Chase Freedom card offers explained:


EARN UP TO $800 CASH BACK IN YOUR FIRST YEAR OF A NEW CHASE FREEDOM CARD!

The 2 main Freedom Cards are Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited.

Both Chase Freedom Cards are very popular for everyday expenses.


Please note that Chase won’t allow you to get the offer for any of these 2 cards unless you don’t currently have that card and have not received a new signup bonus for that specific card in the past 24 months. However, if you only currently have or have received a signup bonus in the last 24 months for only one of these cards, you are still eligible to apply for the other one.


SIGNUP BONUS:


When you first sign up for either the Chase Freedom Flex or the Chase Freedom Unlimited, the 3 cashback and interest-free offers are the same:


  • $200 bonus (in the form of 20K Ultimate Rewards points), after you spend $500 in the first 3 months

  • Plus, earn 5% cash back on grocery store purchases (not including Target® and Walmart® purchases) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year (that's $600 cash back!).

  • 0% interest for the first 15 months after opening the card

During this period, you can pay only the minimum payment and you won’t be charged any interest on the remaining balance that you carry over from month to month). This no-interest period applies to both purchases and balance transfers, though there are fees to make the actual balance transfer. (You can also see our strategy for an effectively fee-free balance transfer here).



EVERYDAY REWARDS EARNING POWER:


Both of these cards will always earn bonus rewards in specific categories as follows:


  • 5% on Travel but only when you book through Chase Ultimate Rewards (available online and by phone)

  • 3% on dining, including takeout and restaurant delivery services (such as DoorDash)

  • 3% on all drugstore purchases


The only major difference between the 2 Freedom cards is the way they earn rewards for general purchases:


  • The Freedom Flex card earns only 1% cashback on general spending but has 5% bonus rewards categories that change quarterly (every 3 months of a calendar year). For example, the bonus category from October through December of 2021 was for purchases made through PayPal, and also for purchases made at Walmart or Walmart.com. If during those 3 months, you had made a purchase in those categories, you'll have earned 5% instead of the regular 1%. You can earn the bonus rewards on up to $1500 in spending during each quarter, after which you'll earn the base rate of 1% or 1.5%. The quarterly bonus offers need to be activated online or by phone every 3 months when they change to the new categories.


  • The Freedom Unlimited card, on the other hand, earns 1.5% cashback on all general spending, which is a higher rate than the Freedom Flex card- but does not have the special bonus rewards categories that come with the Freedom Flex.


All bonus rewards percentages are the total that you’ll earn. For example, on drug store purchases, the Chase Freedom Flex will earn the regular 1% plus a bonus of 2%, for a total of 3%. (An interesting exception to this rule is a bonus category which is included in a signup bonus. For example, if you have a 5% groceries bonus on your Freedom Flex from the current signup bonus, and then Chase makes groceries into one of the quarterly bonus categories as they often do, you’ll earn rewards as follows: 1% regular cashback, plus 4% from the signup bonus, plus another 4% from the quarterly bonus, for a total of 9%, but not 10% because the base 1% reward is only earned once, as opposed to the 4% bonus which turns it into 5% that’s earned twice).


LIMITED TIME PERK (For both new and existing cardholders):


  • 3 months of DashPass for free and 9 months after that for 50% off as long as you activate by the end of March 2022 (click here for more info on DoorDash and DashPass).

  • 5% cashback on Lyft rides, but only until the end of March 2022


Also important to note:


  • The Freedom Unlimited is a Visa card, and the Freedom Flex is a MasterCard.

  • Neither of the two Freedom cards has an annual fee.

Both of them do have Foreign transaction fees of 3%. (Click here for our list of the best cards with no foreign transaction fee).