If your credit card earns Chase Ultimate Rewards®, you’re in luck. You have access to a diverse collection of reward redemption options. Among them, you’ll find gift cards to a wide variety of retailers, restaurants and other services. Redeeming your gift cards is a pretty simple process—here’s how to do it.
Step-by-Step Guide To Redeeming Ultimate Rewards for Gift Cards
Step 1: Log Into Your Online Chase Ultimate Rewards Account
To get started with a gift card redemption, you’ll need to login to an online Chase account that earns Ultimate Rewards. This includes cards from the Freedom, Sapphire and Ink families.
When you’ve arrived on your main rewards homepage, you’ll find a blue button on the top of your screen labeled Earn / Use with your available balance. Once you click on this button, another menu with your reward redemption options will appear. To the right of center, you’ll see an option for gift cards.
Clicking this option will bring you to the main gift card rewards page and some featured redemption options.
Step 2: Browse Available Gift Cards and Select Your Favorite Brand
Ultimate Rewards partners with a wide selection of retailers, nationwide restaurants, hotels and other stores or services. As of the time of publication, there were almost 200 different gift card options to choose from. For example, you will find gift card rewards with Airbnb, Amazon.com, Lowe’s, Speedway and Starbucks.
The rewards page allows you to scroll through all your options or to enter a preferred brand in the search bar. You can also filter your available options to narrow things down. For example, you can specifically look only at gift cards on sale—where you’ll get more than one penny per point toward your redemption.
Alternatively, you can filter by the type of gift card, dollar amount or whether you want a physical card to give as a gift or a digital gift card, which may be delivered more quickly.
Step 3: Designate A Monetary Amount and Redeem Your Reward
Once you click on the brand of your choice, you’ll be brought to a page where you can customize your gift card. You’ll need to choose a dollar amount for your gift card. The price in points will automatically update based on your selection. For example, a $25 gift card will require 2,500 points.
You may also have the option to choose between digital e-gift cards or delivery of physical gift cards. Once you have one or more gift cards added to your cart, you can checkout similarly to any online retailer. You’ll pay with points and all redemptions are final.
One thing to keep in mind: Chase will auto-fill the delivery address to your contact information on file with your card account. This means if you want to pass the gift card onto someone other than yourself, you’ll need to do so independently rather than redeeming a reward and having it shipped directly from Ultimate Rewards.
Should You Redeem Ultimate Rewards For Gift Cards?
Now that you know how to redeem your points for gift cards, it’s worth considering whether or not you should.
Most gift card redemptions yield a point value of 1 point per cent, meaning that a $25 card will require 2,500 points or a $100 gift card would cost 10,000 points. However, Chase sometimes offers discounts on gift card purchases. When sales occur, the value of points is slightly increased. Chase Ultimate Rewards points redeemed for gift cards with a 10% discount, for example, are worth 1.11 cents per point.
If there isn’t a sale, you are better off buying gift cards directly from the merchant and then redeeming your points as cash back to offset the purchase. For one thing, you’ll earn new rewards when making the gift card purchase. Additionally, you’ll have access to an unlimited number of gift cards rather than the selection provided by Chase Ultimate Rewards. Lastly, you’re likely to get your gift card instantly if buying in-store or an e-gift card online, compared to the processing and shipping delays required with Chase Ultimate Rewards redemptions.
Bottom Line
Redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards for gift cards is as simple as logging into your account, choosing the specific gift card you prefer, selecting a dollar amount and submitting your request. Most of the time, these rewards are available at the same value as cash back (1 point is worth 1 cent) but occasional gift card sales can sweeten the deal and make it a good option for your Ultimate Rewards.
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