We all know that the greatest value in Ultimate Reward points is to use them for travel. Whether you pay directly for travel through the shopping portal using your points (getting up to 1.5 cents per point, depending on your card) or transfer them to a travel partner, there is a lot more value to be had than 1 cent per point.
Ultimate Reward Points Worth 20% More on Apple Products
Link: No link – login to your Chase Ultimate Rewards account through your Chase Sapphire Reserve to see the offer
For a limited time, Chase is offering a “deal” to Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders that will increase your value of Ultimate Reward points by 20% – when you use them to buy Apple products. So, now your Ultimate Reward points would be worth almost same value as if you used them to pay for travel with cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred (which gives a value of 1.25 cents per point on travel). Is this a good deal?
I do not believe this is a good deal for a few reasons:
- You won’t earn points on the purchases of Apple products when you use points – and you can earn up to 4 points per dollar with the right card (Amex Business Gold)
- This is only for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card – which lets you redeem directly for travel at 1.5 cents per point so you lose value with the Apple redemption
- This is being handled directly through Apple so you will pay sales tax at the time of purchase vs buying from a retailer that does not charge it for your state
- You are paying full price and it is very easy to get many Apple products at discount – especially from Amazon
Chances are that if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you are interested in travel. For that reason and the ones above, unless you are insanely points rich and cash poor and really wanted a new Apple device, take a pass on this deal. It is not worth it for most of us.
Promo Details:
- Each point you redeem for Apple merchandise in the Apple® Ultimate Rewards® Store from 10/11/2019 – 11/15/2019 is worth $.0120, which means that 100 points equals $1.20 in redemption value.
- If you choose to use points and your Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card to pay for your purchase, each point will be worth $.0120, but your credit card will be charged the full remaining dollar amount.
- For example, if you choose to buy a $120 item and pay for half using points, you would use 5,000 points and your credit card would be billed $60.
