Pondus said:So my rewards link on the Chase website changed to Ultimate Rewards. No letter, no nothing, just that I can no longer click to get where I used to be able to "order" the $250 checks, and instead I get to some dollars point shopping area with a few cash options. The most recent statement still told me that I am earning 3% on three fixed categories. Maybe they upgraded me only on the redemption side.

A couple of days ago, the $250 check was still available. Today, I too get the new Ultimate Rewards site. None of the choices I saw beat $0.01/point, so I cashed out nearly all my points using the reward myself option, and I'll be shopping around for a replacement card.

Pondus said:So my rewards link on the Chase website changed to Ultimate Rewards. No letter, no nothing, just that I can no longer click to get where I used to be able to "order" the $250 checks, and instead I get to some dollars point shopping area with a few cash options. The most recent statement still told me that I am earning 3% on three fixed categories. Maybe they upgraded me only on the redemption side.
That's entirely possible. It doesn't make sense that you didn't get a letter, but other than that, what you describe is exactly what happened to my account in July. I too can no longer click to get to the webpage where I ordered the $250 check and I get redirected to the Ultimate Rewards page where I'm given points, and each point is worth a penny. I'm still getting 3% on groceries, gas, and fast food (or I would be if I didn't stop using the card, lol) and the new $30 annual fee will be waived for the first year. If I were you, I'd call them and ask if there's going to be a new annual fee assessed on your account and when. As of this week, my balance is just under $50 in an amount that will exactly match (after my current billing cycle ends) my total accumulated rewards down to the last penny. I'm going to use the "pay yourself back" feature of the Ultimate Rewards program to pay off the balance. Then sometime before the $30 fee gets charged sometime in June or July, I'm going to call them and convert the card to one without an annual fee.

ThePessimist said:My account still shows the old Chase Freedom reward system. It's an Exclusives Freedom issued in June. For all the people being silently converted to UR, I'm curious how old your cards are.
My card was originally a different Chase product since 2001. I called in either December 2007 or January 2008 to have it converted to a Freedom World Mastercard, and I used it as my primary card for well over a year. In May or June 2009 I received a letter stating that my account would be converted "no later than" July 31 (which is just about halfway through my billing cycle) to Ultimate Rewards with the terms I described above.

Chase downgraded my card to earn only 1% now.

Anyone able to get CHase to change their card back to get 3% in top 3 Cats?

Have you tried calling them to switch back?

th79, ya, I'm gonna to.

nasshea,

Not exactly sure, but ultimate rewards seem to be less than the other.
For example, if you get 3% on $1000 for the type of service used most frequent, you'll get $30 CashBack.
In ultimate reward (plus you have to have a chase checking account), 1 point/$1 + 10% extra points on every purchase dollar you spend + 10 bonus points every time you use your card for a purchase.
That would make $1000 spending total points of 1000+0.1(1000)+10(x, times of purchases)=1100+10x. In exchange for cash, it would be $11+$10x/100.
So, for an equivalent of $30 CashBack, ultimate reward has to have that $1000 spent on at least 190 occasions.
That seems unrealistic.

After getting a letter about the Sapphire conversion, I called, opted out, and was assured that my rewards will not change, and they did not: 3% in 3 top categories and 200->250 redemption is still listed.

Ultimate Traveler and fwall, at least you got a letter. I am still "waiting" for it.

Try sending them a message with your concerns it may pay off for you especially if you are close to $200

I called up Chase and an indian told me that I can't un-convert my account. She then tried to up-sell me on identity theft protection and I had to hang up on her. I'll monitor these rewards for a couple months but if they don't net out to at least 2% overall I'm going with Schwab.

On the 1c charge idea for 10 points is there any way to do a bunch of penny charges from a service like Paypal?

Called, it didn't work, no convert back. They gonna pay dearly if they cannot keep the customers happy.