So let's say you just got a windfall of 80,000 Chase credit card points.
Which happens more often than you think due to various card sign-up bonuses (the Chase Sapphire Preferred card alone has a current sign-up bonus of 60,000 points).
Now the wheels are spinning in your head as you try to figure out the best way to redeem them for max value.
Of course you could ask Chase itself how much your points are worth (and they'll gladly tell you).
But I’m here to tell you that your points are worth a lot more than you think.
Today we’re gonna go over why banks and credit card companies are not only lying to you but how you can get 5-10x more value out of your existing points without spending any more money.
The worst way to redeem your 80,000 Chase points
First things first, let's talk about the absolute worst way to use those points: the Chase travel portal.
Sure, it might seem convenient to book your flights and hotels directly through Chase, but trust me, it's not worth it. This is the method the banks will tell you to use by default, and is the most common way to get the LEAST value out of your points.
If you have 80,000 Chase points, the Chase reward point value might be worth $800 to maybe $1,200 at best.
On the surface, this might not look terrible? I mean, free is free, right?
Not exactly…
The best way to redeem your 80,000 Chase points
Now, let's talk about the best way to use those points.
And that is by transferring them to travel partners.
Chase has a TON of amazing airline and hotel partners.
And with this method, you can get up to 5x the value of your points (sometimes up to 10x the value) – which is a lot better than the Chase travel portal!
So, who are these mysterious travel partners, you ask?
Well, there's a lot of them, and when you first look at the list, you might be saying to yourself, “But Andy, I want to go to Europe, and I don't even see the airline I wanna fly on there. I would never use some of these airlines, so how does that help me???”
Fair enough.
And the answer is – alliances and partnerships.
In the points world, whenever you want to fly on a certain airline, you can actually book a flight on that airline by redeeming points with a DIFFERENT airline, as long as they are partners.
For example, say we wanted to book a flight on Lufthansa in business or first class to Europe. Lufthansa isn't a transfer partner with Chase, so we can't transfer points to them. But we can actually book that Lufthansa flight by transferring points to Air Canada or quite a few others, and sometimes even get a better rate (see below for example).
And this is the true power behind transfer partners. Understanding they exist and understanding how these partnerships result in crazy value is key.
Now let's talk about what these points are worth, and I'll even show you a few examples!
In this case, let’s say that the same Lufthansa flight in First Class cost $8,000 each way if you were to buy it in cash.
The Chase Travel Portal would charge you nearly 700,000 points for that flight in a best-case scenario (per person, one-way, lol).
So not exactly something you could reasonably accomplish with your 80k points, and it might just leave you stuck with a crappy economy flight.
But instead if we used the transfer partner method I mentioned, you can get this same Lufthansa flight for just 87,000 points instead of 500,000 (a little more than 8 TIMES the value than what Chase told you they were worth).
In business class (still lie-flat down seats, delicious food, great experience), you could get it done for around 63,000 points instead, and still get a flight worth approximately $4,000-$5,000!
Again, around 5 times the value that you thought you would get.
Side Note: If you’re wondering why I didn’t pick the exact same flight to show you the cash price in the earlier example, it’s because the ORD (Chicago) flight from this screenshot above was actually $14,000 instead of $8,000, and I didn’t wanna scare you ;).
And let's not forget about hotels.
For example, you could transfer your points to Hyatt and stay at some of the most luxurious hotels in the world. A $1,000/night hotel would run you around 60,000-100,000 points per night doing it the old-fashioned way. But understanding transfer partners, that can be around 40,000 points per night instead.
The list goes on and on…
So the short answer to “What are my 80,000 Chase points worth?” is… A LOT (if you redeem them using the special strategies I shared above).
Redeem them “the right way,” and your 80,000 Chase points will easily be worth around $3,500.
Welcome to the Lux Travel Hacks way… pack your bags, and I’ll see you in first class!
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