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Should you apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Freedom® or Chase Freedom Unlimited® rewards card? Which credit card is better for daily spending? Here’s my comparison and review of these two popular rewards cards to help you decide.
The information for the Chase Freedom® has been collected independently by Johnny Jet. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Best Sign-Up Bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Chase Freedom
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card comes with a sign-up bonus of 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in 3 months.
The Chase Freedom® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® credit cards currently have the same sign-up bonus. New cardholders can earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Also, they can earn 5% cash back on grocery store purchases (not including Target or Walmart purchases) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year. Cardholders will earn an unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases with the Chase Freedom Unlimited.
Eligibility for the two cards is the same since they are both issued by Chase bank. Basically, you can’t get the sign-up bonus if you currently hold the card you’re applying for, or if you have received a bonus on the specific card in the last 24 months.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred obviously comes with the larger sign-up bonus, but it does require a larger minimum spending requirement to meet. Still, 60,000 ($600 or $750 in travel) Ultimate Rewards points is a lot sexier.
Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Best Spending Perks: Chase Freedom or Chase Sapphire Preferred
The Chase Freedom® has rotating earning categories. You will earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate and an unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases. Restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, movie theaters, department stores, and Starbucks are a few examples of the categories.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® comes with the ability to earn an unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases. There is no minimum to redeem for cash back.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred gives you 2x Ultimate Rewards points per $1 on dining and travel, and 1x on all other purchases.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred has a solid dining and travel bonus of 2x, but the Freedom comes out on top for me, even if its 5% categories are rotating and have spending/earning limits.
Winner: Chase Freedom®
Best Benefits: Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Freedom
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (CSP) has a $95 annual fee. The CSP doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, has chip & signature technology, primary CDW on car rentals, $10,000 trip insurance/cancelation coverage, and 24-hour access to dedicated customer service representatives.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Freedom are both a part of the Visa Signature card family, which means you save on wine tastings, hotels, movies, and much more. Both cards also let you earn extra points for shopping through their specific shopping portals.
The Chase Freedom cards are no annual fee cards. I love that! Having a no annual fee rewards card is sweet because you can keep it forever, creating positive credit history with no worries.
I like all the travel benefits the Sapphire Preferred offers, but the Chase Freedom is a no annual fee rewards card, so this category is a tough one.
Winner: Tie
Better Points System: Freedom or Sapphire Preferred
The Chase Freedom® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® earns cash back in the form of statement credits or direct deposit. You can also redeem your points for gift cards or for travel through its online portal. 10,000 points = $100 in travel or $100 in gift cards.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns Ultimate Rewards, which can be used for cash/statement credits, gift cards, or to book travel through its Ultimate Rewards website, where you also receive a 20% discount. But the real value of Ultimate Rewards points is in transferring them out to one of their 13 travel partners.
I have used my Ultimate Rewards points for domestic flights by transferring them out to British Airways. You can fly American Airlines with British Airways Avios since they are both in the One World Alliance. Here’s how you can book AA flights with Avios miles.
You can also transfer Ultimate Rewards points out to Southwest Airlines or United for domestic airfare.
I’ve transferred my UR points to Hyatt for swanky hotel rooms that I could never afford. You can see my reviews of the Andaz 5th Avenue, Park Hyatt Vendome, Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, and Grand Hyatt in Macau.
And I’ve been able to fly in a Suite on an international Singapore Airlines flight a few times. These flights would’ve cost close to $15,000 or more. If premium cabin travel isn’t your goal, you can fly United to Europe for only 60,000 miles round-trip. That flight is easily worth $1,500.
The point is, there’s CRAZY value in being able to transfer out your Ultimate Rewards points to their travel partners. And this is something that you can do with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, but you can’t-do with the Chase Freedom.
However, it’s worth mentioning that if you have both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Freedom, you can combine your points together. This will allow you to use your Freedom points to transfer out to a travel partner of the Ultimate Rewards program.
Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Conclusion: Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Freedom Rewards Card
The Chase Freedom is a very solid card because it has no annual fee and you can earn valuable points annually by maximizing its 5x quarterly categories. The Chase Freedom Unlimited® earns 1.5% cash back on every purchase (and there’s no limit on how much can be earned). However, I wouldn’t have the Freedom unless I already held the Sapphire Preferred, so I could combine my points and have the ability to transfer them out to one of the travel partners.
If I was to pick one card, it would be the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, because it comes with a much larger sign-up bonus, more flexible points, and has better travel perks.
Hope this helps if you are trying to decide if you should apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Freedom or Chase Freedom Unlimited®!
Agree! Both the cards are awesome to hold together, especially given that Freedom has no Annual fee and has the 5x rotating categories that can be maxed out each quarter to stack up UR points!
You’re right. The Chase Freedom and Sapphire Preferred make a great team.