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Chase Freedom Flex® sign-up bonus: $200 cash back after spending $500

December 18, 2024: The sign-up bonus of the Chase Freedom Flex® is a bit more interesting now that we know that the Q1 2025 rotating category bonus includes groceries. Unfortunately, there’s no in-branch offer that can be stacked with this bonus category this time around.

Here are the best welcome bonus offers currently available on the Chase Freedom Flex®

Best bonus offer online: $200 cash back after spending $500

Chase Freedom Flex® card art
Chase Freedom Flex®

Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Learn how to apply.

This offer matches the offers we’ve seen directly on Chase’s website and in-branch. Keep in mind that, although this card is marketed as a cash back card, it earns Ultimate Rewards® points behind the scenes. If you have other Ultimate Rewards credit cards, you can use these points for lucrative redemptions through Chase Travel and Chase’s travel transfer partners.

In-branch offer: Same as the online bonus

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.

Chase Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited In-Branch Offers available on 11/18/2024
Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® in-branch welcome offers available on 11/18/2024.

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 welcome 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.

Chase Freedom Flex offer available through Chase Refer-a-Friend: Earn a $200 bonus after spending $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
$200 after $500 welcome bonus on the Chase Freedom Flex® available through Chase referral links.

Insights and analysis: If you’re applying online, try to use a friend’s referral link to help them earn some bonus rewards.

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:

Screenshot of the Chase website showing a 10% welcome offer on grocery store purchases with the Chase Freedom Flex.
10% offer on grocery store purchase from Chase.com
  • 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

Chase Freedom Flex card art
Chase Freedom Flex

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.

About the author

  • Photo of Aaron Hurd, credit card and travel rewards expert.

    Aaron Hurd is a credit card, travel rewards, and loyalty program expert. Over the past 15 years, he has authored over a thousand expert contributions published by leading outlets including WSJ, TIME, Newsweek, Forbes, NerdWallet, The Points Guy, Bankrate, CNET, and many others. He has also served in consulting roles for many of these same outlets, designing content strategy, hiring teams of teams of editors and contributors, developing thought-leadership pieces, and ghost-editing for senior editors. Aaron is well-known in the miles and points community and regularly presents about travel rewards at conferences like the Chicago Seminars and Minnebar. Aaron has enjoyed the game of optimizing credit card rewards since getting his first credit card shortly after he turned 18. He started learning about credit cards and travel rewards from the (now defunct) FatWallet Finance forums and FlyerTalk. He holds more than 40 open credit cards and has first-hand experience with almost every major credit card product.

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