Chase Pay Yourself Back: How it Works and How to Get the Most From It

Chase Ultimate Rewards are popular with travelers because the points are so flexible. Savvy cardholders use them to book travel through the Chase travel portal or transfer to one of the many Chase transfer partners for additional value. However, during the coronavirus pandemic, redeeming points for travel wasn't as appealing.

Chase recognized this and added the Chase Pay Yourself Back program to encourage cardholders to continue spending on their cards. In this article, we'll explain how Chase Pay Yourself Back works, what it's really worth, and whether you should use it.

What is Chase Pay Yourself Back?

Chase Pay Yourself Back is a feature added to Freedom, Sapphire, and Ink cards, as well as several co-branded cards (Aeroplan, Disney, Southwest, and United). Although numerous Chase credit cards earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points, here are a few that are eligible to use Chase Pay Yourself Back:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve^®
• Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card
  
• Ink Business Cash^® Credit Card
  
• Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card
• Ink Business Unlimited^® Credit Card
• Chase Freedom
  
• Chase Freedom Unlimited^®
  
• Chase Freedom Flex^®

This feature was added by the credit card issuer due to the coronavirus pandemic. Because so many people were staying home and focusing their spending on the basics, Chase Pay Yourself Back was designed to be more in alignment with current spending habits. This feature allows you to redeem your points for a better rate than a typical statement credit, though how the redemption works varies depending on the card you have.

You have up to 90 days from the date of your purchases to erase your spending with Chase Ultimate Rewards points. This gives you extra time to earn additional points so you can erase more of your purchase.

Another big difference between Chase Pay Yourself Back redemptions and other redemption options is that you'll also earn Chase Ultimate Rewards on the original purchases. When you use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book travel, transfer to an airline or hotel partner, or get cash back or gift cards, you don't earn any points for those redemptions.

How does Chase Pay Yourself Back work?

Here are the steps to redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards points using the Chase Pay Yourself Back feature.

1. Log into your Chase account with your standard username and password.
2. Select the "Rewards dashboard" from the dropdown menu under the More tab on your Account page. 
3. Choose "Pay Yourself Back" from the top navigation bar.
4. Your eligible purchases from the past 90 days will show on the screen. Select one (or multiple) and click "Continue."

3. Enter the cash value of how much of your purchase you would like to erase with Chase Yourself Back. You can choose any amount, from 1 cent to the full amount of your purchase. The screen will show you many points you are redeeming.

4. After clicking "Confirm & Submit," your redemption will proceed and you'll receive a confirmation.

From there, the points will be deducted from your Chase Ultimate Rewards account balance.

And a credit for Chase Pay Yourself Back will post to your transaction history.

Is Chase Pay Yourself Back worth it?

I've found Chase Pay Yourself Back to be worth it. It makes redemptions really simple. Though you may get more value when redeeming points for travel through Chase Travel℠, sometimes you need to redeem points for non-travel purchases. Pay Yourself Back makes it simple and you have a few months to decide if you want to use your points. 

Chase Ultimate Rewards points bonus categories

If you're looking to earn extra Chase Ultimate Rewards points to redeem with Chase Pay Yourself Back, it pays to compare credit cards and notice how different Chase cards earn bonus points. That's because if you have other cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points, you can still use those points with Pay Yourself Back.

Here's how to make all your Chase cards pay yourself back:

1. Make eligible purchases with the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
2. Transfer Ultimate Rewards points from your other cards to your Sapphire account.
3. Erase the eligible purchases from your Sapphire Reserve card.

Remember, points can transfer from one Ultimate Rewards account to another for free. You can transfer points within your household and from your business to your personal account and vice versa. If you already know about the Chase Trifecta, then you can use it to make Chase Pay Yourself Back a powerful tool.

Here are the Ultimate Rewards earning Chase cards that are available and their bonus categories:

Card name	Rewards rate
Chase Freedom Unlimited®	5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases, plus 2% total cash back on qualifying Lyft rides through September 2027
Chase Freedom Flex®	5% cash back on rotating quarterly categories you activate (on up to $1,500 spent) and travel purchased through Chase Travel℠; 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery service); and 1% cash back on all other purchases, plus 2% total cash back on qualifying Lyft rides through September 2027
Chase Sapphire Reserve®	8x points on all purchases through Chase Travel℠ (including The Edit℠), 4x points on flights and hotels booked direct, 3x points on dining worldwide & 1x points on all other purchases
Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card	Unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase
Ink Business Cash® Credit Card	5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year; 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year; and 1% cash back on all other purchases
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card	3X points on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year; and 1X points per $1 on all other purchases

These credit cards range from personal to business credit cards, and while some have annual fees, others do not. So there is a card for everybody. 

Bottom line

With Chase Pay Yourself Back, you have 90 days from the date of purchase to redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards points. It's a great opportunity to erase some of your everyday purchases. And that's one of the best things about the Ultimate Rewards program — you have a lot of flexibility around how you use points.