Chase added a new Travel Partner into their current fleet of Airline Partners. Now you can transfer to Emirates, which is an excellent airline for Business or First Class travel. You can transfer from Chase UR to Emirates at 1:1 redemption rate. This is particularly exciting as other Credit Card Rewards programs also allow transfer to Emirates such as Amex Membership Rewards at 1:1 and Capital One miles at 2:1. Marriot Bonvoy also allows transferring at 3:1.
Now, how does this Emirates partner sweeten the deal, especially when it comes to Chase Ultimate Rewards? In general, for any rewards redemption, you transfer to airline partner and book at their website. Emirates does have higher taxes and fees when it comes to Award redemptions.
Economy Booking and Business Upgrade
Look at the redemption below, for JFK to MUM on a business class travel, 110,000 miles and $867 in taxes and fees.
Now, there is a way to pay those using Ultimate Rewards points using 1.5X redemption and use the miles for an upgrade. Let’s take a look at the below example for the same route and see how many UR points required.
Book Emirates Economy Flex Fare using Ultimate Rewards. This costs 54,372 points at 1.5x redemption.
This Eco-Flex fare allows upgrading to the business at 74,750 miles. Saver Fares also allow upgrades, but those are available only at Check-in and are very restricted. Getting a Flex fare is not that much more in comparison to a Saver fare.
Redeeming a whopping $6,412 business class fare for 129,122 Ultimate Reward points is definitely a great deal in our book.
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