Best Chase Credit Cards of 2019
This article was last updated Aug 30, 2019. Terms and conditions may have changed. For the most accurate information, please consult the issuer website.
In addition to lucrative sign-up bonuses and generous rewards rates, Chase credit cards are known for a number of perks, including access to Chase Ultimate Rewards®, zero-liability protection, extended warranty protection, purchase protection, fraud alerts and much more.
If you’re in the market for a Chase credit card, there are certainly plenty to choose from — which can make selecting the right one difficult. Depending on whether you want a credit card that offers a generous amount of rewards, one that offers an introductory APR on balance transfers, or one that offers travel perks, there’s a Chase card for you.
In this post, we break down several Chase credit cards to help you determine which Chase card can best meet your needs.
In this article:
- Best for bonus cash back rewards – Chase Freedom®
- Best for a simple rewards structure – Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- Best for travel – Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Best for balance transfers – Chase Slate®
- Best for hotel rewards – Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card
- Best for business owners – Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card
- Best for students – Chase Freedom® Student credit card
- The bottom line
Best for bonus cash back rewards – Chase Freedom®
Earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate. Enjoy new 5% categories every 3 months. Unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases. See Chase’s 2019 calendar below:
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Chase Freedom® cashback calendar 2019 |
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| January – March | April – June | July – September | October – December
(Activate by Dec. 14, 2019) |
| Gas stations, tolls, drugstores | Grocery stores* and home improvement stores | Select streaming services (including Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, and more) and gas stations | Department stores and purchases made using PayPal or Chase Pay |
What else we like
Sign-up bonus. Earn a $150 Bonus after spending $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
Intro APR on purchases. The Chase Freedom® offers a 0% Intro APR on Purchases for 15 months, then 16.74% - 25.49% Variable.
No annual fee. The Chase Freedom® comes with a $0 annual fee.
What to look out for
Cap on bonus earning. The Chase Freedom® allows you to earn the 5% cash back on the first $1,500 in combined purchases each quarter. Still, if you max out the $1,500 cap, you can earn up to $75 cash back per quarter.
Balance transfer fee. The Chase Freedom® card comes with an 0% Intro APR on Balance Transfers for 15 months for balance transfers (then 16.74% - 25.49% Variable). However, you will be charged a balance transfer fee of 3% when you transfer during the first 60 days of account opening, with a minimum of $5 on transfers made within the first 60 days, and 3% when you transfer during the first 60 days of account opening, with a minimum of $5 after that.
Best for a simple rewards structure – Chase Freedom Unlimited®
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is a great option if you don’t want the hassle of dealing with rotating categories or quarterly maximum, since the card comes with a 1.5% cash back offer.
What else we like
Sign-up bonus – The card offers $150 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases.
No annual fee – The Chase Freedom Unlimited® comes with a $0 annual fee.
Intro APR on purchases – Cardholders can enjoy a 0% Intro APR for 15 months on purchases, then 16.74 - 25.49% Variable.
What to look out for
Foreign transaction fee. The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is not ideal if you plan to use your card outside of the U.S., since you will be charged 3% of each transaction in U.S. dollars.
Balance transfer fee. Although the Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers a 0% Intro APR for 15 months on balance transfers (then 16.74 - 25.49% variable), it does charge a balance transfer fee. Cardholders will pay 3% intro balance transfer fee when you transfer a balance during the first 60 days your account is open, with a minimum of $5, then either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Best card for travel – Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers points on travel as well as a generous sign-up bonus that’s worth $750 in travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Cardholders earn 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases worldwide. Additionally, you’ll receive earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
What else we like
25% more value on rewards. You get 25% more value from your rewards when you redeem them for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
1:1 point transfer. You can transfer your points to nine airline travel partners, including JetBlue TrueBlue, Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards and United MileagePlus, and three hotel travel partners, including Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt, at a 1:1 value.
No foreign transaction fees. You will not be charged foreign transaction fees when you use your card outside of the U.S.
What to look out for
Annual fee. You will be charged $95 per year.
No intro APR on purchases. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card does not offer a 0% intro APR on purchases, so it’s not the best card to use if you plan to carry a balance on your card.
Best if you want to transfer a balance – Chase Slate®
If you have a large amount of high-interest card debt that you want to transfer to a balance transfer card, the Chase Slate® is a good option. In addition to offering a 0% Intro APR on Balance Transfers for 15 months (then 17.24% - 25.99% variable), the card offers an Intro $0 on transfers made within 60 days of account opening. After that: Either $5 or 5%, whichever is greater.
What else we like
Intro APR on purchases. The Chase Slate® also offers a 0% Intro APR on Purchases for 15 months, then 17.24% - 25.99% Variable.
No annual fee. You will not be charged an annual fee with the Chase Slate®.
What to look out for
No reward rate. The Chase Slate® card does not offer a sign-up bonus or rewards program.
Foreign transaction fees. If you’re planning a trip abroad in the near future, the Chase Slate® may not be the best option since it charges a foreign transaction fee of 3% of each transaction in U.S. dollars.
The information related to Chase Slate® has been collected by CompareCards and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication.
Best for hotel rewards – Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card
If you are a Marriott Bonvoy loyalist, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card has the current sign-up bonus: Limited Time Offer! Earn 100,000 Bonus Points after spending $5,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card! Plus, cardholders Earn 6X points for every $1 spent at over 7,000 participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels and 2X points everywhere else..
What else we like
Free night award. Receive a free night award every year after your account anniversary, which is valid for a one night hotel stay at a property with a redemption level up to 35,000 points.
Automatic Silver Elite status. You automatically receive Silver Elite status, which includes a 10% bonus points on hotel stays, priority late checkout, free Wi-Fi and much more.
15 Elite Night credits. Receive 15 Elite Night credits each calendar year, which gets you that much closer to upgrading your Elite status. You can earn Gold Elite status after 25 qualifying nights per year and Platinum Elite status after 50 qualifying nights per year.
What to look out for
Annual fee. The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card comes with a $95 annual fee. That said, the fee is much lower than the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card’s $450 annual fee.
Does not include certain perks. The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card doesn’t offer all the perks that the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card offers, such as complimentary Gold Elite status and up to $300 in statement credits each year. But, again, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card charges a $450 annual fee for those perks.
The information related to Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card has been collected by CompareCards and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication.
Best for business owners – Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card
If you are a small business owner, the Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card is a great option. In addition to an intro APR on purchases and balance transfers of 0% for 12 Months (then 14.99% - 20.99% variable), the card offers a generous cash back rate in popular business categories.
What else we like
Sign-up bonus. Earn $500 bonus cash back after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Rewards rate. Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year. Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Earn 1% cash back on all other card purchases with no limit to the amount you can earn.
Employee cards at no additional cost. You will not be charged additional fees for employee credit cards.
What to look out for
Rewards yearly maximum. If your company spends more than $25,000 per year in combined office supply store, internet, cable and phone service purchases, as well as more than $25,000 in combined gas station and restaurant purchases, you may be better off with a card that doesn’t place a quarterly or yearly maximum on your rewards earning potential.
Foreign transaction fees. The Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card charges 3% of each transaction in U.S. dollars for purchases made outside of the U.S.
Best for students – Chase Freedom® Student credit card
The Chase Freedom® Student credit card is ideal for students who want to build their credit and earn cash back on every purchase. In addition to free and unlimited access to your credit score through Credit Journey (which is also available with most other Chase cards), the Chase Freedom® Student credit card offers 2,000 points (redeemable for $20) after each account anniversary for up to five years as long as our account is in good standing and not in default.
Plus, cardholders earn 1% cash back on all purchases.
What else we like
Sign-up bonus. Earn a $50 bonus after making a purchase on your card within the first 3 months of account opening, when you apply for the card at a Chase branch.
Credit limit increase. You can earn a credit limit increase when you make five monthly payments on time within 10 months from account opening and meet credit criteria.
Annual fee. The Chase Freedom® Student credit card does not charge an annual fee.
What to look out for
No intro APR. Because the Chase Freedom® Student credit card doesn’t come with an introductory APR on purchases or balance transfers, it’s not the best option if you plan to carry a balance or transfer a balance from a different credit card.
The regular APR for the Chase Freedom® Student credit card is 16.99% variable.
No bonus categories. Although the Chase Freedom® Student credit card lets you earn 1% cash back on all purchases It does not offer bonus cash back categories.
The information related to Chase Freedom® Student credit card has been collected by CompareCards and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication.
The bottom line
Ultimately, the best Chase card for you depends on how you plan to use the card. For example, if you want to transfer a balance from a different credit card, the Chase Slate® card will be the best option. But if you prefer a simple rewards structure, the flat-rate Chase Freedom Unlimited® card is the better option. Whichever card you choose, be sure to select wisely.
