I use my Chase Freedom card A LOT!!!! (My mother has one too thanks to me! ) I definitely use this card if I am making a purchase in a bonus category (see explanation below). I also take this card out of my wallet for the type of purchase that I would use my Starwood Preferred Guest American Express for. For me, it all depends on which points I am trying to accumulate for our next trip. Am I trying to accumulate Chase Ultimate Rewards Points, (Freedom) or Starwood Preferred Guest Points (Starwood Amex).
Although this card is marketed primarily as a “cash back” credit card, I use it as an Ultimate Rewards point earning credit card. I will list the main features of this card with both cash back and point options:
-Sign Up Bonus-Earn $100 cash back or 10,000 Ultimate Rewards Points after you make just $500 in purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
-Earn 5% cash back or 5 points per dollar on up to $1,500 spent in bonus categories each quarter. (A maximum of 7,500 bonus Ultimate Rewards points) You’ll enjoy new categories every three months like gas stations, restaurants and Amazon.com. It’s free and easy to activate your bonus each quarter!
-You’ll always earn a full 1% cash back or 1 point per dollar on everything else you buy, big or small. Unlike above, there are no limits on how much you can earn.
-Earn extra cash back when you shop online at select merchants through Chase. For example, at the time of this post, below is just a sampling of the additional Ultimate Rewards points you can earn by shopping at the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall. How great is it to earn extra points per dollar ($10 at Kohls WOW!!!) and save time by not having to spend precious time going to the actual store!!!. Many of you probably shop online already. Why not earn valuable points while doing so????
4 extra pts/$
Bloomingdale’s 4 extra pts/$
Kohl’s 10 extra pts/$
Walmart.com 1 extra pt/$
Macys.com 5 extra pts/$
OfficeDepot.com 3 extra pts/
-If you have a Chase checking account or you open one, you get even more: 10% extra points per $1 spent PLUS 10 bonus points on every purchase. To translate, this means that your $2.00 cup of coffee (yes I do charge that as well!!!) will yield you (12.40 points——2+.20+.20 +10). Think about your points earning potential on even bigger purchases!!!!!!! Note-this benefit is ending 12/31/15.