Freedom Unlimited Product Change & Why You Should Wait
A few weeks ago Chase released the details of their brand new Freedom Unlimited card. It will not be a replacement for the existing Chase Freedom card, but instead will be a new product. For more details on the card see my original post. As a recap, here are the key benefits:
- Freedom Unlimited will offer 1.5% unlimited cash back on every purchase.
- There’s no minimum to redeem for cash back.
- Freedom Unlimited customers will earn points through the Ultimate Rewards program in the same way current Freedom customers do.
- Customers can redeem points for cash back or other redemptions options including gift cards and travel.
Applying for the Card
As of now the Chase Freedom Unlimited card is not widely available but you can still get it. Chase has confirmed you will not be able to apply online for the Freedom Unlimited until April, however you can apply in-person at any of their branches across the country. I’m not sure why the rollout is staggered, but at least you can get the card now if you are interested.
Converting an Existing Freedom to Freedom Unlimited
If you would like to convert your Freedom to a Freedom Unlimited then it is possible either via the telephone or using the secure message feature on the Chase website. Yesterday a reader sent me an email confirming that they were able to successfully convert a Chase Slate card to a Chase Freedom Unlimited. The entire process was completed via the Secure Message tool on the Chase website.
After sending the initial secure message to Chase, the reader was given an option to convert either to a regular Freedom or a Freedom Unlimited. I am told that others have had success converting Sapphire Preferred and regular Freedom cards to Freedom Unlimited as well.
Why You Might Want to Wait Before Switching
If you are thinking about switching a Freedom to a Freedom Unlimited, it may be wise to wait until you have maxed out the 2nd quarter 5% grocery store bonus category. For many this is an easy category to max out and switching now would mean you aren’t eligible for 5% on up to $1,500 in purchases.
Since I plan to convert an existing Freedom to a Freedom Unlimited, my strategy will be to max out the grocery store bonus on the card I am converting in early April. I will then send a message and ask to convert to a Freedom Unlimited once the statement has closed and the points hit my account.
Conclusion
For many, the ability to earn 1.5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent is attractive. I will be switching one of my three Freedom cards over to Freedom Unlimited, but not before I max out the grocery store category bonus in April.
Are you planning to apply for or switch to a Freedom Unlimited? Have you already? Let us know your experience in the comments!
 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the old king of travel rewards cards. Right now
bonus_miles_full
Learn more about this card and its features!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
[…] know some of you are considering a switch to Freedom Unlimited to earn 1.5X everywhere. As I have mentioned before, if you plan to convert a Freedom to Freedom […]
[…] brand new Chase Freedom Unlimited card has been available for conversions from another product and in-branch for a few weeks, however there hasn’t been an online app. Chase promised to […]
[…] good to see the first sets of people converting to this card. I shared my reader’s experience doing the same last week, but the $5K minimum credit line seems to be new information. I personally am waiting to […]
[…] I covered how you can convert an existing Chase Freedom card to the Freedom Unlimited via secure message. The ability to earn 1.5X Ultimate Rewards everywhere with the Freedom Unlimited […]
I was hoping next quarter would be easy, but now both Giant and Safeway in my area do not accept credit cards for purchase of VGC. Oh gosh, I suppose I could use it to buy groceries….
My AF for my CSP is coming up 3/18. Since I (we) already have three 5% freedom cards, I was wanting to downgrade CSP to the unlimited freedom. You mention it’s not available until April so I wonder if this also means we can’t product change/downgrade until then? I’ll need to look up how long you can get a full refund for AF for and hopefully push it until April if necessary.
No you can product change now. I know people who have done it. Simply call or ask via secure message.
Good deal, thank you sir! I’ll wait until the AF posts…. in my experiences their SM people don’t like to do product changes until the AF hits.
I love “ThePointsGuy” watermark on the image of the card. 😉
I didn’t see that. I took a screenshot of the screen. I’ll remove it. Thanks for letting me know.