Chase Freedom Flex and new Unlimited now live!

Chase is now offering a new Freedom card (Chase Freedom Flex) and a revamped Freedom Unlimited. The new bonus categories on these cards are extremely competitive for a no annual fee card. You could argue that these are now the best no annual fee credit cards on the market for a lot of people.

The new cards:

• Chase Freedom Flex
• Chase Freedom Unlimited

Chase Freedom Flex

The new Freedom card is called the Chase Freedom Flex and that is replacing the Chase Freedom, which will no longer be available to new applicants.

The Freedom Flex comes with a $200 welcome bonus after you spend $500 in the first three months after account opening. $200 is a pretty solid welcome bonus for a card with no annual fee. Learn how to apply here.

You’ll also get 0% intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases.

But the Freedom Flex is really going to stand out with its new bonus categories.

The Chase Freedom Flex maintains the rotating 5% quarterly categories but it’s going to get additional categories which include:

• 5X on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 3X on dining
• 3X on drugstores

3X on dining is on par with the Chase Sapphirre Reserve — a card that comes with a $550 annual fee.

Getting 5X on travel through the Chase Travel Portal means you can earn 5X on purchases like airfare which is on par with the Amex Platinum Card, another card with a high annual fee.

So in short, these are very competitive bonus categories.

If you have a premium card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you can transfer your point out to various travel partners. If not, you’ll just earn straight cash back such as 3% on dining, 3% on drugstores, etc.

The Chase Freedom Flex is going to be a MasterCard and not a Visa so you will also get additional MasterCard benefits like ShopRunner, cell phone protection, etc.

Tip: Check out the free app WalletFlo so that you can optimize your credit card spend by seeing the best card to use! You can also track credits, annual fees, and get notifications when you’re eligible for the best cards!

Chase Freedom Unlimited

The Chase Freedom Unlimited is going to better for people who don’t want to keep up with multiple bonus categories every quarter and would like to earn a straight cashback rate on all purchases. It will earn the following rates:

• 1.5X on all purchases
• 5X on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 3X on dining
• 3X on drugstores

The Chase Freedom Unlimited is also going to come with a $200 welcome bonus after you spend $500 in the first three months after account opening. You’ll also get 0% intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases.

Strategy tips

• If you are over 5/24 and you have the Chase Freedom then you will probably want to product change from the Chase Freedom to the Chase Freedom Flex. You can do this by calling the number on the back of your card.
• If you are under 5/24 then you might want to consider applying for the Chase Freedom Flex.
• You are eligible for the Freedom Flex even if you already have a Freedom Unlimited and or a Chase Freedom.
• You can apply for the Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited but you should probably wait at 30 days between applications.

If you do not know your 5/24 status, you can use WalletFlo to figure out your status.

Final word

It’s great to see some quality offers starting to roll in now. As things slowly start to get back to normal, I think we will be seeing more offers continue to come out so keep your eyes open for some great opportunities down the road.