Since it’s introduction in 2016, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card has been extremely well liked by both beginners and experts. The primary reason is its straight forward earnings structure of 1.5% back on all purchases. Now Chase has announced that they’re making a good thing even better. Starting September 15, 2020, cardholders will earn bonus cashback on travel, dining and drugstore purchases!
New Chase Freedom Unlimited Categories
Starting September 15, 2020, the Chase Freedom Unlimited will offer three new bonus categories:
- 5% back on travel purchased through the Chase Travel Portal
- 3% back on dining
- 3% back at drugstores
There’s no activation required and all other purchases will continue to earn 1.5%. Plus there’s no cap on how many points you can earn! That’s an improvement over the Chase Freedom® whose bonus category earnings are capped at $1,500 per quarter.
5% Back on Travel
The biggest new bonus category is travel. To earn 5% cash back, however, cardholders must purchase travel through the Chase Travel Portal. In my experience, rates for hotels and airfare are often the same when booked through the portal versus direct. Just remember that hotels will usually not honor elite benefits on travel booked through any third-party travel portal.
3% Back on Dining
This new bonus category is kind of a head-scratcher from Chase’s perspective, but it’s certainly a nice benefit for cardholders. Chase’s premium Sapphire Reserve card earns 3% on dining but has a $550 annual fee. So it’s a little odd that Chase decided to give 3% back on dining (including takeout and delivery) for a card with no annual fee. And while there are lots of other cards that offer 3% or higher on dining purchases, this card is a great way to maximize returns from a no fee card.
3% Back at Drugstores
My favorite new bonus category is 3% back at drugstores. There are so many cards that offer great benefits on travel and dining, but almost nothing for drugstores. The Bank of America® Cash Rewards credit card lets cardholders choose to earn 3% cashback at drugstores. But that’s only on up to $2,500 in combined purchases each quarter. Since the Chase Freedom Unlimited has no earnings cap, this becomes the new go-to card for drugstore purchases.
Chase Freedom Unlimited and Ultimate Rewards
This card is a very popular pick among beginners because it’s earnings structure was so simple — 1.5% cashback on all purchases. It’s also popular with experts because when paired with with a Chase credit card that earns Ultimate Rewards, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® or Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you effectively turn that 1.5% return into 1.5x points.
Pairing with Chase Sapphire cards
On its own, points earned from the Chase Freedom Unlimited are worth 1 cent apiece when redeemed for cash back, gift cards or travel. However, if you transfer those points to the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred cards, you open up a new world of possibilities.
For Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred cardholders, points are worth 1.25 cents per point when redeemed in the Chase Travel Portal. For cardholders of the Sapphire Reserve, points are worth 1.5 cents per point when redeemed for travel through the Chase Travel Portal.
So moving your Freedom Unlimited points to any of these cards gets you at least 25% and up to 50% more value. But the Chase Travel Portal isn’t your only option. You can often get even greater value by transferring points to any of Chase’s 13 travel partners.
For example, you could transfer 70,000 Ultimate Rewards points to United Airlines to fly first class from New York to Los Angeles. Tickets often sell for around $1,750, so the value of those 70,000 points is around 2.5 cents per point ($1,750 / 70,000 points). That’s 150% more value than redeeming at 1 cent per point!
For more information on Chase’s flexible points program, check out The Complete Guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
Chase Freedom Flex℠
All of the above sounds pretty darn good, but Chase didn’t stop there. In the same announcement, they also introduced the new no annual fee Freedom Flex℠ MasterCard. This is essentially a re-branded version of the Freedom Card, with some significant improvements. The new card combines a set of rotating bonus categories (like Chase Freedom) with the same trio of fixed bonus categories (like Chase Freedom Unlimited): 5% cash back on travel purchased through the Chase Travel Portal, 3% cash back on dining and 3% cash back at drugstores.
It’s worth noting that the current Chase Freedom card will no longer be available to new customers, though existing cardholders can choose to keep their current card or request a product change to the new Freedom Flex.
Current Sign-up Offer
Both the Chase Freedom Unlimited and Freedom Flex cards are currently offering new cardholders a $200 bonus (effectively 20,000 Ultimate Rewards points) after spending $500 in the first three months. Plus, new cardholders will also earn 5% cash back on grocery store purchases up to $12,000 spent in the first year.
If you maximize this offer, you’ll earn a bonus of $600 cashback from grocery purchases in addition to the $200 sign-up bonus. That’s $800 cashback, or when transferred to an Ultimate Rewards-earning card, 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Bottom Line
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® Card is already one of the most popular cards out there. Now with the addition of 5% back on travel, 3% on dining and 3% at drugstores, this card should have a place in everyone’s wallet.
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