Yep, Christmas came early this year! A few days ago my long awaited Chase Freedom card arrived in the mail. Even better, the card Chase sent me featured the new updated design.
As I’m sure you can tell by now, I’m excited to finally have a Chase Freedom card in my possession. I’ve wanted a Chase Freedom card since way back in 2011. Back then I applied for the card directly, but Chase denied my application due to a lack of credit history. As my credit score improved I looked for more rewarding credit cards. I found myself drawn to credit cards with flexible rewards points instead of cash back. Through the years I opened various cards, but never found the right opportunity to burn a new account application on the Chase Freedom card. Pesky Chase 5/24 rule…
Then, just over a year ago, Chase introduced the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. I opened that card for the insane 100,000 point sign-up bonus and the lucrative 3X points earning potential. At that point I carried both the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve cards. I decided to downgrade my Sapphire Preferred card to the Chase Freedom card due to the redundancy in benefits between the two Sapphire cards.
Sadly, Chase said I was ineligible for a downgrade since my Sapphire Preferred account was less than 1 year old. After a long wait, my account finally became eligible and Chase approved my conversion from the Chase Sapphire card to the Chase Freedom card.
Now, that you understand the back story it’s time to help you understand why this card is so valuable.
Chase Freedom Ultimate Rewards Benefits Overview
At face value the Chase Freedom card is simply a no-annual fee cash back credit card. The card earns 1% cash back on all qualifying purchases year round. However, the card also features quarterly rotating bonus categories. These are the “confusing” rotating categories that many other credit card issuers refer to when advertising their cash back cards. The rotating categories are what make this card a spectacular addition to my wallet.
Each quarter, Chase offers rotating bonus categories than earn 5% cash back on the first $1,500 spent on qualifying purchases. Year over year these rotating categories remain relatively similar. For 2017 the rotating categories are as follows:
As you can see above, Chase hasn’t yet introduced the specifics of the Q4 2017 bonus categories. Chase waits until the near the end of the prior quarter before releasing the details of the following quarter. That being said, rotating bonus categories generally remain consistent year over year. You can typically expect gas, groceries, dining, department stores, or online retailers as categories each year. Either way, considering the benefit tops out at $1,500 I bet nearly anyone could maximize this benefit each quarter.
Activating The Chase Freedom 5% Quarterly Bonus
The only caveat with the Chase Freedom rotating categories is that card holders have to activate the category each quarter. It’s best to do this as early as possible in the quarter for simplicity’s sake. The process is quite painless and only takes a few moments. To activate the quarterly 5% cash back bonus category, visit the Chase Freedom Bonus Activation Site and enter the last 4 digits of your account number, your last name, and your billing zip code.
Once activated continue to use your card and earn 5% cash back on the first $1,500 in qualifying purchases each quarter. It’s best to activate the bonus categories early in the quarter to make sure you’re maximizing the benefit. To ensure the timely activation of bonus categories, Chase offers a Bonus Category Calendar to remind customers of each activation period.
Luckily, if you forget to activate until later in the quarter, Chase retroactively awards 5% on qualifying purchases in the current quarter. For example, if you wait until September 14, 2017 to register for the Q3 bonus, Chase will award 5% (for the first $1,500) at restaurants or movie theaters throughout Q3. This is great news because it means card holders don’t need to be super vigilant when activating bonus categories. However, I personally recommend registering immediately just to make sure you don’t miss out entirely.
Additional Card Benefits
In addition to earning Cash Back, the Chase Freedom card also comes with several other benefits which help make it one of the best no annual fee cards on the market today. Those benefits include:
- $150 Cash Back sign-up bonus after spending $500 in the first 90 days
- Low Introductory APR – 0% for the first 15 months – ~16-25% after that
- Purchase Protection
- Extended Warranty
- No Annual Fee
- Cash Back ‘Points’ Transferable To Ultimate Rewards Program
Transfer Chase Freedom Cash Back To The Ultimate Rewards Program
Ok, so as you’d expect from a no annual fee card the additional benefits aren’t spectacular, but the last benefit is the one that matters the most. As you spend you earn Cash Back ‘Points’ instead of true cash back. These points can be used as statement credits (cash back) to offset purchases or to purchase gift cards. However, if you also carry an Ultimate Rewards card (Chase Sapphire, Chase Sapphire Preferred, or Chase Sapphire Reserve) you can transfer Chase Freedom Points to your Ultimate Rewards account.
Once you transfer points to an Ultimate Rewards account you can use them as you would traditional Ultimate Rewards points. Personally, I prefer transferring Ultimate Rewards points to partner loyalty programs to maximize value. Earlier this year I transferred points to United and booked a Lufthansa First Class flight with miles. It was a truly incredible experience and I can’t wait to fly Lufthansa again.
Final Thoughts
As I mentioned earlier, I’m so excited to finally have the Chase Freedom card in my wallet. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally here and I’ve already started earning 5% on restaurant purchases! Additionally, I’ve linked this card to my AAdvantage Dining account which means I also earn 5X AAdvantage miles at qualifying restaurants. In those double dip scenarios I’m now earning 10% back on each $1 I spend on dining. That represents a truly great initial return on spend.
Lastly, I don’t let card design influence my opinion of a card too much, but I like the new Chase Freedom design. The new design is a little more modern and the green edges help make the card stand out. It’s definitely a huge improvement over the original Chase Freedom design from years ago.
