1. The points or miles are almost never transferable to other programs. You may not transfer "miles" in the program to any airline miles account, and thus you may not combine these miles with real airline miles.
2. Usually the only way to earn "miles" is by spending money on the card. Unlike real airline miles programs, you cannot earn "miles" via telephone offers, financial offers, etc.
3. The points or miles usually expire after a period of time, usually two or three years. So you must be certain that you will spend enough on the card within that time period to get the award you want. This may mean that for a ticket you will have to know where you want to go, and when, within that time period.
4. Some programs say you can get a certain type of ticket for a certain number of points or miles. The number of dollars you must spend on the bank credit card to get this type of ticket is often less that you must spend on a regular airline credit card. Usually there are no blackout dates on the ticket - if it is available, you can have it. Sometimes there is a dollar value cap on the ticket, and sometimes you can make up the difference.
5. Other programs give you a dollar credit towards a ticket for a defined number or points or miles. Beware of these types of programs. You are at the mercy of the bank's travel agent, who may or may not be able to buy the lowest price ticket for the flight you want. Ask if the agent has access to intent fares and consolidators. If no to either, avoid the program.
6. Some programs may prohibit you from buying a business or first class ticket, either via a dollar cap, or by simply not listing it as an award. This would be a deal breaker for me, as I do much of my travel on international overnight flights on which I need a business class ticket in order to sleep.
7. By purchasing airline tickets through a third party like this agent, Orbitz, Travelocity or Expedia, you take the risk of miscommunication between that company and the airline, with neither company taking responsibility for it. There have been numerous complaints on travel discussion boards regarding what happens if a flight is cancelled or changed so that a connection can no longer be made. The complaints involve either not being notified of the change, and/or neither company taking responsibility for rebooking you.

Chase cards earning Ultimate Rewards points.

Chase cards offering Ultimate Rewards points are bank points cards that I know of that I am certain is useful. They are the Chase Sappire Prefered card described below, the Chase Ink Bold(SM) with Ultimate Rewards card described below, and the Chase Freedom card desribed in my Credit Cards > Free Cards > Cash Back Cards section. All earn points combinable with the Chase Sapphire(SM) Preferred points if you have the Sapphire card. The Sapphire and Freedom cards are personal cards; the Ink Bold card is a business card. I see no reason why you can't get both.

Ultimate Rewards points in your Sapphire account can be tranferred to Continental, United, or Korean Airlines or British Airways miles or Southwest Airlines or Amtrak points, or Hyatt, Priority Club, or Marriott hotel points, 1,000:1,000.

After you get your card, be sure to check out the shopping deals on the Ultimate Rewards website in its shopping section. Log in, then click on Earn Points in the menu to the left, then on Shop the Ultimate Rewards Mall. People rave about the mega extra point given for shopping at certain popular merchants. On January 25, 2012, I saw on deal for 25 extra points/$1 spent, a few for 15 and several 10 points extra, and a very large number of merchants with extra points for purchase. The number of points from specific merchants vary over time.

Chase Sapphire® Preferred Card:

• Limited Time Offer - Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months- that\'s $625 toward travel!
• 2 points per dollar spent on travel and dining & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
• Use 20% fewer points when you redeem for travel. Just book your flight, cruise, or other travel through Ultimate RewardsSM
• No foreign transaction fees
• Earn a 7% annual points dividend - even on points already redeemed
• Transfer points you`ve earned to participating frequent traveler programs at a 1:1 value
• 24/7 direct access to expert service advisors (No voice recording)
• No Annual Fee for your first year - A $95 value

  Apply Now!

The 2 points per dollar spent on travel includes

• Dining establishments (including caterers)
• Airlines, airports, car rental agencies (including truck, trailer, and RV), cruise ships
• Hotels and motels and timeshares
• Local and commuter transportation (including trains, buses, taxis/limos, ferries, bridges, tolls, and parking)
• Travel agencies
• Plus, still 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases
• For these types of purchases this makes this card very competitive with every miles collector's favorite, the Starwood card. Starwood has a terrible conversion rate to Continental Airlines, anyway. So I would use the Starwood card for their other airlines that convert 20,000 points to 25,000 miles, but use the Sapphire Preferred card to acquire Continental/United miles for the special purchases listed above. Remember, though, that Sapphire points convert in 1,000 point increments.

  In my experience this card offers the best customer service of any card I have ever owned.

The Million Miles Secrets blog has compiled an excellent list of over 40 ways to meet the minimum spend requirement. Its readers added more.

On July 10, 2011, Chase Bank's website was offering this card for only 25,000 points. You are welcome.

I like transferring points to Continental or United. But Million Mile Secrets likes transferring the points to certain hotel programs, an opinion about which it would be well worth reading, along with subsequent comments. It all depends on how you would use the points or miles.

You may transfer any number of points to another Ultimate Rewards member for free. The terms and conditions say that the person to whom you transfer must be your spouse or domestic partner, but in my experience on September 21, 2011, they don't ask. So if you have some extra lefover points when you decide to close your account, you may transfer them to someone else instead of losing them. Or if you need a certain number of miles in your United/Continental account, combining Ultimate Rewards points first, then transferring them, might help.

Details of the 7% bonus: You will receive a yearly bonus of 7% of all points you earned in the previous Year. “Year” means, for your first year as a cardmember, the period beginning with your Enrollment Date through your December statement date of that same year. For each year thereafter, “Year” means the twelve month period beginning the day after your December statement date through your December statement date of the next year). Your bonus will appear on your January or February billing statement. So, if you time this right, by getting the card in, say, March, you could get the 7% bonus without paying the annual fee, though many will find the benefits of the card well worth that fee.

• That 7% applies to the bonus 50,000 and the 3,000 from the required spend, yielding another 3,710 points. “Year” means calendar year. You can expect the 3,710 to show up in your account around February or March of 2012, well in advance of when you have to pay the annual fee if you get the card mid to late 2011. You would then want to spend another $290 on the card to bring your total up to 4,000, as points transfer in 1,000 point increments.

Lesser offers:

• 25,000 points for spending $3,000 on the card in the first three months.
• 15,000 points for spending $1,000 on the card in the first three months.

For all offers:

• Most of the usual bank dedicated card benefits are also listed - air fare purchase with points, gift cards, merchandise, car rentals, hotels, etc. I leave it to you to read about them, keeping in mind my warnings at the beginning of this page.
• Notice that the Visa logo is not shown anywhere on the online offer. I called (866) 378-9751 to ascertain that this is a Visa credit card. If this is important to you, you should make the same phone call.
• Be sure you apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, not the Chase Sapphire card.
• You can read the latest on this card at this Flyertalk discussion. Please tell me about any substantial changes in this offer. Thanks.

Ink Bold(SM) with Ultimate Rewards

• 50,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 in 3 months - that\'s $500 in rewards of your choice, or $625 towards airfare when you redeem online through our Ultimate Rewards booking tool
• No limit to the number of points you can earn - and points do not expire
• 5X points per dollar on the first $50,000 spent annually on eligible business purchases
• No foreign transaction fees and Free Employee Cards
• No interest or over limit fees
• No Annual Fee in the first year - that's a $95 savings

  Apply Now!

This card earns the same Ultimate Rewards points as does the Chase Sapphire Preferred card described above. The Sapphire Preferred Ultimate Rewards page has a vague "Redeem points at leading airlines and hotels" statement. But after you receive the card, you can log into your Ultimate Rewards account to see all of the rewards, including these and many, many others.

This is a business card. I see no reason why you can't get both a personal and a business card, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and this Ink card.

 

Many of my readers seem to like these cards, perhaps because they also get ThankYou points from their Citibank checking accounts. My research assistant, Kelly Posey, assures me that points are convertible to cash or useful travel gift cards. (It appears to me that the best you can do is 1 cent/point, but please correct me if I am wrong.)

Apparently you can redeem points for travel purchases (probably via the ThankYou travel agent) at the rate of 1 Thank You point = 1.33 cents. This is probably a good deal if you travel domestically in cattle class only, but it is usually not a good deal vs. airline miles for cattle class international travel, and is definitely not a good deal vs. airline for business or first class anywhere.

So I relent and list the offers here.

The Million Miles Secrets blog has compiled an excellent list of over 40 ways to meet the minimum spend requirement. Its readers added more. Also, it points out that the ThankYou cards would be good for families seeking domestic award tickets. If you can get miles awards for only some of your family, you can use the ThankYou Points to get the remaining tickets you need on the same flight.

Citi ThankYouSM Premier Rewards Card - $500 in Gift Cards

• You can find this offer on the CreditCards.com cash back cards page. Last I looked it was on page 1. Scroll to "Citi ThankYouSM Premier Rewards Card - $500 in Gift Cards".
• Please tell me when this offer disappears. Thanks.
• 50,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after $2,500 in purchases within 3 months of account opening - enough for $500 in gift cards
• 1 ThankYou point/$1 spent on purchases
• No foreign transaction fees on purchases
• Annual complimentary domestic companion ticket, within the continental USA, when booked through our travel benefits provider, Spirit Incentives
• No points cap and no expiration of points
• 200 points for signing-up for Account Online and 200 points for enrolling in Paperless Statements. Bonus points are awarded one time for new enrollments. If you are already enrolled in these programs, you will not receive bonus points. All points become available for redemption when they are transferred from your Card Account to your ThankYou Member Account.
• $125 annual fee waived the first year.

All of the following offers have no annual fee.

Citi ThankYou(SM) Premier Rewards Card - $300 in Gift Cards

• $300 gift card- Redeem 30,000 bonus ThankYou®Points after $1,500 in purchases within 3 months of account opening
• 1 ThankYou point for every dollar you spend on purchases
• Earn points for the miles you fly when you purchase a ticket with your Citi ThankYou Premier Card.
• No foreign transaction fees on purchases*
• Annual complimentary domestic companion ticket within the continental USA, when booked through our travel benefits provider, Spirit Incentives
• No points cap and no expiration of points

Apply Now!

The annual $125 fee is waived the first year.
You can earn 200 points for signing-up for Account Online and 200 points for enrolling in Paperless Statements.

Citi ThankYou(SM) Preferred Rewards Card - $250 in Gift Cards

• $250 in gift cards - When you redeem the 25,000 bonus ThankYou® Points received after $2,000 in purchases within 3 months of account opening
• Earn 1 point for every $1 you spend on all purchases
• Receive an anniversary bonus every year you\'re a cardmember
• No expiration and no limit on the points you can earn
• Redeem ThankYou Points for merchandise, travel rewards, gift cards, cash and more
• No annual fee*

  Apply Now!

Citi ThankYou(SM) Preferred Rewards Card - $100 Gift Card

• $100 gift card - When you redeem the 10,000 bonus ThankYou® Points received after $500 in purchases within 3 months of account opening
• 0% Intro APR on Purchases and Balance Transfers for 12 months. After that, 12.99%-22.99% variable*
• 5 ThankYou Points for every $1 spent on purchases at gas stations, supermarkets and drugstores for 12 months and 1 point for every $1 spent thereafter and for all other purchases*
• Enjoy no limit on the number of points you can earn
• Redeem ThankYou Points for merchandise, travel rewards, gift cards, cash and more
• No annual fee*

  Apply Now!