Your guide to booking nearly free travel with Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partners

There are myriad ways to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for travel, but which way is the best?

While the answer to that question depends largely on your lifestyle, one thing is for certain: Only the best Chase credit cards can unlock the full potential of your rewards:

Let’s take a look at how to transfer Chase points to partners — and why you’ll want to.

As long as you’ve got one of these cards, you can convert your points into airline miles and hotel points for nearly free travel. If you know what you’re doing, you could be flying in lie-flat first-class seats across the Atlantic and booking free all-inclusive resorts with little effort.

How to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are some of the easiest rewards currencies to earn. Many of its credit cards earn them quickly with large welcome bonuses and strong return rates for common purchases.

Even many Chase credit cards marketed as “cash back” (such as the Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom Unlimited®) actually earn Chase points that can be transferred to valuable airline and hotel partners indirectly (we’ll discuss that a bit later).

Below are the credit cards that allow you to transfer points directly to Chase travel partners.

Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partners

As long as you’ve got an annual fee-incurring Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card (namely, the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve or Ink Business Preferred), you can convert your Chase points to travel rewards in the following programs.

View this interactive content on CNN.com

However, there are a few things to consider before transferring your points.

How to transfer Chase points to partners

To convert Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you’ll first need to sign into the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal using the same login credentials you use to access your online credit card accounts.

On the landing page, you’ll find a tab at the top that says “Earn/Use” along with your current rewards balance. Click on that to reveal a drop-down menu. Then click the “Transfer to Travel Partners” button at the center of the menu.

Here you’ll find a full list of airlines and hotels that partner with Chase. Before you can make a transfer, you’ll need to select the program you want to use and add your loyalty number. If you aren’t currently enrolled in the specific airline or hotel, you’ll need to create an account on that travel program’s website first.

After you’ve linked your accounts, you’ll quickly move to the final step: entering the number of points you’d like to transfer. Your transaction must be in 1,000-point increments.

Chase point transfers are usually instant but could take several days depending on the program you transfer points to. In our experience, transfers to Singapore KrisFlyer and Marriott Bonvoy usually take one to three days to process.

Aer Lingus AerClub

Aer Lingus is the flag carrier of Ireland. It uses an award currency called “Avios,” something it has in common with other airlines such as British Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Qatar Airways.

Aer Lingus prices its award flights according to “zone,” so the farther you fly, the more you’ll pay for a seat. The airline also enforces peak and off-peak travel dates, which affect the price.

While Aer Lingus tends to charge just enough taxes and fees to be an annoyance, you can find some screaming deals to Europe. For example, you can fly Aer Lingus from Chicago to Dublin in economy for just 13,000 points and $125.50.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Apart from the class of cabin, Air Canada Aeroplan prices award tickets (PDF link) based on three things:

If that sounds overly complicated, that’s only because it is. But Aeroplan is hugely valuable once you learn the program’s intricacies.

For example, you can use Aeroplan points for travel on its Star Alliance (and non-alliance) partners to get nearly anywhere on the planet. Some partners outside of Star Alliance include Azul, Emirates, Etihad and others.

The program also allows stopovers for (most) international award flights for a flat 5,000 points so long as you’re not flying within North America. Plus, it charges just 2,500 points to add a lap infant on international awards on any class of travel.

To boot, Air Canada famously charges low taxes and fees. You won’t pay exorbitant fuel surcharges when booking award flights with Aeroplan points, but you will pay a partner booking fee of $39 Canadian dollars (approximately $28.80 US dollars) when booking award tickets on a partner airline.

British Airways Executive Club

British Airways Executive Club is one of the most useful tools in an award traveler’s utility belt. But the program isn’t devoid of overcomplication.

As a member of the Oneworld airline alliance, you can use your Avios points for a flight to get virtually anywhere in the world. Avios are especially useful for domestic flights on American Airlines and Alaska Airlines since they’re not Chase transfer partners.

The price you’ll pay for your seat (besides class of travel) depends on:

It sounds worse than it is. A bit of hasty research can help you find all kinds of good deals. For example, you’ll pay just 11,000 points and $15.60 in taxes for a one-way coach flight from Charlotte to Turks and Caicos. That flight otherwise costs nearly $350 at the time of writing.

Emirates Skywards

The value of Emirates as a Chase transfer partner has seesawed over the years due to devaluations and increasing taxes and fees. At present, the program is rarely the optimum booking channel to get where you want to go.

However, there are exceptions. While Emirates doesn’t abide by an award chart (making it difficult to mine sweet spots), it certainly has utility for some niche travel itineraries.

For example, you can fly round trip from New York to Milan on Emirates for just 45,000 miles and $142 in economy class. That’s a good 15,000 to 30,000 miles less than what you can expect to pay via programs like American Airlines AAdvantage and United Airlines MileagePlus, but taxes and fees are a bit higher.

Transferring Chase points to Emirates is also the hands-down best way to book Emirates first-class seats, which have become a rite of passage for award travel enthusiasts. Depending on your route, you’ll enjoy things like an onboard bar, a spacious lavatory with showers or even a fully enclosed suite.

Air France-KLM Flying Blue

Flying Blue is the joint loyalty program of both Air France and KLM. Since both airlines are SkyTeam members, it’s easy to redeem these miles for flights to just about anywhere in the world.

Flying Blue doesn’t publish an award chart, but it tends to price its awards in zones. For example, business-class flights from the US to Europe usually start between 50,000 and 55,000 miles, which is a great deal. However, the price you pay can vary by route, date and other factors.

You can also find decently priced Delta award flights on Flying Blue, both domestically and internationally. This is especially useful as Delta SkyMiles isn’t a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner.

Finally, Flying Blue has monthly Promo Rewards that offer discounted award tickets between select destinations. These change monthly, so keep an eye on the loyalty program’s website for the latest promotions.

Iberia Plus

Iberia, the flag carrier of Spain, comes with an upside similar to other airlines that use Avios as their reward currency. Award flights are priced based on flight distance, peak/off-peak travel dates and the airline you fly.

In fact, Iberia is one of the best ways for those based in the East Coast and Midwest to fly to Europe in comfort. You can book one-way flights from New York, Boston or Chicago to Madrid for just 17,000 Avios in economy or 34,000 Avios one-way in business class on off-peak dates. You can see Iberia’s off-peak award calendar on the airline’s website.

Prepare to pay over $100 in taxes and fees for a lie-flat award seat, which is far cheaper than booking with Avios partner British Airways.

JetBlue TrueBlue

JetBlue TrueBlue prices its award flights according to the cash price. In other words, if JetBlue is having a sale, both the cash and points price will be lower.

You can count on getting a value of roughly 1.3 cents per point when transferring Chase points to JetBlue. It’s not an incredible offer, but it’s a surefire way to get at least a reasonable value for your redemption.

Whether you should transfer your points to JetBlue largely comes down to which Ultimate Rewards credit card you have.

Those with the Chase Sapphire Reserve likely never have a reason to transfer points to JetBlue — unless the goal is to simply top-off a JetBlue account with a few more points to achieve an award flight.

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

Singapore Airlines is a member of Star Alliance, so you can use the program’s miles to book flights on many different airlines all over the world. You’ll often find award prices for seats on other airlines to be considerably cheaper than had you booked directly with the airline you’re flying.

For example, you can fly round trip on United Airlines domestically to Hawaii for 19,500 KrisFlyer miles one way, plus minimal taxes and fees.

You can also get good deals on Singapore Airlines’ own flights when you transfer Chase points to KrisFlyer miles. This is especially true if you leverage Spontaneous Escapes, which are the airlines’ last-minute award deals that change every month. Generally, you have to book these by the end of the month and fly by the end of the following month.

At the time of writing, you can use Spontaneous Escapes to book a last-minute flight from New York-JFK to Frankfurt (FRA) on Singapore Airlines for just 56,700 miles in business class.

Southwest Rapid Rewards

Southwest is extremely customer-first with its policies of free changes and cancellations up until 10 minutes before departure, two complimentary checked bags and generally affordable flights. Better yet, Chase points also transfer to Southwest Rapid Rewards.

Southwest flies to lots of fun destinations within the US (including Hawaii), and it also flies to a handful of spots around Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

Similar to JetBlue TrueBlue, Southwest’s award prices are directly proportional to its cash fares. You can expect to get a value of around 1.4 cents per Southwest point. If you’re happy with that value and you do a lot of travel domestically, this could be a good destination for your Chase points.

United MileagePlus

United MileagePlus rarely offers jaw-dropping value for its miles. Instead, its main draws are:

United Airlines doesn’t have an award chart, so you’ll have to manually search for your desired route and date to know how much you’ll pay. The price can change dramatically from day to day.

As an example, you can see the seemingly random pricing when looking at a weekly calendar between Austin (AUS) and Newark (EWR), with prices ranging from 9,700 miles to 33,700 miles depending on the day you book.

The takeaway is that — for United-operated flights — if you have flexible dates, you can find some great deals

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Virgin Atlantic is a SkyTeam member, which allows you to book flights on partner airlines such as Delta, Air France and Korean Air. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club offers unique award charts for travel on these partners as well as on its own metal.

There are plenty of great deals (some of the best in the world of award travel, in fact). For example, you can book Delta One business-class award tickets from the US to Europe for just 50,000 points, plus minimal taxes and fees. However, it’s often difficult to find award space.

That said, if you’re OK with paying taxes and fees, redeeming Virgin points for Virgin Atlantic flights can be a great way to save money and award space is plentiful, even on peak travel dates.

As a quick example, you can book a one-way flight from New York-JFK to London-Heathrow (LHR) on Virgin Atlantic for just 10,000 points. The catch is that you’ll pay $151 in taxes and fees on economy flights and more for premium cabins, but that’s often far less than paying for a coach ticket.

IHG One Rewards

IHG One Rewards has over 6,000 properties around the world with recognizable brands like Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and InterContinental, among others. It’s also added new brands to its portfolio like Atwell Suites and Voco.

IHG award nights typically range between 10,000 points and 100,000 points per night. However, luxury brands like Six Senses may charge more per night depending on when you travel.

That said, it’s difficult to get even 1 cent per IHG point in value, so it’s usually a bad option for your Chase points. You’re almost always better off reserving your IHG hotel stay through the Chase Travel Portal for 1.25 cents or 1.5 cents per point (depending on which Ultimate Rewards credit card you hold) or saving your points for another redemption.

Marriott Bonvoy

Marriott Bonvoy is the largest hotel chain in the world with more than 500,000 rooms across 8,000 hotels. It’s got an excellent mix of budget and luxury options.

Travel website The Points Guy values Marriott points at 0.85 cents per point, and in our experience, this is accurate. So, similar to IHG, you’re likely to get more value from your Chase points by booking your Marriott stay through the Chase Travel Portal.

That’s not to say it’s always a bad deal. If you need to top-up your account with a few thousand points for a free night, it could be a smart move. Chase also occasionally offers 50% transfer bonuses to Marriott, which makes transferring your Chase points to Marriott a considerably better deal.

World of Hyatt

World of Hyatt is considered by many to be the most valuable Chase transfer partner. There are two reasons for this.

Hyatt is one of the few programs that still uses an award chart. You’ll pay between 3,500 and 45,000 points per night for a standard room. In short, this means that a property’s award price is confined to a small range, no matter the cash price of the room.

This makes it possible to get an expensive room for a small number of points. For example, a stay at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek during ski season costs $1,376 per night.

But the same room costs just 45,000 Hyatt points. That gives you a value of more than 3 cents per point — a top-tier use of Chase points.

Hyatt’s biggest downfall is that its international footprint is a small fraction of its competitors. It has over 1,300 properties (as well as additional points-accepting properties from its various partnerships). You’re likely to find Hyatt in cities and at popular destination, but don’t count on finding them in small towns or areas that are off the beaten path.