New Chase Freedom Unlimited Offer: Earn 3% Cash Back (Or More) Your First Year!

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Chase just rolled out a new offer on the no annual fee *freedom unlimited* that could make it one of the best cards for earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points or cash back on your everyday spending … at least for the first year.

Right now, when you open the Freedom Unlimited card, Chase is offering to match any cash back you earn on purchases made on the card during your first year of card membership. This means all the cash back you earn on the card will be automatically doubled by Chase at the end of the first year. Since the card earns a base rate of 1.5% cash back (or 1.5x Ultimate Rewards) on all non-bonus spending, you'll actually be earning a bare minimum of 3% cash back (or 3x Ultimate Rewards) after Chase completes the end-of-year match.

Learn more about the *freedom unlimited*.

Even better, this unlimited cashback match also applies to the spending categories that already earn additional cash back (or Chase Ultimate Rewards points) on the card. With that in mind, here's what you'll get with this welcome offer:

Earn 10% cash back on travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel portal.
Earn 6% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service.
Earn 3% cash back on all other purchases.

After your first year, you'll earn the standard 5% cash back on travel purchased through the Chase Travel Portal, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining (including takeout and eligible delivery service), and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases made with your Freedom Unlimited card.

Read our full review of the Chase Freedom Unlimited!

Keep in mind: Credit cards are serious business. You should never charge more to a credit card than you can afford to pay off immediately, no matter how much cash back you might earn.

Benefits of the Chase Freedom Unlimited Card

Sign-Up Bonus Offer

Unlimited matched cash back: Earn an unlimited cash back match on all purchases during your first year. That means that instead of the card's base earning of 1.5% cash back, you'll really be earning a minimum of 3% cash back on all purchases. And if you've got another Chase card that earns Ultimate Rewards, like the *chase sapphire preferred* or *chase sapphire reserve*, you can combine those points for even greater value.

This welcome offer also applies to the bonus spending categories on the card, so in the first year of holding the card, you'll also earn:

10% cash back on travel purchased through the Chase Travel Portal.
6% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service.
3% cash back on all other purchases.

While this offer doesn't include a lump sum of points like we typically see with most new card welcome offers, it has the potential to be even more lucrative by doubling all rewards earned at the end of the first year.

For example, if you typically spend $25,000 each year on credit cards, getting an extra 1.5% cash back on all that spending would be the same as getting a $375 cash back bonus (or 37,500 Chase Ultimate Rewards). If some of that yearly spending falls in one of the Freedom Unlimited card's bonus categories – like dining or travel – your payout will be even bigger.

This makes the card, and its special offer, the perfect choice for anyone who regularly spends big – or has a big purchase coming up.

Annual Fee

The Chase Freedom Unlimited card does not have an annual fee, making it a great companion product to either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Chase 5/24 Rule

The card is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, so that is something you'll need to consider before applying.

Unfamiliar with Chase's 5/24 rule? Here's what it boils down to:

If you have opened five or more credit cards in the past 24 months from any bank credit card issuers (not just Chase cards), you will not be approved for Chase credit cards, regardless of your credit score or history with Chase bank.
The rule does not count credit inquiries, but rather new cards you have applied for and been approved.

So if you have opened five or more new credit cards in the past 24 months, you will likely not be approved for this card.

You also won't be eligible to apply if you have received a new card member bonus on the Freedom Unlimited card in the past 24 months.

Our Analysis

The Chase Freedom Unlimited Card is one of our favorite no-annual-fee credit cards.

Not only does it earn competitive cashback rates, but it also becomes much more valuable when you pair it with either the *chase sapphire preferred* or *chase sapphire reserve*. That's because even though the card is marketed as earning cashback, it's rewarded in the form of Chase Ultimate Rewards that can be combined with other cards to be used for travel redemptions.

This means if you hold one of those other cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points, the cash back could then be redeemed directly through the bank's travel portal for flights and hotels or transferred to any of Chase's transfer partners to book award travel.

Because Ultimate Rewards points redeemed in the portal are worth either 1.25 or 1.5 cents each depending on which card you have, that hypothetical $375 bonus we previously discussed could be redeemed for $500 to $600 worth of travel – not bad for a no annual fee card.

Even if you don't want to transfer the cash back into your Chase Ultimate Rewards balance, the 3% cash back return is still attractive and one of the most competitive cashback offers out there.

Bottom Line

This new offer on the Chase Freedom Unlimited card is solid. While you won't earn a sign-up bonus for a certain amount of spending in the first three months, it is a great candidate to earn at least 3% cashback on your everyday spending, and potentially much more depending on what purchases you're putting on the card.