Chase Sapphire Preferred Changes Ratio for Transfer of Ultimate Rewards Points to World of Hyatt Points
Changes are a mixed bag but Hyatt regulars won't be happy
Several weeks ago, Chase announced several changes to its Sapphire Preferred credit card benefits. Some were positive:
- Gasoline and EV charge purchases will earn Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points at 3X per dollar.
- Vacation home rentals with Airbnb, Vrbo, and others will also earn UR points at 3X per dollar.
- The hotel credit for hotels booked through Chase travel will increase from $50 to $100.
- The card now includes a complimentary Apple TV subscription.
- The card will cover the cost of Global Entry or TSA Precheck enrollment up to $120 every four years.
At the same time, Chase has dropped the 10 percent anniversary bonus on base points. While this modest bonus was a nice “thank you” every year, I doubt losing it will be a game changer for most cardholders.
The big negative change was that Chase will be devaluing the transfer ratio for card members transferring their Chase UR points to World of Hyatt points. Previously, the transfer ratio was 1:1 but the new ratio will be 4:3. In other words, 1000 UR points transferred to your World of Hyatt account will become 750 Hyatt points. For new cardholders, this ratio change starts immediately while the old 1:1 ratio will remain in place until October 1st for current cardholders.
After hearing about this new transfer ratio, my hope was that the Ink Business Preferred card, which has also offered the 1:1 transfer ratio for World of Hyatt points, would not follow with this policy. Alas, I recently received notice by mail that the new 4:3 ratio would also apply to the business card.
This change will be especially unwelcome in our household. Over the past ten years, Ms. Optimizer and I have used the World of Hyatt program and points for 110+ free hotel nights. The vast majority of these Hyatt points came from transfers of Chase UR points. In fact, just a few months ago, we used points transferred from our Chase Sapphire Preferred to stay in Hyatt hotels for 13 straight nights during a trip to Central Europe and Malta.
The new 4:3 transfer ratio will effectively lower the value of Chase points that ultimately go to the Hyatt program by 25 percent
as long as you hold only Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Unfortunately, this change in the transfer ratio comes on the heels of a recent devaluation in the value of Hyatt points due to increases in points needed for award nights at some properties.
Because Chase is honoring the old 1:1 transfer ratio for existing Sapphire Preferred cardholders until October 1st, there is time to move UR points and avoid the transfer rate change for now. Generally, I am not a fan of making prospective transfers of flexible points to airline or hotel programs until the very day they are needed for a reservation. However, given our household’s heavy use of Hyatt properties and high likelihood of future use, we will probably go ahead and transfer Chase points to the Hyatt program before that deadline.
Another possibility for those holding only a Sapphire Preferred card is upgrading to a Sapphire Reserve card at some time in the future to take advantage of the 1:1 transfer ratio. Although the Reserve has a high annual fee ($795), there are scenarios where the better transfer ratio along with other benefits might justify the card’s cost.
As someone who has made good use of the relationship between Chase and Hyatt, I am sorry to see this come to an end. At the same time, I am not surprised since this was such a great value for people interested in points and miles. What concerns me going forward is that Chase (and perhaps others who offer flexible points) will start changing transfer ratios on mid-level cards with annual fees of around $100 (such as the Sapphire Preferred card or the Citi Strata Premier card). If they do this, they will create tiers of transfer ratios to push consumers toward the much more expensive luxury travel cards. Another possibility is that varying transfer ratios might make the points and miles game more confusing.
As mentioned above, the negative changes to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card have been offset by some attractive new benefits. For consumers who are not interested in frequent Hyatt stays, it is actually a much stronger travel card now. And, the annual fee remains $95.
The points and miles world changes frequently, but one constant is that there is always opportunity for turning your routine credit card spending into less expensive and more comfortable travel. At Travel Rewards Optimizer, we keep abreast of these changes and create customized plans to help you get the most out of your travel rewards credit cards.
We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.
