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* Suggested credit score ranges are supplied by QuinStreet, not from the issuers, and are guidelines, not a guarantee of approval.

Chase Freedom Flex Review

The Chase Freedom Flex is a credit card with a twist. In addition to its standard rewards rate, you'll earn 5% back on up to $1,500 on rotating categories that change each quarter.

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Your Best Credit Cards has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Your Best Credit Cards and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on Your Best Credit Cards are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. Your Best Credit Cards does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Commissions do not affect or prioritize placement within our Card Explorer results and not all cards displayed earn us a commission. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone.

* Suggested credit score ranges are supplied by QuinStreet, not from the issuers, and are guidelines, not a guarantee of approval.

Chase Freedom Flex Review

The Chase Freedom Flex is a credit card with a twist. In addition to its standard rewards rate, you'll earn 5% back on up to $1,500 on rotating categories that change each quarter.

BONUS OFFER

Get $200 (20,000 Ultimate Rewards points) when you spend $500 in your first 3 months. PLUS Earn 5% cash back on combined gas station and grocery store purchases (not including Target® and Walmart®) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year.

💵 Your Projected Rewards Value
Year 1 tbd
Year 2 tbd

Key facts

Just getting going on Chase Ultimate Rewards cards? While you can certainly use the Flex as a cash back card with a few select bonus categories, such as 3% on dining and at drugstores and the quarterly rotating categories that earn 5% cash back, the power of this card is truly unleashed when you also have one of three cards that are able to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Chase’s airline and hotel transfer partners.

Those three cards are the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card, and the Chase Ink Business Preferred®.

Annual Fee:

$0

AVG Point Value:

$0.01 (Learn More)

Min. Credit Score for Approval:

670-739 * Good

APR on Purchases:

0 % Intro APR on purchases for 15 months, 19.24%-27.99% thereafter

APR on Balance Transfers:

0% Intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months, 19.24%-27.99% thereafter

Foreign Transaction Fee:

3%

Reward multipliers

Here’s how the Chase Freedom Flex credit card will earn rewards:

  • 5X on up to $1,500 on quarterly bonus categories that change every 3 months ($1,500 max per quarter)
  • 5X on travel when purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards (Chase Travel)*
  • 5X on Lyft until March 2025
  • 3X on dining (including takeout and eligible delivery services)
  • 3X at drugstore purchases
  • 1X on other purchases

(* Bear in mind, booking via a portal for hotels means that you won’t, in virtually all cases, earn any hotel points / stay credits or have your hotel elite status, if applicable, honored. For airlines, the fares are generally similar, however, it does mean that you have to deal with Chase for changes instead of the airline directly – and that can sometimes be a bit of a hassle versus calling the airline directly. However, for those not without any hotel elite statuses, this is a great way to rack up more Chase points!)

Earns bonus points for spend in the following bonus categories:

Earn this multiplier when you purchase via the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal. If you purchase any other way, you will earn 1X points.

5x
Airfare

Estimated Rewards Value: 5%

Earn this multiplier when you purchase via the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal. If you purchase any other way, you will earn 1X points.

5x
Hotels

Estimated Rewards Value: 5%

Earn this multiplier when you purchase via the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal. If you purchase any other way, you will earn 1X points.

5x
Car Rentals

Estimated Rewards Value: 5%

5x
Lyft

Estimated Rewards Value: 5%

3x
Dining Out / Food Delivery

Estimated Rewards Value: 3%

3x
Drugstores

Estimated Rewards Value: 3%

1x
Everything Else

Estimated Rewards Value: 1%

ALREADY HAVE THIS CARD?

Pair another card and boost your rewards

In some cases, adding cards from the same points system will increase your rewards by unlocking a higher point value based on the ability to transfer points to air or hotel partners. In other cases, the cards simply work together to earn more points with one bank or diversify your bonus category rewards across banks.

Key features

1

Unique Card Benefits

DoorDash

You’ll get one-year of complimentary DoorDash DashPass as long as you you activate by 12/31/24. This will give you $0 delivery fees on most orders over $12.

Instacart+ Benefit

Get 3 complimentary months of Instacart+ membership (unlimited deliveries with $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on eligible orders.)

After the complimentary 3 months, you’ll be automatically enrolled in an annual Instacart+ membership unless you cancel. You must enroll by July 31, 2024.

Once enrolled, you can also earn up to $10 as a statement credit each quarter through July 31, 2024 when you make eligible Instacart purchases using your Chase Freedom Flex®card.

2

0% Intro APR on Purchases

0 % Intro APR on purchases for 15 months, 19.24%-27.99% thereafter

3

0% Intro APR on Balance Transfers

0% Intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months, 19.24%-27.99% thereafter

4

Secondary Car Rental CDW Waiver

Decline the CDW/LDW coverage offered by the car rental agency and reserve and pay for your rental with your card and you will receive collision and damage waiver coverage – secondary to your own insurance. (Note that there are other credit cards that come with primary CDW coverage if that is important to you.)

There are limitations on car types and values. There are also certain country restrictions, so please review the details before you rent.

5

Purchase Protection

New purchases made with your Freedom Flex credit card are covered for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.

6

Extended Warranty

This benefit extends the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty for an eligible purchase made on your card by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.

7

Trip Protections

Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance

This coverage provides reimbursement of up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable passenger fares if your trip is canceled or shortened by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations. Conditions apply.

Travel and Emergency Assistance Services

Should you run into a problem away from home, you can call for legal and medical referrals or other travel and emergency assistance. (You’ll be responsible for the cost of any goods or services obtained.)

No Fees for Authorized Users

There is no charge to add someone to your Chase Freedom Flex account as an authorized user.

Free Access to Credit Score

Free access to Chase Credit Journey helps keep an eye on your credit score and check in on your credit health any time you’d like.

8

Free Access to Credit Score

Via Chase Credit Journey

Earn more rewards by combining credit cards

Chase Freedom Flex Review
? Best Combo
See how much more you'll earn in rewards when you combine these two cards.
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Pros & cons

  • No annual fee
  • 0% Intro APR offers on both purchases and balance transfers
  • Points earned can be combined with other cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards
  • Cannot transfer points to airline or hotel partners unless you also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred
  • Carries a foreign transaction fee of 3%
  • Limited trip protections and no bonus points on travel purchases

Chase Freedom Flex Review

Learn How to Apply

Our review

This is a primary card in the Chase Trifecta, which includes a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve, a Chase Freedom Unlimited, and this card, the Chase Freedom Flex. You’ll earn 3% on dining and drugstore purchases with the Freedom Flex. But whereas the Freedom Unlimited gives you 1.5% cash back on other spend categories, The Flex earns only 1%. That is because it has the rotating 5% bonus categories.

The rotating bonus categories each quarter can be fantastic. Amazon is a popular choice, meaning you’d earn 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points ($75) if you spent $1,500 during that quarter.

amazon-chase-freedom-flex

Since the Chase Freedom Flex is a pure cash back credit card unless you also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred® with which to combine your Chase Ultimate Rewards points, it’s ideally used as part of a combo.

When you hold one of these premium Ultimate Rewards-earning credit cards, you can transfer points earned on the Freedom Flex to the premium card. Once you’ve moved the Ultimate Rewards over to the premium credit card, you can take advantage of points transfers to 12 Chase airline and hotel partners or book travel through the travel portal.

Best of all, you can accrue cash back on this card and decide to add a Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred® later on – if you suddenly decide that you’d like to delve into the world of credit card rewards that transfer to frequent flyer and hotel programs to book free award flights and hotel nights.

If you book through the travel portal and have a Sapphire Reserve, your points redeem for 1.5 cents each, meaning that you earn 1.5X points or cash back per dollar and redeem them for 1.5X, giving you an effective 2.25% return on your spend.

If you book through the travel portal and have a Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred, your points redeem for 1.25 cents each, meaning that you earn 1.5X per dollar and redeem for 1.5X, giving you an effective 1.875% return on your spend.

But our absolute favorite way to redeem is always via airline and hotel transfer partners. The easiest high-value redemption is usually Hyatt. We often get better than 2 cents per World of Hyatt point. Keep in mind that Hyatt doesn’t charge any resort fees when you stay on a free night award. So let’s say you are looking at a hotel with a cash price of $259 and a $25 a night resort fee and 8% tax. That would come to $307 a night. But if that same room costs 8,000 or 12,000 Hyatt points, you could be using your points (which transfer at an even 1:1 ratio to all airline and hotel partners) with a rate of return of 3 – 4 cents.

To be clear, if you don’t also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred®, the rewards earned with the Chase Freedom Flex are purely cash back rewards.

That said, even without a card combo, it’s still a solid card to earn cash back, including 3% on dining , including takeout and eligible delivery services, and drugstores) since it has no annual fee.

The Chase Freedom Flex credit card comes with a solid range of benefits for a card with no annual fee. You’ll get Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty on the shopping side and you’ll be taken care of on canceled or shortened pre-paid trips if a covered reason arises. with the included Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance.

Frequently asked questions

1

Does the Chase Freedom Flex have an annual fee?

No, the Chase Freedom Flex has no annual fee.

2

Does the Chase Freedom Flex get you into airport lounges?

As a no-fee credit card, the Freedom Flex does not come with perks like airport lounge access. You can see credit cards with airport lounge access here.

3

Is it hard to get the Chase Freedom Flex?

You’d have good odds with a FICO score of about 670 (Good) or better.

4

Is it worth getting the Chase Freedom Flex?

It’s an especially important part of the Chase Trifecta. So yes, it’s worth getting the Freedom Flex to pair with a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve for a powerful card combo. A Chase Freedom Unlimited would complete the trifecta. The card is also a World Elite Mastercard which comes with a range of World Elite Mastercard benefits.

5

How do I earn points / cash with the Chase Freedom Flex?

  • 5X on rotating bonus categories each quarter ($1,500 limit per quarter)
  • 5X on travel when purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal*
  • 5X on Lyft until March 2025
  • 3X on dining (including takeout and delivery)
  • 3X back on drugstore purchases
  • 1X on everything else

It’s important to remember that you are earning pure cash back but if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred®, you can move your cash back points over to those cards where they become full Ultimate Rewards points – transferable to more than a dozen airline and hotel programs as well as other ways to redeem rewards.

There have been signup bonus offers with this card that have included increased earnings at grocery stores for the first year. That may or may not be an active promotion right now but if it is, you’ll see it listed as part of the bonus offer shown on top of this page.

6

Is there a better credit card than the Chase Freedom Flex?

It always depends both on what you categories spend the most on and what features and benefits are most important to you. That’s why we created our Famous Card Explorer to help you find Your Best Credit Card.

7

Does the Chase Freedom Flex charge foreign transaction fees?

Yes, the Chase Freedom Flex will charge you a 3% foreign transaction fee when you use the card abroad or to make purchases in foreign currency.

8

Does the Chase Freedom Flex have car rental coverage?

It comes with CDW / LDW coverage secondary to your own insurance. Of course, you must decline the rental company’s collision insurance. You can see credit cards with Primary CDW coverage here.

9

Does the Chase Freedom Flex come with any Elite Status?

No, keeping in mind that it is a no annual fee card, the Chase Freedom Flex does not offer any airline or hotel elite statuses.

10

Does the Chase Freedom Flex offer extended warranty?

Yes, this complimentary benefit extends the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty for an eligible purchase made on your Chase Freedom Flex by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.

11

Does the Chase Freedom Flex offer purchase protection?

It sure does. New purchases made with your Freedom Flex covered for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.

12

Does the Chase Freedom Flex offer trip protections?

Only Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, which provides reimbursement of up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable passenger fares if your trip is canceled or shortened by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations. Conditions apply.

13

What credit score do I need to get the Chase Freedom Flex?

Around a 670 or better.

14

What can I do with the points earned for spending on the Chase Freedom Flex?

The Chase Freedom Flex credit card earns cash back rewards. You earn these as Chase Ultimate Rewards points, but the points can only be exchanged for cash.

That is, unless you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred® . In that case, you can transfer the cash “points” from this card to any of those cards, where they become fully transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards points (i.e. to airline and hotel programs).

15

Does the Chase Freedom Flex card have Cell Phone Protection?

It does not. You can see credit cards with a cell phone protection benefit here.

16

What is the minimum credit limit for Chase Freedom Flex card?

While you wouldn’t be approved for a Visa Signature card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred unless their systems will approve you for a $5,000 or higher credit link, the Chase Freedom Flex, which is a World Elite Mastercard has no such minimum and you can have a credit line as low as $500.

17

The Chase Freedom Flex vs. the Chase Freedom Unlimited card

There are virtually the same with one major difference. The Freedom Unlimited earns 1.5% cash back rewards on all spend not in a bonus category. The Freedom Flex only earns 1% on spend not in a bonus category, but has rotating bonus categories each quarter that earn 5% back on selected categories (on up to $1,500 in purchases in those categories each quarter).

They both earn 3% back on dining at restaurants including takeout and eligible delivery.

You can also see a side by side comparison of the Chase Freedom Flex and the Chase Freedom Unlimited card.

18

The Chase Freedom Flex vs. the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® has a $95 annual fee but does allow transfers to airline and hotel partners of Chase Ultimate Rewards, where as the Freedom Flex does not on its own. The Sapphire Preferred also has no foreign transaction fees, primary car rental CDW coverage, better trip delay coverage and more. The Sapphire Preferred also has a much larger sign up bonus.

You can also see a side by side comparison of the Chase Freedom Flex and the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

19

How Does the Chase Freedom Flex card compare with the Citi Double Cash card?

The Citi Double Cash doesn’t have any bonus categories, but it earns 2% cash back rewards on all eligible purchases.

You can also see a side by side comparison of the Chase Freedom Flex and the Citi Double Cash® card.

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