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You may be familiar with the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Freedom Unlimited, two very popular credit cards known for their major perks and cash-back rates, respectively. Now Chase has a brand-new card to compete for space in your wallet: the Chase Freedom Flex.
In certain cases, it offers more than triple the cash-back rate of the Freedom Unlimited and matches most other benefits, which is saying something — because Chase is also giving the Freedom Unlimited a big boost alongside this launch.
Everything the Freedom Flex has to offer
The Chase Freedom Flex card offers strong, steady cash-back rates in a number of categories:
- 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards, including hotels, flights, car rentals and cruises
- 5% cash back on grocery store purchases up to $12,000 in the first year, as a welcome bonus
- 5% cash back on Lyft rides (through March 2022)
- 3% on dining at restaurants (including takeout and delivery)
- 3% on drugstore purchases
- 1% on all other purchases
The part where it really shines is the 5% cash back on bonus categories, on up to $1,500 in combined purchases each quarter.
While these categories will vary and thus require a little effort on your part, the rewards are worth it — that works out to as much as an extra $300 in rewards per year!
That’s on top of the $200 bonus you can earn after spending $500 on purchases in the first three months with the card.
Your rewards don’t expire, and there’s no minimum to redeem. That means there’s no pressure on you to use them except when you actually want to. Chase Ultimate Rewards can be used for gift cards, shopping at Apple or Amazon, travel or even as your choice of a cash deposit or statement credit.
Other perks of the card include:
- Three free months of premium DoorDash delivery service
- Extended warranty protection
- Free credit score
- Car rental coverage
- Cellphone protection
- Trip cancellation insurance
And unlike the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, all of this is available with no annual fee.
Is Freedom Flex or Freedom Unlimited better?
Freedom Unlimited now offers many of the benefits mentioned above for the Freedom Flex. The most notable difference between the two are that Unlimited doesn’t get the 5% bonus categories: Instead, it gets a higher 1.5% on “all other purchases” compared with the Unlimited’s 1%.
This means that after the $1,500 in bonus categories, or if you’re not spending in those categories, the Freedom Unlimited offers the higher cash-back rate. If you truly want to maximize your benefits, you can get both cards.
Unlimited also doesn’t offer the phone protection available with the new Flex, which covers up to $1,000 in theft or damage per year with a $50 deductible.
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