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Chase is currently running its best ever welcome bonuses on both the Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom Unlimited® cards. Both cards have a welcome offer that gives you the standard $200 bonus after spending $500, but now Chase is also offering 5% back on up to $12,000 of gas and grocery store purchases in the first year you have the card. If you’re thinking of getting either of these cards, now is a great time to apply.
Here are the details on the Chase Freedom Flex℠ welcome offer
Get the Chase Freedom Flex℠ welcome bonus
Chase Freedom Flex℠: Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus get a 5% gas and grocery offer up to $600 cash back. (Earn 5% cash back on combined gas station and grocery store purchases on up to $12,000 spent in the first year.)
Our take on the welcome bonus: This is the best offer we’ve seen on this card. Getting a $200 bonus after spending $500 on the card is good, but getting five percent cash back on up to $12,000 of spending on gas and groceries makes this card both one of the best gas cards and one of the best grocery cards for new cardmembers.
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Card highlights:
Annual fee: $0
Rewards: 5% in rotating categories (up to $1,500 in combined purchases per quarter); 5% travel through Chase; 3% dining; 3% drugstore; 1% all other purchases
About the Chase Freedom Flex℠
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ is Chase’s take on the 5% rotating category card, offering increased rewards in limited-time categories that are announced quarterly. The Freedom Flex has no annual fee.
The Freedom Flex offers 5% back on up to $1,500 spent each quarter in rotating bonus quarterly categories. Categories have historically included purchases at grocery stores, Amazon.com, gas stations and big box retailers. In addition, the card offers 3% cash back on restaurants and drugstore purchases and 1% cash back on everything else. All rewards are earned as Ultimate Rewards points, but can be redeemed for cash back.
In addition to cash back rewards, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ offers a generous suite of benefits for a card with no annual fee. The card protects your purchases with Purchase Protection, Extended Warranty Protection, and Cell Phone Protection and it offers protection for your travels with secondary auto rental collision damage waiver insurance and trip cancellation/interruption insurance.
For more on the card, see our card overview of the Chase Freedom Flex℠.
My take on the Chase Freedom Flex℠ welcome bonus
This is the best offer I’ve ever seen on the Chase Freedom Flex℠ card.
The current $200 + 5% gas and grocery offer simply adds the opportunity to earn 5% cash back on up to $12,000 of spending on gas and groceries onto the card’s usual welcome bonus. This makes the Chase Freedom Flex℠ simultaneously one of the best gas credit cards and best grocery store credit cards in the first year you have the card. If Chase offers groceries in its rotating categories next year, this will stack with the bonus to get you a total of 9% on groceries with the Chase Freedom Flex℠.
Verdict: Getting $200 after spending $500 on the card is an easy welcome bonus, but getting five percent back on up to $12,000 of combined gas and grocery spending makes this one of the best bonuses we’ve seen on this card.
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 Ultimate Rewards
- 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
- 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. See our coverage about Chase 5/24 for more.
- 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.
- You can only hold one Chase Sapphire-branded card at a time.
- 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.
- Chase business cards do not report to personal credit reports 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.