Last Cash Back Check from Chase Freedom Card
Posted by Cap in Credit Related |
A few weeks ago I requested and promptly received a $250 cash-back check from my Chase Freedom rewards card. Being a forgetful tool bag, I quickly deposited the check in my checking account — least it slips my mind for 120 days and voids itself.
Although it was nice to receive the cash-back check in time for Christmas to buy myself a gift (being an ass, you have to resort to your mom and yourself for gifts), it was slightly bittersweet as this is most likely the last check I’ll claim from my Chase Freedom rewards credit card.
Truthfully, I hate juggling credit cards and try to limit the amount of cards I carry or accounts I open, but unfortunately the Chase Freedom card just didn’t cut it anymore.
To make a long story short, with my current spending pattern, I’ll be able to maximize cash-back better by a combination of using Blue Cash from American Express along with the new Charles Schwab 2% cash-back Visa card (more on this later).
The two versions of Chase Freedom cards I have opened have served me well, and I’ve wrote a fairly positive Chase Freedom rewards card review just a couple of months ago — but I can’t recommend the current version of the Freedom Rewards card that Chase is offering. Chase has since stopped the 3% cash-back on top spending categories reward program, and the current version of the Freedom card doesn’t appear to have any compelling card reward program.
Hopefully Chase will continue to keep the old Chase Freedom cash-back program active for old cardholders. Although I’ll be switching to different primary credit cards soon, I’m sure many people are still a fan of the Chase Freedom card.
10 Comments to “Last Cash Back Check from Chase Freedom Card”
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December 29th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Hi, I am too a big fan of the Chase Freedom card, one thing you have to remember is that you are not truly earning 1% or 3%, if you let it accumulate till 200, you get another 25%, so you truly, you are getting 3% + 25% for groceries, gas, and fast food which is fine for me. I use the AMEX SimplyCash for Cell Phone, Gas and Office Supplies which gets me 5% and the Schwab for 2% everywhere else.
December 29th, 2008 at 8:07 am
We, too, just got a check from Chase. I haven’t heard anything about them discontinuing or changing the program for existing card members, so hopefully they won’t. We only use the card as a backup to our Blue Cash card (at places that don’t accept Amex), but still… That $50 bonus for accruing $200 in rewards is nice.
December 29th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
I’m all about getting the cash back rewards with my card as well; it blows my mind however when I hear people tell me they love their card because of the rewards, then come to find out 10 mins later they’re in 40k of credit card debt.
December 30th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
true enough that if you’re carrying a balance, the CC rewards/cash back is sort of pointless.
January 3rd, 2009 at 2:18 pm
I am *so* close to what I think will be my last Chase Freedom rewards check — hopefully will cross $200 on my next statement. I was planning on switching to the Schwab card, too — I have been very happy with their investor checking setup.
I had no idea that Chase was no longer offering the Freedom card as I knew it… I should stop recommending it then!
January 5th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Hmm… We use a Chase Rewards Plus card where we get 5 points per dollar spend at gas/groc/pharma. We have been redeeming the points for $100 checks, which works out to a 5% cash-back deal.
What’s this about the $250 checks? I’ve never seen that listed in our rewards list. Is it a hidden feature or perhaps just not part of my program?
January 7th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Duff – sounds like the Chase Rewards Plus you have is a little different on the rewards. The Chase Freedom kicks in an additional $50 bonus, when you wait to redeem at the $200 reward level (so you get a $250 check). I just submitted for my 2nd $250 redemption. I’ve had the card since april ‘08. Works for me. I haven’t heard similar stories of the rewards going away as others have. Hmmmm . ..
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:06 pm
I actually just went to the Chase location here today to cancel a different Chase account and out of curiousity I pulled out my Chase Freedom card and asked if they had dropped their triple rewards program. I was informed that they hadn’t dropped the program, which didn’t surprise me. I didn’t remember seeing any notices or changes on my statements.
And as tempting as the additional $50 is for a $200 refund, I think you’re all being played. I go for the miles and never pay for travel. You can either get $250 or 20,000 miles (possibly a free domestic ticket). On Delta, for example, to purchase miles you can buy only about 8,500 miles for $250. I’ve been saving my miles to go overseas so the program is very helpful.
Another great miles card is Miles by Discover. My only Discover card but you get 1,000 miles every month you make a purchase. So I just stuff that in the back of my wallet and pull it out once a month for a $2 purchase and BAM 1,000 additional miles. That’s an additional 10,000 miles every year for less than $20 of purchases.
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Bradley: Yeah current Chase customers will still retain their previous Freedom reward program. I didn’t realize there’s a 20,000 miles option though if you switch over to “points.” That actually sounds a little bit better. I suppose if they give good miles to dollar ratio for airlines you actually use, then that’s a pretty sweet deal.
Also didn’t realize the Miles by Discover makes accumulating 1,000 miles that easily too. Thanks for sharing. I’ll definitely check out Miles by Discover more…
January 24th, 2009 at 12:01 am
Is the 3% variant of the Chase Freedom Rewards card definitely dead and buried? This application link doesn’t seem to mention a 6 month cliff for the triple rewards (or the $200-will-get-you-$250 thing):
https://applynow.chase.com/FlexAppWeb/renderApp.do?SPID=C2DN
Or maybe all the fine print has just turned my brain to mush.