How to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are one of my favorite transferable rewards currencies due to the sheer number of high-value airline and hotel loyalty programs these points let me access. I often transfer Chase points to Hyatt, but you can also transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to many other partners, including United MileagePlus.

Here’s how to transfer Chase points to United Airlines and other things you should know before transferring your Ultimate Rewards points.

How to transfer Chase points to United

Before learning how to transfer Chase points to United, make sure you have a MileagePlus account. If you don’t, head to United’s website, click “Join now” and create an account.

To transfer Chase points to United, head to the Ultimate Rewards website, log into your account and select your Ultimate Rewards earning card (if you have multiple). You should land on a dashboard page for the card account you selected. For example, here’s the dashboard for my Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Click on the “Travel” dropdown at the top of your dashboard, and then select “Transfer points to partners.”

You’ll go to a page showing all the Chase transfer partners. Scroll down, and then click on the United row. Doing so will take you to an information page about transferring Chase points to United.

Transfer Chase points to United — CHASE.COM

If you want to continue, click “Transfer points” to reach a page where you can enter your United MileagePlus information (if you haven’t already enrolled your account with Chase Ultimate Rewards). In the example below, I’d transfer Chase points to my United MileagePlus account.

If you have an eligible authorized user on your account, you could transfer to them. For example, I’ve already enrolled United MileagePlus accounts for my husband and myself for my Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card‘s Ultimate Rewards account, so I could transfer Chase points to either of our United accounts.

On the next page, enter the amount of Chase points you’d like to transfer to United. You must transfer at least 1,000 points and can only transfer in increments of 1,000 points.

Click “Next” to reach a summary page before clicking “Submit” to confirm your transfer request.

The transfer from Chase to United will usually occur instantaneously but could take up to seven business days.

Chase to United transfer ratio

The Chase to United transfer ratio is 1:1. You must transfer Chase points in increments of 1,000 points, which means you can convert 1,000 Chase points into 1,000 United miles. You might occasionally find a transfer bonus that boosts the Chase to United transfer ratio, but these are rare.

Based on TPG’s valuations, Chase points are worth 2.05 cents each, and United miles are worth 1.32 cents each. You’ll lose theoretical value when you transfer Chase points since transferable points are inherently more valuable. But, as we’ll discuss in the next section, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t transfer Chase points to United.

Related: Best Chase credit cards

Should I transfer Chase points to United?

As you read this guide, you might ask yourself whether you should transfer Chase points to United. This question has a lot of complexity, so I can’t tell you whether you should transfer Chase points to United without understanding your specific situation.

However, United MileagePlus isn’t the most valuable Chase transfer partner based on our valuations. For example, while our valuations peg the value of United miles at 1.32 cents each, we value some other Chase transfer partners higher; this includes World of Hyatt at 1.7 cents each, as well as British Airways Avios, Air Canada Aeroplan and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at 1.5 cents each.

Woman using a card — FRESHSPLASH/GETTY IMAGES

So, you may want to reserve your Chase Ultimate Rewards points for transfers to these higher-value partners — especially if you haven’t accrued a massive stash of Chase points. But, you can get much higher value from United miles on some redemptions. Check out our guide on redeeming United miles to get started, then read our guide about maximizing United MileagePlus redemptions for more tips on getting the most value from your United miles.

Even if you’re only getting 1.32 cents per point when transferring Chase points to United, this is higher than the 1.25 cents per point you can get when redeeming points for travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. So, if you have a lot of Chase points or don’t want to book awards with higher-value transfer partners, transferring Chase points to United might be right for you.

However, if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can get 1.5 cents per point when redeeming through the Chase Travel portal. Because of this, Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders should ensure they’ll get at least 1.5 cents per mile on their United award before transferring Chase points to United.

Woman outside holding credit card and looking at her phone — BLACKCAT/GETTY IMAGES

How to earn Chase points

If you want to transfer Chase points to United, you may also be curious about how you can earn more Chase points. Here’s a list of some major cards that participate in the Chase Ultimate Rewards program and are currently accepting applications:

Some of these cards earn cash-back rewards instead of points, but you can combine rewards from all your Ultimate Rewards cards into a single account. If the account you use to collect all your rewards is your Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred account, you’ll have a stash of points you can transfer to Chase transfer partners.

Bottom line

Now you know how to transfer Chase points to United.

It can be daunting the first time you go to transfer Chase points. However, once you decide to transfer Chase points to United and find an award flight you want to book, follow the steps above to transfer the number of points you need to book your award flight.

Remember, you must transfer in increments of 1,000 points, so you may need to transfer slightly more points than you need to book your flight.