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Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
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How I used Chase points to book a $1,200-a-night suite in Tokyo
Nick Ewen is TPG's editor-in-chief and helps readers leverage credit cards (he has more than 25 of them) and loyalty programs to travel more for less. He's been at TPG for over 11 years.
August 30, 2020 • 8 min read
The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don't cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
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By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
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Quick summary
A traveler describes how they rebooked a postponed Asia trip using points and miles for flights and hotel stays.
They leveraged transferable points to book a suite in Tokyo, achieving significant value compared to paying cash.
The booking process involved transferring points to a hotel loyalty program, which enabled immediate confirmation of a high-value suite award.
The redemption delivered nearly double the value per point compared to booking directly through a travel portal.
What to consider
Some offers referenced in the article are no longer available, so current options may differ.
Award availability for upgraded rooms can be limited and may require flexibility when planning.
Transferring points to travel partners can yield higher value than redeeming directly through a portal, but availability and rates can vary.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed walkthrough of how to maximize value by transferring points to hotel loyalty programs for premium room bookings.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
I've had to cancel or postpone numerous trips due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but the one that hurt the most was a two-week jaunt that would've taken me, my wife and daughter through Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand — originally scheduled for May and June of this year. While all of my hotel reservations were refundable, I was also able to get my money (and miles) back for all of my flights by waiting patiently for the airlines to cancel or change the itineraries.
Now, I'm working to recreate a largely-similar trip in 2021 — and I've just snagged a redemption for which I am particularly excited.
Read on for more details on how I used Chase Ultimate Rewards points to snag a gorgeous suite in Tokyo that would've otherwise set me back almost $1,200 per night.
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The earning
Of course, before I could use points to book a gorgeous hotel room, I first needed to earn them. Fortunately, Chase Ultimate Rewards has a variety of options for doing just that, and I have what I believe to be the perfect quartet of Chase cards:
Chase Freedom: (No longer open to new applicants) Allows me to earn 5% back on rotating bonus categories (up to $1,500 in combined purchases each quarter)
Ink Business Cash Credit Card: Allows me to earn 5% back on office supplies and telecommunication services (on up to $25,000 in combined purchases in each category per account anniversary year); 1% back on all other purchases
The Sapphire Reserve has been especially rewarding over the last few months, as Chase has added a number of enhanced bonus categories in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. First came 5x points on grocery purchases for the months of May and June (up to $1,500 per month in combined spending). Then, the issuer added new bonuses that run through Sept. 30, 2020 — including 5x points on gas purchases and 10x points in select streaming services (both of which apply to the first $1,500 in combined purchases).
And even though the Chase Freedom, Freedom Unlimited and Ink Cash cards are all technically cash-back cards, I can combine those points under my Sapphire Reserve to effectively "convert" them from cash-back earnings to fully-transferable Ultimate Rewards points.
By strategically using these cards across various merchants — and occasionally going through the Ultimate Rewards shopping portal — I'm able to build a large balance of Chase points. These, in turn, can then be put toward a variety of valuable rewards.
The planning
Part of my trip will include JAL business class. (Photo by Nick Ellis/The Points Guy)
As we set about recreating our trip, we knew we wanted to hit some of the same destinations — ideally using Alaska Airlines miles we'd accumulated over the years. After some searching, we were thrilled to find three business-class awards on Japan Airlines from New York-JFK to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) on the exact date we wanted.
Then, after a little more digging, we realized that we could leverage Alaska's free stopover option on award tickets to spend a couple of nights in Tokyo before continuing on from Tokyo-Narita (NRT) to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (SGN). In all, we spent 195,000 Alaska miles plus just $119.10 in taxes and fees.
Our return flight will check off a major #AvGeek bucket-list item for me, as it will include Singapore Airlines' nonstop flight from Singapore (SIN) to Newark (EWR) — the world's longest.
The hotels in Southeast Asia matched our previous trip exactly, which left just one item: the two-night stay in Tokyo.
Traveling with our daughter is incredible, but we always enjoy having extra space in our accommodations. As a result, we focused our search on properties that would allow us to book right into a suite. And given Tokyo's notoriously-expensive reputation, this quickly led us to the conclusion that we'd be using points. While both Marriott and Hilton allow you to redeem points for upgraded rooms, availability is hit-or-miss, and the award rates can be very high.
Enter Hyatt, which recently started allowing suite awards online. And a quick search through Hyatt's website landed us on the Hyatt Centric Ginza Tokyo. A standard room would be 25,000 points per night, while a suite would set us back 40,000 points per night — and give us more than double the space. Sold!
I logged into my Chase account, launched the Ultimate Rewards portal and navigated to the "Transfer to Travel Partners" section. Since I had already linked my World of Hyatt account number, it took just a few quick clicks before 61,000 Chase points where on their way to becoming Hyatt points.
Screen shot courtesy of Chase Ultimate Rewards
Sure enough, after logging out of and then back into my Hyatt account, the points appeared. I reran the search for my two nights, and the room was mine for the booking.
Screen shot courtesy of Hyatt
Within mere minutes of deciding to make the transfer, my reservation was confirmed.
The value
Here's why we promote transferable points so frequently here at The Points Guy. If I had booked a paid, member rate directly with Hyatt, that two-night stay would've set me back ¥251,988 (or ~$2,390.19 based on current exchange rates).
Screen shot courtesy of Hyatt
Hotels.com would've been $50 higher and required prepayment — though I could still cancel for free.
Screen shot courtesy of Hotels.com
And using Chase points directly through the Ultimate Rewards portal? That would've been a cool 64,405 points per night excluding taxes and fees — which would've boosted the nightly rate to over 81,000 points.
Screen shot courtesy of Chase Ultimate Rewards
Instead, by transferring my Chase points to World of Hyatt I was able to book both nights for less than the price of a single night through the Chase portal.
Now, that's not to say that redeeming Chase points directly for travel — or using the new Pay Yourself Back feature — has no merit. There are times when an airline or hotel doesn't release award availability, and I've used my Chase points in this way for inexpensive flights when I wanted to keep cash in my wallet.
Nevertheless, this is a clear example of the outsized value you can get from credit card rewards — especially those that allow transfers to travel partners.
I am incredibly excited for my family's recreated Asia trip next year, and I hope that the world of international travel will allow it to happen. If all goes to plan, my Chase points will have enabled me to book a luxurious hotel room in Tokyo that would've otherwise been out of my budget.
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
