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Chase is currently running two different welcome offers on its Chase Freedom Unlimited® cards. And each of these offers could be considered the best offer we’ve seen on this card. Pick from doubled cash back everywhere for a year or 5% on gas and groceries.
Now is an optimal time to pick up a Chase Freedom card. Here are the two offers:
- Offer #1: Unlimited Matched Cash Back. Chase will automatically match all the cash back you earned at the end of your first year! There is no limit to how much cash back you can earn. This offer is available exclusively through affiliate channels, like the links on this website.
- Offer #2: 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.) This offer is available through referral links, the Chase website, and in-branch.
Get the Chase Freedom Unlimited®: Welcome bonuses
Offer #1: card_name: bonus_miles_full
Offer #2: Chase Freedom Unlimited®: 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 bonuses: These are both arguably the best offers we’ve seen on this card. One of the other might be better for you, depending on how you plan to use the card.
One of the links above is a affiliate link and the other link is a referral link. If you use our affiliate link, we may earn a commission. If you use a referral link, either we or someone on our team may earn points. We always show you the best offer, regardless of our ability to earn a commission.
Card highlights:
Annual fee: $0
Rewards: 5% travel through Chase; 3% dining; 3% drugstore; 1.5% all other purchases
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 Ultimate Rewards®, 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.
Get the Chase Freedom Unlimited®: Welcome bonuses
Offer #1: card_name: bonus_miles_full
Offer #2: Chase Freedom Unlimited®: 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 bonuses: These are both arguably the best offers we’ve seen on this card. One of the other might be better for you, depending on how you plan to use the card.
One of the links above is a affiliate link and the other link is a referral link. If you use our affiliate link, we may earn a commission. If you use a referral link, either we or someone on our team may earn points. We always show you the best offer, regardless of our ability to earn a commission.
Card highlights:
Annual fee: $0
Rewards: 5% travel through Chase; 3% dining; 3% drugstore; 1.5% all other purchases
My take on the Chase Freedom Unlimited® welcome bonuses
One thing’s for sure. It’s a great time to become a new Chase Freedom Unlimited® cardmember. Here’s my take on each bonus currently being offered.
My take on the double cash back offer
This is the offer to get if you plan to spend a lot on your Chase Freedom Unlimited® card.
Doubling all of the cash back you earn in the first year is a new thing for Chase. I don’t think that they have ever offered this type of welcome bonus on any of their cards. But I like seeing offers that are uncapped and easy to maximize. With this offer, you’ll receive a bonus equaling all of the cash back you have earned in the first year at the end of your first cardmember year. Effectively, that makes your Chase Freedom Unlimited® card a 3% everywhere card in the first year. But it gets better…
Chase markets the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card as a 1.5% cash back everywhere card. But it does earn additional rewards in bonus categories:
- 5% on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5% cash back on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025
- 3% on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- 3% on drugstore purchases
With this welcome offer, you’ll end up earning a total of 6% or 10% in these bonus categories.
The downside of this offer is that you will miss out on the card’s normal welcome bonus. There’s no $200 bonus after spending $500 with this offer. And there’s no 5% gas and grocery offer if you apply for the doubled cash back offer.)
Verdict: The double cash back offer is the better offer for high spenders. If you’re planning on spending a lot on your Chase Freedom Unlimited® card in the first year.
My take on the $200 + 5% gas and grocery offer
This is the offer to get if you plan to use your Chase Freedom Unlimited® card for gas and groceries.
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 Unlimited® simultaneously one of the best gas credit cards and best grocery store credit cards in the first year you have the card.
Chase has occasionally run variations of this bonus offering only additional cash back on gas or groceries. It has also randomly seeded this offer as a secret welcome bonus to people who knew to refresh the Chase website. Now, the best version of this offer is available to everybody.
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.