Turn Your Everyday Spending into Travel With the Chase Freedom Flex℠

If paying for a premium travel rewards credit card feels like a waste of money right now, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ could be a good alternative. The Freedom Flex is marketed as a cashback credit card, but you actually earn Chase Ultimate Rewards when you spend on this card. Of course, you can redeem your rewards for cash back, but you can also use them to book trips if traveling is your goal.

While you’re waiting to book future travel, you can use it to rack up rewards points for your other purchases and transfer those points to a premium card to get more value later on. Here’s a look at the Chase Freedom Flex’s benefits and how this card can become part of your travel savings strategy.

Chase Freedom Flex: what benefits does it offer?

1. Sign-up bonus: Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening after account opening. While this card is marketed as a cashback card, you'll actually earn this bonus in the form of Chase Ultimate Reward points which you can cash out or use for travel.
2. No annual fee: Unlike with premium travel rewards credit cards, the Chase Freedom Flex has a $0 annual fee.
3. Rotating quarterly bonus categories: With this card, you can earn 5% on rotating quarterly categories you activate (on up to $1,500 spent) and travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. Each quarter, you can look forward to new Chase Freedom bonus categories. Past categories have included grocery stores, gas stations, and specific retailers like Walmart and Amazon.
4. Rewards rate: In addition to bonus category and Chase travel earnings, the Chase Freedom Flex earns 3% back at drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery service) and 1% back on all other purchases. If you spent $200 per month on takeout, in a year’s time you’d have $72 in rewards to put towards future travel.
5. Ultimate Rewards points: The rewards you earn when you shop with your Chase Freedom Flex card are Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which can be transferred to premium Ultimate Rewards credit cards. This strategy allows you to maximize the value of your points by 25-50% as explained further on.
6. Low introductory APR: You’ll get a 0% intro APR on new purchases for the first 15 months (then 20.49%-29.24% Variable) with the Chase Freedom Flex, which can be helpful if you need to make a large purchase.
7. Other perks: The Chase Freedom Flex comes with a limited-time offer for 5% total cash back on qualifying Lyft rides and a complimentary three-month DoorDash DashPass membership when you apply before the end of the year. You’ll also get basics like purchase protection, cell phone protection, trip cancellation/interruption insurance, and an auto rental collision damage waiver.

How to use the Chase Freedom Flex for travel rewards

There are a few ways you can use the Chase Freedom Flex credit card to save money on travel. The first is to simply apply and start using your credit card: the lucrative sign-up bonus can be used for future travel. You can also book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and earn 5% cash back for your purchase, which you can redeem as a statement credit, direct deposit, or gift card; use to pay for your Amazon purchases; or put toward your next trip.

Not only can you earn cash back on your travel purchases, but you can also earn points towards future travel just by using the Chase Freedom Flex for your everyday shopping. You’ll earn 3% back at drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery service). Those points can be used to book free or discounted travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, or transferred to another Chase credit card that allows you to get even more value for your points — more on this in a moment.

Maximizing the value of your Chase Ultimate Rewards

Once you’re ready to start booking future trips again, you might want to apply for a premium Chase Ultimate Rewards card. Not only can you earn another awesome welcome offer, but you can transfer all the points you’ve been earning with the Chase Freedom Flex to your new card, where they could be worth even more towards travel.

For example, if you transfer your points to the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card or the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card, they’ll be worth 25% more when you use them to book travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal. That $200 bonus you earned on the Chase Freedom Flex? It’ll be worth $250 if you transfer it to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Add to that the 60,000 points you can earn if you spend $4,000 in the first first 3 months with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, and you’ll have $1,250 toward future travel.

If you want to get even more bang for your buck and you plan to spend enough on travel to absorb the annual fee, you might consider applying for the Chase Sapphire Reserve^®. With this card, your points will be worth 50% more towards future travel booked through Chase Travel℠, and you’ll also get premium perks like airport lounge access and a $300 annual travel credit.

A note on transfer partners

Another way you can redeem your points, besides using them to book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, is to transfer them to one of Chase’s 14 airline and hotel partners. Points can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio, and redeeming points via a Chase travel partner might offer you greater value. You might be able to snag an award flight or hotel stay that’s worth more than one cent per point, so your points will stretch further, and you can save more on travel. Chase has even offered instant bonuses on transfers in the past.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to 11 frequent-flyer loyalty programs and three hotel programs:

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• British Airways Executive Club
• Emirates Skywards
• Iberia Plus
• JetBlue True Blue
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
• United Mileage Plus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• IHG Rewards Club
• Marriott Bonvoy
• World of Hyatt

You should always do the math to ensure the transfer offers a decent value for your points. For example, you may be able to get an award flight that’s worth greater than one cent per point at a transfer partner, but if it doesn’t stack up to the added value you get from using your premium card to book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, it might not be worth it.

FAQs

Bottom line

The best travel credit cards often come with annual fees, which you may not feel are worth paying for if you’re not traveling yet. But it’s still possible to start earning points towards future travel purchases with the Chase Freedom Flex. Later on, when you need perks like no foreign transaction fees, higher travel redemption value, or airport lounge access, you can consider pairing the Chase Freedom Flex with a premium travel rewards card such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

But for now, go ahead and treat yourself to takeout with the Chase Freedom Flex, and don’t forget to activate your quarterly 5% bonus categories. Then, when you transfer points from these bonus categories to the Chase Sapphire Reserve and redeem them for travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal, they'll be worth 50% more.

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Chase Freedom Flex℠

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Chase Freedom Flex℠

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Current Offer

Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening

Annual Fee

$0

Rewards Rate

5% cash back on rotating quarterly categories you activate (on up to $1,500 spent) and travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal; 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery service); and 1% cash back on all other purchases

Benefits and Drawbacks

Benefits

• Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening
• Up to 5% cash back on spending
• Perks from Lyft, DoorDash, and more

Drawbacks

• Has foreign transaction fee

Card Details

• Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening
• 5% cash back on rotating quarterly categories you activate (on up to $1,500 spent) and travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal; 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery service); and 1% cash back on all other purchases
• Intro purchase 0% APR offer: 0% for 15 months then 20.49%-29.24% Variable
• Intro balance transfer 0% APR offer: 0% for 15 months then 20.49%-29.24% Variable