CNBC Points Pro: What's the best way to use Chase points for flights to Japan?

Welcome to the Points Pro, where I answer your credit cards and travel rewards questions each week. If you have a question you’d like answered, you can submit it here.

This week, CNBC senior manager Katie asks:

Katie has the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees) and the United℠ Explorer Card (see rates and fees). In addition to 70,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, Katie has accumulated 85,000 United miles.

She wants to travel from Newark, New Jersey, to Tokyo, Japan, in early November and needs to book flights for three people, including one child under two years old. She’s hoping to use miles for one flight and expects to pay cash for the others.

Here are the main ways I would consider using Chase Ultimate Rewards® points in Katie’s situation, and the option that stands out as the best approach.

The easiest way to use Chase Ultimate Rewards® points for travel is to book through the Chase Travel℠ portal or book with your Chase card and redeem points for a statement credit. With both options, your points are worth 1 cent each. If Katie wants to keep it simple, her Chase points would be worth at least $700 in flights, hotels or rental cars when booked this way.

Chase does offer a Points Boost feature, which can increase the value of points earned with the Sapphire Reserve to as high as 2 cents apiece for eligible Chase Travel bookings. This feature isn’t available on every flight, but in a best-case scenario, 70,000 Chase points would be worth up to $1,400 in flights.

Overall, this redemption option is generally the most useful when you have set travel dates, can’t find open award flights or don’t have enough points to book an award flight.

The most impactful way to use Chase Ultimate Rewards® points to travel to Japan (or almost anywhere else) is to transfer them to one of Chase’s airline partners. To unlock the ability to transfer Chase points, you’ll need one of the following Chase credit cards:

Firstly, she has 85,000 United miles and the United℠ Explorer Card. Since she already has a stash of United miles, booking with United Airlines is likely to provide the highest value, even though other Chase partners may have lower award prices. Plus, Newark is a United hub, so she has access to direct flights to Japan, which makes traveling with a small child slightly less anxiety-inducing.

What makes United an even better choice for her is that United Explorer cardmembers have expanded access to United Saver Awards (the cheapest reward flights) and receive a 10% discount on award flights (or a 15% discount with elite status). Plus, United has reasonable taxes and fees on most award flights.

With the cardholder discount, United flights from Newark to Tokyo are widely available this fall for 99,000 miles round-trip. That leaves Katie roughly 43,000 miles shy of being able to book a second flight with rewards.

Buying additional United miles for award flexibility

A non-trivial part of parenting is adjusting your life at the last minute when your child’s sick. As a traveling parent, flexibility is unusually valuable. One thing that’s easy to overlook with award travel is that you typically have more flexibility when booking with miles than when paying for the cheapest basic economy tickets.

United economy awards have no change or cancellation fees up until your flight departs and no fees for standard seat selection. For this trip, buying a fully refundable economy fare costs $500 to $600 more than a basic economy ticket. So there’s hidden value in award travel.

While Katie is about 43,000 miles short of being able to book two award flights to Japan, you can purchase up to 50,000 United miles every 90 days. This generally isn’t a cost-effective way to travel, but there are frequent sales: Through May 4, 2026, you can buy United miles for 50% off when you purchase 10,000 miles or more. With this sale, 43,000 United miles would cost $752.50.

At the end of the day, Katie could book two flexible flights to Japan for 198,000 miles and roughly $850 in out-of-pocket costs (purchasing additional miles, plus taxes and fees).At the time of writing, a third refundable ticket would cost around $2,100 or just under $1,500 for a more restrictive basic economy fare.

Additional considerations

Katie’s child is young enough to qualify as a lap infant, but she’d rather get the baby its own seat, which is understandable. After booking, she can call United to request a baby bassinet for the flights, if her child is under the size limits.

Baby bassinets aren’t an option on every flight and are first come, first served. They are also only available for bulkhead seats, which are the seats at the front of the cabin, so you may have to pay extra for those seats.

Since this trip mixes cash flights and award flights, it will have to be booked under two separate reservations. You can call United to have the reservation linked, which should reduce the chances of getting split up if seat assignments are changed. Also, the child will need to be on a reservation with an adult.

I recommend paying for the flights with the Chase Sapphire Reserve because it has excellent travel protections for luggage, trip delays, cancellations and more. Award flights qualify for the same coverage as long as you pay the taxes and fees with your Sapphire Reserve card.

The United Explorer Card does grant the cardholder and a companion a free first checked bag when you pay for the flight (or the taxes on award flights) with the card. But in this case, Katie’s international flights with United already include one or two free checked bags per person, depending on the fare class. Plus, you can check a stroller and car seat for the baby at no additional charge.

All in all, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is a more useful payment option, since its travel protections add more value than a redundant checked bag perk.

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