Chase Ultimate Rewards: What Your Card Lets You Do

What the rewards agreements for five Chase personal cards say you can do with your points: redeem them, move them between cards, or transfer them to travel programs.

Published by Greg M., Editor in Chief · Updated November 7, 2026

Suppose Jordan has a Chase Freedom Unlimited card and sees $50 in rewards. Priya has a Chase Sapphire Preferred card and sees 5,000 points. In one sense they hold the same amount: Chase counts Freedom cash back as points, at 100 points per $1, so $50 × 100 = 5,000 points.

What they can do with those points isn’t the same. Their cards come with different rewards agreements, and the agreements list different options. This reference covers five US personal cards: Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, Freedom Unlimited, Freedom Flex and Freedom Rise. It isn’t a recommendation to apply for any of them.

Find the card behind the balance

Start with the exact card, because each one has its own agreement:

• Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve. The agreements call the rewards “points”, also called Ultimate Rewards points.
• Freedom Unlimited, Freedom Flex and Freedom Rise. The agreements call the rewards “Cash Back rewards”, tracked as points, with each $1 of cash back equal to 100 points.

All five agreements describe one cent per point as the value when you redeem for cash, gift cards or travel. For Jordan and Priya, 5,000 points × $0.01 = $50 through those options. That’s a baseline for the options named, not the value of every redemption. Both Sapphire agreements say Chase may offer promotions worth more than one cent per point. The agreements say other options may be worth more or less.

What each card’s agreement allows

“Not listed” means the transfer option doesn’t appear in the agreement we read for that card. It isn’t a promise about every future offer.

Three different things you can do

Redeem through Chase. You can take cash as a statement credit, or as a deposit into an eligible Chase account in the United States. You can also book travel through Chase Travel, which may charge a service fee if you book by phone. If you pay with points directly at another merchant, Chase says the value may be lower than redeeming through the program itself.

Move points to another Chase card. All five agreements let you move points only to another Chase card with Ultimate Rewards that belongs to you or one member of your household. You can’t move them if either card is prohibited from earning or using points at the time. The agreements don’t define “household”.

Transfer to a travel program. Only the two Sapphire agreements list transfers to airline and hotel programs. Transfers go in 1,000-point increments, to a travel program account that belongs to you or to one additional household member who is an authorized user on your account. Once you’ve transferred to an authorized user, that person is the only authorized user who can receive transfers. You can still transfer to your own accounts.

Can Jordan’s rewards reach a travel program? Jordan’s agreement doesn’t list transfers. If Jordan also held a Sapphire card, moving points to it and transferring from there would combine two separate permissions: combining and the Sapphire transfer option. That’s our reading of the agreements, not a route they spell out or that we’ve tested. Our worked example with two Chase cards shows how such a pair is used.

Check before you transfer

A transfer can’t be undone. The Sapphire agreements say transferred points can’t be refunded and the transaction can’t be cancelled. Before you move anything:

• Confirm the card. Among the five agreements reviewed here, the Sapphire agreements list the travel-program transfer option; the Freedom agreements do not.
• Confirm the recipient. It must be your account, or the one eligible household authorized user’s. The name and details must match the travel program account, or the transfer may be delayed or refused.
• Check the ratio Chase shows you. This reference deliberately doesn’t list partners or ratios. They aren’t in the agreements, and the programs that take part can change without notice.
• Allow time. Chase says most transfers process by the next business day but can take up to seven business days, depending on the program.
• Look for a fee. A transfer fee may be charged; Chase says it will tell you before you transfer.

Our guide to transfer partners, ratios and timing walks through a transfer step by step.

Before you close or change a card

Under all five agreements, points don’t expire while the account is open. But you can lose all of them immediately if the account is closed, or its status changes, for misuse, fraud or the other reasons listed. If the account closes for another reason, you’ll have at least 30 days from the closure date to use your points, as long as you haven’t lost them under those provisions. If you don’t use them in that window, the agreements say you lose them unless law limits or prohibits that forfeiture; in that case, unused points are redeemed as a statement credit instead.

Before closing a card, check which redemptions or movements remain available while your account is eligible, and make your plan before closure. Our guide to closing or downgrading a card covers the steps.

Where this reference stops

This page covers the five agreements and what they say about your options. It doesn’t cover earning rates, annual fees, welcome offers, business cards or partner lists. Chase says it won’t give advance notice of changes within particular redemption options, so check your card’s current terms before acting. For booking with Points Boost offers, see TravelTutor’s guide to Chase Points Boost. For choosing between bank currencies, see what to check before choosing a currency.

Sources: Chase rewards agreements for Sapphire Preferred (RPA0551_0560, dated 04/13/2026), Sapphire Reserve (RPA0550, 10/16/2025), Freedom Unlimited (RPA0509, 09/11/2025), Freedom Flex (RPA0534, 09/11/2025) and Freedom Rise (RPA0540, 09/11/2025). We checked them on November 7, 2026. The dates are the documents’ own; they aren’t rule effective dates. To report an error, email hello [at] accel-media [dot] com, replacing [at] with @ and [dot] with a period.