What to Know About the New Chase Freedom Flex Card

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(*) Some of the offers on this page may no longer be available through our site.

On September 14, 2020, Chase introduced the Chase Freedom Flex, a new credit card with no annual fee. The Chase Freedom Flex card was introduced as a replacement for the original Chase Freedom card, which is no longer available to new applicants. The Chase Freedom Unlimited card, another Chase credit card with no annual fee, is still available.

In this Chase Freedom Flex review, we’ll take a look at this new card. We’ll examine the welcome bonus, the earning rates and other benefits. In this article, we will also look at some of the other benefits and how to get the most out of the Chase Freedom Flex card.

Chase Freedom Flex welcome bonus and earning rates (*)

The Chase Freedom Flex has a welcome bonus where you will earn $200 after spending $500 on your card in the first three months of having the card. Additionally, you’ll earn 5% cash back on grocery store purchases (not including Target® or Walmart® purchases) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year.

In addition to the grocery bonus for the first 12 months, the Chase Freedom Flex earns:

• 5% cash back on the first $1500 spent in rotating quarterly bonus categories.
• 5% cash back on travel booked through chase.com
• 3% cash back at drugstores
• 3% cash back at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
• 1% cash back on all other purchases

Other benefits of the Chase Freedom Flex card (*)

There are a few other benefits that come with the Chase Freedom Flex card. You’ll get a complimentary 3 months subscription service to DoorDash Dash Pass. That gives unlimited $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees on orders of $12 or more. You’ll also get 5% cash back on Lyft rides through March 2022.

Another perk of the Chase Freedom Flex card is its cell phone protection. If you pay your monthly cell phone bill with your Freedom Flex card, you can get up to $800 per claim in cell phone protection against covered theft or damage. You can make up to two claims per year ($1000 total), and each claim comes with a $50 deductible.

Combining your Ultimate Rewards points with other Chase accounts (*)

Although the welcome bonus and earning rates with the Chase Freedom Flex card is marketed as cash back, you actually receive Chase Ultimate Rewards points. If you only have the Chase Freedom Flex card, you can redeem your Ultimate Rewards at a rate of 1 cent per point. With only the Freedom Flex card, you also are not able to transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to Chase’s hotel and airline transfer partners.

However, if you have a premium Chase card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve (*) or Chase Ink Preferred card, you can combine your Ultimate Rewards points across accounts. This can be very advantageous for two reasons. First of all, it unlocks the ability to transfer your points to travel partners like United Airlines, Marriott Bonvoy or Southwest Rapid Rewards. And if you choose to redeem your Ultimate Rewards points for travel, you will get a 25% or 50% bonus on the value of your points.

How to get the most from the Freedom Flex card (*)

The first thing that you’ll want to do in order to get the most from your Freedom Flex card is to make it your go-to card at the grocery store. 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent makes the Freedom Flex one of the best cards for grocery spending. You will also want to make sure you’re keeping track of the quarterly bonus categories and using your card where it’s getting the 5% cash back each quarter.

For redeeming the Ultimate Rewards points that you get from the Chase Freedom Flex card, in order to really get the most from your points, you’ll want to also have a premium Chase credit card. With just the Freedom Flex card, your Ultimate Rewards points will only be worth 1 cent per point. With a card like the Sapphire Reserve (*), your points would be worth 1.5 cents per point – a 50% bonus. Additionally, having a premium Chase card allows you to transfer your Ultimate Rewards to Chase’s hotel and airline travel partners, which can unlock even more value.

How to get the new Chase Freedom Flex card (*)

The Chase Freedom Flex card is available to new applicants as of September 14th, 2020. Chase has an application rule (called 5/24) where you will not be approved for new Chase cards if you have five or more new credit cards from any bank in the past 24 months. So if you have applied for more than five cards in the past two years, you will not be approved for a new Freedom Flex card. 

In that case, the only way to get a new Chase Freedom Flex card is to do a product change from a different Chase credit card. Chase has told us that you will only be able to do a product change from the old Chase Freedom cards. Product changes from other Chase credit cards will not be allowed, at least not at first. If you do have the old Chase Freedom card, it makes sense to change to the Freedom Flex for most people. The Freedom Flex card has the same 5% quarterly bonus categories as the old Freedom card, and also earns bonus points at restaurants, drugstores and travel. The only downside to product changing is that you miss out on the $200 welcome bonus that comes with new card approvals.

These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

(*) Some of the offers on this page may no longer be available through our site.