Hopefully you have never thought of redeeming your Chase Ultimate Reward Points for gift cards. If that thought has gone through your mind (*shakes head*), I would really recommend that you read What are 65,000 or 85,000 Chase Ultimate Reward Points Worth? (With Short Answers and Colorful Charts!) before doing anything with your Chase Ultimate Reward Points.
Anyways, I just receive the following email from Chase and wanted to make a Public Service Announcement (PSA) to everyone.
Like my friends over at The Flight Deal say, “Just because it’s a great fare doesn’t mean it’s a great deal.” Just because something looks like a great price, doesn’t make it a great deal.
Plus, when was the last time you thought Kohl’s, Lands End, Darden Group, Outback, or Regal Movie gift cards were a good deal? If you want a good deal, read Buy Gift Cards for up to 30% Off with Gift Card Granny.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.
I know this is forever ago (in internet years), but I don’t understand from your post why purchasing gift cards with UR points is such a bad deal… I mean, if I want to travel or something, I can understand that since they are worth much more for travel currency. But if I just want to eliminate some costs from my budget (like gas via Home Depot gift cards), it seems very reasonable to exchange for gift cards since they have a relatively good 1:1cent rate for all gift cards. Am I missing something? Obviously, the example gift cards you pointed out are bad, but Home depot and target are good buys.
You should check out gift card reselling site giftcardgranny.com since most merchant gift cards are sold at a discount. Home Depot gift cards are currently being sold for a 7% discount: http://www.giftcardgranny.com/buy-gift-cards/home-depot/
I’ve been trying to figure that out too, like what is wrong with an amazon gift card? (or maybe I should just buy something from amazon get my 1% back then do the cash back to pay it off…)
Nothing is wrong with getting an Amazon gift card, but there are ways of getting greater value from your Chase Ultimate Reward Points.
I’m wondering the same. I’m debating getting this credit card, since we are traveling to Peru in a couple of months and I’d like a card with no foreign transaction fees and the sign-up bonus is awesome. I currently have a Citi Rewards card and love it… get gift cards all the time, but it has a 3% FTT. The thing is, my fiancée and I are not huge travelers so while I get that it’s a bigger value to use points for travel stuff, we don’t really travel that much at all – maybe once a year. Is it even worth it to get this credit card? :) Thank you for your help.
If you like redeeming points for gift cards, then keep doing that. Do either you or your husband have any credit card that provides no FOREX fees?
Nope, we don’t. :( That’s why I was considering getting this card. After Peru, we are also going to our honeymoon in October. After that, I don’t foresee us traveling for a couple of years, since we’re hoping to start a family very soon.
Thank you for taking the time to respond.
I am a big fan of the Citi Premier Credit Card – but the sign up bonus is currently not offered. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great card if you only want one card from Chase that can do pretty much everything Enjoy your upcoming trips!
Helpful discussion . I Appreciate the insight . Does anyone know where my company can acquire a template a form version to complete ?
7% is the extent of the discount at gift card brokerage sites these days? If so how cheap can one’s mind get when considering $500-$1000 in free goods? That’s an extra $35-$70–if that’s a serious consideration for you, you may want to see a psychiatrist. Consider this instead–the $500 in “free” goods one receives from these cards is actually coming from the 20%+ the underwriting bank charges poor people who can’t pay their bill in full. So instead of buying services, consider buying gift cards and donating a portion to a charity each time you get one of these credit cards. Once our poor population has been fully drained by the wealthy and middle class we’re not going to have a stable economy, which means no more free $500 gift cards.
Very disappointed that the uber gift card I got through freedom rewards is apparently invalid.
Uber no help, freedom rewards say they will get back to me in 10 days. What a waste of time & money. Nothing will get to me now in time for my trip.
Keep checking back every day to see if the GC issue is resolved. I’m sorry your purchase was not easy.
I swapped 7500 points for an Amazon Gift Card on Aug. 11, 2023. It never came. I call Chase once a week and nothing happens. I finally called them a week ago and ask to get my points back and a week later nothing has happened. Once Chase customer service person told me there is nobody they can talk to to get this resolved.
Hi Randy, I am sorry to hear about that experience with Chase. I would try to reach out to Chase on social media (Facebook or Twitter) and see if those reps can help you out or refund your 7,500 points.