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November 18, 2024: Unfortunately, the 5% gas and grocery in-branch exclusive offer has ended. We’ve updated our coverage to reflect the current in-branch offer, which matches the online bonus.
The current in-branch sign-up bonus is one of the best-ever sign-up bonuses the Freedom Flex has ever had, mostly because it stacks with the card’s quarterly categories for up to 9% cash back.
Best sign-up bonuses of the Chase Freedom Flex℠
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ offers different sign-up bonuses based on the channel you’re applying through
Best bonus online: Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Learn how to apply.
In-branch offer: Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
These bonuses are marketed as cash back, but earned as Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.
In this article…
Current Freedom Flex℠ sign up bonuses
Chase markets the Freedom Flex℠ through several different channels and offers different welcome bonuses through each channel. Here’s are all of the details on the bonuses available through each channel.
In-branch offer: $200 after $500
On November 18, 2024, we went to a Chase branch to get an updated in-branch offer. Unfortunately, the 5% gas and grocery in-branch exclusive offer has ended. Here’s what the welcome offer is in branch:
Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
In-branch welcome offers change from time to time and this information is accurate as of our last check. The in-branch offer may be different or may no longer be available.
Referral offer: $200 after $500 + $50 for your friend
Chase offers the same bonus through referral links as it does through its website, but if you apply through a referral link, you can earn $50 for a friend whose link you use.
Here’s the offer: Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Insights and analysis: If you’re applying online, try to use a friend’s referral link to help them earn some bonus rewards.
Online offer: $200 after $500 but no gas and grocery offer
The standard new cardmember welcome offer on the Chase Freedom Flex® card you’ll get through online channels (Chase.com and other websites) is fairly uninteresting if the in-branch offer is still available.
Here’s the offer: Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Insights and analysis: For most people, there is no reason to apply for this card online, unless going into a Chase branch is highly inconvenient.
Other interesting bonuses we’ve seen before (these are no longer available)
The offers in this section are not currently available.
In early 2024, Chase seemed to be testing several different Chase Freedom Flex welcome bonus offers on its website. When we went to the Chase website in Incognito mode on Chrome and Private Browsing mode on Safari, here’s are the offers we saw:
- Lower $150 bonus plus $5 grocery offer: Earn a $150 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus, earn 5% cash back on grocery store purchases (excluding Target® and Walmart®) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year. (Incognito on Chrome)
- Lower $100 bonus, plus 5% grocery offer: Earn a $100 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus, earn 5% cash back on grocery store purchases (excluding Target® and Walmart®) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year. (Private Browsing on Safari)
- 5% grocery store offer with no cash welcome bonus: Earn 5% cash back on grocery store purchases (excluding Target® and Walmart®) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year
- Standard $200 online bonus: Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- 10% grocery store offer with no cash welcome bonus: Earn 10% cash back on grocery store purchases (excluding Target® and Walmart®) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year.
What we found particularly interesting about the 10% offer is that, like the 5% gas and grocery offer you can get in-branch, it stacks with the card’s quarterly bonus categories. That means you could get a whopping 14% on groceries in the highest cash back stack we’ve ever seen on a card.
Are you eligible to earn the sign-up bonus?
You are typically eligible to receive a sign-up bonus on the Chase Freedom Flex card if you don’t currently have the card and it’s been more than 2 years since you’ve gotten a bonus on this card. Here’s what you need to know:
- Current cardmembers cannot get the card. If you already have a Chase Freedom Flex® card, you cannot get a second card through a new card application. (It may be possible to get a second Chase Freedom Flex by converting a Sapphire-branded card, but this won’t earn you a sign-up bonus.
- You can not have received a new cardmember bonus for the Freedom Flex in the previous 24 months. The specific language in the bonus terms refers to the time you received the bonus, not the date you applied for the card.
Best way to use the Chase Freedom Flex℠ bonus points
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ is marketed as a cash back card, but earns Ultimate Rewards® points behind the scenes. Here are the best ways to use Ultimate Rewards points.
- Cash back. You can always use Ultimate Rewards® points for cash back redemptions. You’ll get 1 cent per point for cash back redemptions on any Ultimate Rewards credit card.
- Options available with premium cards. If you hold a premium Ultimate Rewards card, you can a few additional options for using your points. Premium Ultimate Rewards cards include the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. You can also use the points you earn on your no-annual-fee card for these premium redemption options if you first transfer your points to your premium card.
- Travel through Chase Travel℠. Premium Ultimate Rewards cards offer increased value when you use your points to book travel through Chase Travel℠. You get 25% more value for bookings through Chase Tavel with the Sapphire Preferred or Ink Preferred. And you’ll get 50% more value for bookings made through the Sapphire Reserve card.
- Transfers to airline and hotel partners. All of the Premium Ultimate Rewards cards offer point transfers to travel partners. Transfers to partners offer the opportunity to get outsized value for your points through luxury travel redemptions. Our favorite Ultimate Rewards® transfer partners include Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, British Airways Avios, United Mileage Plus, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and World of Hyatt.
A few notes on applying for Chase cards
- 5/24 rule. Chase generally won’t approve you if your credit report is showing 5 or more new credit card accounts opened in the last 24 months. This rule is knows as the 5/24 rule. If you’re unsure if you are “under 5/24” you should check your 5/24 status before applying for a Chase card. Note that recently this rule seems to have softened, especially for Ink cards. See our coverage about Chase 5/24 for more.
- Only one Sapphire-branded card. You can only hold one Chase Sapphire-branded card at a time. This means you can have either a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or a Chase Sapphire Reserve®, but not both.
- You can get a welcome bonus on a Chase card, even if you’ve had the card previously. How often you can earn a welcome bonus on a Chase card varies by card family.
- Most cards allow you to earn a welcome bonus if it has been at least 24 months since your last received a welcome bonus on the same card.
- Chase Sapphire-branded cards, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can only earn a welcome bonus once every 48 months. (We published a separate article to help you determine if you can get a Sapphire welcome bonus.)
- Marriott cards have their own special rules.
- Chase will match an increased bonus. If you apply for a Chase card and the bank offers a higher bonus within 90 days, you can send Chase a secure message or call them to have your welcome offer matched.
- In-branch offers are sometimes better. Chase sometimes has better credit card welcome offers in-branch than it will publish on its own website or through affiliate networks. Check all channels to make sure you’re getting the best bonus.
- Chase business cards do not report to personal credit reports and do not impact your 5/24 status as long as they are current.
Advertiser disclosure: Cards and Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Cards and Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers. Compensation may affect how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies or all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card benefits.
