Advertiser Disclosure: The Krazy Coupon Lady has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. The Krazy Coupon Lady and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on The Krazy Coupon Lady are from advertisers, and compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. The Krazy Coupon Lady does not include all card companies or all available card offers.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Freedom Unlimited® is one of the most popular cash back credit cards, and right now the rewards they’re offering are even sweeter.
For a limited time, you can get 0% APR for the first 15 months.
You will need good to excellent credit to qualify for this card, but if you qualify, the rewards can be worth it!
Chase Freedom Unlimited at a Glance
Annual Fee: $0
Rewards: Earn unlimited cash back in the first year. That translates to 5% on travel, 3% on drugstore and dining, 1.5% on all other purchases.
Interest rate: Introductory 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months. Then rates will be 19.49% – 28.24% APR depending on your creditworthiness.
Cash Advance APR: 29.99% APR
Penalty APR: 29.99% APR. Can be implemented if you are late on a payment or make a payment that’s returned.
Balance transfer fee: Greater of 3% or $5 on balance transfers made within the first 60 days of account opening. Fee jumps to 5% or $5 after that.
Cash advance fee: Greater of 5% or $10
Foreign transaction fee: 3%
Late and return payment fees: Up to $40
How does cash back work with Chase Ultimate Rewards?
Chase Freedom Unlimited is marketed as a cashback card. But your rewards and bonuses won’t be applied as cash. Instead, they’ll be applied as Chase Ultimate Rewards.
When you redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards as cash, they’re worth about $0.01. So if you earned 20,000 points, that would be the equivalent of $200 cashback.
If you have a premium Chase card, like Chase Sapphire Preferred, your points can be worth $0.0125 when you purchase travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. That means your 20,000 points could be worth $250 instead of $200.
If you don’t have a premium card, though, they’re still just worth $0.01 — even in the Chase travel portal.
How much can I earn in cash back?
The introductory offer on Chase Freedom Unlimited allows you to earn unlimited cash back for the first year.
If you spent $20,000 on travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, that would mean 100,000 points, or $1,000. If all your spending fell into the ‘everything else’ category, you’d earn 30,000 points, or $300. Here’s how much each category will earn you in cash back:
5% cashback on all travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.
3% cashback on all dining and drug store purchases.
1.5% cashback on everything else.
Again, this ‘cashback’ will be awarded through Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
TIP: Curious about the difference between Chase Freedom Unlimited and Chase Freedom Flex? They’re both included in our roundup of best cash-back credit cards for 2023.
What does the 0% introductory APR mean for me?
Chase Freedom Unlimited is currently offering an introductory APR of 0% for the first 15 months. We hope that this means nothing for you on purchases, because we encourage you to pay off your bill in full every month anyways. That way you never incur interest.
If you have already dug yourself into a hole with another credit card, the 0% APR does also apply to balance transfers. Transferring a balance that’s incurring interest to a 0% APR card can be a good way to pay off your debt faster.
You should know that if you miss a payment, you may lose the 0% APR.
You also need to bear in mind that you will incur a balance transfer fee even with the introductory 0% APR offer. The fee will be the greater of 3% or $5 if you make the transfer within the first 60 days of account opening. After that, it’ll be the greater of 5% or $5.
This fee is still much lower than what you’re likely to save in interest — especially over 15 months.
Are there other Chase Freedom Unlimited benefits?
Yes, there are quite a few Chase Freedom Unlimited benefits. They include:
Purchase Protection: Up to $500 coverage per purchase. Protects against damage and theft for the first 120 days.
Extended Warranty Protection: For manufacturer’s warranties that are 3 years or less, this feature extends the warranty for an additional year.
Credit Journey access: View your credit score for free, plus get free identity restoration services in case of identity theft.
Rental auto insurance coverage: For any damages on rental cars booked with your Chase Freedom Unlimited card.
Trip cancellation or interruption insurance: Will refund you up to $1,500 per person or $6,000 total for nonrefundable airfare purchases if your trip is disrupted due to illness, weather, or other select circumstances.
Travel Emergency Assistance Services: Help finding legal or medical services while you’re away from home. They won’t pay for the actual services, but they’ll help you find them.
Like most other credit cards, Chase will monitor your account for fraud and provide zero-liability protection for fraudulent charges.
Related: Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards
How do I get approved for Chase Freedom Unlimited?
You can apply for Chase Freedom Unlimited online.
Chase has a rule that you can only open 5 credit cards within the past 24 months and still get approved. This is known as the 5/24 rule, and means that if you have opened five or more cards at any financial institution (they don’t have to be Chase cards) over the past 2 years, you won’t be able to get Chase Freedom Unlimited – or any other Chase card.
If you pass the 5/24 rule, you’ll also need to meet Chase Freedom Unlimited minimum credit score requirements. Chase doesn’t publish specific credit score requirements on its website, but you are generally required to have good to excellent credit.
Depending on who you ask, a ‘good’ credit score can start at 670. But most applicants have found they have greater odds of approval for Chase Freedom Unlimited when their score is 700 or higher.
Other factors, like your current income streams and debt-to-income ratio, will also influence your odds of approval.
TIP: Earn extra cash through Chase’s refer-a-friend program.
Who is Chase Freedom Unlimited best for?
Chase Freedom Unlimited is best for those with good to excellent credit who have not already opened 5 credit cards over the past 2 years. It’s especially great for those who want to earn points by booking travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, although it’s not the best card to use while you’re traveling overseas as it does have a foreign transaction fee.
While booking travel earns you the most, Chase Freedom Unlimited is attractive to anyone right now, because you earn extra on spending across any category with the inflated cashback introductory offer.
On the redemption side, this card’s rewards are even more valuable if you also have a premium Chase card and want to use the points to book travel through Chase.
Advertiser Disclosure: The Krazy Coupon Lady has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. The Krazy Coupon Lady and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on The Krazy Coupon Lady are from advertisers, and compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The Krazy Coupon Lady does not include all card companies or all available card offers.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
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