What are Chase Ultimate Rewards points worth?

Chase Ultimate Rewards® offers cardholders a wide range of redemption options — from cash back to booking luxury travel. But the value that you'll get from your Chase points depends on which redemption option you use.

At the very least, you should get one cent per Chase Ultimate Rewards® point when redeeming for cash back. However, by taking advantage of the other redemption options, you may be able to get much more value from your Chase points.

The first step is understanding all of the choices. Let's dive into all your options for redeeming Chase points so you can have a better understanding of what your Chase points are worth.

Before we dive in, here's a quick overview of Chase credit cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card *
• Chase Sapphire Reserve® *
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card *
• Chase Freedom Flex®
• Chase Freedom Unlimited®
• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
• Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card

* You must have one of these cards to transfer Chase points to travel partners.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be redeemed for cash back at a rate of one cent per point. No matter which Chase Ultimate Rewards card you have — from no-annual-fee Chase Freedom cards to the luxury Chase Sapphire Reserve® with its $550 annual fee — you'll get the same one cent per point redemption rate.

You can opt to have the cashback credited to your account as a statement credit, or you can direct deposit your cash-back earnings into most U.S. checking and savings accounts. If you opt for a statement credit, it's important to note that this won't count as a payment. You'll still need to make at least the minimum payment on your bill. 

For the Chase credit cards branded as cash-back cards, redeeming points for one cent per point in cashback is the primary way to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards points. However, cardholders of other Chase Ultimate Rewards cards (such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card) can get a higher value of 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.

Chase cardholders can generally redeem Ultimate Rewards® points toward gift cards at a rate of one cent per point. That means there's no advantage to buying gift cards with Chase points rather than redeeming points for cash back.

There's one exception. Chase will sometimes discount the number of points you need to buy gift cards. You can often get 10% to 15% off, which increases the redemption value to 1.11 to 1.18 cents per point.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be used to book travel through the Chase Travel℠. The redemption rate that you can get will depend on what type of Chase credit card you have:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve: 1.5 cents per point
• Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: 1.25 cents per point
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: 1.25 cents per point
• All Freedom-branded and other Ink-branded cards: One cent per point

To get this redemption rate, you'll need to book travel through Chase Travel℠. Through Chase, you can book flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises and activities. You'll search for the travel you want to book and at checkout, you can pay with a combination of points and cash.

Eligible Chase cardholders can redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards for eligible purchases through the Pay Yourself Back feature at a rate between 1 and 1.5 cents per point.

This redemption option is a bit tricky, but it can yield a slightly higher value. The eligible rotating categories and redemption rate depend on the type of Chase card you have.

Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders can typically redeem points for 1.25 to 1.5 cents per point. Chase Sapphire Preferred and Freedom cardholders can expect a redemption rate of up to 1.25 cents per point. Categories for consumer cards have included purchases at grocery stores, gas stations, contributions to eligible charities and others.

Chase Ink Business Preferred, Ink Business Premier℠ Credit Card and Chase Ink Plus cardholders typically have a redemption rate of 1.25 cents per point. The no-annual-fee Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card and Ink Business Cash® Credit Card both usually can redeem points for 1.1 cents each toward purchases in Pay Yourself Back categories. Typical rotating categories for business cards include internet, cable, phone services and shipping.

The option to redeem Chase points at a fixed value between one and 1.5 cents per point is great. However, the way to get outsized value from your Chase Ultimate Rewards points is by transferring points to Chase's travel partners.

By utilizing the right Chase partner, you can book hotel rooms for 5,000 points per night or business-class award flights to Europe for 50,000 points each way. These high-value redemptions can yield much more than 1.5 cents per point in value.

The catch: not all of Chase's airline and hotel partners provide the same value. IHG Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy points are typically worth less than one cent per point. So for partners like this, it can make more sense to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points through the Chase Travel Portal rather than transferring points to these programs.

Instead, you'll want to focus on options like British Airways, Iberia, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and World of Hyatt. And you'll generally get the best redemption value for luxury travel — such as business-class flights and suite night awards.

For example, you can transfer Chase points to Iberia and book a one-way off-peak business-class flight from New York JFK to Madrid on Iberia for just 34,000 Iberia Avios points and around $109 in taxes and fees. That flight currently costs $2,129, yielding a net value of nearly six cents per point.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is a great way to book Delta awards to Europe. You can fly round-trip to Europe in Delta business class for 100,000 Virgin Points. That may seem like a lot of points, but the same flights cost $4,500 or more — that's a 4.5 cents per point redemption rate.

Or you can use Hyatt points to book nights at luxury hotels, like the Park Hyatt Maldives for 25,000 to 35,000 points a night. Rooms at these hotels can go for $1,000 or more, getting you a redemption rate of around three cents per point.

Chase gives cardholders the ability to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Shop With Points, but these options should be avoided. For example, Chase points can be redeemed for 0.8 cents per point for Amazon purchases.

There's no reason to go for this redemption rate. You'll save points by making an Amazon purchase with your Chase credit card and then use the cash-back option to redeem points at one cent per point to cover the purchase.

If you have the right combination of Chase credit cards, you can move points between accounts and boost the value of those points.

For example, the Chase Freedom Flex® earns 5X points on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in a rotating category each quarter, then 1%. If you only have the Chase Freedom Flex card, you can only redeem these points for cash back at one cent per point. However, you can boost that redemption rate by combining the points you earned with your Chase Freedom Flex with points earned with a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Ink Business Preferred, or Chase Sapphire Reserve account.

By moving your points to one of these accounts, you can then transfer these points to Chase's airline and hotel transfer partners or redeem them at a higher rate through the Chase Travel Portal or Pay Yourself Back. If you fully maximize your spending and redeeming, you can get 7.5 cents per dollar spent by earning at 5X through the Chase Freedom Flex and then redeeming those points for a higher value with the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be worth less than one cent per point or over 4 cents per point — depending on which Chase card you have and which redemption option you use. At the very least, all cardholders should aim to get one cent per Chase point, which is the value when you use the cash-back option.

Chase Sapphire Preferred and Ink Preferred cardholders should aim to get at least 1.25 cents per point, as that's the redemption rate for booking travel through the Chase Travel Portal. And Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders should try to get at least 1.5 cents per point. However, with a little planning, Chase Sapphire and Ink Preferred cardholders can get even more value than this by transferring points to Chase's airline and hotel partners.

Catch up on CNBC Select's in-depth coverage of credit cards, banking and money, and follow us on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date

Information about the Chase Freedom Flex® has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.