The Chase Freedom Unlimited® card is unique among Ultimate Rewards-earning cards in that it earns a minimum of 1.5x for all spend, while also earning 3x-5x within bonus categories, including dining and drugstores. This can make it a very useful companion to the issuer’s premium cards.
The welcome offer for the Freedom Unlimited has improved today; now you can earn $300 (awarded as 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points) after only $500 in minimum spend, a return of 60%.
The Offers & Key Card Details
For more information about these cards and to find a link to apply, click the card information below to go to our individual card pages.
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $446 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates $300 cash back* ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer Limited Time Offer: Earn $300 (*awarded as 30,000 points) after spending $500 in the first 3 monthsNo 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) FM Mini Review: Great for 3x categories and 1.5X everywhere else. Excellent companion card to Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 5x travel booked through Chase Travel℠ ✦ 3x dining ✦ 3x drugstores ✦ 2% cash back total on qualifying Lyft products and services purchased through the Lyft mobile application through 09/30/2027 ✦ 1.5X everywhere else Card Info: Visa Signature or Platinum issued by Chase. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. Noteworthy perks: Free DoorDash DashPass for 6 months upon activation ✦ $10 quarterly credit for non-restaurant DoorDash orders See also: Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide |
Quick Thoughts
Note that Chase advertises the Freedom cards as cashback cards. This means the offer is phrased as $300 cash back, but the bonus is awarded as 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points.
If you only have the Freedom Unlimited card, then you would be limited to using those points for a statement credit at $0.01 per point (or similar redemptions for gift cards/travel). However, if you have a card that allows transfers to partners (like the Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, or Chase Ink Business Preferred®), you can move points to that card and then onward to travel partners.
Outside of getting it for the welcome offer, the Freedom Unlimited can be an appealing card. There are better cashback cards out there, but if it’s paired with a premium card that lets you transfer points to partners, the points 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.
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Eh the real prize is the 5% groceries/gas offer, or better the rarely seen 10%/10%
Hmm. Come February 7 I’m screwed on 5/24 until 2027 because of Bilt 2.0, so I have one 5/24 spot to use in January. Could do this, a Marriott (to become a Ritz in 2027), or a United card…decisions, decisions. Kind of leaning this…
Maybe I will not mess with this for P1 since I am close to 5/24, but P2 is 1/24. What is the recommendation/rules for changing a Freedom Unlimited to a Freedom and then applying for a Freedom Unlimited? How long should I wait between the change until the application? One thing I definitely do not want to do is have P2 get on a phone call to try to finagle a denied card application into an approval.