Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Airline Partners: Who They Are and How to Book with Points (2024)

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of the best cards available for bringing points to a preferred frequent flyer program so they can be used for airfare, upgrades, and other perks offered by the carrier. What’s even better is that your points transfer at full value.

Here is a closer look at which airlines Chase partners with for reward point transfers and how you can take advantage of this perk.

Key Takeaways

• Chase has partnerships with 11 airlines.
• You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to partner airlines at a 1:1 ratio.
• The Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal simplifies booking travel with most partner airlines.
• When you redeem your points through the Chase travel portal, your points are worth 25% more if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Who are the Chase Sapphire Preferred airline transfer partners?

Chase has partnerships with 11 airlines that enable customers to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to the carriers’ frequent flyer programs. You can use transferred points to purchase reward flights, upgrades to first class, and other perks. These Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partners are:

• Aer Lingus AerClub: Aer Lingus is an Irish airline, so it's a good choice for flying to Europe or for connecting flights in Europe. It also partners with British Airlines and Iberia.
• Air Canada Aeroplan: Air Canada is a Star Alliance member, so you could transfer Chase points from your Chase Sapphire Preferred card to Air Canada, then use your Aeroplan points to book flights on Star Alliance Airlines like United.
• British Airways Executive Club: With the Executive Club, you collect points called Avios. You can transfer your Chase points to Avios with British Airways, then have many options for redeeming them with British Airways and other oneworld alliance partners, including American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
• Emirates Skywards: This airline is known for its high-end business and first-class options. It also limits points transfers to partner airlines, so points are best used for reward flights and upgrades on Emirates flights.
• Flying Blue Air France KLM: In addition to Air France and KLM, Flying Blue also includes Transavia, Aircalin, Kenya Airways, and TAROM.
• Iberia Plus: Iberia is also a member of the oneworld alliance.
• JetBlue TrueBlue: JetBlue is a low-cost carrier, so you can get a lot of value out of transferring your Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer: This is another Star Alliance partner, and it's a popular choice for luxury travelers.
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards: With its low-cost flights, you can also get a lot of value out of your Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
• United MileagePlus: United Airlines is also a Star Alliance member.
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: Virgin Atlantic is a member of the SkyTeam Alliance, which includes Delta Airlines. That means you can transfer your Chase points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, then redeem them for Delta Airlines flights.

These transfer options give you a lot of value because your points are moved from Chase to each of these programs on a 1:1 ratio. That means that 1 Chase Ultimate Rewards point = 1 frequent flyer point/mile in redemption value.

Points have to be transferred in 1,000-point increments. For example, if you had 12,000 Ultimate Rewards points, you could only transfer 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, etc., points to your United MileagePlus account. You wouldn’t be able to transfer 1,500 or 3,200 points.

Generally, your points will transfer instantly to your frequent flyer account, but in some cases, it can take up to seven business days for the transaction to be completed. Chase also recommends making sure that the name on your Ultimate Rewards program account matches the name on your frequent flyer account exactly. If it doesn’t, there may be delays in transferring your points, or the transaction may not go through at all.

The value of booking with Chase Sapphire Preferred airline partners

Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders can use the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal to transfer their points to one of 11 airline partners to pay for tickets, upgrades, and other perks offered by frequent flyer programs. This is a good option if you want to earn miles or status with a partner airline.

The value you get when you transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to a partner airline varies depending on the redemption option you choose. Most partners offer a value of 1.2 to 1.6 cents per point, but if you use your points to book a premium ticket on an international flight, you may be able to get outsized value.

For example, you could transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer program. Travelers have reported booking Business Class award flights on Singapore Airlines from the West Coast to Singapore for less than 100,000 KrisFlyer miles. If you were to book a similar ticket with cash, it would cost you an average of $5,110. In this case, your points would be valued at over 5.1 cents each.

It can take some research to find the sweet spots for a transfer partner's rewards program, but the results can be well worth the time and effort.

How to transfer your points to Chase Sapphire Preferred airline partners

Before you transfer points, find the flight you’d like to redeem your points for on the partner airline’s website. Point transfers are one-way. Once you transfer your points from Chase, you can’t get move them back. So, it’s important to know how many points you’ll need and how you’ll use them before you start the transfer process.

Once you have this information, sign into the Ultimate Rewards portal. After you log in, click on the three bars to open the left-hand menu, then on the arrow next to the “Transfer to Travel Partners” option.

On the next screen, choose the partner airline program you want to transfer points to. Click on the small arrows to expand the details for each carrier and review the details for using and transferring points. When you’re ready to move forward, click on “Transfer Points.”

On the next screen, provide the requested information and continue to follow the instructions until the transaction is complete. At the very least, you’ll need your frequent flyer program membership information.

How to book through the Ultimate Rewards portal

If you prefer the convenience of a one-stop shop, the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal makes it simple to book all kinds of travel using points. It’s a good place to start researching flight times and prices, and it’s easy to pay for your flights in the portal using Ultimate Rewards points, a credit card, or a combination of both.

With certain Chase credit cards, like the Chase Freedom Flex℠, points are only valued at one cent each. However, with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you get added value. When you book through the Ultimate Rewards portal using your Sapphire Preferred card, your points will be worth $0.0125 each, which can add up to significant savings.

You can book flights with all of the Chase transfer partner airlines through the portal, except for Southwest Airlines, which wants customers to buy tickets directly through them. However, if you call the Chase Travel Center at 866-951-6592, book your tickets on Southwest, and pay for them using Ultimate Rewards Points, you’ll still get the $0.0125 per point rate.

To book a flight through the Ultimate Rewards portal, go to https://ultimaterewardspoints.chase.com/ and use your Chase online account username and password to sign in. Click on the three bars to open the left-hand menu, then click on the arrow next to the “Travel” option. This will open a sub-menu with specific options. Choose “Flights.”

On the next screen, you can either click on “Flights” in the top menu or start entering travel dates and destinations into the form.

Review the results to find the flight options that work best for you. You can sort the results by airline if you’re specifically looking for partner carriers, or other criteria, such as price, departure times, etc.

Select your outgoing and return flights, double-check the dates and times, and then follow the prompts and enter all required information. If you have a frequent flyer account number for one or more of the carriers you’ll be flying with, you can enter that information and get credit for the purchase.

When you reach the payment option, you will see how many points you have and how much the cost of the flight is in terms of dollars and points. You can choose to pay with points, a credit card, or both.

After making your payment selection, confirm all of the information is correct and complete your booking.

Alternatives to the Chase Sapphire Preferred

If you’re looking for an alternative to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, here’s how it stacks up to other popular Chase cards.

FAQs about Chase Ultimate Rewards

Bottom line

All-in-all, you have a lot of travel options to choose from when you use Chase Ultimate Rewards with your Chase Sapphire Preferred card. You can use your points either through Chase’s travel portal or transfer those points over to your favorite frequent flyer program to get the benefits only offered by the airline carrier.

Which is the best move? Only you can answer that question. One thing is for sure: check out all of your Chase travel partner options before committing your points to one option or another.