The Offer
Direct Link to Ultimate Rewards gift card redemption (login required)
- Redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards points for gift cards at a 10% discount
Typically, gift cards redeem at 1 cent-per-point. With this deal, you’ll get it for 10% less, e.g. a $25 gift card will be 2,250 points instead of 2,500 points. The following brands are eligible:
- Home Depot
- Toys R Us /Babies R Us
- Kohl’s
- Sephora
- Bath & Body Works
- Build-A-Bear Workshop
- Express
- Groupon
- Lord & Taylor
- Nike
- Ulta Beauty
The Fine Print
- Expiration unknown
Our Verdict
Not sure if this deal is for everyone or targeted (maybe only showing on personal logins, not business logins?).
A lot of people get better value from their Ultimate Rewards points, for those who redeem at 1 cent-per-points this option can be useful to get a bit more value with a gift card. Home Depot gift cards especially could make sense for someone who will use them since it’s otherwise hard to buy these with any sort of discount.
Hat tip to SD
Showing some new 10% discounts in my accounts today. Best Buy, Staples, Dave & Busters, Dominos & BWW.
Wow. Interesting move by Chase. I have the offer for Freedom but not my CSR.
While I can understand both Mike’s and CtownBin’s perspectives (except the selling your UR points thing…that’s crazy!) I think there’s a bigger takeaway here: I wonder if Chase is “testing” this as a precursor/alternative to changing the value of UR points for travel?
My logic here is that pre-CSR or even pre-CSP getting discounted giftcards via UR was close to impossible. Literally, for 2 years, all they had was Kohls for 2,250 points (10% discount). Trust me…I checked pretty regularly. Because before I got my CSR, I thought this was a great use of UR points. (I.e. I am going to buy things at these stores anyway, why not save 10%?)Now that I am getting 1.5 cpp on travel or transferring them to partners, not so much.
As we all know, there has been countless conjecture if CSR will nerf their benefits now that all the Year 1 churners have cancelled their cards-especially when it comes to the travel options. Maybe, just maybe, instead of doing this Chase is encouraging people to try to spend their points on stuff other than travel???
Almost like a “carrot” approach rather than a “stick” approach that we’ve seen far too often from other issuers…..
A guy can dream, right? 🙂
I’m kinda surprised there are people considering this- it’s only 1.1 cpp and you’re not even getting straight Cash. You can redeem them for travel at 1.25 (and an even better 1.5 if you have the Reserve), and that’s not even counting all the transfer partners where getting 1.7 is on conservative side.
I think you can sell them off for 1.3 to many willing buyers as well for cash. In short, most people shouldn’t consider this.
I have lots of these points and sometimes use them for gift cards and sometimes use them for statement credit. Sure I could get a better redemption flying first class to Thailand or coach to Los Angeles but sometimes you just use free money to pay bills or get gift cards to places like a Home Depot where you are planning on spending a couple hundred dollars. To each their own right?
And brokers are a violation of the points contract and could get you account closed so you question why someone would waste points at only 1.1 and I question why somebody would risk losing hundreds of thousands for only 0.2 more.
I do agree that some of the Amex MR gift card deals are confusing at less than a point, especially 0.5 points but again if somebody has a family and needs to pay bills and uses their points for that good for them for not taking a trip that shouldn’t and can’t afford.
My wife got this on her Freedom but I didn’t on my CSP. My account is used a lot more and has a lot more points while hers is just used for 5% and transferred not sure if this has any bearing?
Not showing for me on personal or business accounts.
I’ll update as Targeted, thanks