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Over 51 million people travel on U.S. airlines during the holiday season. As travelers, we do all we can to prepare for travel, but sometimes, getting through a massive line at TSA can be painful. Fortunately, there are ways around it like getting TSA PreCheck or flying JSX which doesn’t require passengers to go through TSA screenings. Even better, now you can fly JSX through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards portal.
Plus, if you don’t have a Chase credit card yet, this is one more reason to get one. This is especially true if you want to know what it feels like to travel on a private jet!
What is JSX?
For those who aren’t familiar, JSX is a private charter plane that doesn’t require passengers to go through TSA screening. Forget removing your shoes, laptops, toiletries, and dumping out your water bottles. All you need to do is show up a half-hour before your flight and relax in the hanger.
The Burbank JSX hanger offered comfy couches, coffee, tea, snacks (chips, crackers) and WiFi.
Essentially, JSX combines commercial air travel and private jets as each flight only carries 30 people. They mostly operate on the West Coast (California, Nevada, and Arizona), but they’re growing fast. JSX prides itself on being a “hop-on jet service.”
At the time of writing, JSX operates out of:
- Burbank (BUR)
- Las Vegas (LAS)
- Orange County (SNA)
- Napa/Concord (CCR)
- Oakland (OAK)
- Seattle-Boeing Field (BFI)
- Phoenix (PHX)I
I recently flew on JSX for the first time and booked it with my Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
Since Jetblue has a partnership with JSX, the flight popped up when I searched for a last-minute flight from Burbank to Oakland. Basically, I waited in the hanger, which is separate from the rest of Burbank Airport. I walked in, showed my driver’s license to a JSX employee who checked me in. She took my carry-on bag and tagged it (the plane is so small you can’t fit carry-on bags in the overhead bins).
Then, I sat on a couch in the hanger, directly in front of the plane, and waited to board. After an hour and 15 minutes, I was in Oakland.
Once we landed, we waited for about 15 minutes for the JSX baggage team to hand us our bags.
Redeeming Points to Pay for JSX Flights
JSX may be a bit more expensive than low-fare air travel. I booked my ticket last-minute, which is why the one-way flight was $143.50. I redeemed my Ultimate Rewards points (9,566 points) to pay for it.
Chase Ultimate Rewards Benefits & Perks
Being able to book flights on JSX through Ultimate Rewards is just one more reason I wouldn’t use any other card to search for flights when I travel. The Chase Sapphire Reserve perks are also numerous.
In addition, there are other ways to earn extra points through buying gift cards or shopping through Ultimate Rewards. This includes using points to pay for purchases on Amazon or Apple products.
Ultimate Rewards also has a robust travel partner program. This means you can easily transfer points on a 1:1 basis if you want more options for travel or want to fly on a different airline.
Qualifying Credit Cards
Here’s a list of some of the best Chase credit cards that can be used with Ultimate Rewards:
- Chase Freedom Flex℠
- Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
- Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Here’s an overview of three popular cards.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the perfect card if you enjoy traveling because points are 25% more valuable when redeemed for travel. Combined with no foreign transaction fees and travel protection, traveling is cheap and safe.
Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited
Both the cards have:
- No annual fee
- Rewards that don’t expire
With the Chase Freedom Flex℠ cardholders can earn:
- 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate (then 1% back)
- 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
- 3% cash back on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- 3% cash back on drugstore purchases
- 1% on all other purchases
New Freedom Flex cardholders can earn a $200 bonus after spending $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
With the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, you can earn at least 1.5% cash back on every purchase, with no cap. Cardholders earn unlimited:
- 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
- 3% cash back at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- 3% cash back on drugstore purchases
- 1.5% cash back on all other purchases
There is no limit to how much cash back can be earned and no annual fee to worry about.
New Chase Freedom Unlimited® cardholders can earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything they buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) – worth up to $300 cash back! That means new cardholders can enjoy:
- 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards® (Chase’s premier rewards program that lets you redeem rewards for cash back, travel, gift cards, and more)
- 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases
- 4.5% on dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery service)
- 3% on all other purchases
New cardholders earn this extra 1.5% cash back on up to $20,000 spent in the first year.
Alternatively, you can also compare the Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Chase Freedom cards.
