Chase Freedom Unlimited, Earn Double Cash Back for First Year
Chase launched today a new offer for the no annual fee Chase Freedom Unlimited®, offering 3% cash back, or 3X Ultimate Rewards points on all your everyday spending for the first year. This new special offer doesn’t have a welcome bonus, but will double all cash back you earn. Freedom Unlimited is a no-fee credit card that already earns good rates on select categories, and those will all be doubled as well. Let’s see how this offer works.
Chase Freedom Unlimited Special Offer
Chase will match all Cash Back you earn on purchases made on a new Chase Freedom Unlimited card during the first year of card membership. You will receive a one-time bonus equal to all Cash Back rewards earned during your first 12 monthly billing cycles.
Chase Freedom Unlimited earns a base rate of 1.5% cash back on all non-bonus spending. That means that for the first year, you will earn a minimum of 3% cash back, once you receive the one time matching bonus.
This offer gets even better for those who also have a Chase premium card such as Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred. You will then earn 3X Ultimate Rewards points on all your everyday purchases, which is at least close to 5% cash back.
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It Gets Better Than 3X
This offer gets even better, as it also applies to spending on bonus categories. That means that you will earn:
- 10X on travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel.
- 6X at drugstores and restaurants.
- Plus 3X on all other purchases.
Just keep in mind that these earning rates only apply to the first 12 billing cycles. After that you will continue to earn the normal rates between 1.5X and 5X.
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Are You Eligible for This Offer?
As all other Chase credit cards, Freedom Unlimited is also subject to the Chase 5/24 rule.
The Chase 5/24 rule is not an official rule in the credit card’s terms of agreement. But it is well known and often referred to even by Chase representatives. Chase 5/24 means that you can’t be approved for most Chase cards if you have opened five or more credit cards (from any card issuer) within the past 24 months. So for example, if over the last 24 months you opened two Amex cards, two Capital One cards and a Citi card, then you will likely be denied for a new Chase credit card. That’s until you go under the 5/24 count, which means that you have to wait for the first of those five accounts to be over 24 months old.
If you’re not sure how many cards you have opened in the last 24 months, check out this guide to learn how to get your Chase 5/24 status.
In addition to Chase 5/24, there’s also a restriction for those who have received a Freedom Unlimited bonus in the last two years. The terms of the offer state that “this product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.”
Guru’s Wrap-up
Normally it’s best to apply for other Chase credit cards and then downgrade to the one of the Chase Freedom cards that have no annual fee. But this double cash offer on Chase Freedom Unlimited can be valuable for big spenders.
If you plan on spending large amounts in non-bonused categories over the next 12 months, then Chase Freedom could be a great choice. You can earn 3X Ultimate Rewards for all your spending, and 6X at drugstores and restaurants, which are also very popular categories. Just keep in mind that you will need to have a premium card in order to use the cash back earn from this card, as Ultimate Rewards.
It’s also worth noting that the old welcome bonus is still available, and that is also a very strong offer. It gets you a $200 bonus and 5% cash back on gas and groceries for the first $12,000 in spend during the first year.
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