Chase Freedom Unlimited® review: Versatility and value for everyday spenders
From generous rewards to flexible redemption options, this card offers great value for no annual fee
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Snapshot
4.8
Bottom line
A consistent consumer favorite, the Chase Freedom Unlimited is a great card for almost anyone because it comes with solid cash back rates without excessive fees or strings attached. Plus, the card’s revamped rewards, including boosted cash back during your first year, gives you more bang for your buck.
Intro offer
Up to $300 cash back
Rewards rate
1.5% - 5%
Annual fee
$0
Regular APR
19.99% - 28.74% Variable
Bankrate Score
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Chase Freedom Unlimited® overview
The Chase Freedom Unlimited has long been a favorite among fans of cash back credit cards. The card’s higher rewards rate in several useful purchase categories and valuable perks means that travelers and cash back enthusiasts can find a lot to love. People who make Chase Travel℠, Lyft, dining and drugstore purchases are the best candidates for this card.
Although it offers solid cash back in a handful of categories, it doesn’t have boosted rewards for general travel purchases or groceries. These two categories make up the majority of people’s annual spending, so you may want to pair the Freedom Unlimited with a higher-tier Chase travel credit card to maximize your rewards.
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Rewards
- 5 percent cash back on Lyft purchases (through March 2025)
- 5 percent cash back on travel booked through Chase Travel
- 3 percent cash back on dining at restaurants
- 3 percent cash back on drugstore purchases
- 1.5 percent cash back on all other purchases
Expert Appraisal: Exceptional
See our expert analysis -
Welcome offer
- Earn an extra 1.5% on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) — worth up to $300 cash back. That’s 6.5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 4.5% on dining and drugstores, and 3% on all other purchases.
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis -
0% intro APR offer
- Regular APR: 19.99% - 28.74% Variable APR
- Purchase intro APR: 0 percent for 15 months
- Balance transfer intro APR: 0 percent for 15 months
- Intro balance transfer fee: $5 or 3 percent of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater in the first 60 days. After that, $5 or 5 percent (whichever is greater).
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis -
Rates and fees
- Annual Fee: $0
- Late payment: $40
- Return payment: $40
- Foreign transaction fee: 3 percent
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis -
Other cardholder perks
- Complimentary DashPass subscription
- Purchase protection and extended warranty coverage
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis
Chase Freedom Unlimited pros and cons
Pros
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The card’s elevated flat cash back rate and boosted rates in key purchasing categories make it a top-earning cash back card.
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Its intro APR offers can help you transfer credit card debt or pay off a big purchase.
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It has great benefits for a no-annual-fee card, including travel cancellation/interruption insurance and complimentary DoorDash DashPass.
Cons
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The card’s 1.5 percent flat cash back rate on general purchases is lower than what you can find on the top flat-rate cards.
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Some cash back and rewards cards offer longer intro APR periods.
Why you might want the Chase Freedom Unlimited
The Chase Freedom Unlimited is an excellent card that has much to offer.
Rewards rate: Boosted cash back rate in everyday categories
The Chase Freedom Unlimited stands out as one of the most valuable no-annual-fee cash back cards on the market, and it especially shines for its elevated rewards rates in popular categories. Few cards offer 3 percent back at drugstores and though plenty of cards offer 3 percent cash back on dining, the Freedom Unlimited includes eligible takeout and delivery purchases in this category, while others may not. The card also earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which you can redeem for cash back at a 1:1 rate or transfer to a Chase premium card for even more value.
The 5 percent rewards rate on Lyft purchases (through March 2025) and 5 percent cash back on all travel purchases in the Chase Travel portal also give the card a great travel focus compared to other flat-rate cards. However, if you’re a frequent traveler you may benefit more from a travel-focused card, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
Rewards program: Flexible and potentially powerful
The Chase Freedom Unlimited offers various redemption options. You can redeem your cash back for a statement credit, direct deposit, travel, gift cards or online purchases at Amazon.com. Like many other credit cards, you can redeem your rewards for charitable contributions (which currently have a 25 percent boost in value).
You can also combine your rewards with a premium Ultimate Rewards card, like the Chase Sapphire cards or the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, to enjoy additional flexibility. You can transfer rewards to one of Chase’s transfer partners at a 1:1 ratio or redeem them for travel purchases to up to a 50 percent boost to the value of your redemption. This feature makes the Chase Freedom Unlimited a crucial part of the popular and valuable Chase Trifecta, a three-card combination that allows you to maximize Ultimate Rewards.
Welcome offer: Unique cash back rate boost
The Freedom Unlimited card's latest welcome offer is a nice step up from its standard offer, giving you a chance at up to $300 in cash back. As a new cardholder, you can earn an additional 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases, up to $20,000 spent in the first year. When maxed out, this new offer is a $100 boost to the card's typical offer of $200 after spending $500 in the first three months.
Instead of earning a lump sum of bonus cash back after meeting a set spending requirement, you'll enjoy an extra 1.5 percent back on all purchases. You'll earn 6.5 percent back on travel booked through Chase Travel, 4.5 percent back on dining and drugstores and 3 percent back on all other purchases. These boosted rates apply to the first $20,000 spent in your first year. After you meet that threshold, the rate drops back down to normal. A 3 percent cash back rate is almost as good as it gets for general purchases, and 6.5 percent back on Chase Travel can offer huge savings if you have a trip planned.
This offer provides the perfect opportunity to apply for the Freedom Unlimited card, as it improves the card's typical offer and beats nearly every sign-up bonus on other no-annual-fee cash back cards. The only downside is that you'll need to spend $20,000 in your first year to earn the full bonus, which is tougher to meet than $500 in your first three months.
Cardholder perks: Generous for a card with no annual fee
You won’t find tons of perks on the Chase Freedom Unlimited like those on a travel or luxury card. However, the card offers a few handy benefits rarely found on a no-annual-fee credit card.
Chief among these perks is a complimentary subscription to DashPass, DoorDash’s membership service, after you enroll. DashPass gets you unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee on orders over $12. The Freedom Unlimited comes with three months of free DashPass membership, after which — if you don’t cancel beforehand — you’re automatically enrolled in DashPass for 50 percent off the monthly rate (usually $9.99 per month) for the following nine months. This offer is only valid if you activate it by Dec. 31, 2024.
The card also offers perks designed to help save and protect your money, such as purchase and extended warranty protection. If something you bought with the card is damaged or stolen within 120 days of your purchase, Chase covers the cost, up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account. Plus, eligible U.S. manufacturers’ warranties of three years or fewer on items you purchase with the card are extended by a year.
The card also comes with trip cancellation and interruption insurance. These are prized perks when travel plans seem uncertain, and you typically only find this level of coverage with travel cards that charge a hefty annual fee. If your trip is canceled or cut short due to sickness, severe weather or other covered circumstances, Chase may reimburse you for up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip for prepaid tickets and non-refundable passenger fares.
Intro APR: Save on purchases and balance transfers
On top of a strong rewards program, the Chase Freedom Unlimited also comes with an intro APR on purchases and balance transfers. You rarely see an intro APR on a rewards card — let alone on both purchases and balance transfers. This gives the Chase Freedom Unlimited added flexibility and makes it a good fit whether you want to minimize interest to pay for a large purchase over time or whittle away at transferred card debt.
Keep in mind that a few rewards cards offer longer intro APR offers, and dedicated balance transfer cards have the longest intro APRs available. If this feature is important to you, make sure to shop around.
Why you might want a different cash back card
The Chase Freedom Unlimited is a superb, do-it-all card that fits easily into most wallets. However, before taking the plunge, consider a few of its downsides.
Maximizing rewards: It can get complicated
While earning rewards on the Chase Freedom Unlimited is straightforward because there’s no activation required or rotating categories to worry about, maximizing those rewards is another story. If you want to squeeze more value out of your earned rewards than the standard 1:1 cash back rate, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the Chase Travel portal. This is where you can redeem your earned points as well as access the Chase Offers program, which can help you earn more cash back for purchases at eligible retailers.
If you truly want to get the maximum value of your Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you need to add one of Chase’s premium travel cards to your wallet. The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve lets you redeem points for travel through the Chase portal with a 25 percent or 50 percent bonus, respectively. These cards let you transfer points to eligible travel partners, which could double your point value. This requires some extra leg work and research, which may not suit your reward preferences if you want a more straightforward cash back strategy.
Rates and fees: Nothing unexpected
The Chase Freedom Unlimited offers what you’d expect from a no-annual-fee rewards card. While it doesn’t have hidden or surprise fees, the card also isn’t doing you any favors in this area.
The card charges a 3 percent foreign transaction fee, which will cut into your cash back earnings if you use it for international purchases. Chase charges the greater of $5 or 3 percent of the amount of any balance you transfer, which could be a sizable sum depending on how much you transfer.
The card’s interest rate ranges from slightly lower than the current average to around 30 percent. Its APR isn’t out-of-this-world, but you could incur some hefty charges if you carry a balance after the intro period.
First-year card value vs. ongoing value
Despite possessing fewer perks or credits, the Freedom Unlimited can rake in more rewards than flat-rate cash back cards*. By our estimates, an average spender could collect about $325 in a typical year with the Freedom Unlimited.
| Benefits and Costs | First-year value | Ongoing value (no welcome offers) |
|---|---|---|
| Yearly rewards* | +$325 | +$325 |
| Welcome offers | +up to $300 (elevated cash back rate with $20,000 in spending in your first year) | N/A |
| Perks (of monetary value) | +$74.92 (DoorDash DashPass offer) | N/A |
| Annual fee | -$0 | -$0 |
| Total value | $699.92 | $325 |
*Based on the average cardholder’s estimated $15,900 yearly spend, with consideration for expenditures in the card’s key rewards categories of travel ($1,300), dining ($2,100), drugstores ($600) and all other purchases ($11,900).
We tried it: Here’s what our experts say
Bankrate credit cards editor Steve Dashiell added the Chase Freedom Unlimited to his wallet to complete the Chase Trifecta:
“By the time I was eyeing the Chase Freedom Unlimited, I was already familiar with the Chase Ultimate Rewards ecosystem. The Chase Freedom Flex (simply called the Chase Freedom back then) was the first credit card I opened after salvaging my credit score, followed shortly by the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
The ability to transfer points earned on the Freedom cards to the Sapphire cards is indispensable, though I knew I wasn’t truly maximizing my reward earnings with just two cards. The Chase Freedom Unlimited was the final piece I needed to create my rewards engine.
Now I follow the textbook example of credit card reward spending: I only use the Chase Freedom Flex for purchases on its rotating categories, the Reserve for its redemption value and boosted rates on travel and dining, and the Freedom Unlimited for its solid flat cash back rate on all other purchases. The rewards on these cards have covered numerous travel flights for my family in the past few years and I’d be hard-pressed to choose any other combination.”
— Steve Dashiell, Editor, Bankrate
How the Chase Freedom Unlimited compares to other cash back cards
Many cash back credit cards are available, and most don’t charge an annual fee. Among these cards, however, some stand out because of the benefits they offer or their lucrative sign-up bonuses.
Annual fee
Intro offer
Earn an extra 1.5% on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) — worth up to $300 cash back. That’s 6.5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 4.5% on dining and drugstores, and 3% on all other purchases.
Rewards rate
Enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, our premier rewards program that lets you redeem rewards for cash back, travel, gift cards and more. 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service. 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Annual fee
Intro offer
Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.
Rewards rate
6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%). 6% Cash Back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions. 3% Cash Back on transit including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more. 3% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations. 1% Cash Back on other purchases.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Annual fee
Intro offer
Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
Rewards rate
Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time. Plus, a special travel offer, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through 12/31/25.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Best cards to pair with the Chase Freedom Unlimited
While the Chase Freedom Unlimited pairs nicely with various rewards cards, you have two cards to consider when creating the best combination. When combined, you’ll complete the Chase Trifecta.
Just watch out for Chase’s 5/24 rule. If you’ve opened five or more cards in the past 24 months, you won’t be eligible to open a Chase credit card.
Who is the Chase Freedom Unlimited right for?
The Chase Freedom Unlimited has plenty to offer for several types of cardholders but shines as part of the Chase trifecta and for people looking for maximum reward value.
Bankrate’s Take — Is the Chase Freedom Unlimited worth it?
The Chase Freedom Unlimited could be an exceptional deal if you often spend in its top categories, you want a rewards card with an intro APR or you plan to expand into the Chase Trifecta. It’s hard to beat the card’s ongoing rewards, particularly given that most cards that offer bonus cash back in specific spending categories offer just 1 percent back on general purchases.
With plenty of options for redeeming your rewards, an intro APR and the opportunity for even bigger value, the Freedom Unlimited is a terrific all-around card.
How we rated this card
We rate credit cards using a proprietary card scoring system that ranks each card’s estimated average rewards rate, estimated annual earnings, welcome bonus value, APR, fees, perks and more against those of other cards in its primary category.
Each card feature is assigned a weighting based on how important it is to people looking for a card in a given category. These features are then scored based on how they rank relative to the features on other cards in the category. Based on these calculations, each card receives an overall rating of 1-5 stars (with 5 being the highest possible score and 1 being the lowest).
We analyzed over 150 of the most popular rewards and cash back cards to determine where each stacked up based on their value, cost, benefits and more. Here are some of the key factors that influenced this card’s overall score and how the score influenced our review:
Frequently asked questions
What cardholders think
Chase Freedom Unlimited®
In May 2024, Bankrate collaborated with third-party SliceMR to survey 6160 cardholders nationwide. Bankrate and Slice MR collected, averaged and presented website analytics and cardholder responses to six questions on a 5-point scale. Responses are based on individual cardholder’s product details, and therefore cannot be verified for accuracy. User ratings are unedited and have not been reviewed or approved by credit card issuers, nor do these ratings reflect Bankrate’s own reviews of these cards.
Community Reviews
* See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on the offer you desire you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, is accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information.
