I've carried the Chase Freedom in my wallet for over a decade — here's why the credit card is a great value

The Chase Freedom is a longtime favorite cash-back credit card, with no annual fee.
For me personally, this card is good enough to have held a permanent spot in my wallet for more than a decade.
While the Freedom isn’t my only card, I use it regularly and never miss using it for a purchase in the rotating quarterly 5% bonus categories.
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Among cards with no annual fee, Chase Freedom is a longtime favorite for earning cash back. The Freedom card offers up to 5% cash back – on up to $1,500 you spend on rotating bonus categories each quarter of the year (when you activate), and 1% everywhere else. That 5% cash back is pretty compelling, and when used in tandem with a premium Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, it can be a supercharger that helps you earn 5 points per dollar for travel.

In this review, we’ll take a look at how the rewards, benefits, and costs come together – and whether or not the Freedom card makes sense for you.

Keep in mind that we’re focusing on the rewards and perks that make these credit cards great options, not things like interest rates and late fees, which can far outweigh the value of any rewards.

When you’re working to earn credit card rewards, it’s important to practice financial discipline, like paying your balances off in full each month, making payments on time, and not spending more than you can afford to pay back. Basically, treat your credit card like a debit card.

Read more: The best Chase credit cards

Chase Freedom card details

Annual fee: $0

Sign-up bonus: $150 back after you spend $500 in the first three months

Cash-back earning: 5% back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate, 1% back on everything else

Foreign transaction fee: 3%

Earning cash back with the Chase Freedom

The core benefit of the Freedom card is the ability to earn bonus cash back. This card gives users 5% cash back on bonus categories that rotate each calendar quarter up to $1,500 in combined purchases (max $75 per quarter in rewards) and an unlimited 1% everywhere else.

To get the 5% bonus cash-back rate, you have to click a link in an email from Chase four times per year or log in to your online banking account to activate. While this extra step is a bit of a hassle, it is a good reminder on where you should use the card for maximum rewards in the next quarter.

The 2019 rewards calendar includes categories like gas stations, grocery stores, and department stores. Over time, you will likely find that some quarters line up well with your spending habits and others will be a bit less exciting. Currently, the Freedom card is offering 5% back on department stores, PayPal, and Chase Pay.

The 1% cash back everywhere is less exciting, and it's not the best return on your spending. If you don't want to keep track of the rotating bonus categories, you're probably better with another cash-back card that offers a flat rate of cash back on every purchase.

Chase Freedom cash back never expires as long as your account is open and in good standing.

Sign-up bonus

New account holders can qualify for $150 cash back bonus after they spend at least $500 on purchases in the first three months after opening a new account. As you'll see below, if you have another eligible Chase card, that $150 in cash back can actually equate to 15,000 Chase points.

Pairing the Chase Freedom with a Sapphire card for travel rewards

If you're big on travel rewards, the Chase Freedom can still fit into your points-earning strategy. That's because if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can use the Freedom card to earn Ultimate Rewards points.

When you have both the Freedom and a Sapphire card that earns Ultimate Rewards points, cash back is transferable to an account that earns Ultimate Rewards at a value of 1 cent per point. $5 in cash back becomes 500 Ultimate Rewards points.

If you're a small-business user, you can pair the Freedom with the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card, which also earns Ultimate Rewards points, to use this same strategy.

Why is this valuable? Chase Ultimate Rewards points are often worth more than 1 cent each toward travel - in fact, travel website The Points Guy values them at 2 cents apiece, so you're potentially getting double the value by redeeming your rewards as points rather than cash back.

Chase Freedom benefits

You get some added benefits on top of the Freedom's cash-back rewards.

New account holders get a 15-month 0% introductory APR period (then a variable APR of 16.74% to 25.49% applies) on purchases and balance transfers. If you currently pay interest on another credit card, a balance transfer can help you avoid interest charges and hopefully pay off that debt for good by the time 15 months is up.

This card also offers added protection for purchases. This benefit applies for 120 days after you make a purchase with the Chase Freedom card and protects you against damage or theft. You can get up to $500 per claim and $50,000 over the life of the account. If you just dropped a brand-new phone and broke the screen, this protection might cover the cost.

The card also gives you an automatic extended warranty. The card extends the manufacturer's warranty by one year on eligible warranties of three years or less.

Chase Freedom costs and fees

For a card with the potential to earn you great rewards, the Freedom is very cheap to carry. There's no annual fee and you can avoid interest and all other fees by paying your card off in full every month - which we always recommend doing anyway.

After the 15-month 0% introductory APR period ends, the card charges variable rate 16.74% to 25.49% APR on purchases and balance transfers. The rate depends on your credit history and may change at any time with market interest rates. Cash advances charge a higher variable rate 26.74% APR.

Late and returned payments cost up to $39 per occurrence. Balance transfers charge 5% ($5 minimum) per transfer. Cash advances cost 5% ($10 minimum) each. Using the card outside the United States incurs a 3% foreign transaction fee - use a card with no foreign transaction fees instead when you travel.

Is the Freedom the best card for you?

In the cash-back category, the 5% you get from Chase Freedom is one of the best offers available today. I've personally held this card since December 2007. But there are other good cash-back credit card options out there.

If you're not interested in keeping track of the Chase Freedom's quarterly bonus calendar - or if the categories don't align well with your spending - the Chase Freedom Unlimited could be a better card for you. The Freedom Unlimited earns 1.5% cash back on all purchases, and like with the Freedom you can pair it with a Sapphire card or the Ink Business Preferred to earn Chase points instead of cash back. Earning 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points on everything is very solid, and the Freedom Unlimited has no annual fee.

If you do like the Freedom's bonus cash-back structure, there's another option to consider. The Discover it® Cash Back also earns 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent each quarter you activate on rotating bonus categories - so it's a very direct competitor of the Freedom card. The main differences are the specific bonus categories (view Discover's cash-back calendar for more info), and that with the Discover card you'll get your first year of cash back matched (so effectively doubled). Plus, the Discover it Cash Back doesn't offer the ability to redeem your cash back as travel points, like you can do with the Freedom if you pair it with another Chase card.

The bottom line: Does Chase Freedom make sense for you?

For me personally, this card is good enough to have held a permanent spot in my wallet for more than a decade. While it isn't my only card, I use it regularly and never miss using it for a purchase in the 5% bonus categories.

The $150 sign-up bonus and no annual fee may be enough to get you to sign up, but you can also get great value for years to come. Among cash-back cards with no annual fee, the Chase Freedom is definitely one of the best on the market today.

Whether you want simple cash back or decide to pair it with a Sapphire card for travel rewards, you'll find exactly what you are looking for, with a very low cost, with the Chase Freedom credit card.