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Update: This offer is no longer available at moneysmylife. See the Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card.
The Chase Freedom® credit card is offering $200 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. 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.
This card earns Ultimate Rewards (UR) points. It’s 20,000 UR points for the welcome bonus. If you pair the Chase Freedom card with a higher tier Ultimate Rewards card, those 20,000 UR points could be worth up to around $400 (instead of the standard $200 cash back). More on this below.
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.
*Chase Bank offers great bonuses with their Checking/Savings accounts also.
$200 Chase Freedom Bonus Offer
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, here are some tips.
Redeeming With The Chase Freedom Card
The $200 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 $200 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 great value, so we recommend going this route. The exception here would be if you’re using a multi-card strategy with Ultimate Rewards cards for better redemption value (more on this later).
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.
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® Cash Rewards Credit Card.
But, the best pairing strategy is with certain other Chase cards. Specifically the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve® for a consumer card. Or, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card for a business option.
You can actually pool together the Ultimate Rewards points earned with the Chase Freedom and the cards mentioned above. You can then redeem at the highest rate associated with your best redeeming card.
This can potentially make your rewards worth even more. This will depend on your booking criteria. It’s always best to compare a travel booking with Chase’s partners versus directly through the Ultimate Rewards portal. We’ve seen points getting a value of 2 cents each (20k points = $400) with some booking scenarios with these partners.
Here are the Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partners.
Bottom Line
The Chase Freedom card fits savvy users most. Where using a multi-Chase card strategy to accumulate Ultimate Rewards points gets the most value.
For those wanting a simple, flat cash back rate on all purchases, seek out an alternative card.
The information related to the Chase Freedom credit card has been collected by MoneysMyLife and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card.
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