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The Chase Freedom Unlimited Card indeed comes with favourable offers for people seeking cards that offer both simple rewards and some opportunities to earn extra cashback on everyday purchases.
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Savvy Saver
Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card is all out to satisfy people who have good credit and desire a new go-to card for earning cash-back rewards.
Good work by a program refresh, who offers a competitive earning rate on all purchases including some extra cashback on purchases that fall within a few bonus categories like restaurant dining and travel, purchased using Chase.
People with partial to simple cash-back cards but desires to push further for more earning and some extra rewards based on their purchases are advised to subscribe to this card.
Be cautious, for this card is not favourable for people who intend to travel abroad hence there is a foreign transaction fee attached.
Pros
- More ways to earn rewards
- High-value bonus for new cardholders
- Long interest-free period
- Rideshare and food delivery perks
Cons
- It has foreign transaction fee
- Comes with Few insurance perks
Pros explanation
#1. Many ways to earn rewards: For many credit cards come with a single rate of rewards on all purchases, the Chase Freedom Unlimited card is fully loaded with a variety of ways to earn valuable cashback.
You can earn 1.5% back on all purchases that fall outside a few new bonus categories, which is an exceptional rate compared to similar cards. Booking your travel through Chase, or using this card when dining out or ordering in, or when visiting the drugstore, you have more chances of earning even more cashback.
#2. High-value bonus for new cardholders: New entry is offered the high-value bonus. You don’t necessarily have to spend big to earn the $200 bonus, which is regarded as a no-annual-fee cash-back card. For it can only take $500 in spending for you to earn it.
#3. Long interest-free period: Interestingly, this card has an offer of a 12-month, 0% APR period on purchases. This is indeed a better and real offer for a card that is primarily focused on rewards.
#4. Rideshare and food delivery perks: These two are partners of Chase Freedom Unlimited. Kudos to them for allowing earning of 5% cashback (an extra 3.5%) on Lyft rides taken through March 2022, and be offered a complimentary DashPass delivery membership for three months.
These benefits might not have been highly valued but a good addition to an otherwise simple cash-back card.
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Cons Explanation
#1. Foreign transaction fee: one of the major constraints of this card is that, when used abroad, it wipes out the benefit of your rewards because of the 3% fee on purchases made in other countries.
Always match this card with another who also offer travel rewards, or better still check out a card with a flat rewards-earning rate and no foreign transaction fee preferably, like the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards or the Bank of America Travel Rewards.
#2. Few insurance perks: While this card offers secondary auto rental insurance, trip delay & interruption insurance, extended warranties, and purchase protection, its shortcoming is on some of the premium insurance perks of other cards such as baggage insurance, travel accident insurance, and cell phone insurance.
Perks for New Cardholders
New cardholders who spend $500 within three months of opening their account will get $200 cash back. This offer is indeed attractive for a no-annual-fee cash-back card, where many people will be able to earn quickly without adjusting their normal spending habits.
There is a rule called Chase’s 5/24 rule, because of this, you should avoid applying for this card if you’ve opened more than five credit cards in the past 24 months.
Earning Points & Rewards
It is supper easy to earn rewards with the Chase Freedom Unlimited. For Cash-back rewards are tracked as points, with 100 points equivalent to $1. This will earn you rewards as seen below:
- 5% back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 3% back on dining, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- 3% back on drugstore purchases 1.5% back on all other purchases, which beats competitors in this class
The joy of using this card is that, there is no limit on how much cash back you can earn. The card further allows you also to earn rewards whenever an authorized user makes purchases. Points earn don’t expire as long as your account is open and in good standing.
The card is also designed to allow you to earn an extra 3.5% back on Lyft rides through March 2022-for a total of 5% back.
Redeeming Rewards
Chase Ultimate Rewards are tracked when your rewards points-100 equal-$1 to be redeemed. Here is how you can redeem points:
- Cash back: This can be done anytime without a fixed amount-there is no limitation in redeeming your rewards. For rewards can be redeemed as a statement credit to your account or as a direct deposit to your checking or savings account.
- Travel purchases: Apply your points to travel you book with the Chase Ultimate Rewards online booking tool.
- Gift cards: You can cash in points for gift cards that can be used for dining, entertainment, shopping, and more.
- Pay with Points: You can pay for services and products when signing up with select retailers.
- Amazon purchases: When your Freedom Unlimited credit card account is link to your Amazon account, you stand a chance to use your points to directly pay for part or all of your Amazon orders. Points can be judged with tax and shipping on your purchases. However, as with Chase Pay, rewards redeemed at Amazon checkout are valued 20% lower than other forms of redemption.
Benefits and Rewards of this Card
Your ability and capability of spending at least $500 within three months after opening this card will earn you $200 sign-up bonus.
Thereafter, the responsibility is on you to make this card your primary card or better still pair it with another card that offers higher rewards-earning rates on purchases outside this card’s dining, drugstore, and Chase travels purchase bonus categories.
Basically if you have one of Chase’s travel rewards credit cards-which are the Sapphire Preferred or reserve-you have the right to combine your points and get up to 50% more by redeeming through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal.
In addition, if you add your points to one of those accounts, you will have the option to transfer them to an eligible frequent flyer or hotel loyalty program at a one-for-one ratio. (Transfers aren’t allowed directly from this card.)
But if you don’t really want to travel, ensure you redeem your rewards for anything other than Amazon purchases or ChasePay, where your points are worth less.
Benefits of Chase Freedom Unlimited
- It has an Insurance cover for stolen or damaged purchases
- It warranty protection is extended and
- Three-month DashPass subscription
Chase Freedom Unlimited offers delivery fees on all DoorDash food orders of $12 or more which can be waived during a three-month complimentary subscription to DashPass, as long as you activate by Dec. 31, 2021.
After three months, you’ll automatically be enrolled in DashPass at 50% for the next nine months. A DashPass membership typically costs $9.99 per month.
Customer Experience
Different customers have different experience while using Chase Freedom Unlimited products and the Chase mobile app.
Chase Mobile App allows a customer to view his/her account activity, pay the bill, and more. According to J.D. Power’s 2020 U.S. Credit Card Mobile App Satisfaction Study, Chase came in third place out of 11 and scored higher than the average.
Chase was ranked fourth out of 11 national card issuers in the J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study and scored one point below the average.
Suffice to say here that, you can access your credit score for free with Chase Credit Journey and the ability to simulate how credit events may affect your score.
For wherever Chase services are available, this card features contactless pay technology allowing you to checkout by tapping your card on a credit card terminal.
Security Features
This card has industry-standard security features, like fraud alerts and $0 fraud liability. You can also lock and unlock your card from your online account in the event you temporarily misplace it. If your card is lost or stolen, you can request a replacement card through the Chase mobile app.
Fees
Just like other credit cards, the Chase Freedom Unlimited Card’s fees are also same with the industry standards. Chase does charge a 3% foreign transaction fee on purchases made on currencies other than U.S. dollars. However, there’s no penalty interest rate if you fall seriously behind on your credit card payments.
