Chase Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited Bonus Offers
This article was last updated Sep 15, 2020. Terms and conditions may have changed. For the most accurate information, please consult the issuer website.
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ and the Chase Freedom Unlimited® are ideal credit card options if you want to earn a generous amount of cash back in a short period of time.
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ currently offers the following sign-up bonus: Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. And earn 5% cash back on grocery store purchases (not including Target® or Walmart® purchases) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year.
While the Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers the following: Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. And earn 5% cash back on grocery store purchases (not including Target® or Walmart® purchases) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year.
In this post:
- Are you eligible?
- How can you use your sign-up bonus?
- Other ways to earn rewards
- Transferring rewards
- The bottom line
Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom Unlimited® rewards will not expire as long as your account remains open and in good standing.
In this post, we’ll break down the current offers for the Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom Unlimited® cards, including if you qualify for the sign-up bonuses, how to use the bonuses and additional ways to earn bonus points.
Are you eligible?
If you are a current Chase Freedom Flex℠, Chase Freedom Unlimited® or Chase Freedom® cardmember, or if you have received a new cardmember bonus for the card within the past 24 months, you will not be eligible to receive the current sign-up bonus for that card.
Note, the Chase Freedom® stopped accepting new applications as of Sept. 14, 2020.
Additionally, Chase’s unwritten “5/24 rule” prevents you from being approved for a new Chase card if you have opened five personal credit cards (from any issuer) within the past 24 months.
How can you use your sign-up bonus?
Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom Unlimited® rewards are tracked in the form of points. Each dollar you earn in cashback rewards is worth 100 points. This means that the sign-up bonuses for the Chase Freedom Flex℠ card and the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card are each equivalent to 20,000 points.
Points can be redeemed in a variety of ways, including:
- Cash. You can redeem points for cash via an account statement credit or an electronic deposit into an eligible savings account in a U.S. financial institution. To request cash, visit chase.com/ultimaterewards, call the number on the back of your card or visit a Chase branch.
- Gift cards. Rewards can be redeemed for gift cards or gift certificates at participating merchants through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
- Travel. Points can be redeemed for available airline tickets, hotel stays, car rentals, activities and cruises. To redeem points for travel, visit chase.com/ultimaterewards or call the Chase travel Center at 866-951-6592. Note, when you book travel through the travel center, you may incur a service fee of up to $20 per transaction. If you don’t have enough points to cover your purchase, you can charge the remaining amount to your credit card.
- Pay with points through Chase Pay. You can use points to cover all or part of your purchases at participating Chase Pay merchants.
- Products and services. Chase also may give you the opportunity to use your points to pay for products or services from third party merchants.
Transferring points
You can get even more value from your Chase Freedom Flex℠ or Chase Freedom Unlimited® points by transferring them to a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve® card.
When you redeem your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you will get 25% more value from those points. If you redeem Chase Sapphire Reserve® points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you will receive 50% more value in rewards.
Other ways to earn rewards
In addition to the sign-up bonuses, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom Unlimited® cards offer cash back on every purchase. With the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card, cardholders earn the following rewards rate: Earn 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase, 3% on dining and drugstores, and 1.5% on all other purchases.
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ card offers the following cashback rate: Earn 5% cash back on eligible purchases in rotating categories, 5% on travel purchased through Chase, 3% on dining and drugstores, and 1% on all other purchases. Just know, the 5% cashback rate on rotating categories can only be earned on the first $1,500 in combined purchases each quarter upon activation.
During the first quarter of 2021, the bonus categories include wholesale clubs, internet, cable and phone services, as well as select streaming services. See which purchases qualify for the bonus categories below.
What is included in the wholesale club category?
This includes purchases made at merchants that operate warehouse-style retail stores, sell in bulk and concentrate on price appeal. These merchants sell a full range of household goods and merchandise, groceries, furniture, electronics, appliances and auto supplies, and they may or may not require a membership.
Note, gas, fuel and wholesale specialty service purchases (such as travel, insurance, cell phone and home improvement) do not qualify for this category.
What is included in the internet, cable and phone services category?
Purchases for internet, cable, satellite television and radio, cellular, wireless data and landline services qualify for this category. Equipment is not included.
What is included in the select streaming services category?
This category includes merchants that specialize in delivering music and video content over the internet. The following subscription services qualify: Disney, ESPN+, Netflix, Sling, Vudu, Fubo TV, Apple Music, SiriusXM, Pandora, Spotify and YouTube TV.
Credit card referral bonuses
You can also earn bonus cash back – up to $500 per year – when you invite friends to apply for a Chase Freedom Unlimited® card. You can earn $100 per friend who is approved for the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, up to five referrals per year.
The bottom line
If you want to earn a generous amount of cash back, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom Unlimited® cards are both great options. But if you plan to activate and take advantage of the rotating bonus categories each quarter, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ may be best. Or, if you spend a large amount on general purchases each month, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® may be a better fit, since it offers a higher cashback rate on those purchases.
The information related to the Chase Freedom® has been independently collected by CompareCards and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication.
