The Chase Freedom Unlimited is a great card for one that doesn’t charge an annual fee. However, it’s often overlooked by people who like to redeem points for travel because it doesn’t have a great sign-up bonus.
I think there are cards you get for a bonus and ones you keep because of the ongoing benefits. The Freedom Unlimited falls into the latter category. Here are the earning categories for the Freedom Unlimited:
- 5X/5% on travel purchases booked with the card by using the Ultimate Rewards travel portal.
- 3X/3% at drugstores and dining at restaurants (including take-out and delivery)
- 1.5X/1.5% on all other expenses
If this is the only Chase card you have that earns Ultimate Rewards, you can redeem your points for cashback. But if you hold another premium Chase card such as the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve or Ink Business Preferred, you can transfer points to those cards. You’ll get the best value for your points if you transfer them to one of Chase’s partners.
- Aer Lingus AerClub (Avios)
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- British Airways Executive Club (Avios)
- Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM
- Emirates Skywards
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Iberia Plus (Avios)
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards®
- United MileagePlus®
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- IHG One Rewards
- Marriott Bonvoy
- World of Hyatt
My favorite transfer partner for Chase points is World of Hyatt but I’ve also sent points to Aeroplan and Singapore KrisFlyer when I needed to make an instant redemption.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited doesn’t offer a large sign-up bonus as the card has no annual fee. You’ll only see 10,000 to 20,000 points offered for new members with a small spending requirement. Our referral offer is for $200 (or 20,000 points) after spending $300 in 3 months.
However, there’s possibly a much larger sign-up bonus available, if you’re willing to wait for it.
Credit cards will occasionally offer different bonuses and it’s easy to find a referral bonus for the Chase Freedom Unlimited which offers double cash back for your entire first year.
After 1 year, Chase will double the points you’ve earned with the Freedom Unlimited.
With this offer you will receive a one-time bonus equal to all Cash Back rewards earned during your first 12 monthly billing cycles from account opening with your Chase Freedom Unlimited card. Only Cash Back rewards earned by making purchases, including through other bonus offers, are eligible for this bonus.
In effect, you’ll earn:
- 10% on travel purchases booked with the card by using the Ultimate Rewards travel portal.
- 6% at drugstores and dining at restaurants (including take-out and delivery)
- 3% on all other expenses
While you’ll earn the usual points on purchases for the first year, the catch is that you’ll have to wait a year to earn the bonus points in a lump sum. And while this isn’t a card that people churn, it also means you won’t receive your bonus points for a year after having the card. This means you’d have to wait an additional 12 months before getting another bonus.
Since it seems like we’re in a world based on instant gratification, I’m not sure if many people will want to wait a year to earn bonus points. It’s easier to sign up for a card that rewards 75,000 points with a single purchase.
However, I’m happy to be the tortoise instead of the hare. The Freedom Unlimited card is already in our wallet and captures a portion of our spending. If I didn’t have it already, I’d jump at the chance to earn 3X back on all charges and 6X back at drugstores and restaurants especially since I’d be earning valuable Ultimate Rewards points, which are worth at a minimum of 1.5 cents each.
Every well-rounded travel wallet requires a card for everyday expenses, which do not earn any other bonuses. If you don’t have one of these cards, now’s the time to pick up the Freedom Unlimited. If you’re in this for the long haul, cards like this are a necessity and it’s rare to find a bonus like this one.
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4 comments
Hmm, I’d thought the new offer included double points/cash back at grocery stores. Thanks for pointing out differently.
There’s a current offer for 5% gas and grocery for 3 months. You can find the double points offer out there if you look. It’s not difficult.
I’m not sure which card “rewards 75,000 points with a single purchase”, but if the points are equal, it’s almost surely better than this offer. Chase could lose a valuable partner like Aeroplan or Hyatt during waiting period. I had this offer in 2018 when the CFU didn’t have any bonus categories, but the points were paid out monthly. It was a good offer, but you’re committing to putting a lot of spend on the CFU. Any other spend you have for a year effectively reduces the SUB. The Ink offers are way better, and the other offers on the CFU and CFF (5x at gas & grocery up to $12k) are probably better for most people too.
any idea how long this offer will last?