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Believe it or not, Hilton Honors isn’t a Chase Ultimate Rewards® transfer partner. You can’t directly transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to Hilton. However, there is a backdoor way. Here’s how you can use your Chase rewards at a Hilton property.
How To Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to Hilton Honors
If you’re willing to make a phone call, you can convert your Ultimate Rewards points into Hilton Honors points at a 1:1.5 ratio. This isn’t as good as the 1:2 American Express Membership Rewards to Hilton Honors ratio, but it’s another flexible and valuable way to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
If you own the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you might consider this strategy the next time you want to stay at one of the Hilton brands.
To turn your Chase Ultimate Rewards into Hilton Honors points, you must first transfer them to Virgin Atlantic.
Because this transfer strategy requires several steps, it may not be the best option if you need to redeem your Hilton Honors points immediately. But it’s a good way to maximize your points if you can wait a few days and only need a few thousand points to book a Hilton reward stay.
Otherwise, you might consider one of the best Hilton credit cards if you frequent the hotel often.
Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to Virgin Atlantic
Chase has several airline and hotel 1:1 transfer partners. The magic partner for this transfer is Virgin Atlantic. You will need to create a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account. Also, you will only be able to transfer Flying Club miles to your Hilton Honors account.
It’s extremely important the member name on your Virgin Atlantic account matches your Hilton Honors account holder name. Virgin states in the transfer terms and conditions that, “Your name on your Flying Club membership account must match exactly with the name on your Hilton Honors account for a successful transfer.”
You can transfer Ultimate Rewards to Virgin Atlantic in 1,000-point increments. Virgin Atlantic only transfers points to Hilton Honors in 10,000-point increments. If you don’t have an existing Virgin Atlantic points balance, you will need to transfer at least 10,000 Chase points.
Call Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Helpline
The next step is to call the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Helpline and provide your Hilton Honors account number. U.S.-based members can call 1-800-365-9500. This is the only way to initiate the transfer process from Virgin Atlantic to Hilton Honors.
Every 2 Virgin Atlantic miles are worth 3 Hilton Honors Points. You must transfer in 10,000-mile increments.
This makes 10,000 Flying Club miles worth 15,000 Hilton Honors points. That’s an effective 1 Chase Ultimate Rewards to 1.5 Hilton Honors points transfer ratio.
It can take up to 30 days for the transfer to complete. Note that you can’t book a Hilton stay with these points until the transfer completes.
Virgin Atlantic states the miles you convert into Hilton Honors points cannot be exchanged back into your Flying Club account. The transfer ratio is only 10,000 Hilton Honors points are only worth 1,500 Flying Club miles.
Book Your Hilton Honors Night Stay
After the transfer completes, you can redeem your points through Hilton Honors. Rewards nights start at 5,000 points per night. Hilton Honors Silver, Gold, and Diamond members can get their 5th night free when booking at least five consecutive award nights with points.
Besides booking award nights, there are several other ways to redeem Hilton Honors points.
Is This a Good Transfer Option?
Being able to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to Hilton Honors is a good idea when you don’t need to redeem your points within 30 days. The transfer from Chase to Virgin Atlantic will happen almost instantly. The larger unknown is how long it will take for Virgin Atlantic to complete the transfer. Although Virgin Atlantic says it can take up to 30 days, the transfer time can be shorter.
Another reason to consider this transfer option is if you don’t have a card that earns American Express Membership Rewards®. If you have both a Chase and American Express travel rewards card, you can get more miles for your effort.
Chase Travel Redemption Bonus
This “backdoor transfer option” is a witty way to make your Chase Ultimate Rewards points worth more. But if you need to redeem your points immediately or don’t want to take the extra step of calling Virgin America, another option is booking a Hilton hotel night directly through Chase.
The Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal displays hotel results powered by the Expedia travel booking site. If you find a deal you like, you receive a travel redemption bonus.
That bonus is 25% for the Chase Sapphire Preferred which makes each point worth 1.25 cents. Your Ultimate Rewards points are worth 50% more (1.5 cents each) with the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
You won’t be able to draw from your current Hilton Honors balance if booking directly through Chase. However, this redemption bonus can be as helpful as transferring your points through Virgin Atlantic first. Chase also lets you pay with points and cash so you may not have to use as many Ultimate Rewards points either.
Airline Miles vs. Hotel Points
You must also consider the potential redemption value of airline miles and hotel points. Airline miles historically have higher redemption values (see the best miles credit cards for more options). But this isn’t always the case.
This is also one of the few airline transfer partners where you can get more miles transferring out of the frequent flyer program. Many airline-to-hotel mile/point transfers offer low transfer ratios, and you’re better off redeeming them for flights. That’s not necessarily the case with this transfer method.
Of course, anytime you pay with points means fewer dollars you need to spend today to book your travels. This transfer option gives you another tool to maximize your award travel.
Summary of Transferring Chase Points to Hilton
In conclusion, transferring Ultimate Rewards to Hilton Honors requires a couple of steps. This is an exciting transfer option if you plan on booking Hilton Honors nights with points. It can also be an easy way to multiply your Hilton Honors points balance.
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“Another reason to consider this transfer option is that you technically get a better ratio than the standard 1:1 American Express Membership Rewards ratio directly to Hilton Honors”
Don’t MR points transfer 1:1.5 to Hilton Honors points?
MR points currently transfer on a 1:2 ratio which is higher than the Ultimate Rewards transfer. The article is updated to show the correct transfer ratios.
Do I need to get another credit card with Virgin Atlantic?
Here’s the latest 80k Virgin Atlantic credit card offer: https://johnnyjet.com/virgin-atlantic-credit-cards/
Do not do this. Instead buy Hilton points when a purchase bonus is available. Under such circumstances you can get a Hilton point for half a cent.