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- Chase Freedom® Bonus
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The Chase Freedom® credit card is offering $150 bonus cash back after you spend $500 in purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. This is a solid sign-up bonus for a credit card with no annual fee, and has been a favorite of bonus seekers for quite some time. *If you weren’t already aware, Chase Bank offers great bonuses with their Checking/Savings accounts also.
This card is well-known for its 5% bonus cash back in quarterly rotating categories. The bonus cash back is great, but you’ll still need to have some consideration before applying due to the 1% cash back rate on purchases outside of these bonus categories.
We’ll review the bonus offer and ongoing cash back with the Chase Freedom® card below.
$150 Chase Freedom® Bonus Offer
The $150 bonus cash with the Chase Freedom® card comes in the form of Ultimate Rewards points, and the Ultimate Rewards program is one of the best in the business. You can redeem your bonus for a $150 statement credit, or via gift cards, merchandise, travel,etc. Redeeming for cash back in the form of statement credits is simple and you’ll get the maximum value, so we recommend going this route.
While the 5% cash back on quarterly rotating categories is great, it may not be that appealing to users looking for a simple flat rate on their purchases. You’ll have to keep up with the categories every quarter not only because they change, but because you actually have to activate the bonus category each quarter before you’ll earn that bonus rate. Plus, you’ll only earn the 5% in that category on up to $1,500 in purchases, or $75 max that quarter. You can potentially earn $300 in cash bonuses over the course of the year, but that means spending at least $1,500 in the bonus categories each and very quarter.
5% Chase Freedom® Categories For 2017 & 2018
The categories change every year, but they typically follow a trend.
| Q1 2017 (Jan. 1 to March 31) | Gas stations and local commuter transportation (not including parking, tolls or Amtrak) |
| Q2 2017 (April 1 to June 30) | Grocery stores (not including Walmart and Target purchases) and drugstores |
| Q3 2017 (July 1 to Sept. 30) | Restaurants and movie theaters |
| Q4 2017 (Oct. 1 to Dec. 31) | Walmart, Department Stores |
| Q1 2018 (Jan. 1 to March 31) | Gas Stations, Internet/Cable/Phone Services, Chase Pay, Android Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay |
| Q2 2018 (April 1 to June 30) | Grocery stores (not including Walmart and Target purchases), Paypal, Chase Pay |
Maximizing With The Chase Freedom Card®
We believe the typical user that is interested in the Chase Freedom® card is also interested in taking a little extra effort in maximizing rewards potential. Because the card has no annual fee, it costs nothing to carry and only use on the 5% quarterly categories. You can then supplement with a higher flat-rate rewards card.
If you’re a low to moderate spender, you can pair with a no annual fee, flat rate card like the Capital One® Quicksilver® (earns 1.5%; has a sign-up bonus) or the Citi Double Cash (earns 2%; doesn’t have a sign-up bonus). If you spend enough each year on credit card purchases to negate the annual fee, the Barclays Arrival® (2% rate) and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® (1.25%-2.5% rate) card earn great rates and have two of the best card bonuses in the market. You can actually pool together the Ultimate Rewards points earned with the Chase Freedom® and Chase Sapphire Preferred® card and redeem at the higher rate associated with the Sapphire Preferred®. Points are worth 25% more when redeemed for travel through the Ultimate Rewards portal when you have the Sapphire Preferred® card.
Just like with bank bonuses, we here at MoneysMyLife enjoy the up-front value of maximizing sign-up bonuses. We’ll compare all the current bonuses for these competitor/supplemental cards below.
What’s The Competition?
Whether it’s to supplement the Chase Freedom® or to substitute for it, here’s more info on the card bonuses and rewards rates of the ones mentioned above:
Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard®
 The Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard® doesn't have an initial sign-up bonus offer. This card is targeted to high spenders that plan on carrying a good travel card for the long term. Instead of a bonus available upon account opening, cardholders are able to earn 25,000 loyalty bonus miles each and every year that they spend at least $25,000 in purchases. These 25,000 bonus miles are worth $250 in travel credits. The card also earns unlimited miles at the rate of 2 miles per $1 spent on all purchases regardless of category. With the miles earning rate taken into account, spending $25,000 a year will net you 75,000 miles worth $750 in travel credits, and you'll be able to earn that amount yearly.As expected with any good travel card, there are no foreign transaction fees to be concerned with and you'll get the higher worldwide acceptance of a Mastercard, which is nearly equivalent to that of Visa and much better than Discover or American Express. If you're not a high spender who travels often, this likely will not be a suitable card option for your needs. Full Review |
Chase Sapphire Preferred®
| The Chase Sapphire Preferred® credit card currently has an offer for 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Redeeming these bonus points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® program, which is praised by users, will get you $625 in value towards travel. The 50K bonus points are worth $625 because you get 25% more value whenever you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Ongoing rewards with this card include earning 2 points per $1 on Travel and Dining at restaurants. The annual fee is $95, but it is waived for the first year. Full Review |
Capital One® Quicksilver®
| The Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards card will earn a $150 bonus when you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months.The bonus offer is comparable to its top competitors, but this card earns a respectable 1.5% cash back on every purchase with no limit on how much you can earn. There are no spending categories to keep up with. There's a 0% introductory APR on both Purchases and Balance Transfers for the first 9 months with this card. After the introductory period, the rate will be a variable 13.99%-23.99% APR. The Balance Transfer fee is 3% on the amounts transferred within the first 9 months. People like this card because of the cash back rate, the flexibility to redeem your cash back for any amount, and there's no annual fee. Full Review |
Citi Double Cash
| The Citi Double Cash Card now has a $100 sign-up bonus offer and also earns up to 2% cash back on all purchases. You'll earn 1% cash back for all purchases charged to the card. You'll then earn an additional 1% cash back when you pay off those purchases, as long as you pay at least the minimum due. There are no spending categories to keep up with. There is no longer a 0% introductory APR on Balance Transfers offer for this card, but the sign-up bonus is a great substitute. There's no annual fee with this card. Full Review |
Earning The $150 Chase Freedom® Bonus
Spending $500 in 3 months for the bonus offer should be a straightforward process with your everyday spending. If you think you’ll have any issues or if you’re applying for more than one card bonus, be sure to see our Card Bonus Spending Requirement write-up for tips.
Some ideas in our guide include:
- Paying bills where credit cards aren’t an option. Most of the time, bills like your mortgage, rent, and car note can’t be paid with a credit card. Third party services like Plastiq.com will allow you to pay such bills with your credit card. They take the payment from your card, and send off payment towards your bill. The typical processing charge is around 2.5%.
- Fund bank accounts with your credit card. Many readers of MoneysMyLife are taking advantage of the cash bonuses offered by banks, and using their credit cards to fund these new bank accounts. See the list of current bank bonuses here. See the list of banks that offer credit card funding here.
Have a look at our guide for more tips on meeting the spending requirement for card bonuses.
In conclusion, the Chase Freedom® credit card has been a long-time contender in the cash back credit card market, and the bonus offers consistently available make this a winner for the masses.
MoneysMyLife Top Offer Picks  Earn a $200 bonus when you open a new Chase Total Checking® account and set up direct deposit. Also earn a $150 bonus when you open a new Chase SavingsSM account, deposit a total of $10,000 or more in new money within 10 days & maintain a $10,000 balance for 90 days. Apply for both offers and get a $350 total bonus. Full Review Get $300 when you open a new Chase Premier Plus CheckingSM account and set up direct deposit. This account has more features than the Chase Total Checking® and the monthly service fee can be waived with a few different requirement options. A $300 Checking bonus is one of the best offers from Chase Bank. Full Review Earn $200 when you open a new Chase Total Business Checking® account, deposit $1,000 in new money within 10 business days of account opening, maintain that balance for 60 days and complete five qualifying transactions within 60 days. This is the most popular Business Checking offer.Full Review |
Apply online for a new TD Bank Checking account to earn either a $300 bonus for the TD Premier Checking account ( $2,500 in direct deposits required), or a $150 bonus for the TD Convenience Checking account ($500 in direct deposits required). This is a limited time offer. 
Earn up to 25,000 bonus miles worth $250 in travel every year with the Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard®. Without an initial sign-up bonus, this credit card is intended for high spenders looking for a card to carry for the long-term. The card will earn unlimited miles at the rate of 2 miles per $1 spent on all purchases regardless of category. 
CIT Bank is offering a 1.75% APY rate with their Money Market Account for all balances. This account is available online nationwide and consistently offers one of the best rates in the nation. The minimum opening deposit is $100 and there are no fees for opening or maintaining the account. 
Ally Invest has a promotion where you can earn either 90 days of commission-free trades or a $200 cash bonus. The $200 bonus will require a deposit of at least $25,000 within 15 days of account opening and the execution of 3 trades within 90 days. The free trades offer will require a $10,000 minimum deposit. 
Simple Bank has an offer where you can earn a $20 bonus after opening their free online Checking account that's available nationwide. You'll then be able to earn unlimited $20 referral bonuses. Direct deposit isn't a requirement and all you and your referrals need to do is open a new account and use the Simple Visa debit card to make a first purchase. - Best Online Brokers For Trading Stocks April 2018
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*These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.