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Update August 28, 2024: Chase changed the offer available through referral channels and we’ve reconfirmed this card’s in-branch offer.
Chase currently offers three different public sign-up bonuses on the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. Which one is right for you depends on your spending patterns, but in this article we’ll show you all of the available offers.
All information about the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
Best sign-up bonuses on the Chase Freedom Unlimited®
Biggest bonus online: bonus_miles_full Learn how to apply.
Best bonus in-branch: As of August 27, 2024, the following offer is available in branch: Earn up to $800 cash back: Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus earn 5% cash back on combined gas station and grocery store purchases (not including Target® and Walmart® purchases) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year. (That’s $600 cash back.) To get this bonus, you must apply in-person in a branch with a Chase banker.
Easiest bonus online: Earn a $200 bonus after spending $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. This bonus is offered directly on the Chase website or through personal referral links.
Current Chase Freedom Unlimited® sign-up bonus offers
Chase offers three different welcome bonuses on the Chase Freedom Unlimited® depending on how you apply for the card. And any one of these could be considered the “best available bonus” depending on how you plan to use the card. Scroll down for more details on each bonus.
| Channel | Sign-up bonus | |
|---|---|---|
| Online affiliate offer | bonus_miles_full Always current—updated from our affiliate data feed. | |
| Personal referral link | Earn a $200 bonus after spending $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Last checked: August 28, 2024 | |
| In-branch offer | Earn up to $800 cash back: Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus earn 5% cash back on combined gas station and grocery store purchases (not including Target® and Walmart® purchases) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year. (That’s $600 cash back.) Last checked: August 27, 2024 |
Other than the affiliate offer above, all information about the Chase Freedom Unlimited® has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
In-branch exclusive bonus: $200 after $500 + 5% gas and groceries
Depending on your spending patterns, the in-branch offer on the Chase Freedom Unlimited® may be the best bonus for you. Chase has been running this bonus for several months through various channels, but as of August 27, 2024, this offer can only be found in-branch.
Here’s the offer: Earn up to $800 cash back: Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus earn 5% cash back on combined gas station and grocery store purchases (not including Target® and Walmart® purchases) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year. (That’s $600 cash back.)
You must go to a Chase branch bank and apply for the card through a banker to get this offer. It is not available online.
Insights and analysis: This offer may be the best offer for you if you spend a lot on gas and groceries and don’t have another card that offers increased rewards in those categories. However, you may find that a similar welcome bonus on the Chase Freedom Flex® card is more lucrative in these categories due to the fact that the offer stacks with the Freedom Flex quarterly categories.
Online affiliate offer: Extra 1.5% cash back on up to $20,000 spent in the first year
Here’s the online affiliate offer on the Chase Freedom Unlimited®: bonus_miles_full Learn how to apply.
In the past few months, Chase has rotated this offer through its website, but this appears to be available exclusively through affiliate channels at the moment.
Insights and analysis: One detail about this bonus that many miss: You won’t get a traditional “spend $X, get $Y” bonus with this offer—you’ll get get an extra 1.5% cash back on up to $20k spent in the first year. If you plan on using your Chase Freedom Unlimited® for a large amount of spending and you won’t spend much on gas and groceries (or can’t get to a branch) this is the best offer for you.
Refer a friend offer: $200 after $500 and $50 for your friend.
Chase refer-a-friend links are showing a sign-up bonus offering $200 after spending $500 within the first 3 months of opening a new Chase Freedom® Unlimited card.
Insights and analysis: If you aren’t planning on spending a lot on your new Chase Freedom Unlimited® card and can’t get to a branch, the refer-a-friend offer is your best bet. If you can get a referral link from a friend, partner, or spouse, even better—they’ll receive up to $50 in rewards if you use their link.
Are you eligible to earn the sign-up bonus?
In most cases, you are eligible to receive a sign-up bonus on this card if you don’t currently have a Chase Freedom Unlimited® and it’s been more than 2 years since you’ve gotten a bonus on this card. Here are the two specific rules you should be aware of:
- Current cardmembers cannot get the card. If you already have a Chase Freedom Unlimited® card, you cannot get a second card through a new card application.
- You can not have received a new cardmember bonus for this card 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.
About the Chase Freedom Unlimited®
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers cardmembers 1.5% rewards on all purchases. It is the essential “everywhere else card” in the Chase Ultimate Rewards® ecosystem.
Although the Chase Freedom Unlimited® is marketed as a “1.5% everywhere” card, it offers plenty of bonus spending categories. You get 5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% on dining at restaurants including eligible takeout and delivery, and 3% on drugstore purchases. Although rewards are marketed as cash back, the card earns Chase Ultimate Rewards® points behind the scenes, which can be transferred to a premium Ultimate Rewards® card and redeemed for greater value.
For a card with no annual fee, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® comes with a healthy set of benefits, including purchase protection, extended warranty, secondary auto rental collision damage waiver insurance, and trip cancellation/interruption insurance.
For more on the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, please see our overview of the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card.
Chase will match welcome bonuses
In our experience, Chase will match a current increased welcome bonus if you applied for the same card, through the same channel in the past 30 days. If you applied with this card within the past 30 days under a less-attractive sign-up bonus, you can likely get the newer, better bonus matched by calling Chase customer service.
Keep in mind that Chase typically will only match sign-up bonuses in the same channel. For example, if you applied online, you are unlikely to get your bonus matched to an in-branch exclusive offer.
How to use the points you earn from the Chase Freedom Unlimited® bonus
While the Chase Freedom Unlimited® is marketed as a cash-back credit card, it earns Ultimate Rewards® points behind the scenes. Here are the best ways to use the Ultimate Rewards points you’ll earn with the Freedom Unlimited.
- 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.
For more on maximizing the value you get from Ultimate Rewards, see our complete guide to Ultimate Rewards.
Chase Ultimate Rewards® card synergies
Chase Ultimate Rewards® points can always be redeemed for cash back rewards at one cent each. This makes 10,000 points worth $100. But your points can become even more valuable when you hold a premium Ultimate Rewards® credit card.
If you hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred card, you have access to a handful of redemption options that can increase the value of your points:
- Point transfers to airline and hotel partners
- Increased value when you redeem for travel through Chase Travel℠
- Pay Yourself Back options
To use the points you earned from your non-premium Ultimate Rewards® credit card for one of these redemptions, simply transfer your Ultimate Rewards® points to your premium Ultimate Rewards® credit card.
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.
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Frequently asked questions
Does the 1.5% extra cash back offer on the Chase Freedom Unlimited come with a $200 welcome bonus?
No. If you get the “extra 1.5% cash back” offer, you won’t receive a $200 bonus after spending $500 on the card. The $200 after $500 bonus is a bonus that Chase appears to be phasing out on this card.
Where can I get the Freedom double cash back offer?
The previous double cash back offer has been changed. The Chase Freedom Unlimited® now offers an extra 1.5% cash back on the first $20,000 you spend during your first cardmember year through all online channels.
Can I get double cash back on the Freedom Flex?
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ does not have a double cash back offer, but it does currently offer 5% rewards on up to $12,000 of gas and groceries in your first year in-branch.
Is the double cash back offer capped?
As of January 11, 2024, the double cash back offer only offers 1.5% additional cash back on up to $20,000 of purchases each year.
How can I get the 5% gas and grocery offer?
You must apply in-branch if you want the 5% gas and grocery offer. Referral links ceased to work around March 14, 2024.
Read more about the Chase Freedom Unlimited®
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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.
