Who Can I Share Ultimate Rewards Points With?

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are the most valuable rewards currency out there. They’re flexible, offer valuable transfer partners, and are easy to redeem. But between the 5/24 rule and concerns over shut downs, earning them has become more difficult. Luckily, Chase does allow points to be shared between accounts. This makes it much easier to accrue these points.

The question I always get asked is “Who can I share Ultimate Rewards points with?” The rules have changed over the years, but overall it’s gotten less restrictive. Or at least the pool of people you can transfer them to has expanded. Here is an overview of Ultimate Rewards transfer policies for personal vs. business cards:

 

Chase Ink Plus, Ink Business Preferred

If you have an Ink Plus or Ink Business Preferred card, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to an account belonging to you, someone in your household, or a business co-owner. The business co-owner must be an authorized user to qualify for a transfer. Want to transfer points directly to someone else’s airline or hotel account? This is only possible if the other person is an authorized user and either a member of your household or a company owner. That’s not a big deal since Chase doesn’t charge a fee for adding authorized users to these accounts.

Chase Freedom, Chase Freedom Unlimited, Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Preserve

Chase Freedom or Freedom Unlimited cardholders can move their rewards to another account as long as that person is a household member. Why would you transfer “cash back” to Ultimate Rewards? Because there is more flexibility in Ultimate Rewards points than cash back. More importantly, the Sapphire Preferred and Reserve both offer bonuses when you redeem your points through Ultimate Rewards Travel.

 

When it comes to transferring points from a personal account to an airline or hotel partner, pretty much the same rules apply as for the personal cards. You can transfer Ultimate Rewards to a airline or hotel rewards account belonging to a member of your household who is an authorized user on your account. Very reasonable rules, considering most people won’t want to transfer points to anyone outside of their household anyway. Sure, it sucks that they can’t be shared with friends, but overall these are very sensible transfer rules.

Ultimate Rewards transfers used to be restricted to spouses/partners only. The new rules were implemented about two years ago. A lot of people were upset, but I see this as a positive change. The pool of qualified transfer recipients has expanded, making it possible to share points with more people. Overall, this was a positive change that I think many people appreciate today – especially in light of the 5/24 rule implementation. Points aren’t as easily acquired anymore and being able to pool them together is a huge plus.

I want to hear from you: Who do you transfer Ultimate Rewards points to and how often? Did the 2015 transfer rules work out in your favor?

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