The Chase Freedom Unlimited card is unique among Chase’s Ultimate Rewards cards in that you earn a minimum of 1.5x for all spend while also earning 3x-5x within bonus categories, including dining and drugstores. The card has no annual fee and earns Chase Ultimate Rewards, which can be very powerful when paired with the right cards. Let’s take a deeper look.
Chase Freedom Unlimited Current Welcome Offer
| Card Offer |
|---|
Up to 30K points / $300 cash back ⓘ Affiliate Earn an additional 1.5% on all purchases (up to $20K spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back.No Annual Fee This card is likely subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). Recent better offer: Unlimited Double Cash Back for 12 month (expired 1/11/24) |
Chase Freedom Unlimited Review
Outside of getting it for an enticing welcome offer, the Chase Freedom Unlimited can be a pretty attractive card…within the right context. There’s better cashback cards out there, but if the Freedom Unlimited is paired with a premium card that unlocks the ability to transfer to partners (either the Ink Business Preferred, Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve), the points that it earns become significantly more valuable. In that context, we value Ultimate Rewards at 1.5 cents each, so the Freedom Unlimited effectively brings in between 2.25% (1.5 cents per point X 1.5 points per dollar) and 7.5% in rewards. Pretty good for a card with no annual fee.
- Annual Fee: None
- Authorized User Annual Fee: Free
- Foreign Transaction Fee: 3%
- What points are worth: The Freedom Unlimited card is advertised as a cashback card, but it actually earns Chase Ultimate Rewards. Our current Reasonable Redemption Values pegs their value at 1.5 cents each. Note that this assumes the cardholder also has a premium card that unlocks the ability to transfer to partners (either the Ink Business Preferred, Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve). Without one of those cards, points are only worth 1 cent each towards cashback, which can be taken as a statement credit, via check or ACH transfer.
- Best Use for Points: When combined with a premium card, Chase Ultimate Rewards can be transferred to travel partners at a 1:1 ratio and this will usually yield the most value. Our favorite hotel transfer partner is undoubtedly Hyatt, where redemptions can often exceed 2-3 cents per point. Airline partners are good, if not great, and include Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France/KLM Flying Blue and British Airways Avios, as well as domestic programs like United Mileage Plus, Southwest Rapid Rewards and JetBlue. Freedom Unlimited cardholders can redeem Ultimate Rewards for travel through the Chase Portal at a value of 1 cent each. Those who also have an Ink Business Preferred or Sapphire Preferred in the family can combine points with those cards and redeem them for travel through the Chase Portal at 1.25 cents each. Sapphire Reserve cardholders can do the same thing and redeem points at 1.5 cents each through the portal.
- Earning Categories:
- 5X on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal
- 5x on Lyft rides (through March 2025)
- 3x at restaurants and drugstores
- 1.5x everywhere else
- Credits:
- $10 Instacart credit (quarterly)
- $10 GoPuff credit (monthly, through 12/31/23)
- Travel Protections:
- Auto Rental Coverage: Secondary auto rental CDW (collision damage waiver). Provides reimbursement for theft and collision damage for rental cars in the U.S. and abroad. Within the US, the card’s coverage is secondary to your personal insurance (assuming you have it). Outside of the US, it’s primary.
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance: Up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels.
- Purchase Protections:
- Extended Warranty: One additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less (US warranties only).
- Damage and Theft Protection: Covers new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim/$50,000 per account.
- Who’s this card for? Those who also carry a premium Ultimate Rewards card such as the Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred. Folks looking for a straight cashback card can do better.
- Is the Freedom Unlimited a keeper? Yes, but not without a premium Ultimate Rewards card.
Chase Freedom Unlimited Pros and Cons
Pros
- Earns 1.5x Ultimate Rewards everywhere
- Great 3x categories for a card with no annual fee
- Currently has one of the best welcome offers of all the Ultimate Rewards-earning cards
- Good transfer partners, especially for folks looking for domestic airline and hotel programs
- Miles can be shared across cards and cardholders
- Unusually for a fee-free card, provides travel and purchase protections
Cons
- 3% foreign transaction fee
- Must be paired with a “premium” card in order to transfer to partners
- Not the most exciting group of airline partners
Chase Transfer Partners
| Rewards Program | Chase Transfer Ratio | Best Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus Avios | 1 to 1 | Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Aer Lingus (Avios.com) rather than British Airways, Qatar, or Iberia. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1 to 1 | Redeem for Star Alliance flights and/or flights with Air Canada partners (such as Etihad). No fuel surcharges; $39 CAD award booking fee; 5,000 points to add stopover on one-way award. See: Air Canada Aeroplan: Everything you need to know. |
| Air France KLM Flying Blue | 1 to 1 | Monthly Air France Promo Awards often represent very good value. Air France miles can be used to book Sky Team awards, including Delta awards. Air France often offers very good business class award pricing between the US and Europe & Israel. |
| British Airways Avios | 1 to 1 | While flights on British Airways itself often incur outrageously high fuel surcharges, many BA partners charge low or no fuel surcharges. Excellent value can be had in redeeming BA points for short distance flights. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| Emirates Skywards | 1 to 1 | The best use of Emirates miles has been to fly Emirates itself. Unfortunately fuel surcharges can be steep. See: Emirates Sweet Spot Awards - First class from 30K miles round trip. |
| Hyatt | 1 to 1 | Use for Hyatt free nights, free suite nights, lounge upgrades, or suite upgrades. Hyatt points are often worth at least 2 cents each, but they’re sometimes worth far more. Bonus: award nights are not subject to resort fees. |
| Iberia Avios | 1 to 1 | On their own flights, Iberia offers low award prices and a very reasonable 25 Euro cancellation fee. Partner awards can offer good value under some circumstances as well, but these are usually nonrefundable. Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Iberia rather than British Airways, Aer Lingus, or Qatar. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| IHG | 1 to 1 | IHG dynamically prices their awards and sometimes offer very good value. IHG Premier and IHG Premier Business cards offer the fourth night free on award stays. |
| JetBlue | 1 to 1 | JetBlue points offer the most value when cheap ticket prices are available and when award taxes are high relative to the overall cost of the ticket (more details can be found here). The JetBlue Plus Card and the JetBlue Business Card offer a 10% rebate on awards, so you can get more value by holding one of these cards. |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 1 to 1 | 5th Night Free awards. Opportunities to get outsized value exist but can be hard to find. |
| Qatar Privilege Club Avios | 1 to 1 via BA | Qatar has reasonable award prices for flying Qatar itself. Points are now transferable 1 to 1 to British Airways (and from there to Aer Lingus or Iberia). It is now also possible to book JetBlue flights with Qatar Avios. |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1 to 1 | Use to book Singapore Airlines First Class awards (generally reserved for their own members), Alaska Airlines economy awards, or for Star Alliance awards (including United Airlines). |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards | 1 to 1 | Award flights are fully refundable. Point values vary due to certain taxes not being charged on awards, but tend to average around 1.5 cents per point. |
| United MileagePlus | 1 to 1 | United offers free award changes and free cancelations. Like Avianca and Aeroplan, United never charges fuel surcharges for awards. Unfortunately, United charges many more miles for international first class awards. Good uses of miles include United's Excursionist Perk awards and (sometimes) dynamically priced United economy awards. |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 | Virgin Atlantic offers a few great sweet spot awards including US to Europe on Delta One business class for 50K points one-way. See: Best uses for Virgin Atlantic points (Sweet Spot Spotlight). |
Related Cards
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Chase Ultimate Rewards Business Cards
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So, if P2 gets this card but has no premium card, can we still transfer her URs to me, either throughout the year, or after the bonus points post at the anniversary? We’re already set up for transfers from her CSP, but I expect we’ll cancel or product change that in the next couple of months.
Can we get a 2nd Freedom Unlimited card if we already have one (like Ink)? Quite some time ago Chase changed my Slate to the FU and I don’t know why. At the time I had assumed the Slate was going away but I still see it offered. So I’ve never gotten a bonus for it to my knowledge
I did this in 2018, when the same offer was available. I was pretty new to this game. It was lucrative (not as lucrative as the Ink Cash, but the Unlimited offer is uncapped).
I took the plunge again about a month ago. So far, so good!
For some reason, Chase automatically product changed me from my old Freedom card to the Freedom Unlimited at the end of October. They sent me an email at the beginning of October notifying me of the change. When I sent them a secure message saying I wanted to keep my old card (for the 5% categories), they basically told me they were changing me to the Unlimited whether I wanted it or not. I already have the Business Unlimited for 1.5% everywhere and a CSP, so this “new” card doesn’t really do anything for me.
How long do you think will the double earnings offer be available?
Can I use Chase freedom unlimited double deal for business expenses? I have $100,000 charge per money to put on credit card. Do you think Chase will deny the double points for business spending? I cant find any exclusion for business spending
There’s no issue with putting business expenses on a personal card, as long as you have the credit limit to support the spend.
I got the freedom unlimited double deal, but nothing after the original splash page has referenced that deal. With it not being paid until after a year, how can I confirm I am getting that deal on the card I received?
You can send a secure message to Chase and they’ll confirm that the offer is attached to your account.