My favorite rewards credit card with no annual fee

Belize in 2007 (before I learned to travel with points)

In a previous post I talked about the first cash back card I opened in 2010 which I still use today.  You can read about it here.  In this post I will review the other cash back card I carry in my wallet.  It is the Chase Freedom Visa credit card.  I have had this card since 2013.  It is a very basic, easy to understand card.  It does two things, it either gets you 1% cash back or 5% cash back.

Here are the benefits:

1. $150 sign up bonus after you spend $500 within 3 months of opening the account.  This is a good bonus for low spend in my opinion.                                                                                         
2. 5% cash back when you spend money on items in the quarterly bonus category.  The bonus points will be applied to the first $1500 spent in each quarter’s category.  So the maximum 5% cash back for each quarter is $75 (1500*.05).  After hitting $1500 your cash back bonus will revert back to 1%. Here are the categories for 2017:                                                                      
                             
3. 1% cash back on all other non-quarterly bonus purchases.                                                                    
4. No annual fee.                                                                                                                                   
5. Earn a $25 bonus after you add your first authorized user and make your first purchase within this same 3 month period.  I usually use Kim as my authorized user but I have used my kids in the past 😄.                                                                                                                                    

   

   Use points or cash back to go to Jamaica (2009)

                                        
6. The cash back earned can be transferred to your other chase ultimate rewards card accounts as points instead of cash back.  In other words, the $150 bonus can be changed into 15,000 points and transferred to your other Chase Ultimate Rewards if you have either of these cards open - Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Ink Preferred.  I transfer any points I earn on my freedom to these cards.  You can see why I do this to gain more value in this post.                                                                                                                                                     
7. Cash back can be redeemed for gift cards, travel, statement credits, or you can shop on amazon.

   

   Use cash back for gift cards to Lowe's and Home Depot for home improvement projects

            

My family of 5 easily spends $500 a month on groceries so that quarter is an easy extra $75.  Gas stations are a little tougher since we don’t drive that much.  Some people have had luck buying gift cards at gas stations to get the entire bonus.  Restaurant spending is another category that is tough for us to maximize since we don’t eat out very often.  One way to get more spend in this category is to put the check on your card if you are out with a group of friends.  Your friends could always pay you in cash.  The fourth quarter bonus is usually department stores, wholesale Clubs (Sam’s, Costco), and drug stores.  We can usually max out this quarter because of Christmas shopping.

5% back is about the best you can do in the points game.  I definitely try to get as many points out of the quarterly bonuses as I can. However, it is important to remember that spending money you normally would not spend just to get the points is obviously a bad idea.  

My strategy for this card is to only pull it out of my wallet for the 5% bonus category spending.  For most other everyday spending I use the Capital One Venture Card.  I think it is a no brainer to keep the Chase Freedom credit card open year after year since there is no annual fee.  It also helps my credit score since it continues to create a nice long credit history.

This card does fall Under the 5/24 Chase credit card rule.  I mentioned this rule here.

Want to sign up for the Chase Freedom credit card?  Use this link  to sign up and I may get a few points for the referral.

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