10 Things to Know Before Getting the Chase Freedom Flex

Looking for a $0-annual fee credit card with rewarding bonus spending categories? Look no further than the Chase Freedom Flex®, a solid Chase travel card for beginners that offers up to 5% in bonus reward categories that change every three months.

Before you apply, consider those rotating categories, how to get the most out of your rewards and the all-important Chase 5/24 rule — which limits the number of personal credit cards you can open within a two-year period. Here's what to know before getting the Chase Freedom Flex® credit card.

About the Chase Freedom Flex®

This card has a tempting bonus offer for new cardmembers: Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.

Plus, you can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in bonus categories each quarter that you activate those categories, 5% on travel purchased through Chase's travel portal, 3% on dining and delivery services, 3% on drugstore purchases, and 1% on everything else.

Combine all that with a $0 annual fee and flexible rewards that don’t expire as long as your account is open. It's an ideal card for newbies, and serves as an introduction to the Chase Ultimate Rewards® program.

» Learn more: How to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards®

What to know before getting the Chase Freedom Flex®

Here are 10 things to know before you apply.

1. Activate bonus categories every quarter

Chase Freedom Flex® features a set earning rate in most spending categories. There are also bonus spending categories that pay up to 5% cash back — if you activate them in time. These categories change every quarter.

The trick is remembering to manually activate bonus categories before the activation deadline and understanding what bonus categories are open at any given time. Fortunately, Chase publishes a cash-back calendar for this card so you can plan your spending to earn more in each quarter.

For example, the 2025 bonus calendar is:

• January–March: Grocery stores; fitness clubs and gym memberships; hair, nails and spa services; Norwegian Cruise Lines.

• April–June: Amazon and select streaming services.

• July–September: Gas stations and EV charging stations; select live entertainment; Instacart.

• October–December: Chase's travel portal, department stores and Old Navy.

Again, you have to activate each bonus category before the deadline to earn the 5% cash back. There are several ways to do so:

• Visit www.chase.com/ultimaterewards or chase.com/freedomflex and follow the steps.

• Get notified by email and activate with one click. Ensure the email address associated with your online account is up to date.

• Use the Chase Mobile app.

• Call the number on the back of your card.

• Visit any Chase bank and have a personal banker activate for you.

• If you're a Chase checking customer, use an ATM and activate it while making a cash withdrawal.

Some might consider these extra steps, but they're worth it to earn more cash back and they only take a minute.

2. Get the most out of your points

There's no minimum when it's time to redeem your cash-back rewards, and you can redeem them for a statement credit or deposit them into your checking account (points are worth 1 cent apiece).

You can even book travel through Chase Travel℠, an option made even more valuable if you also have a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. That’s because you can transfer the rewards you earned with the Chase Freedom Flex® to your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card account and use them to book and pay for travel through Chase's travel portal, where points can potentially be worth more.

Alternatively, you can redeem rewards for gift cards or link your Chase Freedom Flex® card to your Amazon account and use rewards to pay for all or part of your purchases. Keep in mind that these are the least valuable redemption options, as your points will be worth about 0.8 cents a piece on Amazon.

» Learn more: 4 best credit card combinations to maximize rewards

3. Win with the "Chase Trifecta"

If you want to earn the most points and rewards possible, consider using the Chase Freedom Flex® credit card along with two other cards to make a Chase trifecta.

Start by applying for three complementary cards: one like the Chase Freedom Flex® for bonus category spending, another like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card to access transfer partners and a card like the Chase Freedom Unlimited® for a flat 1.5% cash back for other purchases (awarded as Ultimate Rewards®).

Then spend strategically. Use the Chase Freedom Flex® for bonus category purchases, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card for purchases such as travel booked through Chase's travel portal and the Chase Freedom Unlimited® for anything you’d only get 1x rewards for on the other cards.

When it’s time to redeem your rewards, transfer them all to the account that offers a redemption bonus. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, for example, can reward cardmembers with potentially more value when you redeem points for travel through Chase.

4. The Chase 5/24 rule

Keep in mind Chase's 5/24 rule, which isn't published anywhere on Chase's website but stipulates that Chase credit card applicants must have fewer than five approvals for credit cards within the last 24 months to be approved for another. So if your goal is to apply for multiple cards, space those applications out.

5. It’s a Mastercard

This card is a Mastercard, specifically a World Elite Mastercard, which comes with benefits like:

• A discount on a Peacock premium streaming subscription through Dec. 31, 2025.

• $10 off your second Instacart order each month and three free months of Instacart+ through Jan. 31, 2027. 

• $5 Lyft credit when you take three rides in a month and 10% off scheduled rides to U.S. airports through Jan. 31, 2026. You’ll also earn 2x points on Lyft rides through Sept. 30, 2027.

A couple of other things to note: You can enroll any Mastercard to earn extra American Airlines AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points through SimplyMiles, including this one. And if you’re a Costco fan, Mastercards are accepted online, but you’ll need a Visa credit card for in-store Costco purchases.

6. You get cellphone insurance

A useful benefit that flies under the radar is the cellphone protection included when you use the card to pay for monthly cellular service. You’ll get up to $800 per claim and $1,000 for theft or damage, with a maximum of two claims per 12-month period. There’s a $50 deductible per claim.

This is a nice benefit, especially if you have a pricey phone, but you’ll only earn the base 1x rate for paying your bill (unless it happens to be a 5% bonus category, which has happened in the past).

7. There are shopping protections

When you use the card to pay for eligible purchases, you’ll get purchase protection and extended warranty protection. That means if something you bought gets stolen or damaged, you have 120 days to claim up to $500 per item. And for items that come with a manufacturer’s warranty in the U.S. you’ll get an extra year of coverage on eligible warranties of up to three years, for a total of four years of protection.

These protections are built into the card and provided automatically when you pay for eligible purchases. However, be sure to file a claim as soon as something happens so you can get your items repaired or replaced.

8. Get trip cancellation and interruption insurance

While not nearly as robust as other travel cards, you can get reimbursed up to $1,500 per covered traveler and $6,000 per trip in the event of sickness, severe weather or another covered situation. This applies to prepaid, nonrefundable passenger fares for most travel operators.

Note this doesn’t include trip delay insurance, which kicks in if your trip is delayed by a certain number of hours. Instead, it only applies if your trip is canceled. There’s also no baggage loss or delay coverage, which typically comes with premium travel cards, but it’s a nice perk for a card without an annual fee.

9. Six months of DoorDash DashPass

The card also comes with six months of DashPass, which is a membership for DoorDash and Caviar that gets you free delivery and lower service fees on eligible orders. You must activate this benefit by Dec. 31, 2027.

Note that you’re required to add your Chase Freedom Flex card to your DoorDash account and set it to automatically renew monthly after the six months is up. So if you don’t want to pay for DashPass, be sure to turn it off.

» Learn more: The guide to Chase DoorDash subscriptions

10. Hold multiple Freedom cards

Chase has two cards with “Freedom” in the name: the Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited. The latter trades in the quarterly 5% bonus categories for a flat 1.5% on all purchases, but keeps the other 5% and 3% categories.

If you’re having trouble deciding, know you can have both. They’re each strong on their own, and because neither has an annual fee, are also smart downgrade options if you decide a premium Chase card isn’t right for your spending habits or budget. Plus, the Freedom Unlimited is issued as a Visa if that’s your preference.

You can even have multiple Freedom Flex cards, which means you can make use of multiple 5% categories — just remember to activate them individually if you go that route.

The bottom line

If you don’t mind a card that requires a bit more hands-on attention than a card that offers flat, possibly less lucrative rewards, the Chase Freedom Flex® might be a good card for you. Just be sure to activate your bonus spending categories every quarter and consider pairing it with another Chase credit card (or two) for ultimate earning and redeeming potential.