Chase Freedom Card Rewards Program Updates

One of the best deals I ever got from a credit card was the $200 bonus offered by Chase Freedom card back in March. I not only received $250 free money from the card after a purchase was made, but also took advantage of their 0% APR promotion with a huge balance transfer. Despite these short-term activities, this is the card that I actually want to use because its rewards program is quite generous: 3% cashback on purchases made at gas stations and grocery stores, etc., and $200 rewards can be redeemed for $250 cash.

Now the rewards program has been updated.

According to the card’s website, instead of giving 3% cashback for a few fixed categories, Chase now expanded the range of purchases that are eligible for 3% rebates and every month, the top three categories can earn 1% base rebate plus 2% bonus rebate.

The eligible bonus categories include:

grocery stores, gas & convenience stores, quick service payment/fast food restaurants, telecommunications, cable/satellite TV/Internet service providers, video rentals, department stores, dry cleaners, drugstores, movie theaters, local and suburban commuter passenger transportation, pet supply stores and veterinary services, utilities, beauty shops (salons and spas) and gym/recreation memberships.

The expansion could help cardholders to earn 3% rebates more easily. However, that doesn’t mean you can earn as much as you want. There’s a limit on the amount of bonus cashback you can accumulate in each billing cycle:

There is no maximum amount of base rebates or base points that can be earned on net purchases. Maximum bonus rebate accumulation per billing cycle on net purchases is $12 in bonus rebates or 1,200 points monthly, which equates to $600 in net purchases.

That is, you can only earn $12 cashback at most by making $600 purchases in the bonus categories each month. Any spending that’s over the $600 limit will only earn you 1% rebate (the base rebate), though there’s no maximum on base rebates.

And before the change, whenever the accumulated rebate reaches $200, it can be redeemed for $250 cash. This, however, is removed from the revised program. This feature remains in the revised program (Thanks The Financial Buff).