[Expired] Chase Increases The Sign Up Bonus On The Freedom To $200/$225

Expired: This deal has now expired, if you’re looking for other bonuses that have a high cash value then we’d recommend reading this post.

[This post does not contain any affiliate links. We appreciate you using our links where possible but you won’t find any in this post]

We were in the middle of finishing our review on the Chase Freedom card and went to look up some information and noticed that the sign up bonus has been increased again from $100 to $200. Chase regularly does this a few times a year and this is the highest this bonus has been for awhile. The minimum spend requirement is staying the same at $500 and it still has no annual fee. You’ll also earn an additional $25 when you add an authorized user and they make their first purchase (find out how this effects your credit).

If you hold  Chase Sapphire Preferred, Ink Bold or Ink Plus you can transfer your points (20,000) to airline or hotel partners. The card also has 5% rotating categories that are as follows:

[Read: View other cards that earn 5%+ cash back]

On all other purchases it only earns at a rate of 1% cash back, so you really should only be using it when you’re getting that 5% cash back. It does give a 10% bonus on all cash back (excluding the sign up bonus) when you have a Chase checking account open. This means it’ll earn 5.5% cash back If you don’t already have a Chase checking account, they regularly have promotions where you can also earn up to $500 cash. You can view all of the current Chase checking promos here.

[Read: How does the 10% bonus work with the Chase freedom]

Our Verdict

I already hold this card (as I imagine most people do) so I won’t be taking advantage of this offer. As I add more no annual fee cards to my arsenal I’m finding it less & less useful as I have cards that consistently earn 5% on some of the same categories (e.g the Sallie Mae Rewards card, you can read why I think it’s underrated here). The sign up bonus is good as far as cash bonuses go and lands it in fifth position for the best cash sign up bonuses currently available.

The main advantage of this card is the ability to convert the cash back into Chase UR points which can then be transferred with their hotel or airline partners. A lot of people value these points at 2¢ each, I personally think this is overvalued but even if they are only worth slightly above 1¢ this greatly enhances how good this deal is.

You’re probably going to be hearing about this deal a lot as the big bloggers in the space try to fill their Chase quotas. If you’re going to sign up for this card, give some thought on who’s link you use. We are not an affiliate partner with Chase, so we do not have a link. When you sign up for a credit card the blogger receives a rather large commission, make sure you support the bloggers that you find give the best information.

Are you going to take advantage of this offer? Do you already hold a Chase Freedom? Let us know in the comments.