Chase Ultimate Rewards is saying goodbye to one of its 11 airline transfer partners. The program plans to end its partnership with Emirates at 12 a.m. on October 16, with the company first reporting on Wing. We have confirmed this in the Chase app as well.
This isn’t the only bad news from Emirates this year.
Emirates has suffered a devaluation in the hands of two other transfer partners over the past few months. Citi Thanks for your rewards for reducing its transfer ratio from 1:1 to 5:4 in July, while the American Express membership rewards will be announced to follow suit, starting September 16.
In May, the program began redeeming top-notch rewards to elite members, which made carriers’ luxury suites impossible for many travelers.
While losing the option of a transfer partner is rarely a good thing, the news may not upset many of the ultimate reward members. Emirates’ Skywards has lost so much value in recent years that shifting the Chase point to the program is no longer a popular redemption option.
In view of the recent restructuring of a series of transfer partners, other Emirates transfer partners may follow the example of the UAE transfer or abandon the plan altogether. But for now, you can still transfer Bilt Rewards points and capital to Amirates at a 1:1 ratio, meaning these rewards will be cashed further.
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On October 16, Emirates left the Chase Ultimate Rewards Program, should you consider transferring points if they are still OK? Usually, the answer is no. Since transfer points are irreversible, we do not recommend transfer points until you have redeemed and confirm the reward availability.
Bottom line
If you wish to use the Chase Ultimate Rewards Points for Emirates’ redemption, you have to transfer them by October 15 – so start searching for these reward flights now. (We love seating. For this purpose.)
Apart from that, Chase still has many other airline transfer partners, and you can get a lot of value from your point of view.
Editorial Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are the individual of the author and not the opinions of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
