When it comes to no-annual-fee credit cards, it doesn’t get much better than Chase’s duo of the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited®. They both come with valuable welcome offers, too, with the potential to take home tons of cash back.
Both the Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited cards offer excellent rewards rates with no annual fee. Even better, they offer the flexibility to earn either cash back or fully transferable Ultimate Rewards points when combined with other Chase products, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
Let’s dive deeper into these offers and see how they stack up.
Chase Freedom Unlimited welcome offer
Welcome offer
With the current Chase Freedom Unlimited offer, you’ll earn an additional 1.5% cash back on all purchases up to $20,000 spent in the first year, meaning you’ll get a value of up to $300 cash back.
Earning rates
- 5% cash back on travel booked through Chase Travel℠
- 3% cash back on dining
- 3% cash back at drugstores
- 1.5% cash back on everything else
These are valuable earning rates, but you should crunch the numbers to see if another card (like the Freedom Flex) makes more sense.
Related: Review of the Chase Freedom Unlimited
Chase Freedom Flex welcome offer
Sign-up bonus
With the Chase Freedom Flex, you’ll earn $200 back after you spend $500 in the first three months.
Earning rates
- 5% cash back on the first $1,500 spent on rotating categories each quarter (activation required)
- 5% cash back on travel booked through Chase Travel
- 3% cash back on dining
- 3% cash back on drugstores
- 1% cash back on all other purchases
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That’s an impressive lineup of earning categories for any card, let alone a no-annual-fee credit card.
Related: Review of the Chase Freedom Flex
Combine points for even more value
However, what really makes these two cards powerful is how well they play with others.
If you have another Chase card that earns transferable Ultimate Rewards points, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, you can combine the points from your Freedom Unlimited or Freedom Flex. This boosts your redemption value for travel through the Chase portal to 1.25 cents per point on the Sapphire Preferred or 1.5 cents per point on the Sapphire Reserve.
However, it also unlocks the ability to transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio to the Ultimate Rewards program’s airline and hotel partners — including valuable programs like British Airways Executive Club, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Air Canada Aeroplan and World of Hyatt. In this scenario, TPG’s August 2024 valuations place Chase points at 2.05 cents apiece, so your rewards have significantly more flexibility when used in this way.
However, it’s worth pointing out that both the Freedom Unlimited and Freedom Flex impose foreign transaction fees, so they’re not good to use outside the U.S. In addition, you’ll want to make sure you comply with Chase’s 5/24 rule along with the issuer’s other application restrictions before applying. You’d hate to waste a hard inquiry on your credit report only to not get approved.
Bottom line
If you’re a current holder of the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve and don’t have a Chase Freedom card, now could be the perfect time to jump on one of them.
Both the Freedom Unlimited and Freedom Flex are worth a look, especially if you can make the most of the rotating quarterly bonus categories on the latter.
Apply here: Chase Freedom Unlimited
Apply here: Chase Freedom Flex
