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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 April through June 2025, those categories are Amazon and select streaming services.
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 which have 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees) | 1.5¢ | Yes |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees) | 1.25¢ | Yes |
| Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees) | 1.25¢ | 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 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, they’re instantly worth 1.25 cents instead of 1 cent towards Chase Travel bookings. More importantly, you gain access to 14 valuable transfer partners with an average redemption value of 1.95¢ 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), and Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
This was my first card sooooo many years ago. I had considered closing it since I hadn’t used it for years, but kept it open just so I could enjoy the larger available credit I had on my report. I honestly never would have picked it up again had it not been for this blog. I’m so excited to be using my cards effectively (and intelligently) and CANNOT wait to book my first rewards redemption!
Chase Freedom was my first card some 10 years ago even before the bonus categories rotated. They used to give 3% for gas year round. I wish they kept it this way
I was debating between this card and the Amex cash back blue card. I think because of the chase pay and Apple Pay also being included in the bonus spend it’s an easy decision!
Great card with good, regular 5x categories. Recommended.
Really hard to get max out the bonus on some quarters and even if you do, its only 75 back max per quarter. Only reason I keep this card is it is free and its old so have a big credit limit which helps keep my overall credit usage down. Probably not worth the overhead to pay the bill some months since it only nets me a few dollars back and just easier to consolidate on my citi double or csr.
Better if you have 3 or 4 of ‘em. Even if it’s just used on grocery that one quarter it’s available, that 3-4*7500 of you can small time liquidate into MOs. 20-30k isn’t major, but it’s a pretty good yearly bonus
Great card for any wallet!
Every household should have at least 1 Freedom card just for the rotating category bonuses. If you ever feel the need to cancel your Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Sapphire Preferred card, then best to downgrade that into another Freedom card.
I need this card! Ugh 5/24.
The Freedom was an awesome card Jan-Mar with apple pay. Hopefully more retailers take chase pay as well.
Thanks for the update!
Yup, you can usually prepay your phone and internet bills to max this bonus out!
Might have to get this card!
It is a solid addition to any Ultimate Rewards earning strategy
I make a few payments to cover my TV, internet and phone I don’t use (but it’s cheaper with it) for most of the year, a few days ago for the 5% bonus.
Great update of the info!! Thanks!
I just love the 5% bonus categories and that you can transfer points to the Sapphire Reserve card.
Does this card sometimes have a higher sign up bonus than the standard $150?
Off the top of my head, I remember a 20,000-point ($200) a few years back, but I wouldn’t plan on an increased bonus anytime soon.
Worth getting extra ones of these whenever downgrading! Our household now has three, which should just about cover us for all the quarterly maximums.
Personally, I cannot imagine a person not wanting a Freedom card. Over time, my Freedom card has become one of the reliable workhorses in my wallet.
Love the info on the Chase cards! I am wary to pull the trigger due to the 5/24 rule, but getting this info helps to make a final decision.
If you put a little bit of work the 5% makes it all worth it
I was thinking about closing this one, but it seems there may be a better value to it once I jump to a fee card later. I did not know about tying them together and had assumed each had its own path to rewards. Nice to know.
Thanks for the review.
Thanks for the useful breakdown
Love the chase freedom card. Especially useful to use with the Reserve Card.
Now that they are including Chase Pay (and other mobile forms of payment) in the 5x categories, it makes it very easy to max them out with regular spend.
I’m always having to remind myself not to use it when I travel internationally since it does have foreign transaction fees.
thanks for the info
I’m envious of people who can earn miles with these cards, as they are not available where I live 🙁
This is good if you can take advantage of the 5% quarterly bonus categories.
How easy is this to upgrade to the CSP/CSR if you’ve lowered the cc limit to $5k?
It 100% depends on your relationship with Chase. You should call them and ask.
My Chase Freedom pairs perfectly with my CSR, I am happy with both.
Great card to pair with a premium UR earning card.
Amazing card, need to see a similar one in Canada!