Free round trip flight from Taipei to Los Angeles for my dad

With our baby due in June, my father told me that he wanted to come visit and help us care for our son.  My wife is going to take 6 months leave from work to stay home with our baby.  I have already been approved for 1 month off work to help care for our newborn.  My father has generously offered to come help out for 3 weeks.  The least we could do in return was to cover his travel expenses.  I asked him to provide me with his dates of travel and then booked a free flight for him using my Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

The first thing I did was log into my United airlines account and search for potential flights based on my father’s preferred travel dates.  I found that I could book him a round trip ticket from Taipei, Taiwan (TPE) to Los Angeles, California (LAX) for 70,000 United Airlines miles and $32.50.  I’m glad he doesn’t mind flying economy, because we did not have enough miles to pay for business or first class flights.

My United airlines account only had a little over 1,000 miles, so I needed to transfer 69,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points into United Airlines miles before booking the flight.  I logged into www.UltimateRewards.com and then transferred the points over.   

All Ultimate Rewards points transfer 1:1 to any of the Chase airline and hotel partners.   Points must be transferred in increments of 1,000 points.  The points transferred to my United account instantly after I re-logged in. 

After a few clicks, my father’s free round trip flight on EVA Airways from Taipei to Los Angeles was booked.  The total came out to be 70,000 United Airlines miles and $32.50.  If we were to book this flight with cash through United Airlines, it would have cost $1,832.40.  I used Kayak.com to conservatively estimate the value of my award flight redemption at $877 for the cheapest flights.  

Counting fees paid, we saved  $844.50 on the cost of these flights!

Your Chase Ultimate Rewards points aren’t just for your own use; you can use them to book free travel for others.