Chase Freedom Rant

[sexy_kitten7]

There are no bonus points for "flair" in the credit card game.

Yes, $500 CL is ridiculously low and it's fine if you feel insulted, I know I would. But the rational response is to call them and open the account.

It will get your foot in the door with Chase and you can use the 5% categories.

[longtimelurker]

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@sexy_kitten7 wrote:

There are no bonus points for "flair" in the credit card game.

Yes, $500 CL is ridiculously low and it's fine if you feel insulted, I know I would. But the rational response is to call them and open the account.

It will get your foot in the door with Chase and you can use the 5% categories.

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Yes and no.   If OP waits until scores improve (or loan balance reduces) they could get a much better CL on the Freedom.  And as discussed in other threads, it's often hard to get CLs from Chase on a particular card.   So don't think foot in the door matters, but I agree that OP would be able to use the 5% categories (up to $500!)

[dubcee33]

Thanks everyone. I guess I'm just a spoiled by my credit union.(Navy Fed) My car loan is also through Chase. I guess I'll refi that to Navy Fed too once my mortage is done. 

And yes I should have applied for the Slate anyway since that's the true balance transfer card. I already get 1% rewards on my Navy Fed card, up to 12% depending on what store I shop at online. So I started using that card  to pay for everything and then Pay in Full before the statement closes.

Thanks again!

[sexy_kitten7]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@sexy_kitten7 wrote:

There are no bonus points for "flair" in the credit card game.

Yes, $500 CL is ridiculously low and it's fine if you feel insulted, I know I would. But the rational response is to call them and open the account.

It will get your foot in the door with Chase and you can use the 5% categories.

---

Yes and no.   If OP waits until scores improve (or loan balance reduces) they could get a much better CL on the Freedom.  And as discussed in other threads, it's often hard to get CLs from Chase on a particular card.   So don't think foot in the door matters, but I agree that OP would be able to use the 5% categories (up to $500!)

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Good point. Yes, Chase is quite stingy. It might be easier to get a 2nd Chase card a year down the line and transfer CL to Freedom versus asking for a CLI!

The $500 CL isn't a problem because they could pay it off midcycle.

[wHiTeSoL]

And be careful about using NFCU as a baseline for other banks, it's well known NFCU is insanely generous and if you expect the same from other banks you'll be disappointed more often than not.

[navyox]

In my experience Chase needs to get to know you a little.    I got Freedom last summer with 2.5k, United MileagePlus in October with 5k, and Sapphire Preferred last week with 11.5k starting.   My income didn't change in that time period, but I did lower my utilization quite a bit.    I paid the UMPE in full every statement carried a small balance on the Freedom a few times.   So it seems that as I used what they gave me responsibly, they got more generous.   YMMV, of course.