one cent per point. However, insider fares are not particularly consistent and they are not available on all routes.
Where Chase Travel Portal Shines?
Chase has been improving its Ultimate Rewards travel portal in recent years. It was previously Expedia powered, but there were issues with slow load times and higher prices. Now, the travel portal is fully migrated to its cxLoyalty interface, which provides an improved user experience.
As mentioned earlier, the Chase travel portal lets you book flights, rental cars, hotels, and cruises, as well as vacation rentals and activities. The activities section covers everything from shuttles and tours to attraction passes and day trips, so you can use your points to book your entire vacation.
Additionally, Chase has a higher redemption rate for using your points in the travel portal. Depending on your specific Chase card, you can get a redemption rate of either 1.25 or 1.5 cents per point.
How to Earn & Maximize Amex Points?
Depending on your card, there are a number of ways you can earn and maximize your reward points. Amex offer a variety of credit cards from the basic to more premium offerings which can help you to accumulate those points.
One of the best ways to maximize your points with Amex cards is to look at the bonus categories. American Express typically offers higher rewards rates, but the categories tend to be quite narrow. For example, if you have an Amex Gold card, you’ll get 3 or 4 points per dollar in the bonus categories, while Platinum cardholders can get 5 points per dollar.
Amex also has a referral scheme which can help to boost your points total. The specific number of points can vary, but for example, you can earn 15,000 bonus points for every Platinum card referral, with a cap of 55,000 points per year.
Chase Offers Higher Rewards When Booking Online
Chase tends to offer larger sign up bonuses compared to American Express. So, you really need to watch out for the terms and conditions to ensure that you qualify. Chase also offers generous rewards when you use the bonus categories. For example, you can earn 5 points per dollar when you book travel through the Ultimate Rewards portal with the Sapphire Preferred card.
While there isn’t currently a referral program for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders, you can earn 1 15,000 point bonus for each Chase Sapphire Preferred referral and 20,000 points bonus for each Chase Ink Business Preferred referral with 75,000 and 100,000 caps per year respectively.
Should I Book On Chase Travel Portal Or Via Chase's Loyalty Partners?
Both the travel portal and list of Chase’s loyalty partners present solid options for booking travel. However, which is best will depend on the specific scenario.
For example, a one way business class ticket from Casablanca to JFK in New York has a cash price of $2,213. With a 25% point redemption bonus if you use the travel portal with a Sapphire Preferred card, you would need 177,107 points to book this flight. However, Flying Blue only charges 53,000 miles for this same flight. So, in this case, transferring your miles would effectively give you a redemption rate of 3.5 cents per point.
This is only one example, but if you are already a member of a frequent flyer program, it is always worth checking if you can score a better deal by transferring your points.
However, if Chase does not partner with a specific airline, you are likely to find a better deal by booking through the travel portal.
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FAQ
How Much Are 50,000 Amex Points Worth?
This depends on your redemption method. If you opt to shop with points, you’ll only get a redemption rate of 0.7-1 cents per point. In this scenario, your 50,000 points would be worth $350 – $500.
However, if you transfer points to airline you can get 1-3 cents per point, which would increase the value of your 50,000 points to $1,000 and even more.
How Many Chase Points To Get $100?
Unless you’re using the travel portal, the typical redemption rate for Chase points is one cent per point. So, to get $100, you would need to accumulate 10,000 points.
Can I Combine Chase And Amex Points?
No, these programs are separate, so you cannot combine your Chase and Amex points. However, the programs do have some travel partners in common. This would mean if you transferred your points on both cards to the same partnership loyalty program, you could combine the rewards potential.
Can I Redeem My Amex Points For Cash?
You can’t get an actual cash payment into your bank account, but you can use your Amex points to cover a charge on your bill, pay using points at the checkout of certain online stores or get gift cards for your favorite retailers.
How Many Amex Points Equal A Dollar?
Depending on the redemption method you would need 100 to 200 points to create $100.
Do Chase Points Expire?
Providing your account remains open, you don’t need to worry about your Chase points expiring. If you do want to close your account, be sure to redeem your points first.
