Chase Pay Yourself Back
Over four years ago, I described how I routinely cashed out Ultimate Rewards at one cent per point. So when the Chase Pay Yourself Back feature subsequently arrived, basically doing similar for 25% or 50% more value was a no-brainer. It still is for my family, even since that extra 50% rate long passed. But since March, I’ve found myself having more fun than I expected with one Chase Sapphire Reserve Pay Yourself Back category – wholesale clubs. Indeed, I’ve enjoyed redeeming Ultimate Rewards at 1.25 cents per point across Sam’s Club, Costco, and BJ’s for multiple reasons.
Saving on Normal Spend
We normally shop at wholesale clubs for many staples. Beyond certain gift cards, erasing usual purchases is perhaps the nearest option for “cashing out” Ultimate Rewards with extra value these days. We’re not tricking ourselves into flashy purchases of unnecessary items by using Pay Yourself Back and calling them “free.” Instead, we focus on truly redeeming to save on items we already purchase, anyway.
Myriad Gift Card Options
Across the three wholesale clubs where we belong, we collectively have access to a wide array of gift card options. By simply buying the cards with my Reserve, I’ve unlocked spend at 1.25 cents per point (or more) beyond wholesale clubs. Again, we tend to focus on cards for businesses and services where we would spend, anyway, focusing on lowering our organic, out-of-pocket costs.
Stacking Discounts with Chase Pay Yourself Back
Even better, we’re redeeming at 1.25 cents per point on discounted items. Whether superior deals on staple items or gift cards, we get the extra Pay Yourself Back value along with the additional discount. In other words, savings can more easily reach well beyond 1.25 cents per point than other Pay Yourself Back categories have in the past.
Online Portals
Saving even more at wholesale clubs with online portals is a huge wild card. While Costco generally doesn’t participate with portal rewards, Sam’s and BJ’s do. And the portal rates on those last two can vary widely. Pay close attention to the categories, exclusions, and changing rates to save big. Of course, always track through a portal to receive a modest amount. But when a huge rate appears on your more reliable portals, consider that more significant purchase you’ve been planning and promptly strike. Enjoy the bucket of portal rewards later.
The Widest Selection?
We’ve had some solid Chase Pay Yourself Back categories since its inception, with grocery stores as my favorite, perhaps. But wholesale clubs probably offer the widest selection of goods and services where one can redeem Ultimate Rewards. It’s been fun zeroing out our family costs on a variety of items, from contact lenses to peanut butter to Busch Gardens beverages.
Redeem For Travel at a Discount
Each club offers a variety of discounted travel gift cards or passes, including Southwest, Amtrak, Disney, and Legoland. My recent favorite has been Busch Gardens gift cards at BJ’s, a card I generally haven’t found elsewhere. I also buy Uber and DoorDash gift cards to subsidize transportation and dining while traveling.
I don’t have any firsthand experience booking with any of the wholesale clubs’ travel departments, but that may be worth looking at options, too. Check how those purchases would code and the related travel terms and limitations before diving in, though.
Chase Pay Yourself Back – Conclusion
Naturally, after my fun in Q2, I was stoked to hear Chase extended wholesale clubs as a Pay Yourself Back category for Q3. Overall, Chase is still boring when compared to some other card issuers. But boring isn’t necessarily bad, and the Pay Yourself Back feature is one example. I’m interested to see where Chase takes Pay Yourself Back for Q3 and beyond.
What’s been your favorite Chase Pay Yourself Back category up to this point?
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Travel via Aeroplan – 1.25cpp, but if you stack with a 20% transfer bonus + the 10% bonus for transferring 50k, you get to 1.625cpp.
This summer we used that extensively in Spain in small towns – and took advantage of the booking.com / Lufthansa 30x portal offer.
Sounds like that worked out great for you, usernamechuck. Bravo!
Totally agree with this redemption path.
While I’d prefer to use my URs for premium cabin travel or even CSR 1.5cpp travel bookings, my reality is that I can’t use enough points for these options and my UR balance continues to grow.
Turns out PYB for Costco at 1.25cpp is working out great to bring my UR stash to more reasonable levels.
A good problem, Larry! Thanks for reading.