Chase freedom card that I never asked for
Aug 14, 2016, 5:50 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
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Posts: 2,591
Chase freedom card that I never asked for
This question probably popped up last year when the Amtrak card was automatically replaced with 'Freedom' cards, but I can't find an answer through searching. So my question is simple:
I received the Freedom card that Chase sent me to replace my Amtrak card, but I've never used it and I never got around to canceling it. Am I out of luck for receiving the normal sign up bonus for this card? I obviously never asked for the card and so I'm planning to cancel it unless they give me the sign up bonus, which I doubt that they will. What did others do when Chase sent them this card unsolicited?
I received the Freedom card that Chase sent me to replace my Amtrak card, but I've never used it and I never got around to canceling it. Am I out of luck for receiving the normal sign up bonus for this card? I obviously never asked for the card and so I'm planning to cancel it unless they give me the sign up bonus, which I doubt that they will. What did others do when Chase sent them this card unsolicited?
Aug 14, 2016, 8:18 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,932
You never get a signup bonus if you don't apply for the card "from scratch". No signup bonus if the bank converts you, no signup bonus if you product convert the card yourself.
however, the signup bonus on the Freedom card is puny (max 10k in recent years). If you just follow the rotating bonuses and use this card just for them, you can probably outdo the signup bonus pretty quickly. Between 10x points on Amazon 4Q 2015, 5x grocery, 5x gas, and 5x restaurant bonuses so far in 2016, without doing anything other than my ordinary spend in those categories, I've earned more than 15k UR points in the less than a year since Chase converted my AGR card to Freedom.
So aren't you shooting yourself in the foot by not using the card just because you didn't get a tiny signup bonus???
Evaluate how much the rotating bonus could earn you, and compare that to any other cards you have, and evaluate whether to keep it that way, not based on some tiny bonus you missed out on because you decided not to apply for this card before Chase auto-converted you.
however, the signup bonus on the Freedom card is puny (max 10k in recent years). If you just follow the rotating bonuses and use this card just for them, you can probably outdo the signup bonus pretty quickly. Between 10x points on Amazon 4Q 2015, 5x grocery, 5x gas, and 5x restaurant bonuses so far in 2016, without doing anything other than my ordinary spend in those categories, I've earned more than 15k UR points in the less than a year since Chase converted my AGR card to Freedom.
So aren't you shooting yourself in the foot by not using the card just because you didn't get a tiny signup bonus???
Evaluate how much the rotating bonus could earn you, and compare that to any other cards you have, and evaluate whether to keep it that way, not based on some tiny bonus you missed out on because you decided not to apply for this card before Chase auto-converted you.
Aug 14, 2016, 12:54 pm
#4
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Berkeley
Programs: Hilton, Marriott
Posts: 144
In 2014, a Chase Slate card which I never used was unilaterally converted to a Freedom by Chase. That Freedom card came with a $100 (10,000 UR points) bonus after $500 of spending.
Aug 14, 2016, 5:29 pm
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,932
AFAIK, no one who got converted from AGR to Freedom got such a notification.
What I meant is that absent a specific notification that the conversion is eligible for a bonus (another example would be certain ways of upgrading the Amex no-fee Hilton card to the Amex Hilton Surpass card have a bonus explained in the upgrade offer), you generally do not get a bonus for a product conversion, whether initiated by you or by the bank.