Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred lose the 1:1 ratio. Sapphire Reserve keeps it. Here's exactly who's affected, what it costs, and the one move worth making before the deadline.
September 20, 2026 · 6 min read · Justin Rasmussen 11 days until the changeThe split is clean, and it lines up with annual fee tier. The two $95 transfer-capable cards take the cut; the premium cards don't.
| Your cardTRANSFER-CAPABLE CARDS | Ratio today | From Oct 1, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | 1:1 | 4:3 |
| Ink Business Preferred | 1:1 | 4:3 |
| Ink Plus (retired) | 1:1 | 4:3 |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve | 1:1 | 1:1 — unchanged |
| Sapphire Reserve for Business | 1:1 | 1:1 — unchanged |
Confirmed September 20, 2026 against reporting from Frequent Miler, Upgraded Points and Thrifty Traveler. If you hold both a Preferred and a Reserve, transfers are made from a specific card's account — the Reserve's 1:1 is what you want to be transferring from.
Here's the part that makes it concrete. A Category 4 Hyatt property — the kind of resort that runs $350–$500 a night in season — prices at 15,000 points for a standard night.
| A 15,000-point Hyatt nightCATEGORY 4, STANDARD RATE | Chase points required | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Before October 1 (1:1) | 15,000 | — |
| After October 1 (4:3) | 20,000 | +5,000 points per night |
| A five-night family stay | 100,000 instead of 75,000 | +25,000 points |
Put differently: if you were getting 2¢ per point transferring to Hyatt, you're now getting about 1.5¢ on the same booking. Still good. No longer exceptional.
Resist the urge to dump your balance into Hyatt "just in case." A speculative transfer is how people end up with 80,000 stranded Hyatt points and no stay to use them on. Here's the order I'd work through.
A trip you've already decided on, within roughly the next 12 months, at a property you've confirmed has award availability. If you can't name the hotel and the dates, skip to step four.
Search the stay on Hyatt's site while logged in and note the exact points cost. Hyatt has standard and off-peak pricing, and the number you see is the number you need — not an estimate.
Combine points into your Sapphire Preferred or Ink Preferred account first if they're sitting on a Freedom or Ink Cash, then transfer the exact amount and book the same day. Transfers are one-way and can't be reversed.
Your points don't lose value across the board — only the Hyatt door narrows. Aeroplan, Flying Blue, and every other partner are untouched at 1:1. This is a reason to reconsider which Chase card you hold, not a reason to panic-transfer.
For most people, no. The Sapphire Preferred at $95 is still the most sensible transfer-capable card in the lineup, and a 4:3 Hyatt ratio is only one partner out of fourteen.
But if you're a family that stays at Hyatt properties several times a year, the arithmetic shifted in a way worth running. The Reserve's $795 fee buys, among other things, the 1:1 Hyatt ratio you're about to lose — and at roughly 5,000 extra Chase points per Category 4 night, a household booking 15–20 award nights a year is looking at a six-figure points difference over time. Run your own number before you conclude anything. If you stay at Hyatt twice a year, the Preferred is still the right card and this is a shrug.
Both transfer to all 14 partners. The difference that matters as of October 1 is the Hyatt ratio — and whether you'll actually use the Reserve's credits.
Still the best-value entry into transferable points. 5x on Chase Travel, 3x dining, 2x other travel, and a 10% anniversary points bonus. The right card for most households.
See the current offer8x on Chase Travel, 4x on direct flights and hotels, 3x dining, and the 1:1 Hyatt ratio after October 1. Only worth the fee if you'll use the credit stack and transfer to Hyatt often.
See the current offerThis is the third meaningful change to Chase's redemption math in under a year — the portal's 1.25¢ and 1.5¢ boosts went away in late 2025, Points Boost replaced them, and now the best hotel partner gets trimmed for the mid-tier cards. None of it makes Chase points bad. It does mean the old advice — "just transfer to Hyatt, it's always the best deal" — has an expiration date on it now, and that the gap between people who check the math and people who don't is widening.
The full program picture, including everything that didn't change, is in the Chase Ultimate Rewards guide.
Disclosure. The card buttons above may be my personal referral links — if you're approved I earn points, at no cost to you and with no change to your bonus. The label under each button says which kind it is. I'd give you the same advice either way: for most people reading this, the $95 card is still the right one, and it's the one that pays me less.
Transfer bonuses, devaluations worth acting on, and sweet spots before they get crowded — one email a week, free.
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