Chase Freedom Flex

Earning Rates

Key Benefits

• 5% rotating categories
• 3% dining + drugstores
• No annual fee
• Cell phone protection

All Benefits

• New cardmember welcome offer: $200 cash back bonus (20,000 Ultimate Rewards points) after spending $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening; offer is unavailable to existing Freedom Flex cardmembers and to anyone who received a new cardmember bonus on this card in the past 24 months
• $0 annual fee on the primary card and on authorized users (Chase does not charge an annual fee on Freedom Flex, and adding authorized users is free; the primary cardmember earns rewards on all authorized-user spend into a single account)
• 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in rotating bonus categories each quarter that you activate (effective annual cap is $300 cash back from rotating 5% earnings if you max each of the four quarters; activation is required by the quarterly deadline, and spend beyond the $1,500 quarterly cap or in the wrong category earns the base 1% rate)
• Current rotating 5% category for Q2 2026 (April through June, activation required): historically Chase has paired Q2 with categories like grocery stores (excluding Target and Walmart), gas stations and EV charging, Amazon.com, and select streaming services; exact category list rotates each quarter and must be confirmed at chase.com/freedom each calendar quarter since Chase does not publish the full year of categories in advance
• 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, the Chase Travel portal (rate is automatic with no activation required and no annual cap on this category; includes flights, hotels, car rentals, activities, and cruises booked through Chase Travel)
• 3% cash back on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services (no annual cap on this category; covers most dining merchants coded as restaurants by Visa/Mastercard MCC including fast food and bars)
• 3% cash back on drugstore purchases (no annual cap on this category; covers stand-alone drugstores such as Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid based on merchant category code, not grocery stores or big-box stores with pharmacies inside)
• 1% cash back on all other purchases that do not fall into a 5% or 3% category, with no spending caps
• Cash back is technically earned as Ultimate Rewards points at 1 cent per point (so a $200 cash back bonus equals 20,000 Ultimate Rewards points) and can be redeemed for statement credit, direct deposit to most U.S. checking and savings accounts, gift cards, Apple products through Chase, Pay With Points at Amazon.com, or travel through Chase Travel at a flat 1 cent per point baseline; rewards do not expire as long as the account remains open, but all unredeemed rewards are forfeited if the account is closed
• Ultimate Rewards transfer partners and Points Boost on Chase Travel: Not offered with the Freedom Flex alone; you must combine the Freedom Flex with a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Chase Ink Business Preferred to convert cash back into transferable Ultimate Rewards points at 1:1 ratio and access the full lineup of airline and hotel transfer partners (the Freedom Flex + Sapphire pairing is widely regarded by points sites as one of the highest-value no-annual-fee combinations available)
• Pay Yourself Back: officially discontinued by Chase for new redemptions; current redemption substitute is Chase Travel's Points Boost on select prepaid hotels and flights when paired with a premium Sapphire card, otherwise Freedom Flex points redeem at 1 cent each toward statement credit, gift cards, or Chase Travel bookings
• 0% intro APR for 15 months from account opening on both purchases and balance transfers; after the intro period a variable APR currently in the range of approximately 18.99% to 28.49% applies, based on creditworthiness and the Prime Rate (always verify the current APR range on the Chase pricing and terms before applying as rates adjust with the Prime Rate)
• Balance transfer fee: intro fee of $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer (whichever is greater) on transfers made within the first 60 days of account opening; after that, $5 or 5% of each transfer (whichever is greater)
• Cash advance fee: $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater; cash advance APR is significantly higher than the purchase APR and interest accrues from the day of the transaction with no grace period
• Penalty APR: Chase has eliminated the standard penalty APR on most consumer cards including Freedom Flex; however, a returned-payment fee and late-payment fee of up to $40 still apply, and late or missed payments can be reported to credit bureaus
• Foreign transaction fees: 3% of each transaction in U.S. dollars on Freedom Flex, making it a poor choice for purchases made outside the United States (this is a key difference from Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and Capital One Venture / Venture X, all of which charge $0 foreign transaction fees)
• Cell Phone Protection: up to $800 per claim and up to $1,000 per 12-month period against covered theft or damage when you pay your monthly cell phone bill with the Freedom Flex, with a $50 deductible per claim and a maximum of two claims per 12-month period (this benefit is offered on Freedom Flex but NOT on its sister card Freedom Unlimited, a meaningful product differentiation)
• Purchase Protection: covers eligible new purchases for 120 days from the date of purchase against damage or theft, up to $500 per claim and up to $50,000 per account (for New York residents, the coverage period is 90 days from the date of purchase per Chase's state-specific disclosures)
• Extended Warranty Protection: extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer's warranty by an additional year on eligible warranties of three years or less, up to four years from the date of purchase
• Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance: reimbursement of up to $1,500 per covered traveler and $6,000 per trip for pre-paid, non-refundable passenger fares when a trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather, or other covered situations (this is significantly lower than the Sapphire Preferred limits of $10,000 per traveler / $20,000 per trip, but is offered on Freedom Flex)
• Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver: secondary collision damage waiver in the United States and primary CDW abroad when you decline the rental company's collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to the card; covers theft and collision damage on most rental cars for up to the actual cash value of the vehicle
• Travel and Emergency Assistance Services: legal and medical referrals and access to other travel and emergency assistance services while traveling away from home (the cardholder is responsible for the cost of any goods or services obtained)
• Roadside Dispatch: pay-per-use roadside assistance service available 24/7 (services such as towing, tire changes, jump starts, lockout service, and fuel delivery are billed to the cardholder at a flat per-service fee; the dispatch service itself is complimentary)
• Mastercard World Elite network benefits: Freedom Flex is issued on the Mastercard World Elite tier and includes Mastercard ID Theft Protection, Priceless Experiences, Priceless Golf, Mastercard Travel & Lifestyle Services (concierge-like booking benefits at select hotels), Lyft credit promotions when applicable, and access to other World Elite merchant offers
• Visa Signature elections: Not offered on Chase Freedom Flex (Freedom Flex is a Mastercard World Elite product, not a Visa Signature or Visa Infinite card; the original Chase Freedom Visa Signature is no longer available to new applicants, and Freedom Flex replaced it on the Mastercard rails in 2020)
• 24/7 Fraud Monitoring: Chase monitors your account for unusual purchases and will text, email, or call you if suspected fraud is detected
• Zero Liability Protection: you will not be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information (does not apply to use of an account by an authorized user)
• Chase Pay Over Time: eligible cardmembers can break up qualifying purchases of $100 or more into fixed monthly payments at a fixed APR with no separate origination fee, viewable in Chase online banking; also includes free Chase Credit Journey credit score and identity monitoring at no cost
• Mobile wallet support (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay) and contactless tap-to-pay; authorized users may be added at no additional annual fee and authorized-user spend earns rewards into the primary cardmember's account
• 5/24 rule applies on the application: Chase will typically decline applicants who have opened five or more credit cards across all issuers in the prior 24 months, regardless of credit score or income (this is an unwritten but well-documented underwriting rule; business cards from most issuers other than Capital One do not count toward 5/24)
• Legacy product note: the original Chase Freedom (Visa Signature) is no longer open to new applicants; existing Chase Freedom cardholders may keep the legacy card or product-change to the Freedom Flex, and the rotating 5% category structure and quarterly cap is identical between the two legacy and current products
• Lounge access, Priority Pass, Sapphire Lounge access, elite status, Global Entry / TSA PreCheck application credit, and annual travel credits: Not offered on Chase Freedom Flex (this is a $0 annual fee cash-back card, so these premium travel perks are reserved for Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, and other premium Chase products)
• Trip Delay Reimbursement, Baggage Delay Insurance, Lost Luggage Reimbursement, and Travel Accident Insurance: Not offered on Chase Freedom Flex (Chase does not list these four travel insurance benefits on the Freedom Flex product page; they are reserved for Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve, which include trip delay reimbursement up to $500 per traveler, baggage delay coverage, lost luggage reimbursement, and travel accident insurance)
• Visa Infinite Concierge: Not offered (Freedom Flex is a Mastercard World Elite product; concierge-style services are limited to the Mastercard Travel & Lifestyle Services tier, not the higher-touch Visa Infinite Concierge available on Sapphire Reserve)

Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to these loyalty programs:

United MileagePlus

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Southwest Rapid Rewards

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British Airways Avios

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Singapore KrisFlyer

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Air France/KLM Flying Blue

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Emirates Skywards

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Air Canada Aeroplan

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World of Hyatt

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Marriott Bonvoy

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IHG One Rewards

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