Same Day Flight Bookings On Chase’s UR Portal Now Possible
When it was announced that Expedia would be taking over managing the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal improvements were promised. There was supposed to be access to more accommodations and flight options. Reality is that I think it probably got worse. You may be able to pull up more obscure hotel listings but obvious flight choices, like Spirit, have vanished. Even though they were present, and still are, in the old Connextions system. There is one change that is an improvement though, it may be the only one. You can now do same day flight bookings on Chase’s UR portal.
Details
In the past I believe it was possible to do these but you had to call in. In today’s age of technology no one wants to have to wait on hold. With the change over to Expedia it seems that it is now possible to do same day flight bookings on Chase’s UR portal online.
As you can see it was possible to pull up flights from DTW to JAX for today. But when I go to Citi’s ThankYou portal this is what I get:
An error pops up and says it is not available.
Conclusion
While not earth shattering this is useful in a few situations. If you have a last minute emergency then you can quickly book your flight online, and still use your points. If you notice a last minute fare that is too good to pass up you can snag it right away. It also allows you to be spontaneous if you so choose.
If you ever have a need for a same day, last minute flight then Chase is your ticket since you would need to call in to book the same thing on Citi’s portal.
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This is actually a great change for my family. We like to book spontaneous flights. I have been told several times by UR agents that it was NOT possible to book within 24 hours. I hated that I was unable to use chase points for these bookings because of this rule. Is this in effect for hotel bookings as well? That will be huge.
Yeah it works for hotel bookings and activities as well.
perfect. This is actually an upgrade for our family. Lots of last minute hotels where I had to burn hotel specific points. My UR stash is running a little low these days, but it is nice to know that I can use them for this now. Thanks!
It is nice to have the option if needed for sure.
I’m embarrassed to admit I did not truly understand how thoroughly rotten the portal change was until I saw a 1-way DTW-JAX redemption @ 33K UR cited as a saving grace. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how’d you like the play?
Ha :), I just pulled up a random flight to take a screen shot not because it was a good deal. Just wanted to make sure people knew it was an option. But yes the new portal is pretty rotten too.
I *hate* the loss of the cheaper airlines (liked using Frontier), and how the Virgin/Delta flights between MCO and LGW that I’m stalking in May are $60 more on UR v. Expedia. I’d happily give up same-day bookings to have these changes go away 🙁
I agree overall the change over has been pretty bad. It is sad to see 🙁