Question
Has anybody had any experience with Chase Travel Rewards? Specifically I want to know:
1) When you redeem points for a ticket with a max value, of say $500 (as opposed to a certificate) are these like paid tickets? IE, do you earn miles status miles etc?
2) When you redeem points for a higher class award like for First Class, but the cap is say $2,500 dollars, are you allowed to book in business and pay what will be a lesser fare differential? Or must you book in first if it says first?
Thanks in advance.
Answer
I have redeemed them a while ago and again today. In the past, the tickets did show up just as an agency purchased ticket. You accrue full miles and status and the fares are upgradeable, etc. based on the ticket fare basis.
In my case I purchased AA tickets that were in the $680 range and was charged the $180 fare difference + $18 per ticket processing fee.
As far as First Calss tickets, I do not have experience but they may be able to treat BizFirst as First. They were reasonable in the past but procedure may be stricter now (contact number is at chasetravelrewards.com)