Chase has temporarily increased its sign-up bonus for the Chase Freedom® card, which has been 10,000 points for a while. You can now earn 20,000 points after spending $500 within 3 months of account opening. These points can be redeemed for a $200 statement credit or combined with your Ultimate Rewards balance in other premium cards (like Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Chase Ink Bold® Business Charge Card or Chase Ink Plus® Business Card) to transfer to airline miles or hotel points. In addition to the bonus, the Chase Freedom Card offers 5% quarterly rotating categories (where you can earn up to 7,500 every quarter) and access to the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall to earn points for online shopping.
Those who already have the card can also earn points by creating a referral link at Chase Refer-a-Friend.
I have and plan to keep the Chase Freedom card long term mainly because it has absolutely no annual fee and gives opportunities to earn lots of points year after year. By maximizing the bonus categories alone, you can come away with 30,000 points every year and that’s before counting any shopping portal bonuses through the Ultimate Rewards Mall.
On top of that, Chase as a bank has many great credit cards and bonus offers. Having a credit card that I keep long-term with them is a great relationship builder, making me a stronger applicant for other credit cards and bonuses in the future. I routinely recommend this card even when the sign-up bonus is just 10,000 points simply because the incremental reward opportunities from holding this card are so high.
5% Bonus Categories
The Chase Freedom card rewards us for spending on our regular everyday expenses such as dining, gas, grocery stores, drugstores, department stores, etc. Every quarter, the set of bonus categories changes and you need to register for the new bonus categories. You receive 5 points per dollar for up to $1500 spent each quarter (earn up to 7,500 points every quarter). That’s up to 30,000 points every year that we can earn with the cards.
This quarter, we earn 5 points per dollar at Amazon, Zappos and Select Department Stores. I wrote a post discussing maximizing rewards with the categories, but keep in mind that the department store bonus is in addition to any rewards you earn through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall or any other online shopping portal.
As an example, the Ultimate Rewards Mall already offers 5 points per dollar this month at Nordstrom and Macy’s so shopping there with the Chase Freedom card through the portal will earn 10 points per dollar at each of these stores.
Shop at departments stores this quarter for 5 points per dollar
Redeeming Points earned with Chase Freedom Card
The points earned with the Chase Freedom card are cash back points that are worth 1 cent each. That is, the sign-up bonus is 20,000 points and you can redeem these for $200. That’s all in cash.
However, if you also have a premium card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink Bold, you get an additional option to transfer your points to airline and hotel partners. You can combine Chase Freedom, Sapphire Preferred, Ink Bold and Ink Plus Ultimate Rewards Points into a single premium account. Once there, you can transfer you Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to airlines and hotels. The points transfer at 1:1 to the following partners:
- Airlines: United Mileage Plus, British Airways Avios, Southwest Rapid Rewards, Korean Air Skypass, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
- Hotels: Hyat Gold Passport, Marriott Rewards, Ritz Carlton, IHG Rewards
- Amtrak Guest Rewards points
If you already applied for the card…
If you applied for a Chase Freedom card in the past 60 days, simply send Chase a secure message and asked to be matched to the new public offer.
Send Chase a Secure Message when you log into your account
