Quick Points: Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points before downgrading your card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees) is one of our favorite travel credit cards at TPG. This card earns valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points, giving you access to some of the best hotel and airline transfer partners. You can also earn Ultimate Rewards points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees) and the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (see rates and fees).

Ultimate Rewards points are flexible because you can decide when and where to transfer your points and how many to transfer. For example, you might transfer some points to World of Hyatt to book a hotel room for as little as 3,500 points or to Air Canada's Aeroplan program to book a business-class flight to Europe for 60,000 points.

However, if you're thinking about downgrading your Chase credit card, here's an important step to consider before doing so.

What to consider before downgrading your Chase card

If you currently hold a Chase Sapphire card, you may be considering downgrading to a no-annual-fee Chase card, such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (see rates and fees) or the Chase Freedom Flex® (see rates and fees), to protect your credit history and/or earn a welcome offer.

However, if you're looking to earn a Chase welcome bonus, note that you won't be able to if you currently hold that card in your wallet or have earned a bonus on that card in the last 48 months.

If you still decide to downgrade your card, your Ultimate Rewards account will still be active, but it is important to note that you can only transfer Ultimate Rewards points to travel partners if you have an active Sapphire card or an active Ink Business Preferred Card.

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Related: Complete guide to downgrading and product-changing to welcome bonuses on Chase Sapphire cards

Therefore, if you downgrade your Chase card to one of the Freedom cards, you can still redeem your Chase points for discounted travel or cash back at a rate of 1 cent per point with the Ultimate Rewards platform. However, you will lose the ability to transfer your points to airline and hotel partners.

So, if you have a favorite loyalty program that you regularly book through, you may want to transfer your Chase points before downgrading your card. For example, you can transfer your points to Air Canada's Aeroplan to book Star Alliance partner flights. Just know that transfers are irreversible, so be sure before transferring your rewards.

If you don't want to transfer your points and instead wish to redeem them before downgrading, you can also redeem your points on Chase Travel℠ for up to 2 cents per point, depending on the card and the specific redemption (see your rewards program agreement for full details). But, if you utilize transfer partners, you could potentially get a greater redemption value, as TPG values Chase points at 2.05 cents per point in our April 2025 valuations.

Bottom line

If you plan to downgrade your Sapphire card and have a favorite transfer partner (aka one you use frequently), consider transferring your Ultimate Rewards balance to that partner (or several) before downgrading your card. When utilizing transfer partners, getting more than 1 cent per point in value is easy.

Otherwise, you will need to wait until you are approved for a Sapphire or Ink Business card again before you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards points.