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Chase Freedom Unlimited Card — Full Review [2023]

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Jarrod West

Jarrod West

Senior Content Contributor

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Boasting a portfolio of over 20 cards, Jarrod has been an expert in the points and miles space for over 6 years. He earns and redeems over 1 million points per year and his work has been featured in o...
Edited by: Keri Stooksbury

Keri Stooksbury

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With years of experience in corporate marketing and as the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, Keri is now Editor-in-Chief at UP, overseeing daily content operations and r...
& Kellie Jez

Kellie Jez

Director of Operations & Compliance

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Kellie’s professional experience has led her to a deep passion for compliance, data reporting, and process improvement. Kellie’s learned the ins and outs of the points and miles world and leads UP’s c...

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Additional 1.5% cash-back

Learn More

(at Chase's secure site)

Great Card If

  • You want to earn flexible rewards
  • You want a card with multiple bonus categories
  • You prefer to avoid an annual fee

Don’t Get If

  • You want travel rewards, benefits, and perks

Freedom Unlimited Card — Is It Worth It?

If you’re in the market for a no-annual-fee cash-back card, it’s likely that the Freedom Unlimited card would be worth it for you.

With it, you’ll earn 5% back on travel purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3% back on dining and drugstores, and 1.5% back on all other purchases, not to mention that the card offers perks with DoorDash, Lyft, and Instacart.

Since it earns an uncapped 1.5% back on all non-bonused purchases, this is one of the best cards for monthly bills and utilities.

One of our favorite perks about the Freedom Unlimited card is when you pair it with a premium Ultimate Rewards-earning card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can redeem rewards for massive travel value for flights and hotels.

Such a card combination can help make sure you are maximizing every dollar you spend, and that you have the best redemption options possible.

Freedom Unlimited Card Top Benefits

Travel and Purchase Protections

Here are the protection the Freedom Unlimited card offers to help keep you covered:

  • Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance — If you need to cancel a trip due to illness, severe weather, or any other covered circumstance, you’ll receive a reimbursement of up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip for non-refundable travel expenses if you need to cancel your trip or end it early.
  • Secondary Rental Car Insurance — This covers damage or theft of your rental car, but is secondary to your personal auto insurance.
  • Purchase Protection — This covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.
  • Extended Warranty Protection — Warranty protection extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year on eligible warranties of 3 years or less.

DoorDash DashPass

Your Freedom Unlimited card gives you 3 free months of DoorDash DashPass, which provides unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees. After that, you can receive 50% off your DashPass subscription for the next 9 months.

Lyft — Added Cash-back

When you use your Freedom Unlimited card as your payment method on Lyft, you’ll earn 5% cash-back, instead of 1.5%, on all rides through March 31, 2025.

Instacart+ and Credits

The Freedom Unlimited card also offers 3 free months of Instacart+, which provides unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on eligible orders. Plus, you can earn up to $10 in statement credits each quarter, through July 31, 2024, when you make eligible Instacart purchases with your card.

How To Earn and Redeem Your Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

When you earn cash-back with the Freedom Unlimited card, it comes in the form of Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Fortunately, there are tons of great ways to earn more Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

When it comes to redeeming your points, most often your best option will be redeeming for cash-back. Not only is it the most flexible option, but most of the other redemption options offer identical value.

That said, if you pair your card with a premium Chase card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you’ll have access to the Chase airline and hotel partners, which can open up many of the best ways to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Alternatives Cards to the Freedom Unlimited Card

Citi® Double Cash Card

If it’s a standard cash-back card you’re after, the Double Cash card could be a great fit for you. The Double Cash card earns 2% cash-back: 1% when you buy, and an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases, all for no annual fee.

Read our full comparison of these 2 cards: Freedom Unlimited card vs. Double Cash card

Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Rewards Card

If you’re looking for a cash-back card that offers bonus categories for what you spend the most on, consider a card like the Capital One Savor card. The Capital One Savor card earns 10% cash-back on Uber and Uber Eats, 4% cash-back on dining, entertainment, and streaming services, 3% at grocery stores, and 1% on all other purchases.


We’ve also compared the Freedom Unlimited card to other popular cards:

The information regarding the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. 

Frequently Asked Questions

The Freedom Unlimited card could be perfect if you’re looking for a strong cash-back card and will utilize other Chase cards to optimize your rewards points.

Yes, the card is a cash-back card. You will earn 5% on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3% on dining at restaurants, and drugstore purchases, plus 1.5% cash-back rewards on all other purchases, which is usable as a statement credit. Remember that you’ll earn an additional 1.5% cash-back for each of these categories on up to $20,000 spent in the first year!

Yes, the Freedom Unlimited card is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule. If you have opened 5 or more new accounts in the last 24 months you will not be eligible for the card.

No, the Freedom Unlimited card does not charge an annual fee.

About Jarrod West

Boasting a portfolio of over 20 cards, Jarrod has been an expert in the points and miles space for over 6 years. He earns and redeems over 1 million points per year and his work has been featured in outlets like The New York Times.

Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.

4 comments

Linda K. Horn

April 01, 2020

How much is 7,144 points worth?

Katie Seemann

April 01, 2020

Hi Linda,
7,144 points earned from the Freedom Unlimited are worth $71.44. If you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card they would be worth $89.30 and if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, they would be worth $107.16.

András

September 20, 2023

DoorDash – DashPass

Your Freedom Unlimited card gives you 3 free months of DoorDash DashPass, which provides unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees. After that, you can receive 50% off your DashPass subscription for the next 9 months.

Hello, I’d like to inquire about the DashPass subscription with the Freedom Unlimited card. I have the card but have not yet activated this free 3-month membership because I wasn’t sure if I’m required to pay for the other 9 months as well, or if can I cancel it after 3 months. I also have a Cap1 Savor One card and, therefore have an UberOne membership, but I thought I might give a go to the DashPass.

Thank you in advance for your response,
András

Keri Stooksbury

September 20, 2023

Hi András – You’ll be autorenewed after the trial period and need to cancel to avoid charge. According to the FAQ: “Free DashPass for 3 months after activation, when the primary cardmember or an authorized user activates the benefit. After the first 3 months, the user will be auto-enrolled for the next 9 months in DashPass with a 50% discount applied to the then-current monthly membership rate, currently $9.99/month. After the first 12 months, the user will be auto-enrolled into full-price membership at the then-current monthly rate. Must activate by 12/31/24 to be eligible.” Thanks for reading!

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