Points and Miles Basics

I have went over some points and miles deals and some tips and trips. However, I want to teach you from the ground up. From what a point or mile is and the basics of it.

What is a point or mile?

A point or mile is something that you earn from using a credit card, going through a shopping portal, having a hotel stay, or flying a flight. There are many ways of earning these points however, the first and best way would be to use a credit card in the choice of transferrable points program, hotel, or airline program. I will go more in-depth on how this works but we will start from the ground up.

Chase

I want to start by explaining Chase’s program and how it is the best program to start with because there is a variety of ways to redeem point that best suit your needs.

These are all the Chase Ultimate rewards earning cards. As shown above these are all the Chase Ultimate Rewards earning cards you can have. I want to start with Chase because it is the easiest to understand how to use your points.

Ways of Redeeming

The basics of redeeming Chase points is like this:

1. Cashing out your points at 1 cent per point. This is the lowest way to get value from your points. However if you are just wanting to have a cash back strategy this would be the route to go. Never redeem your points for gift cards.

2. Redeeming through the Chase travel portal. Redeeming through the Chase Travel portal redeems at 1.25 cent per point. This a good way to redeem for points if there might be a low cash hotel offering or you can’t find award availability where you are looking to stay. They use a travel agency to book these awards. This is not my best way of using points but it can be an option to book activities when points may not be an option.

3. Transferring to partners

This is going to be your best way in terms of value. It can get a little complicated for beginners but in posts later I will show you how to use this option.

Airline Transfer Partners

Aer Lingus AerClub

Air Canada Aeroplan

Air France-KLM Flying Blue

British Airways Executive Club

Emirates Skywards

Iberia Plus

JetBlue TrueBlue

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards

United Airlines MileagePlus

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotel Transfer Partners

IHG One Rewards

Marriott Bonvoy

World of Hyatt

As you see above, there are tons of different ways you can redeem you points. I know some of these airlines you have probably never heard of but I will further break them down to make it easier when it comes to finding how you want to get to your destination.

Final Thoughts

The Chase Ultimate Rewards program is one of my favorite ways to travel and get to where I want to spend vacations with my family. I never can keep enough Ultimate Rewards because I am always redeeming them to get maximum value for my travels. In the next post we will talk about earning Ultimate Rewards.