Chase Freedom Visa Card $200 Bonus Promotion and 5% Cash Back In Travel

A couple of days ago when I wrote about Citi Dividend Platinum Select $150 bonus promotion, I mentioned that that offer is a direct competition with Chase, which at that time also had an identical $150 cash back offer that required the same amount of spending in three months. Now it looks like Chase has determined not to be outdone by Citi. It just upgraded its previous offer to $200 cash back bonus for new accounts.

Chase Freedom Card, one of the best rewards credit cards, is also one of my favorite cards to earn cash back for everyday purchases, though now I only use the card to shop in those categories that offers 5% cash back. I used to charge almost everything on the cards, from groceries to gas, but changed the way how I use it after Chase switched its rewards program from direct cash back to reward points, which can be redeemed for cash or gift cards, a couple of years ago and started to rotate rewards categories every quarter. Nonetheless, the card itself is still very attractive because 5% cash back is very generous these days, even though you can’t get the 5% rebate everyday and need to remember when to use it because the shopping categories change every three months. From July to September 2011, you can receive 5% cash back when shopping in Gas, Airlines, and Hotels. Perfect timing for the summer travel season.

And to make the card even more rewarding, Chase is now offering $200 promotional bonus to new cardholders after $500 is spent on purchases made within the first 3 months after account opening. This is an improved offer from the promotion Chase had last time in June. In that promotion, you had to spend $1,500 in 6 months in order to receive the same amount of bonus. In my opinion, the one-time cash back bonus is very generous and the spending limit for the bonus is quite low. However, if you think you have difficulty meeting the spending limit for the bonus, I have a better solution for you without actually spending the money. Go to USMint.gov and purchase $1 coins through the direct purchase program. Buy one box of $1 coins (exactly $250) every month for six consecutive months and deposit the coins to your bank account once you receive the shipment. That’s it.

Even though the Chase Freedom Visa Card currently rewards cardholders based on purchase categories, which has recently been expanded so that more purchases are eligible for higher cash back rewards, you can still earn cash back if you charge the card with everyday purchases that are outside the 5% bonus cash back categories. The standard rebate for everything else is 1%, which is very common among rewards credit cards nowadays.

The Freedom Card has no annual membership fee and there’s no limit on how much cash back you can earn on the standard rewards categories. For the 5% bonus rewards categories, you are allowed to earn up to $1,500 cash back each quarter. That’s equivalent to $10,000 spending every month, a pretty large amount of money to charge on the card.

Details of this $200 bonus offer are shown below.

You will receive 20,000 bonus points with this bonus offer, which can be redeemed for a $200 check. To qualify and receive your bonus, you must make qualifying transactions totaling $500 or more during the first 3 months from account opening. Qualifying transactions include purchases, balance transfers, and any checks that are used to access your account, and exclude cash advances. After qualifying, please allow 6 to 8 weeks for bonus points to post to your account. To be eligible for this bonus offer, account must be open and not in default at the time of fulfillment. This one-time bonus offer is valid only for first-time cardmembers with new accounts. Previous and existing cardmembers/accounts are not eligible for this bonus offer.

You can read more about Chase Freedom Card rewards categories. If you are interested in the $200 bonus, use this link to open an account and enjoy the bonus and 5% cash back rewards this summer.