> I never redeem points for purchases. I always apply them to a billing credit.
This may not be a good redemption. For Chase UR points specifically, you really ought to transfer them to Chase Sapphire Reward card and redeem them for travel ($100 in points becomes $150 in travel) or transfer them to airline/hotel partners for redemptions. For example, you can often find Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt points redemptions that are substantially better (sometimes more than 50% off) than the cash value of the points.
My last Hyatt hotel stay, I redeemed 8,000 points per night for a hotel room that was listed at $267/night. In cases like this, you can more than triple the value of your points.
It's definitely more effort to manage and there is a point of diminishing returns. But even if you just transfer to Chase Sapphire Reserve and redeem for travel (ignoring individual airline/hotel rewards programs), you should get a 50% bonus vs redeeming the points for cash.
This may not be a good redemption. For Chase UR points specifically, you really ought to transfer them to Chase Sapphire Reward card and redeem them for travel ($100 in points becomes $150 in travel) or transfer them to airline/hotel partners for redemptions. For example, you can often find Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt points redemptions that are substantially better (sometimes more than 50% off) than the cash value of the points.
My last Hyatt hotel stay, I redeemed 8,000 points per night for a hotel room that was listed at $267/night. In cases like this, you can more than triple the value of your points.