Beginner’s Guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards – Part 2

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First – make sure you understand that each airline has its own system for pricing flights.

This means that you will find different prices (in points/miles) for the same flight depending on where you book it.

Option 1: Transfer Ultimate Rewards to British Air

British Air is notorious for high taxes and fees when flying to or within Europe. The secret to booking flights with British Air (BA) is to use it to book its partners, especially American Airlines.  Ultimate Rewards do not transfer to American, but they do transfer to BA, which you can use to book flights on American.

This can be useful in two situations –

1. When you don’t have enough Aadvantage miles, but want the AA flight. 

2. When BA’s price (in points) is lower.

Step 1: Create a British Air Avios account.

Step 2: Search for available flights.

If you don’t find any available flights at first, keep trying. When it works, it’s a great value. It does take time to search for the flights though.

For example, in the search below, I can transfer 11k Ultimate Rewards to British Air to book this AA flight to Dallas.

On the AA website, this same flight costs 16.5k Aadvantage miles.

It’s not a significant difference for one ticket, but when booking for more than one person, it can add up. Also, you’ll find times when you are short on one points currency or another. It’s nice to have multiple options.

Step 3: Transfer points from Chase to British Air.

• Once you have your British Air membership number, log in to your Chase account.
• Find your Sapphire account.
• Click on Ultimate Rewards.
• Once you’re in the Ultimate Rewards section, click on transfer points.
• Choose British Air and transfer the points you need (in increments of 1,000).
• Go back to British Air and continue with your booking as normal.

Option 2: Transfer Ultimate Rewards to Iberia

Iberia and British Air both use Avios as their points system. Both airlines allow you to transfer Avios between their programs.

Iberia works similarly to British Air, but I’ll warn you that their customer service can be maddening, so keep that in mind before transferring points and booking.

I’ve mostly used Iberia Avios to book flights between the USA and Spain, although it is possible to book AA flights through Iberia Avios as well.

Step 1: Create an Iberia account.

Make sure to create your account in advance, because Iberia requires your account to be three months old before transferring points.

Step 2: Search for flights.

I have the best luck with Iberia when searching from a US hub. Although I live close to a regional airport, Chicago is our closest hub. When we fly Iberia, we typically leave from Chicago, even though it’s a longer drive.

Step 3: Transfer points from Chase to Iberia.

• Once you have your Iberia membership number, log in to your Chase account.
• Find your Sapphire account.
• Click on Ultimate Rewards.
• Once you’re in the Ultimate Rewards section, click on transfer points.
• Choose Iberia and transfer the points you need (in increments of 1,000).
• Go back to Iberia and continue with your booking as normal.

Option 3 – Transfer Ultimate Rewards to Virgin Atlantic

I’m not sure why, but it took me a while to be brave enough to book with Virgin Atlantic. I think it was because the brand wasn’t familiar to me as someone living in the Midwest USA.

Virgin Atlantic is an incredible value for people booking with almost any kind of points. Virgin Atlantic accepts Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, and Citi Thank You Points. This means that if you have a little of every kind of point, you can turn them into an amazing trip through Virgin Atlantic.

We used Virgin Atlantic to book Delta and KLM flights from Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Split, Croatia. I was thrilled that we found the flights for only 22,500 points.

One caveat – about a month before the trip, I was notified that our flights were canceled with no replacements offered, simply canceled and refunded. I was obviously concerned, since we had an entire trip booked and wanted to take it. I called Virgin Atlantic and eventually, they were able to offer me the same flight leaving the previous day. This led to some adjustments in our schedule, but overall, was ok.

I tell this story to emphasize that booking through a partner airline can carry some amount of risk. It’s much easier to deal with Delta when you have booked with them directly than to deal with Virgin Atlantic with regards to Delta or KLM. The same goes for dealing with British Air when flying their partner, American.

The good news is that things have always worked out fine for me when booking with a partner airline – it can just involve additional hassle.

To transfer points and book on Virgin Atlantic is similar to the other airlines.

Step 1: Create a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account.

Step 2: Search for flights.

You’ll have to be patient. Sometimes it takes quite a while to find available flights on Virgin Atlantic.

Step 3: Transfer points from Chase to Virgin Atlantic.

• Once you have your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club membership number, log in to your Chase account.
• Find your Sapphire account.
• Click on Ultimate Rewards.
• Once you’re in the Ultimate Rewards section, click on transfer points.
• Choose Virgin Atlantic and transfer the points you need (in increments of 1,000).
• Go back to Virgin Atlantic and continue with your booking as normal.

Final thoughts

It takes some time and work to learn about these transfer partners and to get comfortable using them. I’ve heard some people say it’s not worth it and they’ll just use the Chase travel portal. That’s a totally valid choice – it just depends on your travel goals.

There’s great value to be found in British Air, Iberia, and Virgin Atlantic. Transferring points to these programs can take your travel ideas from dreams to reality.