2 Valuable Perks That Make Chase Travel Cards Special

Chase is known for having some of the best travel credit cards. All the travel cards in its Ultimate Rewards program (the Chase Sapphire cards and one of the Chase Ink business cards) have large welcome offers, earn bonus points in several spending categories, and include complimentary travel protections.

While those are useful features, you can find them on travel cards from other card issuers. But Chase travel cards also have two more unique perks -- and they could help you save thousands.

1. Up to 50% more value per point

Many travel cards let you use your points to pay for cash travel bookings. With most of these credit cards, you get a value of $0.01 per point. If you have 100,000 points, you could use them to pay for $1,000 in airfare, hotel stays, or other types of travel.

Chase travel cards offer 25% to 50% more value. When you book through Chase Travel, you get a value of $0.0125 to $0.015 per point, depending on which Chase card you have. Here's the value you get with each of Chase's travel cards:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: $0.0125 per point (25% more value)
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®: $0.015 per point (50% more value)
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: $0.0125 per point (25% more value)

If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, 100,000 points could save you $1,250 on travel. If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you get an even better deal -- 100,000 Chase points could save you $1,500 on travel bookings.

This makes it easy to redeem Chase points and get a good value out of them. Just use Chase Travel to search for what you want. You can use it to book hotels, flights, activities, and car rentals online. You can also call to book cruises and tours. When you're ready to book, use your points to cover as much of the cost as you'd like.

2. Transfers to Hyatt

Chase also lets you transfer your points to its travel partners. The Chase Ultimate Rewards program has over a dozen airlines and hotels where you can transfer your points. Other credit card rewards programs give you this option, as well. The difference between them is the lineup of partners.

Chase Ultimate Rewards is notable for being the only program that lets you transfer points to Hyatt. What makes Hyatt so special? With most hotel programs, you don't get much value for your points.

A $300 room may cost 60,000 or 70,000 points per night. That's a value of $0.005 or less per point. It wouldn't make sense to transfer your points there for such a low value -- they'd be worth more if you used them to book in cash.

Hyatt is the exception. You can get amazing value by transferring your points to Hyatt and booking an award stay with them. For example, I once transferred 145,000 Chase points to Hyatt to book a hotel stay in Manhattan. It would've cost $5,634 in cash. Thanks to my Chase points, I didn't have to pay anything. I got nearly $0.04 per point in value.

Two great reasons to get a Chase travel card

It's important to evaluate how you can use your points when you're choosing a travel card. And Chase gives you a couple of options that most card issuers don't.

You'll get more value per point for bookings through Chase Travel, allowing you to stretch your points further. And you'll be able to send your points over to Hyatt, which no other card issuer offers. If those sound like useful perks to you, then it may be time to pick out a travel card offered by Chase.