Chase Freedom Unlimited Is Now a Must-Have for Sapphire Cardholders
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Chase Sapphire cards are often a go-to credit card for travel enthusiasts, regardless of airline or hotel loyalties. With high sign-up bonuses and lucrative bonus spending categories, it's easy to stack up Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.
However, if you have a Chase Sapphire card only, then you’re potentially missing out on major earning opportunities. Chase offers a wide and varied selection of rewards cards, but the enhanced benefits added to the Chase Freedom Unlimited® could make it the perfect card to pair with your Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
Why Sapphire holders need the Chase Freedom Unlimited®
One of the strengths of the Chase Ultimate Rewards® program is how easy it is to transfer points from one card to another, which allows you to take advantage of redemption perks that exist on some cards but not on others.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers 1% back on grocery store purchases but comes with the added benefit that Chase Ultimate Rewards® points redeemed through Chase's travel portal will receive a 50% bonus. This is where having both cards and taking advantage of the transfer options becomes valuable.
If you were to earn 60,000 points on the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, you would earn $600 cash back. Then, if you transferred your points from your Chase Freedom Unlimited® to your Chase Sapphire Reserve®, those 60,000 points would be worth 90,000 points if you redeem them through Chase's travel portal.
For comparison sake, a typical sign-up bonus for a Chase Ultimate Rewards® earning personal credit card ranges from 50,000-60,000 points. This spending bonus alone could net you upwards of 1.5x a typical sign-up bonus.
You can combine points with one member of your household who also has a Chase Ultimate Rewards® account. The person doesn't have to be your spouse or child, but they must legally reside in the same household (Chase makes it clear that if you attempt to misuse this benefit, your points and account will be revoked).
What if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card?
If you haven’t splurged for the Chase Sapphire Reserve® yet but have a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card instead, you can (and should) take advantage of your points with the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. The math just changes a bit: Instead of your points being worth 1.5x in Chase's travel portal, they are worth 1.25x. So if you got 60,000 points and used them in the portal, they’d be worth 75,000 points.
No annual fee
Another important feature of the Chase Freedom Unlimited® is that it's a no-fee card. That means you can try this card and not have to worry about earning enough points to exceed the value of an annual fee.
Other perks
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® still retains all of the benefits that made it such a valuable card previously. All purchases still earn 1.5% cash back and the card also features a sign-up bonus: Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!
You can also take this bonus as Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, which has a value of up to 30,000 points if transferred to the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
The bottom line
You can’t be a savvy Chase Ultimate Rewards® collector if you only have one Chase card in your rotation. If you want to get the most value back for the money you spend, then you need to take advantage of every perk and benefit that Chase Ultimate Rewards® has to offer.
Signing up for the no-fee Chase Freedom Unlimited® is an easy and free way to accelerate your rewards collecting so you can get the points you need for future travel.
How to maximize your rewards
You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2024:
Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
No annual fee: Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card
Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express
Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
