topic Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit? in Credit Cards

Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

sourpuss29 — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 09:53:24 GMT

I'm going to be applying for my third credit card in a couple of days ; and due to my wanting to choose wisely, I need something cleared up.

The Freedom Unlimited has been at the top of my list for a while now; however, while reading reviews on another site, I came across one stating that the rewards on this card are more like one percent...not 1.5.

Are there any cardholders who can verify (or refute) this claim?

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

VanderSnoot — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 10:35:41 GMT

CFU is 1.5% cash back.

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

wasCB14 — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 10:52:12 GMT

1.5% as plain cash back.

More towards travel booked through Chase (1.25 cents per point with CSP, 1.5 cpp with CSR, not sure about the Ink cards). So that's 1.25*1.5=1.875% towards UR travel with CFU+CSP, or 1.5*1.5=2.25% towards UR travel with CFU+CSR. Flight prices are usually competitive...not sure about hotels. Note you can't use the card for an Uber or mass transit pass and use your rewards to offset the purchase at 1.5 cents...the travel must be something you book with Chase. I would sometimes use mine this way for relatives' flights on airlines when I couldn't use frequent flyer miles.

If a person has a card like CSP or CSR, it is possible to transfer UR points to hotels and airlines. Here point value can vary widely. Some hotels or airlines may demand a lot of points for the particular room or ticket a person wants. If a hotel room costs $100 including tax or 15,000 points, then in that case someone sort of ended up earning 1% (spend $10k, get 15k points, transfer points, redeem for something worth $100). This would be an inefficient way to redeem, but it can happen. As one example, this point value is typical of IHG hotels...which is why IHG is not a popular UR transfer partner.

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 11:05:21 GMT

@sourpuss29 wrote:
I'm going to be applying for my third credit card in a couple of days ; and due to my wanting to choose wisely, I need something cleared up.

The Freedom Unlimited has been at the top of my list for a while now; however, while reading reviews on another site, I came across one stating that the rewards on this card are more like one percent...not 1.5.

Are there any cardholders who can verify (or refute) this claim?

Sadly, not everything on the internet is true! If the rewards really were 1% rather than 1.5%, I would think you would see a lot more complaints.

As with most cards, if you redeem for merchandise, you can get effective values of 1% or less (as the "price" tends to be much higher than the best elsewhere). But Chase is generally better than a lot of others in that if use things like Pay with Points on various sites, each point WILL be worth 1c for a total of 1.5%

It's also possible that the person posting was getting confused with the point value, 1 point = 1c, forgetting that you get 1.5points per $ spent.

I remember reading here a long time ago the same claim about the Fidelity Amex being a 1% card rather than a 2%, as each point was worth just 1c (but you got 2 of them per $ spent)

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 11:18:58 GMT

well..."technically" its not cash back as the rewards are paid as Ultimate Rewards points and not a statement credit or deposit to a checking account. But you get 1.5 UR points for every dollar spent using this card.

The true value of this card is when its used in conjuction with the Sapphire Reserve card. You can then transfer points earned with your CFU card to the CSR card, then redeem them through Chase partners at the higher value.

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

AverageJoesCredit — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 12:09:49 GMT

Ive never heard of this card. Beware! If you want something legit, id look towards a Credit One card, rewards can be rewarding.

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

UpperNwGuy — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 12:21:44 GMT

@sourpuss29 wrote:
I'm going to be applying for my third credit card in a couple of days ; and due to my wanting to choose wisely, I need something cleared up.

The Freedom Unlimited has been at the top of my list for a while now; however, while reading reviews on another site, I came across one stating that the rewards on this card are more like one percent...not 1.5.

Are there any cardholders who can verify (or refute) this claim?

Yes, the Chase Freedom Unlimited is legit. It gives you the same 1.5% rewards as the Capital One Quicksilver or the NFCU cashRewards. It's a good starter card to establish a relationship with Chase Bank, but if that's not important to you, then I would go elsewhere and get a card with 2% rewards instead.

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 12:29:26 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Ive never heard of this card. Beware! If you want something legit, id look towards a Credit One card, rewards can be rewarding.

Jk

🤣

I legit just spilled my coffee...

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

VanderSnoot — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 13:45:09 GMT

Still puzzling out what OP might have read that said rewards were 1%. All I can come up with is that, perhaps, OP read an article about the Chase Freedom, which is different than the Chase Freedom Unlimited. CF is a category card: 5% on quarterly category + 1% on remaining purchases. CFU is 1.5% flat (all purchases).

Of course, both are legit cards.

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 13:56:59 GMT

wasCB14 explained the benefits nicely. Hyatt is a great transfer partner if you like their properties. I can often beat $0.02 per point. They have a small footprint, relative to Marriott.

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

TSlop — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 14:19:20 GMT

@VanderSnoot wrote:
Still puzzling out what OP might have read that said rewards were 1%. All I can come up with is that, perhaps, OP read an article about the Chase Freedom, which is different than the Chase Freedom Unlimited. CF is a category card: 5% on quarterly category + 1% on remaining purchases. CFU is 1.5% flat (all purchases).

Of course, both are legit cards.

Me too. My guess is that the website and/or OP saw something mentioned about 1 cent per point, and thought that made it 1%. But as many have already mentioned, the CFU earns 1.5 points per dollar, which equates to 1.5%, so the OP has nothing to worry about.

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

sourpuss29 — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 15:17:36 GMT

@VanderSnoot wrote:
Still puzzling out what OP might have read that said rewards were 1%. All I can come up with is that, perhaps, OP read an article about the Chase Freedom, which is different than the Chase Freedom Unlimited. CF is a category card: 5% on quarterly category + 1% on remaining purchases. CFU is 1.5% flat (all purchases).

Of course, both are legit cards.

My question was quite simplistic.

And no...I did not "read an article...," pertaining to this card. I specifically sought out reviews of the FU as that is the number one card on my list.

Shout out to @wasCB14 and @Anonymous for understanding what I meant by "legit" and breaking it down for me. My choice became a lot simpler thanx to your posts.

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 16:41:53 GMT

I don't know how often it comes along, but you might wait for the 1.5 + 1.5 = 3% which is what I'm getting until July.

Nothing to add towards legitimacy as it was already exlained above about the redemtion value.

If you're looking for straight cash back, there are 2% products available though.

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

randomguy1 — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 21:18:09 GMT

The sub is at a high right now at $200. That would take around 40k or more (forgot the numbers) or spend for a 2% card with no sub to overcome that.

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 02:41:31 GMT

CFU is legit and then some. It is a great card. There are 2% cards out there, but tough to find a 2% card with as many perks, like travel cancellation coverage, etc. If you don't need these perks, then a 2% card works. But chances are, at some point you'll need them, and losing 0.5% rewards to get the perk is worth it when you know it can come in handy where you think it might be needed.

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 03:02:42 GMT

@randomguy1 wrote:
The sub is at a high right now at $200. That would take around 40k or more (forgot the numbers) or spend for a 2% card with no sub to overcome that.

If you have "room" for apps, you can get it for the SUB and then use a 2% card going forward

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 03:05:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
CFU is legit and then some. It is a great card. There are 2% cards out there, but tough to find a 2% card with as many perks, like travel cancellation coverage, etc. If you don't need these perks, then a 2% card works. But chances are, at some point you'll need them, and losing 0.5% rewards to get the perk is worth it when you know it can come in handy where you think it might be needed.

Yes, but many people wouldn't be using it (or a 2% card for that matter) for travel. For trips where the cost was enough for travel cancellation to be a consideration, people might use a card with a bigger multiplier

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 03:14:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
CFU is legit and then some. It is a great card. There are 2% cards out there, but tough to find a 2% card with as many perks, like travel cancellation coverage, etc. If you don't need these perks, then a 2% card works. But chances are, at some point you'll need them, and losing 0.5% rewards to get the perk is worth it when you know it can come in handy where you think it might be needed.
Yes, but many people wouldn't be using it (or a 2% card for that matter) for travel. For trips where the cost was enough for travel cancellation to be a consideration, people might use a card with a bigger multiplier

That's just one benefit. Extended warranty isn't offered with many 2% cards either. On a $1,000 item, giving up $5 for another year of warranty is probably worth it.

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

randomguy1 — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 03:25:22 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@randomguy1 wrote:
The sub is at a high right now at $200. That would take around 40k or more (forgot the numbers) or spend for a 2% card with no sub to overcome that.
If you have "room" for apps, you can get it for the SUB and then use a 2% card going forward

Absolutely. I'm all for churning. I think for low spend people, they should consider subs more because it will take quite awhile for someone making under 100k to spend 40k on a catch all card (assuming they have dining, travel, etc cards).

If you put 5-10k a year on a catch all category card, go for the sub because it will take you 4-8 years to see more of a net return. Plus with the sub, you get the sub money right away.

Re: Is Chase Freedom Unlimited legit?

wasCB14 — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 04:21:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
CFU is legit and then some. It is a great card. There are 2% cards out there, but tough to find a 2% card with as many perks, like travel cancellation coverage, etc. If you don't need these perks, then a 2% card works. But chances are, at some point you'll need them, and losing 0.5% rewards to get the perk is worth it when you know it can come in handy where you think it might be needed.
Yes, but many people wouldn't be using it (or a 2% card for that matter) for travel. For trips where the cost was enough for travel cancellation to be a consideration, people might use a card with a bigger multiplier
That's just one benefit. Extended warranty isn't offered with many 2% cards either. On a $1,000 item, giving up $5 for another year of warranty is probably worth it.

It's not a terrible card, but many of the benefit terms are second-rate. For example, the extended warranty is shorter than Costco's two years, and applies to warranties of 3 years or less vs. 5 years or less with most Amex cards.

Trip cancellation protection won't help you in the event of a long and potentially expensive delay. And the $1,500 cap is definitely an obstacle for some.