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Offers for the Chase Freedom®, Chase Freedom Flex℠, Chase Freedom Rise® and Chase Freedom® Student credit card are not available through this site. Some offers may have expired. Please see our card marketplace for available offers
The Freedom credit card family from Chase includes several of our favorite no-annual-fee cards for earning travel rewards. Officially, Chase Freedom cards are “cash back” products which earn points that are worth one cent apiece. But that represents the minimum value of the rewards you'll earn.
In practice, these cards earn Ultimate Rewards points, which can be far more valuable if you also have a Chase card that grants the ability to transfer your points to airline and hotel partners.
Holding a Freedom credit card can help you earn more rewards on the purchases you make most—without imposing another annual fee on your budget. Here's our guide to supercharging your Ultimate Rewards strategy with a Chase Freedom card.
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Chase Freedom Credit Cards
The Chase Freedom lineup has evolved in recent years. The original Chase Freedom® card was discontinued for new applicants in September of 2020.
Existing cardholders have been able to keep their Freedom cards, and they are still eligible to register for Chase’s popular 5% earning categories which are updated each quarter.
Fortunately for those who missed out on the classic Freedom card, the new and improved version of the card—called the Chase Freedom Flex℠—became available to new cardholders on September 15, 2020.
Chase Freedom Flex
The Chase Freedom Flex is a versatile cash back card which earns 5% back on select purchases. Each quarter, Chase announces a new set of merchants and categories which are eligible for Freedom Flex’s enhanced earning rates on up to $1,500 in combined purchases over the three-month period.
- Earn 5% on up to $1,500 on combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate
- Earn 5% on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- Earn 3% on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- Earn 3% on drugstore purchases
- Earn 1% on all other purchases
In addition to the rotating 5% categories, Freedom Flex offers three categories that earn additional cash back throughout the year:
- Earn 5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3% on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- Earn 3% on purchases at drugstores
Chase Freedom Unlimited®
The Freedom Unlimited (Rates & Fees) is the perfect card to maximize your earning on purchases not covered by the Freedom Flex’s rotating bonus categories. With Freedom Unlimited, you’ll earn 1.5% cash back every purchase.
- Intro Offer: Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening
- Enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, our premier rewards program that lets you redeem rewards for cash back, travel, gift cards and more; 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 1.5% on all other purchases.
- No minimum to redeem for cash back. You can choose to receive a statement credit or direct deposit into most U.S. checking and savings accounts. Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open!
- Enjoy 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 18.99% - 28.49%.
- No annual fee - You won't have to pay an annual fee for all the great features that come with your Freedom Unlimited® card
- Keep tabs on your credit health, Chase Credit Journey helps you monitor your credit with free access to your latest score, alerts, and more.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- Earn 5% on purchases through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3% on dining at restaurants
- Earn 3% on drugstore purchases
- Earn 1.5% on all purchases
This card also offers higher cash-back earning rates on several categories of purchases:
- Earn 5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3% on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- Earn 3% on purchases at drugstores
Chase Freedom Rise®
The Chase Freedom Rise is marketed as a cash-back rewards card that helps you build your credit. Although its benefits are modest, this card’s 1.5% cash-back earning on every purchase sets it apart from the other cards designed to help you build your credit.
- 1.5% cash back on every purchase
Freedom Rise is a great alternative to the now-discontinued Chase Freedom® Student credit card, which stopped accepting new applications in June of 2023. With no annual fee, this card way for those with limited credit history to get a foothold in the valuable Ultimate Rewards ecosystem.
Chase Freedom Categories
The Chase Freedom calendar is updated each quarter with new 5% earning categories that can be activated by Freedom Flex cardholders (and those who still have the original Chase Freedom Card).
Freedom cardholders can earn up to $75 cash back—equivalent to 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points—by spending $1,500 across the eligible categories each quarter.
From July through September 2025, those categories are Instacart, gas stations, EV charging, and select live entertainment.
Remember, you need to activate your 5% categories by the last day of the quarter. As long as you meet that deadline, all qualifying purchases that have been posted during the quarter will be eligible for bonus cash back.
The Ultimate Rewards Credit Card Family
In addition to the Freedom cards, the broader group of Chase Ultimate Rewards cards includes the Sapphire cards and Ink Business cards. Your options for redeeming points depend on which Ultimate Rewards credit card you hold. Chase's premium travel cards offer a higher value per point when booking through Chase Travel℠ and enable transfers to partner loyalty programs.
| Card | Point Value when Booking Travel Through Chase Travel | Points Transferrable to Travel Partners |
|---|---|---|
| Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (Rates & Fees) | Up to 2¢ (depending on the specific redemption) | Yes |
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees) | Up to 2¢ (depending on the specific redemption) | Yes |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees) | Up to 1.75¢ (depending on the specific redemption) | Yes |
| Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees) | Up to 1.75¢ (depending on the specific redemption) | Yes |
| Chase Freedom Flex℠ | 1¢ | No |
| Chase Freedom Unlimited® (Rates & Fees) | 1¢ | No |
| Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (Rates & Fees) | 1¢ | No |
| Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (Rates & Fees) | 1¢ | No |
| Ink Business Premier® Credit Card (Rates & Fees) | 1¢ | No |
Chase Sapphire Cards
The Chase Sapphire cards include the popular Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees) and the high-end Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), both of which have access to the full slate of transfer partners and offer higher value redemptions on Points Boost eligible bookings through Chase Travel℠.
Ink Business Cards
The Chase Ink Business family empowers small-business owners to earn Ultimate Rewards on everyday business purchases. These cards offer lucrative earning rates on popular business categories to help you build your rewards balance faster.
How to Combine Chase Points
To maximize the value of your Ultimate Rewards, it’s important that you know how to transfer points between Chase cards. This is the key to unlocking more value from the rewards you earn with Chase Freedom.
For example, when you combine your points by moving them from your Freedom card to your Sapphire Preferred card, you may be able to redeem them for up to 1.75 cents on select bookings. More importantly, you gain access to 14 valuable transfer partners with an average redemption value of 1.96¢ among AwardWallet users.
Transferring Chase points between cards can be done in a few seconds on the Chase website. Check out the detailed tutorial linked above for a step-by-step guide.
Freedom Card Application Restrictions
There are three credit card eligibility rules to know before you apply for a Chase Freedom card:
- The Chase 5/24 policy says that you won’t be approved if you opened five or more new credit cards (from any issuer) in the previous 24 months.
- Chase generally won’t approve your application if you already have the same card; additionally, you aren’t eligible to earn a welcome if you earned a new cardmember bonus on the same card in the past 24 months (even if that account is now closed).
- Chase restricts applicants to 1 personal credit card and 1 business credit card every 90 days, so spread out your card applications accordingly.
Final Thoughts
The Chase Freedom cards can play an essential supporting role in your broader strategy for earning Chase Ultimate Rewards. In most cases, it makes sense to apply for one of the Ultimate Rewards cards with access to transfer partners first and then pick up one or more Freedom cards to accelerate your earning—but this isn’t a strict requirement.
If you start with a Freedom card, you can always enhance the value of your points by adding a premium Ultimate Rewards card later. If you don’t have imminent travel plans, the sequencing won’t matter as long as you acquire one of the premium cards before it’s time to spend your rewards.
- Intro Offer: Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening
- Enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, our premier rewards program that lets you redeem rewards for cash back, travel, gift cards and more; 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 1.5% on all other purchases.
- No minimum to redeem for cash back. You can choose to receive a statement credit or direct deposit into most U.S. checking and savings accounts. Cash Back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open!
- Enjoy 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 18.99% - 28.49%.
- No annual fee - You won't have to pay an annual fee for all the great features that come with your Freedom Unlimited® card
- Keep tabs on your credit health, Chase Credit Journey helps you monitor your credit with free access to your latest score, alerts, and more.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- Earn 5% on purchases through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3% on dining at restaurants
- Earn 3% on drugstore purchases
- Earn 1.5% on all purchases
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Freedom Unlimited® (Rates & Fees), Ink Business Premier® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), and Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (Rates & Fees)
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