The Chase Freedom Unlimited is a no annual fee credit card that 1.5% cash back everywhere.
You can convert cash back to Ultimate Rewards points that can be transferred to airline or hotel programs if you have another card that earns Ultimate Rewards points.
Credit Card Information
Application Link: Chase Freedom Unlimited.
Current Sign Up Bonus: $200 after $500 in spending within the first three months plus 5% cash back at grocery store purchases up to $12,000 in your first year.
Recommended Bonus: At least $200.
Annual Fee: None.
Earning Rewards:
- 5% cash back for travel via Chase Travel Portal.
- 3% cash back at restaurants.
- 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.
Credit Card Benefits
The Chase Freedom Unlimited has a lot of great benefits for a no annual fee card.
DashPass– DoorDash is a food delivery service and they offer $0 delivery fees using DashPass. The Freedom gets 3 months complimentary of DashPass and 50% off the next 9 months (only $5 per month).
Purchase Protection– This benefit covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.
Secondary Rental Car Insurance– This coverage covers any damage to the rental car that is not covered by your own insurance. Whereas, some cards offer primary rental car insurance would pay before your insurance.
Extended Warranty– This benefits extends the time of a U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year on eligible warranties of three years or less.
Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance– This benefit covers up to $1,500 per covered person and $6,000 per trip if a loss results in the cancellation or interruption of your travel.
If you want to read the fine print for each of these benefits, here is the guide to benefits.
Ability to Convert Cashback to Ultimate Rewards
Chase Freedom Unlimited points are worth 1 cent each as cash back or towards travel. If you have another card that earns Ultimate Rewards points, you can convert your cash back to Ultimate Rewards points.
Ultimate Rewards points can be used for many great airline or hotel points programs below.
You can also use points directly for travel at a higher rate if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred (1.25 cents per point), Chase Ink Business Preferred (1.25 cents per point), or the Chase Sapphire Reserve (1.5 cents per point).
Chase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partners [1 to 1]
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Aer Lingus
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British Airways
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Emirates
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Air France/KLM
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Hyatt Hotels
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Iberia
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IHG Hotels
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JetBlue
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Marriott
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Singapore
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Southwest
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United
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Virgin Atlantic
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Advantages of the Chase Unlimited Freedom
Benefits with No Annual Fee– Most no annual fee cards come with zero benefits. The Freedom Unlimited has a lot of card benefits of a $50+ annual fee card including DashPass, purchase protection, trip cancellation insurance, and rental car insurance.
Conversion to Ultimate Rewards– The ability to convert cash back to Ultimate Rewards points is a great way to boost the value of the cash back you earn. Ultimate Rewards points are worth at least 1.5 cents per point if you follow our redemption recommendations. This turns your 1.5% cash back into 2.25% of value.
Disadvantages of the Chase Freedom Unlimited
1.5% Cash back– Several no annual fees cards, such as the Citi DoubleCash, earn 2% cash back everywhere. 1.5% cash back is not as competitive, but 1.5x points everywhere is a pretty good deal.
The Verdict
The Freedom Unlimited is a good option for people who want a no annual fee credit card with nice card perks.
The Freedom Unlimited’s earning potential is boosted when used in combination with a Ultimate Rewards card.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Chase Freedom Unlimited is a no annual fee credit card that 1.5% cash back everywhere.
Chase Freedom Unlimited points can be cashed out at one cent per point or you can convert them to Ultimate Rewards points if you have another Ultimate Rewards card.
You need at least a 650 credit score to get approved for the Chase Freedom Unlimited, but a 690+ credit score is preferable.
This Freedom Unlimited is subject to the 5/24 Rule, which means Chase will automatically deny your application (even with a perfect 850 credit score) if you have opened 5 or more cards in the past 24 months.
You can refer a friend to the Chase Freedom Unlimited by filling out your information in this Chase online form and sending them a customized link.
You can activate your Freedom Unlimited card by clicking this link and signing into your Chase account. You can also activate your card by phone by calling 1-800-432-3117.
Both cards are very good and work well if you combine it with an Ultimate Rewards card. If you had to pick one, I would go with the Freedom over the Freedom Unlimited due to its ability to 5% cash back or 5x Ultimate Rewards points on rotating categories.
The Freedom card earns 5% cash back at rotating quarterly categories and 1% cash back everywhere else. The Freedom Unlimited card earns 1.5% cash back everywhere, but does not have 5% rotating categories.
You can transfer your Chase Freedom Unlimited points to Ultimate Rewards points with a Sapphire card by:
- Signing into your account.
- Click where it displays your Ultimate Rewards balance under your list of credit cards.
- Click where it says "Earn/Use ___ Pts"
- Click Combine Points
- You can then decide how many points you want to transfer in between your accounts.
You can have two Chase Freedom cards, the Freedom and Freedom Unlimited. People also combine these two cards with the Sapphire Preferred or Reserve to create a Chase Trifecta.