Great Card If
- You want to earn flexible rewards
- You want a card with multiple bonus categories
- You prefer to avoid an annual fee
Don’t Get If
- You want travel rewards, benefits, and perks
Freedom Unlimited Card — Is It Worth It?
If you’re in the market for a no-annual-fee cash-back card, it’s likely that the Freedom Unlimited card would be worth it for you.
With it, you’ll earn 5% cash-back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3% cash-back on dining and drugstores, and 1.5% cash-back on all other purchases.
Since it earns an uncapped 1.5% cash-back on all non-bonused purchases, this is one of the best cards for monthly bills and utilities.
One of our favorite perks of the Freedom Unlimited card is that when you pair it with a premium Chase Ultimate Rewards-earning card, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can redeem rewards for massive travel value for flights and hotels. Such a card combination can help make sure you’re maximizing every dollar you spend and that you have the best redemption options possible.
Personally, I always keep my Freedom Unlimited card in my wallet to use on every purchase that doesn’t fall within a bonus category on one of my other cards. Doing so ensures that I’m always earning as many points as I can on each purchase, which helps me earn enough points for my next trip even faster.
Freedom Unlimited Card Top Benefits
Travel and Purchase Protections
Here are the protections the Freedom Unlimited card offers to help keep you covered:
- Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance — If you need to cancel a trip due to illness, severe weather, or any other covered circumstance, you’ll receive a reimbursement of up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip for non-refundable travel expenses if you need to cancel your trip or end it early.
- Secondary Rental Car Insurance — This covers damage or theft of your rental car but is secondary to your personal auto insurance.
- Purchase Protection — This covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.
- Extended Warranty Protection — Warranty protection extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year on eligible warranties of 3 years or less.
DoorDash DashPass
Your Freedom Unlimited card gives you 3 free months of DoorDash DashPass, which provides unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees. After that, you can receive 50% off your DashPass subscription for the next 9 months. Note that this benefit must be activated by January 31, 2025.
Lyft 5% Cash-Back
When you use your Freedom Unlimited card as your payment method on Lyft, you’ll earn 5% cash-back, instead of 1.5%, on all rides through March 31, 2025.
How To Earn and Redeem Your Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
When you earn cash-back with the Freedom Unlimited card, it comes in the form of Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Fortunately, there are tons of great ways to earn more Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
When it comes to redeeming your points, most often, your best option will be redeeming for cash-back. Not only is it the most flexible option, but most of the other redemption options offer identical value.
That said, if you pair your card with a premium Chase card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you’ll have access to the Chase airline and hotel partners, which can open up many of the best ways to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Still not convinced? Upgraded Points’ Senior Content Contributor Katie Seemann says the Freedom Unlimited card is key to earning Chase Ultimate Rewards:
“Chase points are one of my favorite transferable currencies, and the Freedom Unlimited card is a big part of my Ultimate Rewards strategy. With no annual fee and the ability to earn at least 1.5% cash-back all purchases, it’s always in my wallet. I use this card in conjunction with my Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Sapphire Reserve card to earn tons of Ultimate Rewards points that I transfer to Hyatt for luxury hotel stays at places like Park Hyatt Zurich and Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos.”
Katie Seemann, senior content contributor
Many team members at Upgraded Points consider using Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book World of Hyatt stays a fan favorite. You can read about some of these top-notch stays using points at properties such as Hyatt Regency Maui, Park Hyatt Dubai, Park Hyatt Mendoza, Park Hyatt Sydney, and more.
Alternatives Cards to the Freedom Unlimited Card
If you’re after a standard cash-back card, the Citi Double Cash card could be a great fit. The card earns 2% cash-back: 1% when you buy and an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases, all for no annual fee.
Read our full comparison of these 2 cards: Freedom Unlimited card vs. Citi Double Cash card.
If you’re looking for a cash-back card that offers bonus categories for what you spend the most on, consider a card like the Capital One Savor card. The Capital One Savor card earns 10% cash-back on Uber and Uber Eats, 4% cash-back on dining, entertainment, and streaming services, 3% cash-back at grocery stores, and 1% cash-back on all other purchases.
We’ve also compared the Freedom Unlimited card to other popular cards:
UP’s Card Review Methodology
Every card we review is assigned a “U.P. Rating” – our star-based system that encompasses all the key details to showcase a card’s standout features, where it falls short, and how it stacks up for travelers to maximize rewards.
These ratings range from 0 to 5 stars and are determined by carefully weighing crucial factors like:
- Bonus categories
- Benefits and perks
- Quality of associated loyalty programs
- Annual fees and other costs
- Size of the welcome bonus (and relative to the annual fee)
- And several more
You can learn more about how Upgraded Points reviews and rates credit cards.
The information regarding the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Chase Freedom Flex℠ was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Citi Double Cash® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Citi Custom Cash® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, click here.
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