Changes to Freedom and Unlimited, new Freedom Flex card & strategies
 

Bloggers seem to be reporting on changes to Freedom and FU so I figured I should share it for the FT masses:

https://onemileatatime.com/chase-freedom-flex-card/
https://thepointsguy.com/news/chase-freedom-flex-intro/

FU changes giving you 3x on restaurants seems like it would be the death of the "regular" Sapphire IMHO.

I'm thinking keep the Freedom if you have it already, mainly so that it can continue to be used at Costco (in the event they have "warehouse stores" as a 5% category at some point in the future).

Anyway, like you, my bigger concern is that this will trigger negative changes on CSP/CSR (for instance, getting rid of the dining category). I guess we'll see what happens with those.

If you already hold both Freedom and Unlimited there does not seem to be any reason to change Freedom to Flex. Both blog articles assert that Freedom Flex will be a World Elite MasterCard, but the accompanying graphic does not seem to support this. However, I assume Chase provided this information, and that MasterCard has made Chase an offer to chip away at VISA's market share.

It is odd that these cards earn 3% on dining (the same as Sapphire Reserve, higher than Sapphire Preferred) and 5% of travel purchased those Chase UR (a bonus category not available on either Sapphire card).

People who booked travel through any agency have experienced difficulty obtaining refunds during pandemic disruptions. I image this "bonus" is funded by Expedia and will be added to other Chase cards, because they need to rebuild their business.

There's also information on awardwallet. I think this may actually make the Sapphire more "needed". Its only with Sapphire that you would be able to transfer these points so for the folks who are into UR points, they will have to hold one of the Sapphires and pay the annual fee (even if they don't put any spend on it) and for those just interested in cashback, the Freedom just got more interesting. I don't know if Chase would care if consumers spend more on the Sapphire portfolio vs Freedom as long as they can attract more spend on Chase cards.

But this might also be setting up to revamp the Sapphire earning potential. Chase was the trailblazer there 5 years ago but now others have caught up (and overdone Chase).

Do you mean the free Sapphire card?

This is very odd. You have to think changes are coming to the CSR/CSP. The CSP is basically useless now except for the ability to transfer to UR partners. Otherwise I have 0 reason to carry the CSP now.

Not exactly. One may transfer points if one holds an INK Preferred business card.

- and -

Chase: "Check out our new credit card!"

Also Chase: "We're not approving new accounts during the pandemic."

This. I got burned by Expedia and had to fight tooth and nail to finally get a refund. I swore I would never again use an OTA for any booking, be it Chase Travel (Expedia) or Amex Travel (Orbitz nee Expedia). While 5x UR for booking through Chase Travel is nice (and weird, considering CSR is only 3x), I will not bite. The potential rewards are not worth the hassle of dealing with Expedia.

You'd think there would need to be changes to the CSR otherwise I don't know why anyone would keep it if they have or can get their hands on an Ink Preferred. I suppose if you really like the 1.5cpp redemption you might want to keep it, but the US Bank AR is superior to the CSR if that is your intended redemption.

Well, it's no doubt a very appealing card now.

Can one downgrade a co-branded card (Ritz-Carlton) to a Freedom or only one of the Sapphire (or FU) products?

If I can downgrade, perfect timing for me.

Agreed...sort of curious what Chase has up their sleeve to make the CSP stand out. Besides transfer partners, there really is no good argument for the CSP card now that the Freedom gives 3% on dining. Weird times...

Thanks. This looks like a good switch from my CSR. I was definitely not going to pay the increased AF on the CSR but I'm not convinced that its benefits are even worth the $450 AF ($150 after getting travel credit benefits) since I just don't know what's going to happen to my travel patterns in 2021.

Sorry...I meant the Sapphire Preferred. Others too have now pointed out it would be pretty much useless unless it's your only option to earn UR and transfer in points from the Freedom cards.

I also think we will see changes in the CSP and CSR in the near future. Honestly improvements are needed on the CSR side since AMEX revamped their Gold cards (and even their Green cards) earnings potential. For me all the dining spend that used to go on the CSR now goes to AMEX Gold along with grocery spend.

CSP not quite useless as it earns 2x travel, and you need either CSP, CSR or Ink Preferred to maximize it. But agree that CSP is devalued in relative terms, especially for the target market (folks who might just use UR points as statement credits rather than transferring).

I concur with what people here say about CSP... and it already had outdated earning prior to this announcement.

CSR on the other hand has been keeping me happy with the temp bonuses (doordash, also 5x rotating categories like CF/CFF etc) but they also need to do a serious revamp on their earning structure... There's just no way it makes sense that their no AF-cards have better earning than their premium travel cards.

Unless these new cards cannot participate in UR pooling or they kill pooling altogether, which has been rumored before.

Cobranded cards can generally only be product-changed within that family - so to one of the Marriott cards.

Do we know if Chase really wants to improve the CSR or CSP? It is a money loser - the goal before Covid was to make it more profitable through a higher fee.

When Covid hit, a lot of their temporary bonuses were really strong (5x on grocery, pay yourself back), and it still is the best card for general travel (car rental, taxi, Uber, Lyft at 10x, etc). But I wouldn’t be surprised if CSR wasn’t actually devalued further in some way

Chase has confirmed to CNN that the combine points feature stays with the new Freedom cards, for the time being at least.

That is true but whenever I apply for a new product and end up closing one I get the credit limit moved over to the new card even if it is in another family of cards.

It's been reported that with this new CFF you can still transfer UR to Sapphire (no changes).

You can still buy Costco gift cards online with a MasterCard. Dont do this if you want extended warranty/returns on a large expensive item (otherwise, Costco's return policy is generally generous enough to cover other defects)

I was hoping that they would just combine Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited together. Freedom Flex has rotating 5%; Freedom Unlimited has 1.5% everyday spending. Just combine them and it would be the Freedom Ultimate card! Maybe the CSR will be updated to including both Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited.. a way of saying you already paid $500+ for the CSR... we will throw in our free cards benefits so you don't have to carry 3 cards.

Love the new benefits. I use the business ink preferred as my UR "hub." I just got the Freedom Unlimited to take advantage of the 5% back on groceries. Have 2 Freedoms (second one from a product change/downgrade). Will probably just hold on to them and see if Chase offers a bonus for converting to the new card at a later date. The 3% back at restaurants was the big category of spending that I didn't have with my current combo of cards.

Similarly, I have an Ink Preferred, a Freedom and a Freedom Unlimited (also a Chase Sapphire Reserve -- more about that in a bit). My plan is to cancel my Freedom now so I can apply for the Freedom Flex on Sept. 15. Why cancel? Because I want the 20,000-point sign-up bonus for the Flex. (It's my understanding that having an open Freedom card precludes getting that bonus. My Freedom card is 6 years old, by the way.) My Ink will hold my URs. I'll use the Flex like I use my Freedom now. I'll use my Freedom Unlimited for 3x dining. That new benefit is especially handy because I'm going to cancel my Chase Sapphire Reserve when the annual fee hits in October. I was lamenting the loss of 3x dining. But no more.

Costco was the first thing that came to my mind. For me, though, it kills the gas category. Costco is by far the cheapest place to buy gas around here, and gas has been a quarterly bonus 5x since the beginning of 2018. Warehouse stores have only been a category once in that time period. And unfortunately, the gift card trick won't work for the gas category. I have a CFU for the other new benefits (drug store bonus, etc), and have other World Elite Mastercard, so I have no plans to convert any time soon.

Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited--the new double play combo?
 

I have a regular Freedom plus a CSP and CSR. Was already considering the Unlimited, even before today's announcement. No problem with 5/24--no new cards with any issuer the last two years although I currently have nine personal cards, including the Freedom, and three business, including the Ink Preferred. I've hardly used the Freedom 5% categories since dining has fallen away as a regular option (not great in my area for gas station spend) and I've hardly used the Sapphire Preferred in the last year or two. Assuming approvals (and I'm happy to hear any negative views of completing this double play) is canceling the Freedom and going for both the Unlimited and Flex currently the way to go with personal cards in the UR arena with this portfolio?

Don't forget CSP has the primary rental car damage coverage thing...

You can keep the freedom and still sign up for CFF with its own SUB, as Chase says it is a different product based on at least two sources and references I found to someone calling Chase and getting same info that they are being treated as separate products:

TPG:

Flex is considered a different product from Freedom Unlimited, so customers with that latter card will also be eligible for a welcome bonus with Flex. And Chase has confirmed that the same is true for Freedom cardholders — if they apply (and are approved) for the new Freedom Flex, they will be eligible for the bonus.

Onemileatatime correction from Chase:

Ben says:August 31, 2020 at 5:40 pm

Quick heads up that Chase reached out to correct one part of the story, which I wanted to call out. Those with the Chase Freedom *will* allegedly be eligible for the bonus on the Chase Freedom Flex, so that’s pretty awesome (and contradicts what I previously believed).

No need to cancel existing Freedom. Chase confirmed that Freedom Flex is a new product and you will qualify for the sign up bonus even with existing Freedom.

OTOH, you can only have ONE Flex card, even you can have many Freedom cards currently. The highest number of ownership I just read on the net is SEVEN!

"I just read on the net..."
Documentation? This is not published by Chase is it?

Actually it is - https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/fre...ty/ext/CID/PID

MULTI-CARD

Can I have two Chase Freedom Flexservice markSM credit cards?

No, you cannot have two or more Chase Freedom Flexservice markSM credit cards.

Can you have Chase Freedom® and Chase Freedom Flexservice markSM?

Yes, you can have both the Chase Freedom Flexservice markSM and Chase Freedom® credit cards.

Can you have Chase Freedom Unlimited® and Chase Freedom Flexservice markSM?

Yes, you can have both the Chase Freedom Flexservice markSM and Chase Freedom Unlimited® credit cards.

I already have CSR/CFU so I'm not sure if there is any reason to convert my CF to FF. The only advantage I can see is the "cell phone insurance". I had my phone stolen earlier this year while in Brazil. I buy my phone outright then get a SIM from AT&T. I can't find benefits details for the Freedom Flex yet. I searched for general mastercard cell phone insurance benefits guide and found one with some wording I dont like.

Since I never buy my pone from my cellular service provider, I guess this plan is useless.

For the claim, they want:
In my example, this theft occurred the day before I was leaving so it would have been difficult to obtain a police report trying to deal with the police from another country where they could care less about cell phone theft. I suppose I could file a report in the US when I get home, but that would have been more than 48hrs in my case.

I converted an old Slate card I had to second Freedom today - so I have two Freedoms, a Freedom Unlimited and a Chase Sapphire Reserve. I’m undecided on whether I want to convert my main Freedom to the Freedom Flex now or try to get a bonus for it later. I will be under 5/24 later in 2021; I am trying to hold out for a Hyatt card, but honestly I already earn a ton of Hyatt points through the Sapphire universe. I could theoretically get a Freedom Flex bonus - if the 5% grocery SUB is still around next year, that could be well worth it...

I've heard conflicting reports of this. Do you have a link from Chase where they state this? If so, great I'm definitely going to add that to my lineup!

Try looking at the post three above yours.....#34 of the thread.

But can you get the sign-up bonus for the Flex if you already have a Freedom? If so, where does Chase confirm that?

This was posted by Schlappig in the comments section of his article:

"Quick heads up that Chase reached out to correct one part of the story, which I wanted to call out. Those with the Chase Freedom *will* allegedly be eligible for the bonus on the Chase Freedom Flex, so that’s pretty awesome (and contradicts what I previously believed)."