It’s Monday,
Monday, gotta read my #MileageMonday…that’s how that song goes, right?
If my memory serves correctly, I promised to
give you guys some great insight to the travel hacking community every Monday.
With some people out of the office, I had to cover some extra work but the
hustle NEVER STOPS! We are going to keep bringing you guys great content &
save you some major COIN while we’re at it. You’ve got no excuse not to read.
Shake off
the Sunday scaries, strap on your work boots & let’s get to business. Time
to kick off another #MileageMonday! In this week’s installment, we are going to
continue our Chase breakdown of the 6 major Chase-branded credit cards. I have
a handful of these cards and they have become my go-to cards because they
provide more value than most cards on the market. If you need a refresher,
here’s my definition of the Chase credit card family:
- Premium Cards
- Chase Sapphire Preferred
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Everyday Cards
- Chase Freedom
- Chase Freedom Unlimited
- Business Cards
- Chase Ink Plus
- Chase Ink Cash
We already covered the premium cards a few weeks ago. Chase’s
Sapphire cards are some of the most coveted on the market for their robust
benefit offerings & ability to transfer points to travel partners. The
Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of the cards I keep in my arsenal for the 2x
dining & travel points. However, what if I told you that you could get 5x points on certain categories? How
about 1.5% cash back on EVERYTHING?
That’s where the Chase “Everyday”
cards come in. Smart Money Squad, allow me to introduce you to the Chase
Freedom & Chase Freedom Unlimited! As a quick note-we don't get paid to advertise these cards. If you'd like to help support the blog & you are interested in getting one of these cards, sign up under our referral links here:
Chase Freedom-Earn $150 after spending $500 in the first 3 months from account opening.
Chase Freedom Unlimited-Earn $150 after spending $500 in the first 3 months from account opening.
Thanks for supporting us-now on to the good stuff!
Chase Freedom-Earn $150 after spending $500 in the first 3 months from account opening.
Chase Freedom Unlimited-Earn $150 after spending $500 in the first 3 months from account opening.
Thanks for supporting us-now on to the good stuff!
Chase Freedom
The Chase
Freedom will always have a soft spot in my heart. As a senior in college, I
finally bit the bullet & pulled the trigger on my first-ever credit card. I
was looking for something straightforward that would give me some solid cash
back-and that’s EXACTLY what the Chase Freedom is. It stands to reason that the
Chase Freedom is one of the best introductory cards on the market for anybody
looking to build their credit or ease in to the credit card world. Here’s a
quick breakdown of some of the perks the Chase Freedom offers:
- Earn $150 after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- No annual fee!
- Earn 5% cash back on up to $1500 in bonus categories each quarter.
- Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases.
- No minimum to redeem for cash back!
At a glance,
this card certainly doesn’t have all the bells & whistles of the Chase
Sapphire cards. However, I’d argue that you can gain some major value from the
Chase Freedom through the 5% cash back on select categories. These categories
rotate quarterly, providing you with flexibility on your categories while
offering solid cash back options. Here’s what the categories looked like last
year:
- Q1: Gas Stations & Local Commuter Transportation
- Q2: Grocery & Drug Stores
- Q3: Restaurants & Movie Theaters
- Q4: Walmart & Department Stores
As you can
see, tons of value to be had. I maxed out three of these categories last year
for a net total of 22,500 Chase UR points ($225 in cash back at minimum). There
are ways to be creative to maximize your category spend, too-you can buy gift
cards for manufactured spending, buy
& sell product, offer to take everybody’s check at dinner & get paid in
cash, etc. With this mindset, it’s easy to quickly accumulate points & get
yourself some cash back at your disposal. Let’s take another look at those
categories from last year-here’s how I strategized my category spend:
- Q1: Gas Stations & Local Commuter Transportation
- Paid for family gas, bought variable gift cards at gas stations & purchased money orders
- Q2: Grocery & Drug Stores
- Bought groceries, manufactured spend by purchasing variable gift cards at Kroger/CVS
- Q3: Restaurants & Movie Theaters
- Offered to get paid in Venmo/cash for any meal with friends, bought Kayleigh food
- Q4: Walmart & Department Stores
- Bought some Christmas gifts at department stores
This year’s
Q1 for Chase was gas stations once again, which you can be sure I will be
maxing out though both normal gas expenses + variable gift cards to bridge the
gap. Get creative with your spend & you’ll find yourself knocking out these
categories in no time. For some people, this card makes all the sense in the
world. However, if all of these categories are too confusing or you simply don’t
want to keep track of it, I’ve got the card for you-the Chase Freedom
Unlimited.
Chase
Freedom Unlimited
For those of
you that just want a cash-back card without the hassle of thinking about when
to use it, the Chase Freedom Unlimited is your answer. This card provides a
flat 1.5% cash back on every purchase you make, no matter what the category is.
Whether you’re swiping for that late-night slice or making a rent payment, you’ll
get the same cash back rate. In addition to that, the Chase Freedom Unlimited
offers:
- Earn $150 after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases.
- No annual fee!
- No minimum to redeem for cash back!
Look
familiar? That’s because these cards offer the same benefits, even down to the
sign-up bonus. It’s all about whether you prefer category spending vs. a flat
fee. For me, I know I can max the categories out & therefore I go for the
Chase Freedom.
It’s
important to keep in mind that everybody’s spending situation is different!
Take note of where you spend the most money & evaluate if category spending
is right for you. If not, the Chase Freedom Unlimited is a fantastic option
that will have you earning points quickly.
Stacking
Your Freedom With A Sapphire
One of the
best reasons to have one of the Chase Freedom cards is that you can transfer
your cash-back balance to one of your Sapphire cards if you are a cardholder.
Since the Chase Freedom/Freedom Unlimited only gives you the option to redeem
these points for cash-back, this opens Pandora’s box in terms of redemption
options. As I laid out in our Sapphire post, you can utilize these points to:
- Transfer to travel partners like Southwest, United, Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, etc.
- Book travel directly through the Chase portal for a 25-50% discount on travel by using points
- Redeem for gift cards
- Cash Back
Recap
Chase’s “everyday”
cards (as I define them) can provide tons of value for no additional cost &
serve as a great starter card for those of us just getting started. While I
typically recommend the Chase Sapphire cards or the Southwest Chase cards to
anybody looking for a new credit card, you cannot go wrong with one of these
options. These cards also fall under Chase’s 5/24 rule, so if you want to get
them, make sure you haven’t received 5 new credit cards in the last 24 months.
With that
said, I hope you enjoyed today’s #MileageMonday. I’m going to get prepared for
a big night of Bachelor watching (this Arie guy…SHEESH) with the lady & map
out what valuable content we can bring you guys next. Have a fantastic week,
Smart Money Squad!
Cheers,
Ty
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