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The Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card is one of the newer cards to be added to Chase’s credit card lineup and it hasn’t taken long for it to become one of the most important miles & points credit cards on the market. With no annual fee, great earning rates, and excellent benefits, this is a card that would fit very well with most people’s wallets.
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card
Annual fee
- $0 (zero)
Welcome offer
- New cardholders will earn $200 (or 20,000 Ultimate Rewards Points) after they spend $500 on the Freedom Flex credit card in the first 3 months of opening their new account.
Note 1: Chase classifies the Freedom Flex credit card as a standalone product so the welcome offer is available to current holders of the Chase Freedom credit card (no longer open to new applicants) and the Chase Freedom Unlimited® credit card (review).
Note 2: Make sure that Chase hasn’t published a better welcome offer (than the one above) before applying through one of our affiliate links.
Standard earning rates
- 5% cash back (or 5 points/dollar) on up to $1,500 of spending in quarterly revolving categories.
- 5% cash back (or 5 points/dollar) on travel purchased through the Chase travel portal
- 3% cash back (or 3 points/dollar) on dining (includes takeout and delivery)
- 3% cash back (or 3 points/dollar) on spending at drugstores
- 1% cash back (or 1 point/dollar) on spending in all other categories
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card comes with the same earning rates as the legacy Chase Freedom card, but also adds in 3% – 5% of cash back (3-5 points/dollar) in three other categories too.
Key benefits
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card is a “World Elite” Mastercard which means that cardholders get a set of prepackaged benefits that the legacy Freedom credit card (which the Flex card replaced) never offered. These include:
- Cell phone protection up to $800 per claim and $1,000 per year (max 2 claims per year with a $50 deductible)
- Earn 5% cash back on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025. That’s 4% cash back in addition to the 1% cash back the card already offers.
- $5 Lyft credit when a cardholder takes 3 rides in one calendar month and pays with their Flex card.
- 5% Cash Rewards on Boxed Wholesale orders for use on future purchases.
- Complimentary ShopRunner membership (free 2-day shipping at hundreds or retailers)
- $5 off movie tickets with Fandango when you spend $20.
The card also offers:
- Trip cancellation/interruption insurance – up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip
- 120-day purchase protection – up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account
- Extended warranty protection – this extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.
- Secondary rental collision cover
Why I love the Freedom Flex℠ credit card
The welcome offer
The great news starts with the welcome offer where the $200 bonus could be considered free cash (assuming you never carry a balance and get charged interest and/or fees), which can be earned relatively easily (it only requires $500 of spending), and which can be earned while earning a fantastic rate of return.
If you happen to have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Credit Card (review), the Chase Sapphire Reserve ®Card (review), or the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (review) the $200 bonus can be taken as 20,000 Ultimate Rewards Points which I value at $300 (more on this below).
The rates of return
3% – 5% cash back is an amazing return to be given by a no-annual-fee credit card, but for holders of one of the Chase Sapphire cards or the Ink Business Preferred Card, it gets better.
If you’re a fan of pure cash back the Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card will work very well for you, but it can also be an amazing card for anyone who loves earning a valuable rewards currency and who is happy to put in a bit of extra work to maximize the value that the Flex Card offers.
When paired with one of the Chase Sapphire Cards or the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, the cash back that the Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card offers can be taken in the form of Ultimate Rewards Points.
These points can be transferred to a variety of airline and hotel loyalty programs where they can be used to extract considerably more value than the basic cash back that the Flex card offers.
Essentially, the cash back that the Flex Card earns can be turned into a currency that can be used to book high-end hotels and premium cabin flights for considerably less than they would ordinarily cost.
I value Chase Ultimate Rewards Points at 1.5 cents each (based on the value I know I can easily get out of each point with relative ease) and that means that in effect, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card offers the following:
Effective rebates of 7.5% on:
- Travel booked through Chase
- All quarterly spending categories
Effective rebates of 4.5% on:
- Spending at drugstores
- Spending on dining (including takeaway and delivery)
There are a number of premium credit cards on the market (i.e. with annual fees of over $200) that don’t offer rebates as good as these, and yet the Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card doesn’t charge an annual fee at all.
The excellent benefits
As if all of the above wasn’t enough reason to have the Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card in your portfolio, just take a look at the list of benefits that a cardholder gets without having to hand over a dime in fees – the cell phone insurance alone is a great benefit to have, but Flex cardholders also get Lyft credits, Fandango credits and free ShopRunner membership all of which offer genuine savings.
Also, the Freedom Flex credit card offers trip interruption/cancellation insurance (useful if you’re using the Flex Card to earn 5% back on travel spending with Chase), extended warranties, and purchase protection as well.
It’s genuinely incredible that a card with no annual fee can offer such an array of benefits that actually add value.
Bottom line
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card is a “must-have” credit card for those of us who love cash back and Ultimate Rewards. The earning rates are impressive, the welcome bonus is generous, and the benefits that come with the card can be money savers all on their own. When you add all of that to the fact that this is a card that doesn’t charge an annual fee, it’s easy to see why Chase’s Flex card is one of the most popular cards around.
Find out how to apply for the Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card
