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The Chase Freedom Flex

A card squarely targeting Gen Z and Millennials gets tongue in cheek with its name. If you’re unfamiliar, according to the Urban Dictionary, Flex means to show off in a non-humble way. Is anyone going to argue that Chase just flexed on the credit card ecosystem? After losing $200m in its first quarter on the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Jamie Dimon famously said “I wish we’d lost more.” Not that he’s squandering money, but in his mind the money they lost upfront was merely an investment that would reap profit down the road. Are we seeing round 2 or this philosophy? The new no annual fee Chase Freedom Flex is so incredibly rich to users, I just can’t imagine them making money on the card out of the gate. Let’s get down to brass tacks.

These are the bennies I’m most excited about – yes, there are this many.

• No annual fee
• 5x on Travel via Chase
• 5x on Groceries for the first year
• 3x on dining and take out
• 3x on drugstores.
• 5x rotating quarterly bonuses
• Mobile Phone insurance
• AND you get Mastercard World Elite benefits plus a slew of other benefits.

The Chase Freedom Flex replaces the now retired Chase Freedom.  Usually when things like this happen, we get a mild product change with a couple marquee improvements and many benefits muted or discontinued. Not this time.

The Chase Freedom Flex is an all out beast of card. Hands down, it’s one of the best on the market. Not only does it carry forward many of the old Freedom benefits, it include new earn rates that beat out many cards that come with a big annual fee.

If you don’t have a Chase Freedom Flex, get it. If you have a Chase Freedom, convert it. In fact, I’d say this is the biggest move Chase has made in the credit card arena since the introduction of the Chase Sapphire Reserve in 2016.

Why?

I challenge you to find another card on the market that offers up to 3x to 5x rates earn rates on various categories, offers World Elite Mastercard benefits, Mobile phone insurance, and comes without an annual fee. It doesn’t exist.

A full breakdown of the benefits:

• No Annual Fee
• 5x on Bonus Quarterly Categories – each quarter members can activate a 5x category bonus on purchases up to $1500 per quarter on the selected categories
• 5x on Grocery Store purchases for 12 months – capped at $12k and excludes Target and WalMart
• 5x on Travel purchased through Chase Travel
• 3x on Dining  including take out/eligible delivery services.
• 3x on Drugstore
• 1x unlimited cash back on all other purchases.
• 0% interest for 15 month on new purchases

In addition to all of those…you’ll get World Elite Mastercard benefits, including

• Mobile Phone Insurance – Up to $800 per claim and $1,000 per year on mobile phone protection
  • theft and damage on users listed on the phone bill paid by the cardholder
• Lyft – $10 in credit for every five rides taken in a calendar month
  • This gets applied to the next ride
  • 1x per month
• ShopRunner – free membership
  • 2 day shipping at over 100 stores
• Fandango – 2x VIP+ points on movie tickets bought on the Fandango app or Fandango.com

Below is a picture of the new Singapore Suites – a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards (available when this card is paired a premium Chase credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred )

The Sign up Bonus: $200 bonus or 20k Ultimate Rewards

Oh yeah, there is a lucrative sign up bonus as well. You’ll get $200 in the form of 20k Ultimate Rewards after you spend $500 in 90 days after card opening.

0% interest for 15 months

The Chase Freedom Flex comes with an introductory 0% Interest rate on all purchases for the first 15 months. After that, you’ll need to check what the prevailing rate is on the card. I would be very aware of utilizing this benefit. It’s a great way to get a free loan, but at the same time credit card interest rates are egregious and we never ever recommend carrying a balance.

What do you mean cashback vs Ultimate Rewards?

The Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card is a cash back card. So by its very nature you’ll earn your points or rewards in the form of Ultimate Rewards which can be used as cashback/statement credit. However, since its in the family of Ultimate Reward cards you can transfer your points from the Chase Freedom Unlimited to one of the premium cards 1:1 and then transfer them to partners.

Explaining the cashback to Ultimate Reward aspect futher.

The Chase Freedom Flex is technically a cashback card, meaning the Ultimate Rewards you earn can’t be transferred into the partner programs that we so often speak about. However…if you carry either a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Chase Ink Business Preferred you can move them into one of those accounts and then transfer.

• Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Chase Ink Business Preferred

What are the sign up rules for the Chase Freedom Flex?

This is a new product so, even if you hold the Chase Freedom, which this card is replacing, you can apply for the Chase Freedom Flex. I would note that Chase has made their approvals more stringent as a result of Covid and the economic impact.

5/24

• Almost all of Chase’s cards are a part of their 5/24 rule. This means that you can not sign up if you have opened more than 5 credit cards in the last 24 months.

How can the Chase Freedom Flex help you achieve you travel goals?

First off… our travel goal here at MM is to travel in the best possible way to anywhere our heart desires. I, pre pandemic, traveled around 125k to 150k miles a year and tried to review as many new hotels, and airline cabins as possible. It drives my desire to eek out every point out of every dollar I spend. That desire also aligns with readers who aren’t so bothered by the best cabin, hotel, and prefer to stretch your points out in low to mid range hotels. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter, you want to earn as many points as possible and this card helps you do that quickly. Personally…I’ll be looking to use my points on flights like Lufthansa First Class

A quick example of how you can earn 110k points by spending $1500 a month in your first year.

This is without a single purchase on dining, pharmacies, or travel. All of which would earn you 3x

• Spend $500 in first 90 days = 20k Ultimate Rewards
• 5x Rotating category bonuses = 30k Ultimate Rewards
  • $1500 per quarter or $6k a year multiplied by 5x earn rate
• 5x on $12k of Groceries in first year = 60k Ultimate Rewards