Current welcome offers on the Chase Freedom Unlimited and Freedom Flex cards

When it comes to no-annual-fee credit cards, it doesn’t get much better than Chase’s duo of the Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited. And one of them has a fantastic special offer for new applicants ending soon, with the potential to take home a slew of valuable Ultimate Rewards points.

Through Jan. 11, the Freedom Unlimited is offering unlimited matched cash back for the first year, meaning Chase will automatically match all the cash back you earn at the end of your first 12 months — with no limit whatsoever. This effectively means you can double your cash back earned through the first year with your card.

Depending on your spending habits (and whether you have other popular Chase credit cards), this is perhaps the best offer this card has ever seen. You will receive the matched cash back in one lump sum at the end of the 12 months — not at the end of each monthly billing cycle.

Meanwhile, the Freedom Flex has a solid offer when you apply through Chase’s public application page. That’s because you’ll not only get the initial sign-up bonus but also 5% back for the first year on combined gas station and grocery store purchases (excluding Target and Walmart), on up to $12,000 spent in your first year.

In general, both the Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited cards feature excellent rewards rates with no annual fee. Even better, they also offer the flexibility to earn either cash back or fully transferable Ultimate Rewards points when combined with other Chase products, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.

Let’s dive deeper into these offers and see how they stack up.

With this special Chase Freedom Unlimited offer, you’ll have all your cash back matched by Chase at the end of your first year. This effectively means that your earning rates are doubled — though you won’t receive this extra cash back until the end of your first year with the card. This offer ends Jan. 11, so you’ll have to act fast.

Note that you can still access the previous offer directly through Chase, which is a $200 cash-back bonus after spending $500 in the first three months plus 5% back on combined gas and grocery store purchases (excluding Walmart and Target) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year.

Earning rates

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Remember that these rates are effectively doubled for your first year. That means that applying today would boost your earning rates for the first 12 months to 6% on both dining and at drugstores and then 3% on everything else you buy.

However, crunch the numbers to see if applying directly through Chase makes more sense.

Related: Review of the Chase Freedom Unlimited

Chase Freedom Flex welcome offer

Sign-up bonus

With the public Chase Freedom Flex offer, you’ll earn $200 back after you spend $500 in the first three months. However, you’ll also earn 5% back for the first year on combined gas station and grocery store purchases (excluding Target and Walmart), on up to $12,000 in combined spending. If you max out the bonus category, you’ll take home a total of $800 in cash-back rewards.

Earning rates

• 5% on the first $1,500 spent on rotating categories each quarter (activation required)
• 5% on travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 3% on dining
• 3% on drugstores
• 1% on all other purchases

That’s an impressive lineup of earning categories for any card, let alone a no-annual-fee credit card.

Related: Review of the Chase Freedom Flex

If you have another Chase card that earns transferable Ultimate Rewards points, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve or Ink Business Preferred Credit Card, you can combine the points from your Freedom Unlimited or Freedom Flex. This boosts your redemption value for travel through Chase to 1.25 cents per point on the Sapphire Preferred or 1.5 cents per point on the Sapphire Reserve.

However, it also unlocks the ability to transfer them at a 1:1 ratio to the Ultimate Rewards program’s airline and hotel partners — including valuable programs like British Airways Executive Club, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Air Canada Aeroplan and World of Hyatt. In this scenario, TPG values Chase points at 2.05 cents apiece, so your rewards have significantly more flexibility when used in this way.

Let’s look at how this affects the Chase Freedom Unlimited under the current offer for those who also have a Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve.

Since Chase will match all of the cash back you earn in the first year, that’s the same as doubling your earning rates. And if you combine those rewards in a more valuable Chase card account, you can effectively earn the following in the first year:

• 10 points per dollar spent on Chase Travel purchases
• 6 points per dollar spent on dining
• 6 points per dollar spent at drugstores
• 3 points per dollar spent everywhere else

Simply put, that’s a phenomenal earning structure for a card with no annual fee.

However, it’s worth pointing out that both the Freedom Unlimited and Freedom Flex impose foreign transaction fees, so they’re not good to use outside the U.S. In addition, you’ll want to make sure you comply with Chase’s 5/24 rule along with the issuer’s other application restrictions before applying. You’d hate to waste a hard inquiry on your credit report only to not get approved.

If you’re a current holder of the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve and don’t have the Chase Freedom Unlimited, now could be the perfect time to jump on it. For the first year, new cardholders can earn the equivalent of 6 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on dining and at drugstores. You’ll then earn 3 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent everywhere else. While only half of those rewards will come at the time of your purchase, you could be swimming in Chase points by the end of your first year.

Of course, the current offer directly through Chase may still be more appealing to some — especially those with large amounts of grocery and gas purchases each year. Nevertheless, this special offer on the Freedom Unlimited is one of the best in the card’s history, and it’s ending soon. If you’ve been thinking about applying, now is definitely the time.

The Freedom Flex is also worth a look, especially if you can apply directly with Chase and make the most of its rotating quarterly bonus categories — but the Freedom Unlimited will be better for most cardholders given the terrific special offer.

Apply here: Chase Freedom Unlimited with all your cash back matched by Chase at the end of your first year with no limit whatsoever. Offer ends Jan. 11.

Apply here: Chase Freedom Flex with $200 cash back after you spend $500 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.