When I talk about the best cashback credit cards, the Chase Freedom Card comes up quite often. After all, what’s not to love? The card comes with a good sign-up bonus, earns quintuple points in certain categories and has no annual fee. And if you know the tricks, you can turn cash back into airline or hotel points with little effort. Let’s take a look at why this card should be in your wallet.
If you’d like to learn more about this card or other rewards cards, head HERE.
Turning Everyday Spending Into $150 Free Cash
The Chase Freedom Credit Card offers new customers $150 reward for spending $500 on the card in the first three months. Simply put all your bills and groceries on the card, and voilà, the bonus is yours. For a card with no annual fees, $150 is huge, and cash back does not expire for as long as you hold the card. Every cent you earn can be redeemed toward statement credits at any time. The Chase Freedom is a great starter card for someone who’s learning about rewards, and the welcome bonus makes it that much more attractive.
Paying You $300 Every Year
This might sound too good to be true, but the Chase Freedom Card earns 5X points per dollar spent in quarterly categories. Honestly, it is a little too good to be true because the bonus earnings are limited to $1,500 per quarter and then drop to 1X point per dollar. Still, you can earn $75 cash back every three months, or $300 every year, by spending just $6,000.
Bonus categories rotate every quarter and include grocery stores, gas stations, Amazon, restaurants, PayPal purchases and more. Last quarter, NFC payments were included, and I was able to earn my maximum bonus by tapping my phone at merchants using Samsung Pay.
Turning Points Into Airline Miles
Every purchase you make earns cash back, and in theory you can earn unlimited rewards. You can redeem rewards for credits against your purchases or by transferring points to partner airline and hotel programs. However, not everybody can do that.
If you hold another premium Chase card, such as the Sapphire Preferred Card or the Ink Business Preferred Card, you can transform cash back into airline miles or hotel points by combining your rewards within the Ultimate Rewards program. So, $150 can turn into 15,000 points, which can turn into a flight or a hotel night somewhere. Flexibility is key when it comes to earning credit card rewards, but if you don’t have another Chase card, cash back is still king.
Helping You Pay Down Your Debt
Do you carry a balance on another credit card? If so, there are ways to help you narrow down your debt by transferring your existing balance to a no-interest card. The Chase Freedom will offer you 15 months of 0 percent Annual Percentage Rate on a balance transfer, so you can enjoy an interest-free loan while eliminating debt. Although a balance transfer fee is $5 or 5 percent of the total balance, it can still save you cash.
For example, you carry a $2,000 balance on another card with 16 percent interest. You’ll pay $217 in interest over 15 months of paying $150 every month. Or you’ll pay $100 to transfer that balance to the Chase Freedom Card. The choice is yours. Just make sure to pay off your balance by the end of the 15 months to start earning rewards without worrying about debt.
In Conclusion
As you can see, there are plenty of reasons to get the Chase Freedom Credit Card. The rewards are great and the absence of an annual fee makes it a wallet keeper. Personally, I combine my rewards with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and transfer the points to travel partners, but cash back is also solid when redeeming rewards.
If you’d like to learn more about this card or other rewards cards, head HERE.
What is your favorite feature of the Chase Freedom Card?
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