Ultimate Rewards points redeemed by people with the Ink Business Preferred and Ink Business Plus cards will be worth 25% more—1.25 cents rather than 1 cent each—when redeemed for statement credits on select online advertising and shipping purchases as well as eligible charity donations, Chase said Monday. Freedom, Freedom Flex, and Freedom Unlimited cardholders also can now get the 25% boost when using points for donations, and the existing Pay Yourself Back promotion on the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve cards has been extended for another seven months. Before Pay Yourself Back was launched in May, Ultimate Rewards points were always worth the standard 1 cent each when redeemed for statement credits. Chase first applied the promotion to the Sapphire cards, so that statement credits for certain purchases got the same preferential rate as travel booked through Chase. Similarly, until now, Ink cardholders could get the 1.25-cent value only when booking travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, and Freedom cardholders had no option for getting more than 1 cent per point on the cards. The existing Pay Yourself Back promotion for Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve cardholders will now last through April 30, 2021, as opposed to its initial end-date of Sept. 30. Under that promotion, cardholders can continue to get a higher value when redeeming points for purchases made at grocery stores, restaurants (takeout or delivery), and home improvement stores. Points are worth 1.25 or 1.50 cents each, respectively—just as they are when used to book travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. The changes take effect Thursday and last through at least the end of the year—longer in the case of the Sapphire cards (and there is no end date set for the Freedom card promotions). Participating charities include Feeding America, Habitat for Humanity, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, and United Way.
