Chase, Discover unveil yet more enhancements to rewards credit cards

We'd love to report on some juicy behind-the-scenes goings-on at one of the major credit card issuers, but that's going to have to wait for another day. Because today's top story involves two recent improvements to rewards credit cards - one from Chase and the other from Discover - that deserve attention.

Chase turns rewards credit cards into travel rewards cards

Let's start with Chase, which has managed a form of plastic alchemy by turning three of its ordinary rewards credit cards into travel rewards cards. Well, sort of. To be more accurate, it's added the ability to transfer points from its Ultimate Rewards program to United Airlines MileagePlus accounts. The products affected are:

  1. Chase Sapphire Preferred
  2. Chase Ink Plus
  3. Chase Ink Bold with Ultimate Rewards

You get one MileagePlus point for each Ultimate Rewards point, and the former can be redeemed on flights on United Airlines or any other members of the Star Alliance network. Chase says there are no limits to the number of points you can transfer, and claims that this is currently unique among credit card rewards programs. The card issuer's Sean O'Reilly commented in a press release:

We are thrilled to offer our customers the exclusive opportunity to transfer Ultimate Rewards points for equal award miles with MileagePlus, the world's leading frequent flyer program. The addition of MileagePlus to Ultimate Rewards enables our cardmembers to simply transfer points and have more travel options than ever before.

Discover Amazon's treasures

No, Discover isn't rewarding cardholders with trips to the Amazon river. It's making it easier to pay for books and other goods on the Amazon website.

As of now, holders of Discover cash back credit cards, such as the Discover More Card, can use their rewards to partly or fully pay for purchases they make on Amazon with their Discover rewards, providing they first link their plastic with their Amazon.com account. If you part pay, you have to charge the balance to your Discover card.

There's one more piece of good news for the holiday season. If you pay on Amazon using Discover cash back credit cards between now and the end of this year, you should earn double rewards.

Both Discover and Amazon commented in a press release… But no. Theirs were even more banal than Chase's, so, as a public service, you'll be spared them. Suffice it to say, Discover is very pleased with their new arrangement with Amazon and hopes you will be too.

The original article can be found at IndexCreditCards.com:Chase, Discover unveil yet more enhancements to rewards credit cards