Review of the Chase Freedom® Visa With $200 or $100 Cash-Back Sign-up Bonus

Last Revised: 12/21/2011;

While the Chase Freedom® Card probably can’t start a revolution, it does provide a whopping 5% bonus cashback on rotating spend categories each quarter.  Additionally, the Chase Freedom® card comes with a nice cash bonus–either $200 or $100 depending on which offer you apply for (the $100 cash back bonus card also provides a 0% into APR–details below).  In order to earn the bonuses you need to spend a certain amount on the card within a certain period of time, but it’s generally easy to do (see below for more info). 

However, as with many credit card programs, it’s important to read the fine print to really understand the limitations of this offer. Specifically, the Chase Freedom® card has in place specific spend caps which limit the amount of 5% cash-back rewards you can earn each quarter. Read more below if you want to find out the details.

By the way, if you don’t plan on carrying balances or using this card to execute a balance transfer, then you definitely should apply for the $200 cash back bonus version and NOT the $100 cash back bonus version.

You can apply for the $200 sign-up bonus Chase Freedom® Visa or Chase Freedom® Mastercard (same bonus, just MC version) if you know it’s what you want, or keep reading to get into the details (recommended if you have the time).

Key Features of the Chase Freedom® Visa/MC Credit Card

Rewards Program	Chase Ultimate Rewards
Base Rewards	1 points per $ of spend
Est. Value of Points	$0.01 per point
Bonus Rewards	Additional 4 points per $1 of spend on seasonally rotating categories (detailed below). Bonus rewards are earned on up to $1,500 of spend in bonus categories per quarter.
Other Rewards	Earn 2 points per $1 of spend when you make airfare purchases using the Chase Travel Booking Tool. If you link your Chase Freedom® Card to your Chase Checking Account, earn an additional 10% bonus on all core 1% cash back rewards (for an effective 1.1% cash back rate). Also, if you have a Chase Checking Account, you will earn 10 rewards points on every purchase.
Spend-Target Bonus	Depending on which card you apply for, you will earn either 10,000 points ($100) or 20,000 points ($200) once you reach $500 in total card spend within the first 3  months of card activation.
Redemption	Rewards redeemed as points; 1 point=$0.01 cashback.
Bal Transfer Promo	Only for the $100 cash back bonus card:  0% intro APR for 12 months on balance transfers made within 1st 30 days of account opening (after 12 months, reverts to standard variable APR).
Purchase APR Promo	Only for the $100 cash back bonus card: 0% intro APR for 6 months on purchases (after 6 months, reverts to standard variable APR)
Annual Fee	None
Bal Transfer Fee	$5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Foreign Transactions	3% of each transaction in USD.

A Detailed Look At Earning Points With Chase Freedom®

The Chase Freedom® Credit Card offers a standard 1% cashback bonus on all purchases, and an additional 4% cashback bonus on a pre-defined group of spending categories that change each quarter (making it a 5% cash-back card on those specific categories).  For example, in Q4 2011 (10/1 thru 12/31), the categories eligible for the 5% cashback bonus are dining, department stores, movie theaters, and charitable organizations.

PlasticIQ Insight: The Chase Freedom® card has specific spending limits each quarter that limit the cash back bonus that can be earned on the 5% cash-back categories.  The limit is $1,500 of spend per quarter for the 5% cash-back categories.  For example, if in the 4th quarter of 2011 you spend $1,500 on combined dining, department stores and movies theaters, you would earn $75 cash back (5% of $1,500).  However, if you spend $2,000 on these same categories, you would only earn a total of $80–$75 (5% of $1,500) plus another $5 ($500 of spend at the standard 1% cashback).

The table below provides a summary of the eligible 5% cashback bonus categories for 2012 for the Chase Freedom® card, along with the spending caps for each quarter and the maximum cashback that can be earned based on those caps. We also have kept the old 2011 categories in the table as well, as it’ll give you a good idea over time of the types of categories you can expect Chase to promote on an ongoing basis (and we can also watch over time to make sure the spending caps and number of categories don’t decrease).

Chase Freedom® Credit Card Spending Caps by Quarter For 2012

Quarter	2012 Categories and Spending Caps	2011 Categories and Spending Caps
Jan-Mar	Gas stations and Amazon.com ($1,500 cap)	Supermarkets and drug stores ($1,500 cap)
Apr-Jun	Grocery stores and movie theaters ($1,500 cap)	Home improvement, lawn & garden, home furnishings ($1,500 cap)
Jul-Sep	Gas stations and restaurants ($1,500 cap)	Gas stations, air travel, hotel stays ($1,500 cap)
Oct-Dec	Hotel stays, air travel, Best Buy, Kohl’s ($1,500)	Dining, dept. stores, movie theaters, charities ($1,500 cap)
Total Annual Spending Cap	$6,000	$6,000
Value with 5% cashback	$300	$300

Under these terms, the Chase Freedom® 5% cashback bonus is, at a maximum, worth around $300 per year.  This assumes you successfully max out the spend limits each quarter.  After you exhaust the 5% bonus, Chase Freedom® reverts to the standard 1% cash-back rate for the remainder of each quarter.

Extra Earnings Opportunities by Linking Your Chase Freedom® Credit Card Account with A Chase Checking Account

If you open a Chase checking account and link it to your Chase Freedom® Account (you can do this through any Chase branch), you enable two additional earnings opportunities:

• Earn an additional 10% increase in your baseline cash-back earnings (doesn’t apply to the 4% additional bonus on seasonal categories).
• Earn an additional 10 points on every Chase Freedom® credit card purchase.

So, let’s take an example: let’s say you spend $1,000 in a month, of which $200 qualifies for the additional 4% cash back bonus. Let’s also assume your Chase Freedom® card is linked to a Chase checking account. Finally, let’s assume you used your card to make 40 separate purchases during the month.  As the table below shows, you’d earn $23 with linked Chase checking, and only $18 with the unlinked Chase Freedom® credit card.  Not a huge difference on an absolute dollar basis in this example, but percentage-wise, a nice bump of 28%.

Comparing Chase Freedom® Rewards With And Without a Linked Chase Checking Account

	Without Linked Checking	With Linked Checking
Non-Bonus Category Spend	$800	$800
Bonus Category Spend	$200	$200
# of Transactions on Card	40	40
Base Rewards Earned (1 point/$)	1,000	1,000
Bonus Category Rewards (4 points/$)	800	800
Addt’l 10% Bonus on Base Rewards	N/A	100
Addt’l 10 Points per Transaction	N/A	400
Total Points Earned	1,800	2,300

Redeeming Points With Chase Ultimate Rewards

While you can read PlasticIQ’s detailed assessment of the Chase Ultimate Rewards Program, of which Chase Freedom® is a member of, as far as the Chase Freedom® Card is concerned, redemption for cash back, at a value of $0.01 per point, is your best value.

Expenses and Fees for the Chase Freedom® Credit Card

Fortunately, Chase Freedom® doesn’t have any annual fees.  Foreign transactions incur a 3% transaction charge denominated in US dollars (fairly standard for most credit cards).  So nothing particularly worrisome about the fee structure here.

PlasticIQ’s Final Assessment of the Chase Freedom® Credit Card

Aside from the nice spend bonus (either $100 or $200 after you reach the required spend targets),  the Chase Freedom® Card excels seasonally and on certain categories.  We recommend acquiring it as a niche card (part of your arsenal) that you only use when you can get the 5% cashback bonus. And when you max out the 5% bonus for the quarter, simply tuck the card away in your dresser drawer and put a reminder on your calendar to dust it off next quarter.  If you have the discpline to do this, then the Chase Freedom® will definitely carry its weight.   For some other ideas on strong rewards cards, check out our post, 3 Best Cashback Credit Cards.

Word of advice: if you are not looking for a balance transfer, you should definitely apply for the Chase Freedom® Visa or MC with $200 Bonus Cash Back.

Chase Freedom® Visa – $200 Bonus Cash Back	Chase Freedom® Mastercard – $200 Bonus Cash Back	Chase Freedom® Visa – $100 Bonus Cash Back + 0% Intro APR	Chase Freedom® Mastercard – $100 Bonus Cash Back + 0% Intro APR
Earn $200 Bonus Cash Back after you make $500 in purchases in your first 3 months 5% Cash Back on up to $1,500 spent at gas stations and on Amazon.com from 1/1/12 – 3/31/12. You’ll enjoy new 5% categories every 3 months like grocery stores, restaurants and even airlines. It’s free and easy to activate your bonus each quarter! Unlimited 1% Cash Back on all other purchases Up to an additional 10% Cash Back when you shop online at select merchants through Chase No annual fee and rewards never expire	Earn $200 Bonus Cash Back after you make $500 in purchases in your first 3 months 5% Cash Back on up to $1,500 spent at gas stations and on Amazon.com from 1/1/12 – 3/31/12. You’ll enjoy new 5% categories every 3 months like grocery stores, restaurants and even airlines. It’s free and easy to activate your bonus each quarter! Unlimited 1% Cash Back on all other purchases Up to an additional 10% Cash Back when you shop online at select merchants through Chase No annual fee and rewards never expire	Earn $100 Bonus Cash Back after you make $500 in purchases in your first 3 months 0% Intro APR for 12 months on balance transfers and 6 months on purchases 5% Cash Back on up to $1,500 spent at gas stations and on Amazon.com from 1/1/12 – 3/31/12. You’ll enjoy new 5% categories every 3 months like grocery stores, restaurants and even airlines. It’s free and easy to activate your bonus each quarter! Unlimited 1% Cash Back on all other purchases Up to an additional 10% Cash Back when you shop online at select merchants through Chase No annual fee and rewards never expire	Earn $100 Bonus Cash Back after you make $500 in purchases in your first 3 months 0% Intro APR for 12 months on balance transfers and 6 months on purchases 5% Cash Back on up to $1,500 spent at gas stations and on Amazon.com from 1/1/12 – 3/31/12. You’ll enjoy new 5% categories every 3 months like grocery stores, restaurants and even airlines. It’s free and easy to activate your bonus each quarter! Unlimited 1% Cash Back on all other purchases Up to an additional 10% Cash Back when you shop online at select merchants through Chase No annual fee and rewards never expire

Tags: Cashback Credit Card, Chase

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 at 7:47 pm and is filed under Cashback Card Reviews, Sign up Bonus Cards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.