Back at the start of 2023, Chase Aeroplan cardholders received the ability to use the Pay Yourself Back feature for travel expenditure. For anything that coded as an eligible travel expense on the card, you could redeem Aeroplan points for 1.25cpp (cents per point). That meant, for example, that $500 of travel spend could be redeemed for $625 by using 50,000 Aeroplan points.
That benefit was originally scheduled to end on December 31, 2023, then it got extended to December 31, 2024. It’s now been extended again, but with a new limit in place.
The travel category for Pay Yourself Back was previously unlimited, but starting today (January 1, 2025) there’ll be an annual limit of 200,000 Aeroplan points in that category. Chase has stated that “This new limit was designed to accommodate nearly all Cardmembers currently using this benefit.” That sounds about right as it means that you can still earn up to $2,500 each year by utilizing this feature on travel spend, but it does mean that heavy hitters of this benefit will now become lighter hitters.
Aeroplan cardholders can also use Pay Yourself Back towards the annual fee at a rate of 1.25cpp, without that interfering with your travel spending cap. You can also use Pay Yourself Back for dining and grocery spend on an unlimited basis, but with a 0.8cpp redemption rate that’s not worth doing as it represents poor value for your points.
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Bit of a disappointment as I used 3/4 million last year for PYB (to reach 75K and use the Chase bump to get to SE) but the game constantly changes and we all adjust. Could have been worse
I’m not a newbie but I’m not familiar with PYB? Could you tell me what PYB stands for?
Never mind, I just googled it…DUH
I was fearing much worse tbh. I’ll take it! I redeemed probably $12k in pyb this year, great way for me to liquidate UR which I don’t find I use much
[…] 这张卡 Pay Yourself Back (PYB) 兑换 travel 类别恢复了，截止日期又往后延期了，但是现在加上了一个limit：一年只能PYB 200k AC里程了。以前是无上限的。这个上限对轻度玩家来说应该还好，对于巨鲸来说就限制比较大了。HT: FM. […]
Ugh, I was worried something like this was going to happen, so I kept trying to make a big travel purchase to get reimbursed but chase kept declining it due to fraud suspicion. Called multiple times. Kept getting declined. Finally on Monday morning I insisted the chase rep stayed on the phone with me while I made a purchase. Got declined again and after lots of rerouting, they finally sorted it out and I made the purchase……which didn’t clear until this morning (1/1). Totally pissed. I would’ve converted over $4k at a redemption of 1.63 cpp. As far as I can tell, this is the best way to cash out URs. Bummer about the new limit. Is there anything else close to this redemption for URs?
This limit is for Aeroplan points earned through the Chase Aeroplan account, not Ultimate Rewards Points.
He’s transferring UR’s to Aeroplan to cover the cost of the purchase on his Aeroplan card, presumably.
Perhaps I’m wrong but I think URs transferred to Aeroplan are eligible for PYB. Earn URs, wait for a transfer bonus, then redeem via PYB. (Amex MR transfers would not qualify.)
1.25cpp x 120% transfer rate = 1.5cpp
On top of that, Aeroplan cardholders received a transfer premium. That’s how he gets to 1.63cpp.
As long-haul J tickets tend to be above that $2500 number, it would have been nice if the cap was $5000 instead.
[…] Hat tip to FM […]