Freedom card

  Chase Credit Cards

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Annual Fee

No annual fee

Typical Signup Offer

15,000 Ultimate Reward points

$500 initial spend

($250 net value, .50/$)

Signup Bonus Chart

Bonus Categories

5x Rotating Set of Categories (≈8.5%)

1x Everywhere Else (≈1.7%)

3% Foreign Transaction Fee

Ultimate Rewards Guide

The Chase Freedom card earns the highest bonus category reward rate of any personal credit credit—5x Ultimate Reward points, valued at 10 cents per dollar, on purchases from a rotating set of categories. Every quarter, you can earn bonus rewards on a different set of categories, published ahead-of-time by Chase. While the reward rate is fantastic, you are limited to earning bonus rewards on the first $1,500 of spending each quarter, and it takes some effort to maximize the rewards you earn from this card. Earn 5-10% in Rewards with Rotating Category Cards.

Jump to

• Intro to Ultimate Rewards
• Signup Bonus
• Other Notable Benefits
• Bonus Categories
• Getting rid of the card

Introduction to Ultimate Rewards

Ultimate Rewards is the name of Chase's own rewards program. Ultimate Rewards Guide

• Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to many different frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs. his gives you the flexibility to take advantage of award space on over a hundred different airlines. In many cases, you can choose to book a flight through one of several different partner programs, allowing you to take advantage of whichever program requires the fewest miles and fees for your trip.
• Unlike the other "transferable" point programs, you can redeem your Ultimate Rewards Points for good value, without needing to hassle with frequent flyer tickets. Ultimate Rewards points can be converted into Hyatt hotel points, which can easily be used for award nights at point values typically over 1.7 cents each. If you have the Sapphire Reserve Card, you can "cash out" your points at 1.5 cents per point. And you can get similar value using your points to purchase Southwest Airline tickets.

While you can still typically get the most value for your points through good-value frequent flyer tickets, you can easily get good value, with much less effort, through these other types of redemptions. And you can sometimes get as much as 3 cents in value on better-than-normal Hyatt redemptions.

• We value Ultimate Reward points at 1.7 cents each. Because you can take advantage of award space and "sweet spots" from many different frequent flyer programs, Ultimate Reward points are worth more than any single type of airline miles. If you highly valuable premium-cabin award tickets, Ultimate Reward points are worth even more. If you want to avoid the hassles associated with frequent flyer tickets, they are worth a little less. How Much are Points Worth?

Even if you use them like cash, the reward rate on any purchase with the Chase Reserve / Chase Unlimited combo is 2.25 cents per dollar, the reward rate on travel and restaurant purchases with the Sapphire Reserve is 4.5 cents per dollar, and the signup bonus for the Sapphire Cards is worth $750.

• The Sapphire (and Ink Preferred) cards makes the Ultimate Reward points you earn from other cards more valuable. Only Ink Preferred and Sapphire cardholders can transfer their points to airline and hotel partners. In addition, Sapphire Reserve cardholders get 1.5 cents per point, and Ink Preferred and Sapphire Preferred cardholders get 1.25 cents per point, rather than 1 cent per point, when purchasing travel through Chase. These benefits extend to all your Ultimate Reward points, not just to ones earned directly from these cards.

For example, if you have the Ink Preferred card, the points you earn from the Freedom Unlimited card can be transferred to airline partners, and used for frequent flyer tickets. But, if you don't have one of these cards, the points are only worth 1 cents each (for purchasing travel through Chase).

Collecting the Signup Bonus

• This card is primarily interesting for its lucrative bonus category reward rates, not for its signup bonus. The normal 15,000 point signup offer is valued at $260 (at 1.7 cents per point), assuming that you have another Chase card (Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Preferred), that lets you transfer your Ultimate Reward points to airline and hotel partners. If you are just interested in a signup bonus, you probably don't want to waste a Chase 5/24 slot on this card. There are better signup offers available. Dealing with the Chase 5/24 Rule.

After subtracting the opportunity cost of using the card for $500 of spending, the calculated net value of the sign-up is $300 (60 cents per dollar spent). Your value may be higher or lower, depending on how much you value the Ultimate Reward Points. Introduction to 'Transferable' Reward Points.

• You can earn signup bonuses from multiple different Chase Ultimate Reward cards. You are limited to only one version of the Sapphire card (every 24 months), but there is also the Ink Preferred, Ink Cash, Ink Unlimited, and Freedom Unlimited cards.

Other Notable Benefits

• Access to Chase's Luxury Hotel and Resort Collection. Along with other Chase cards, you'll get access to Chase's luxury hotel program. When you use the program to book one of the participating hotels, you'll receive a set of valuable benefits, including free breakfast, late check-out, and a hotel-specific amenity (which is typically a $100 hotel, restaurant, or spa credit). Take Advantage of Luxury Hotel Programs for Valuable Extra Perks.
• Access to the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection. As with all Visa Signature cards, you'll get access to Visa's luxury hotel program. Whenever you book one of the 900+ participating hotels, you'll receive a set of valuable benefits, including free breakfast, late check-out, and a $25 food and beverage credit. The Visa program has slightly weaker benefits than the other luxury hotel programs, but includes a larger number of more affordable hotel options and a best price guarantee. Take Advantage of Luxury Hotel Programs for Valuable Extra Perks.
• Access to Visa Signature Offers. Your card entitles you to a set of special offers available from Visa.

Bonus Categories

The Chase Freedom card is the best of the "rotating category" cards. Earn 5-10% in Rewards with Rotating Category Cards

• Rather than earning bonus rewards on a fixed set of categories, the Chase Freedom card has a different set of bonus categories every three months. For example, here’s the Chase Freedom calendar for 2017:

• The rewards you can earn with the card are capped each quarter. If you spend the maximum of $1,500 each quarter, you can earn 30,000 Ultimate Reward points each year, valued at $510.
• Unless you expend some effort, it can be hard to reach these theoretical maximums. During any given quarter, it might be hard to take full advantage of the available category(s). You may not naturally have an opportunity to spend $1,500, or you may be already earning bonus rewards in a category from another card. So, the extra rewards you would earn will be lower.
• In return for these extra rewards, you need to deal with the extra complexity of remembering to use these cards for a shifting set of categories, registering for each quarter’s promotion, and trying to maximize your category spend (but not waste points by spending over the quarterly maximums).
• If you aren't going to reach the $1,500 per quarter limit naturally, you can take some steps to increase your bonus category spending.
• Time your purchases for upcoming bonus categories. The card’s categories are announced ahead of time, so you can often postpone a purchase until a category becomes active, or purchase something ahead-of-time, while a category is still active.
• Max out your categories with gift cards. Many of the merchants in supported categories sell gift cards, which will count as a purchase within the bonus category. You can buy these gift cards to max out your quarterly bonus, and then use them for purchases at other merchants. This lets you shift the extra-high bonus rewards you can get from the Freedom card to different categories, or different times of the year. For example, you could earn bonus rewards at home improvement stores for gift cards that you will later use at Amazon.com, or for a gift card from the same store, that you can use during a different time of the year. Maximize Your Category Bonuses using Gift Cards.
• You don't want to use this card for your everyday spending. You'll earn higher rewards from a good general-purpose reward card. Get a Great General Purpose Reward Card and Use It for All of Your Spending.

Getting Rid of the Card

f you still have a significant balance of Ultimate Reward points, make sure you keep at least one Ultimate Rewards credit card (any of the Sapphire, Freedom, or Ink cards), otherwise you will lose you points. You need to have an annual-fee-based card (Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Preferred) in order to transfer your points to airline and hotel partners.

Even if you aren't using your Freedom card, we recommend holding onto it. You might want to use it in the future, and the Chase 5/24 rule makes it hard to get new Chase cards. In addition, you'll retain the option of converting it into an existing or newly introduced Ultimate Rewards card in the future.

However, if you have a bunch of Chase cards and are under 5/24, it can be worth cancelling to lower your total number of Chase accounts and decrease the risk of going for new Chase signup bonuses.

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