Ask an Award Booker: “How Can I Use My Points to Visit New York AND Quebec City?”

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Million Mile Secrets reader Caroline commented:

Thanks so much for this offer!  My husband and I have been collecting points but aren’t sure how to redeem them.  We’re going to a wedding on the Jersey Shore in May, and are thinking of flying something something like:  Seattle to Newark May 22;  Newark to Quebec City May 28;  Quebec City to any New York City airport June 4;  any New York City airport to Seattle June 7.

We have:

• 374,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points
• 95,000 Alaska Airlines miles
• 43,500 Best Western points

We’re booked into a Marriott for the wedding and will stay with a friend in New York City, but would like suggestions for Quebec.  Thanks so much for your help!

Good news, Caroline!  You’ve got a few options.

We’ll show you how to best book your flights using Chase Ultimate Rewards points, and hotels using your stash of Best Western points or Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Book Flights Using Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

Link:   Step-by-Step Video Guide to Transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

Link:   How to Use the United Airlines Award Chart

Chase Ultimate Rewards points give you a ton of flexibility when it comes to booking flights.  You can transfer your points to a number of different airline partners like United Airlines, British Airways, Flying Blue (Air France / KLM), and others!

Because you have a stopover in New Jersey / New York, you’ll have to book separate award tickets for your Seattle to Newark / New York round-trip, and your Newark / New York to Quebec City round-trip.

Booking Seattle to New York

The best option for the flight from Seattle to New York is to use United Airlines miles because they have non-stop flights between these cities for 12,500 United Airlines miles per person in coach each way.  United Airlines is a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner.

You can search for your award ticket on the United Airlines website, and then transfer the miles from your Chase Ultimate Rewards account.

But I’ll also show you another option that may cost fewer points.

Step 1.    Navigate to the United Airlines website

Navigate to the United Airlines website to start your search.  Note that this will not require you to sign-in if you’re just searching for an award.

Step 2.    Enter Your Flight Details 

Look towards the center of the screen and find the “Book travel” heading.  Enter your details for the Seattle to Newark flight here.  Because you’re flying to and from New York, let’s book a round-trip award from Seattle to Newark.

Why?  Newark is just a 45-minute train ride from downtown Manhattan on NJ Transit.  Often this is faster than taking the subway from JFK!

Click the “Search” button when you’re ready!

Step 3.   Find the Flight That Best Fits Your Schedule

Search through the list of flights.  There will be a number of non-stop flights and one-stop flights, so find the one that best fits your timing.

Unfortunately, many of these flights are available only to folks with elite status or who have United Airlines co-branded credit cards, like the United MileagePlus® Explorer Card.  Otherwise, on these particular dates, you may not see these flight options available for only 12,500 United Airlines miles.

Instead, you’ll see flights for 60,000 United Airlines miles, which isn’t a good deal!  If you fall into this category, you can skip ahead to step 7 to see the next best option.  You’ll want to read step 7 anyway because, depending on the cards you have, you might be able to save points!

If you find a flight that fits your schedule, click “Select”.  Then, you can pick your return flight, but don’t book it just yet!  Skip to step 7 to see how you could potentially save miles.  If that doesn’t work, continue to step 4.

Step 4.    Transfer Your Points From Chase to United Airlines

Now, sign into your Chase account and transfer 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United Airlines.  Navigate to Chase’s website and sign-in.  Then, scroll to the bottom of your Chase account and click into the Ultimate Rewards portal.

Step 5.    Click Transfer to Travel Partners and Transfer to United Airlines

Here’s a video guide on how to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to airline and hotel partners like United Airlines.

Click the hamburger menu and click “Transfer to Travel Partners”.  Then, find United Airlines on the screen and click on it.  You’ll be prompted to add your United Airlines frequent flyer number to your Chase account and transfer points.

Step 6.    Follow Steps 1 to 3 Again and Complete the Booking!

Now, go back through steps 1 to 3 and click “Select” on the return booking.  Then, click the “Purchase” button at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.  You’ll now be prompted to enter your and your husband’s information and book the flights.

Step 7.   Check How Much Cash Fares Cost

Fortunately, cash fares aren’t always too expensive on this transcontinental route. On your travel dates, there’s a Delta flight available for only $275 per person, round-trip, as long as you are okay with basic economy and flying into New York (JFK) instead of Newark (the cheapest flight into Newark is quite a bit more at $353 per person).

The same flights without the basic economy restrictions cost $325 per person.  This itinerary involves a direct flight on the outbound and only one stop on the return.

Step 8.   Book Through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal

Using your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book this flight is still an option by going through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal.

You want to redeem your points for travel.  If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, your points are worth 50% more when you redeem for travel (with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card, they’re worth 25% more).

Then, just like any other online flight search, you’ll need to enter your departure city, destination city, and dates of travel.

From there, the Chase travel portal will give you flight options available to pay for with points.  Remember, your points are worth different amounts depending on which card you have.  If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you could get the basic economy fare for only 18,333 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per person (1.5 cents per point)!

If you don’t want to worry about the basic economy restrictions, your price will jump to 21,666 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per person.

If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred instead of the Chase Sapphire Reserve, your points are only worth 1.25 cents each, so these same tickets will cost more points.

From there, select your flights and enter your passenger information, then pay with your points.  Here’s a video guide that will help.

Booking Newark to Quebec City

Depending on available award flights for your trip, you have 2 potential options.

United Airlines currently flies 2 daily non-stop flights from Newark to Quebec City.  There are also a number of one-stop Air Canada and United Airlines options.

If you fly on United Airlines, this would only cost you 10,000 United Airlines miles each way if you can find dates with available Saver awards.  The Air Canada flights would cost a minimum of 12,500 United Airlines miles.

You would start at Step 1 above to see if there are saver award flights available for this route.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see saver awards around your dates. But you still have hope!

There’s a round-trip flight on Air Canada for $254 which you can book through Chase Ultimate Rewards for price similar to using United Airlines miles.

To book these flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards, start with Step 7 above, replacing the route.

If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred, your points are worth 1.25 cents each, and you would be able to book this itinerary for both passengers for 41,272 Chase Ultimate Rewards points!   If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, it would cost you even less.

Booking Hotels in Quebec City

A hotel you might want to investigate is the Delta Hotels by Marriott Quebec.  This is one of Marriott’s newest brands and the hotel features modern rooms, a pool, and on-site restaurant.  Million Mile Secrets team member Jasmin stayed at a Delta hotel in Calgary last year and had an excellent experience.

You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott at a 1:1 ratio, but we don’t typically recommend doing that because there are many more valuable transfer partners.  Currently, this hotel costs 40,000 Marriott points per night or 24,500 Marriott points and $147 per night.

It’s worth checking the cash price and the number of Chase Ultimate Rewards points you’d need to book this through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal.  If the paid rate is relatively cheap, you’ll end up paying far fewer points this way.

If you’d rather use Best Western points, the Best Western Plus City Center costs 28,000 Best Western points per night, so you have enough for one free night.  You could pair a free night with a couple of paid nights.

Using your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book a Best Western hotel through Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel is also an option.

When we searched, the Best Western (and many other hotels!) were available for booking with Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, with points worth 1.5 cents each, it would cost you only 8,433 points per night when booking through Chase Travel.

It’s in situations like this where the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal really shines!

Bottom Line

Redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points for a multi-stop trip from Seattle to New York and Quebec City will take some planning.  Finding low-level award seats on United Airlines could be tricky.

But booking flights (and hotels) through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal could save you a ton of points.  It’s worth checking out!

Thanks for the question, Caroline!  Let us know how you do with your planning and how the trip goes!