A Great Credit Card Sign-Up Bonus for Shopping – $200 Back After Spending $500!

With prices on many things increased this year, many people are looking for deals for this holiday shopping season closer than before. If you are still shopping, here is a credit card sign-up bonus that could help put some of that money back in your pocket – the Chase Freedom cards!

The Chase Freedom Cards – $200 Back After Spending $500

Link: Chase Freedom Cards – $200 Back After Spending $500 (these are personal referral links that give me points as well – thank you!)

If you have not had a Chase Freedom card, this could be a good time to get one! While we are all about traveling with miles and points, sometimes it is nice to have an easy sign-up bonus that gives some cash back. In this case, you get $200 back after you spend $500 on this card in the first 3 months. That is a 40% return if you spend just the $500! Plus, there is no annual fee!

I have held Chase Freedom cards for years and they are wonderful for many things. Here is a look at the difference between the Chase Freedom Unlimited and the Chase Freedom Flex to help you decide which one is better.

Chase Freedom Unlimited

With the Chase Freedom Unlimited, the biggest thing about it, besides the bonus of $200 back, is that you will earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase you make. That is as easy as it gets and you will never pay an annual fee on this card! If you want points instead, check that out below. 😉

Also, in your first year, you will get 5% cash back on grocery store purchases! This part may be enough to have you pick this card over the Unlimited! This is good for up to $12,000 in spending at grocery stores (not Target or Walmart) in the first year.

Chase Freedom Flex

The Chase Freedom Flex has some more flex to it with how it is structured.

First off, in your first year, you will get 5% cash back on grocery store purchases! This part may be enough to have you pick this card over the Unlimited! This is good for up to $12,000 in spending at grocery stores (not Target or Walmart) in the first year.

But, it gets better, if you shop in the different categories they offer on a quarterly basis. This includes quarterly bonuses on things like gas stations, grocery stores, and select online merchants for up to $1,500 in total combined purchases in these categories each quarter. Here is how it looked for 2022:

• January – March: Grocery stores
• April – June: Amazon.com/Select Streaming Services
• July – September: Gas stations, car rental agencies, movie theaters, select live entertainment
• October – December: Walmart and PayPal

So, if you max out the bonus every quarter, that is another $300 back each year for $6,000 in spending.

Plus, the Chase Freedom Flex offers 5% back on travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, 3% back in Dining, 3% back at drugstores, and 1% back on all else.

And, while this may not be for everyone’s situation, you also get 0% intro interest for 15 months on all purchases and balance transfers with both cards.

Want Points? That Works, Too!

But, maybe you would rather get points than cash back. That works! All you need is a Chase Ultimate Rewards earning card – like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Chase Ink Business Premier – and you can transfer your cash back over to those Chase cards.

After that, the cash back becomes Ultimate Reward points at a rate of 1 cent per point. So, that $200 cash back becomes 20,000 Ultimate Reward points!

Bottom Line

Since you have to pick, I would suggest the Chase Freedom Unlimited for most people with the constant 1.5% cash back.

Either way, getting $200 back on $500 in spending is a great way to round out your shopping year!

If you have one of these cards, go ahead and leave your referral links below! I will cycle them in this post as well.