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.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is a no-annual-fee credit card that offers solid rewards everywhere. Here are the high-level benefits of the Freedom Unlimited:
- 1.5% cash back on every purchase, with no limits.
- Additional rewards on Chase Travel℠, dining, and at drugstores.
- Essential consumer protections including extended warranty and purchase protection.
Quick take: The card is an essential part of a basic travel rewards wallet and a good choice to use if you want a single card to use everywhere.
In this article…
Chase Freedom Unlimited® at a glance
Here’s what you need to know about the Chase Freedom Unlimited®.
Rewards
| Travel purchased through Chase Travel℠ | 5% | |
| Lyft rides through March 31, 2025 | 5% | |
| Dining at restaurants, including eligible takeout and delivery | 3% | |
| Drugstore purchases | 3% | |
| All other purchases | 1.5% |
Rewards are earned as Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.
Benefits
| Consumer insurance benefits Purchase protection Chase extended warranty protection | |
| Travel insurance benefits Secondary auto rental collision damage waiver insurance Trip cancellation/interruption insurance | |
| Travel benefits Travel and Emergency Assistance Services | |
| Third-party merchant benefits Complimentary 3 months of DashPass Complimentary 3 months of Instacart+ |
Terms
| Annual fee: annual_fees Foreign transaction fee: foreign_transaction_fee Balance transfer fee: balance_transfer_fees | |
| Intro APR on Balance Transfers: balance_transfer_intro_apr,balance_transfer_intro_duration Intro APR on Purchases: intro_apr_rate,intro_apr_duration Regular APR: reg_apr,reg_apr_type | |
| Helpful features Instant card access Credit journey Friend referral program |
Chase Freedom Unlimited® sign-up bonus: Extra 1.5% cash back
The following offer is the best offer available online, but as of publication, there was another offer available in-branch. See our coverage of the Chase Freedom Unlimited® welcome offers for more details.
Chase Freedom Unlimited® offer: Extra 1.5% cash back on $20,000 spent in the first year. (Annual fee: $0)
bonus_miles_full (Get this welcome bonus.)
Better than the $200 after $500 bonus once you spend $13,334 in your first year. Rewards are earned as Chase Ultimate Rewards® points
5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠. 3% at drugstores and on dining. 1.5% on other purchases. (More in our card review.)
This is an affiliate link.
Our take on the Chase Freedom Unlimited®
Cards and Points Rating: 5/5
The generosity of the card’s rewards impresses us. Few other cards will give you 1.5% rewards everywhere paired with uncapped bonus rewards in meaningful categories. We also like that the card offers both purchase protection and extended warranty, making it a good choice to use when you buy expensive items like electronics.
Get the Chase Freedom Unlimited® if you want a single card to use everywhere or a card to use “everywhere else” that earns Ultimate Rewards®.
Likes
- 1.5% rewards everywhere.
- Bonus rewards in a wide variety of categories including restaurants, drugstores, and travel through Chase Travel℠.
- Includes purchase protection and extended warranty.
- Earns Ultimate Rewards® points, which can be used for cash back or travel rewards.
- No annual fee
Dislikes
- No opportunity to earn 2x Ultimate Rewards® on any other card.
- Different welcome offers through different channels can be confusing.
Who is Chase Freedom Unlimited® best for?
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is a card that almost anyone can benefit from having in their wallet, thanks to its combination of good rewards everywhere, good consumer benefits, and no annual fee. But these types of people will benefit most from the Freedom Unlimited:
- Someone who wants simplicity. The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is a good choice if you want a single no-annual-fee card to use everywhere. Yes, you can get cards that earn 2% everywhere, but most of those cards do not include the extended warranty and purchase protections offered by the Freedom Unlimited.
- Travelers collecting Chase Ultimate Rewards®. If you hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve® adding the Freedom Unlimited to your wallet can increase the rewards you earn “everywhere else” by 50%. Ultimate Rewards can be transferred between cards, so you can use the points you earn on your Freedom Unlimited for the enhanced redemption options on your premium cards.
- Frequent diners. The Freedom Unlimited isn’t marketed as a dining card, but it earns 3% rewards on dining, including takeout and eligible delivery services. If you’re currently earning less on dining out, you should pick up this card.
Cards that complement the Chase Freedom Unlimited®
Because the Chase Freedom Unlimited® earns Ultimate Rewards® points, there are a handful of other Chase cards that can make the rewards you earn more valuable and increase the total amount of rewards you earn. Here are some other cards you should consider.
- The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve® earn more rewards on travel and open up opportunities to get more value from your points through travel redemptions. Since you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards points between cards, you can move your points to either card and get more value when you redeem points through Chase Travel℠.
- The Chase Freedom Flex℠ offers bonus rewards in its 5% rotating quarterly bonus categories. Historically, rotating categories have included useful categories like grocery stores, Target, Amazon.com, gas stations, PayPal, wholesale clubs, and home improvement stores. The card also has a cell phone protection benefit, with the Freedom Unlimited lacks.
- Small business owners can add a Ink Business Cash® Credit Card or a Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card to their wallet. The Ink Cash earns additional rewards in business-related categories and the Ink Preferred earns more rewards on travel while enabling redemptions through Chase Travel℠ for 25% more value and transfers to travel partners.
- For more rewards on gas and groceries, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express fills in where the Freedom Unlimited earns only 1.5%. The Blue Cash Preferred earns 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%) and 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations and on transit. You’ll also earn 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming services and 1% cash back elsewhere.
Alternatives to the Chase Freedom Unlimited®
If you are looking for a single card that earns good rewards everywhere, here are a few alternatives to consider:
- The TD Double Up Credit Card earns 2% cash back on all of your eligible purchases. You’ll also receive Visa benefits like cell phone protection, purchase security and extended warranty. Unfortunately, the card is only available if you are within TD Bank’s U.S. footprint—which includes only a handful of states on the east coast.
- If you are not averse to paying an annual fee, the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® card can get you 3% cash back or 4.5% travel rewards anywhere you use a mobile wallet to check out. The card has a $400 annual fee, but that can be largely offset by $325 in annual credits that apply toward eligible travel and dining purchases.
- Small business owners might want to consider the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card for its 1.5% cash back (also earned as Ultimate Rewards®). If you spend a lot month-to-month, keeping the spending on a business card can help you keep high balances off your personal credit report. Plus the card almost always has one of the best Ultimate Rewards new cardmember welcome bonuses.
Rewards: How to earn and use the rewards of the Chase Freedom Unlimited®
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is marketed as a cash back card, but earns Ultimate Rewards® points. The best uses of your points that are available with the Freedom Unlimited are cash redemptions and gift cards that are on sale.
If you hold multiple credit cards that earn Ultimate Rewards, you can transfer your points between your own cards with no limitations. When you transfer your points to a premium Ultimate Rewards card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred®, you can get more value from the points you earn through travel redemptions with Chase Travel℠ and transfers to airline and hotel partners. (Learn more in our Guide to Ultimate Rewards.)
Here’s a bit more on how to earn and redeem the points you earn with the Chase Freedom Unlimited®.
Earning rewards
You can earn points on the Chase Freedom Unlimited® by spending on the card, shopping through Chase, referring a friend, and getting a new Freedom Unlimited card welcome bonus. Here are all of the ways to earn points with the Chase Freedom Unlimited.
Rewards from spending on your Chase Freedom Unlimited®
You’ll earn rewards when you use your card for everyday spending, plus you’ll earn rewards in bonus categories. Here’s what the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card earns:
| Travel purchased through Chase Travel℠ | 5% | |
| Lyft rides through March 31, 2025 | 5% | |
| Dining at restaurants, including eligible takeout and delivery | 3% | |
| Drugstore purchases | 3% | |
| All other purchases | 1.5% |
Shop through Chase: Points for shopping online
You can earn Ultimate Rewards® points by shopping online with the Shop through Chase® portal.
Shop through Chase typically offers a few points per dollar spent at merchant partners. Some merchants offer a large number of points when you sign up for a subscription service. You’ll also find coupon codes for additional discounts and free shipping on the site.
To earn points with Shop through Chase, go to https://ultimaterewardsearn.chase.com/ and sign into your Chase account. Select the account you want to earn points in and you’ll be taken to the Shop through Chase portal. Click through to an online partner to earn points.
The points you earn from the Shop through Chase portal will be in addition to the points you would normally earn from your card. You don’t even have to use your Chase card to checkout.
Refer a friend: Earn points when your friend gets a new credit card
If you hold the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card, you can refer a friend to your card and earn Ultimate Rewards® points.
Most Chase cards offer the ability to refer a friend. For each friend who gets a new Chase card through your referral link, you’ll earn points on the card your refer from, up to a maximum number of points per year.
To refer a friend to your Chase card, just go to https://referyourchasecard.com/ and enter your last name, zip code, and the last 4 digits of your card. If your card is eligible, you’ll see a referral link which you can send to your friend.
New cardmember welcome bonus: Get a new Chase Freedom Unlimited® card.
You can earn points when you get a new Chase Freedom Unlimited® card. We will always detail the best offer in our coverage of the best Chase Freedom Unlimited welcome offers. As of publication there were three different welcome offers available.
Using your rewards
Even though the Chase Freedom Unlimited® is marketed as a cash back card, the card earns Ultimate Rewards® points. This means you have several options for redeeming your rewards and a handful of ways to get more than 1 cent of value out of each of your points.
Here are the best ways to use your rewards with the Chase Freedom Unlimited®.
Cash back: 1 cent per point is your baseline redemption
Ultimate Rewards® can be redeemed for cash back. Regardless of what card you hold you will get 1 cent of value for each of your Ultimate Rewards points when you redeem for cash back.
To redeem your points for cash back, scroll to the Ultimate Rewards® panel in the Chase mobile app, select your account and click on “Redeem points” and select “Cash back.” If on the mobile or desktop website, log in and navigate to the Ultimate Rewards section of Chase.com or go to https://ultimaterewardspoints.chase.com/. Select “Convert to cash” from the menu and then select “Cash back.”
Gift cards: A good option when gift cards are on sale
Since you can always redeem Ultimate Rewards® for 1 cent per point of cash back, most gift card redemptions are a subpar use of points. Gift card redemptions only make sense when you can get more than 1 cent of value out of each of your points. Fortunately, Chase frequently offers a handful of gift card brands at a discount when you redeem your Ultimate Rewards.
To redeem Ultimate Rewards points for a gift card, scroll to the Ultimate Rewards® panel in the Chase mobile app, select your account, click on “Redeem points” and select “Redeem for gift cards.” Chase will show you or you can use the filter to select only gift cards that are on sale. If on the mobile or desktop website, log in and navigate to the Ultimate Rewards section of Chase.com or go to https://ultimaterewardspoints.chase.com/. Select “Shopping & Experiences” from the menu and then select “Redeem for gift cards.”
Combine points to take advantage of redemption options on other cards
Premium Ultimate Rewards® credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, and Chase Ink Business Preferred® offer redemptions through Chase Travel℠ at an increased value and point transfer partners. When you use the combine points feature of Ultimate Rewards to move your points to one of these cards, you can take advantage of these point redemption options.
Other redemption options you (usually) shouldn’t use
There are a few redemption Ultimate Rewards® redemption options that you shouldn’t use, usually because they provide less value than redeeming rewards for cash back:
- Pay with points at checkout usually gives you less than 1 cent per point of value and you won’t earn points on your purchase.
- Shop Apple offers a poor value. You’ll give up the opportunity to earn rewards on your purchase and usually only get 1 cent per point of value. Plus you can often get better pricing on Apple products when you purchase from another retailer, like Amazon.
Chase Freedom Unlimited® Benefits
Here’s a rundown of the benefits offered by the Chase Freedom Unlimited®.
| Consumer insurance benefits Purchase protection Chase extended warranty protection | |
| Travel insurance benefits Secondary auto rental collision damage waiver insurance Trip cancellation/interruption insurance | |
| Travel benefits Travel and Emergency Assistance Services | |
| Third-party merchant benefits Complimentary 3 months of DashPass Complimentary 3 months of Instacart+ |
Consumer and purchase insurance benefits
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® includes extended warranty protection and purchase protecting, making it a good choice to use for your more valuable purchases. Here are the details:
- Extended warranty protection extends the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty on eligible warranties of 3 years or less.
- Purchase protection covers new purchases 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.
Travel insurance benefits
While the Chase Freedom Unlimited®‘s travel insurance benefits don’t match the market-leading benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve®, it does include some basic travel insurance benefits.
- Auto rental collision damage waiver provides secondary against damage to or theft of your rental vehicle when you reserve and pay for your vehicle using your card and decline your car rental company’s collision damage waiver.
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance reimburses up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip for prepaid, non-refundable common carrier fares when your trip is canceled or interrupted for a covered reason.
How to apply for the Chase Freedom Unlimited®
You can apply for the Chase Freedom Unlimited® or in-branch. As of April 2024, the best offer was available as an in-branch exclusive offer. See our coverage of that bonus for details. Here are the two bonuses available online:
Chase Freedom Unlimited 1.5% cash back on 20k spending offer
Chase Freedom Unlimited® offer: Extra 1.5% cash back on $20,000 spent in the first year. (Annual fee: $0)
bonus_miles_full (Get this welcome bonus.)
Better than the $200 after $500 bonus once you spend $13,334 in your first year. Rewards are earned as Chase Ultimate Rewards® points
5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠. 3% at drugstores and on dining. 1.5% on other purchases. (More in our card review.)
This is an affiliate link.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Chase Freedom Unlimited® offer cell phone protection?
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® does not offer cell phone protection. That benefit is available on the Chase Freedom Flex card.
Is the Chase Freedom Unlimited a Visa or Mastercard?
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is issued as a Visa card. The similarly-name 5% rotating category card, the Chase Freedom Flex, is issued as a Mastercard.
Can the Chase Freedom Unlimited®’s points be transferred to airlines?
If you also hold a premium Ultimate Rewards® credit card, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can transfer the points you earn with the Chase Freedom to airline and hotel partners.
Am I automatically enrolled in the DashPass membership on the Chase Freedom Unlimited card?
No. You must enroll in the complimentary DashPass membership.
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.
