If you have a Chase credit card, such as the Sapphire Preferred or Ink Plus, you have some great options for redeeming your Ultimate Rewards points for travel. Chase has nine airline partners and they include some great non-alliance partners. Delta SkyMiles is not one of the Ultimate Rewards travel partners, but it is part of the alliance, which means you can’t transfer points, but you can book a Delta flight with your Chase points. Here’s how it works.
How to Transfer Chase Points to Delta Flights
The Ultimate Rewards travel partners include Virgin Atlantic, Korean Air, British Airways, Southwest, and United. If you want to fly any of those airlines, you can simply transfer your points to their frequent flyer programs and book directly with them. Two of the travel partners, Korean Air and Virgin Atlantic, are part of the SkyTeam Alliance that includes Delta Airlines. You can transfer your points to these partners, who in turn can convert your points into Delta SkyMiles.
Which partner you choose to transfer your points to depends on where you want to fly. For example, Korean Air is best for North and South American destinations, including Hawaii. Virgin Atlantic is best for international destinations, including Europe. Say you want to fly from Atlanta to Hawaii on Delta. Here’s how you would go about transferring your points through Korean Air Skypass.
Check Availability
Go to the Korean Air Skypass website. If you don’t have an account, you can sign up for a free one on the spot. Click on “Award Booking” and then click on “SkyTeam Awards” to search for Delta flights. You will be provided with a list of destinations along with points requirements.
Reserve Your Flight
If you have already transferred your points from Ultimate Rewards, you can go ahead and book the flight you want. All flights must be booked for round trip. If you haven’t yet transferred your points, you can put your reservation on hold until you do. You may want to contact a Skypass booking agent to let them know you are in the process of transferring points.
Book Your Flight
Once your points have transferred, you can call a Skypass booking agent to complete your booking and issue your ticket.
Book Through Chase Ultimate Rewards
As an alternative, you could book your travel on Delta directly through Chase Ultimate Rewards. The value of an Ultimate Rewards point is 1.25 cents, so 100,000 points have $1,250 in flight value. You can also use your points to pay down the cost of a ticket and then pay for the balance. You should first compare the price of a ticket on the Chase website with the options available on one of the partner’s websites.
Earning SkyMiles Through an Amex Card is Your Best Bet
The Delta SkyMiles program is rated as one of the best and any one of the four SkyMiles-linked credit cards from American Express are likely your best credit cards for boosting your SkyMiles.