The Chase Freedom Flex Has an Elevated Offer — But Is It Worth a 5/24 Spot?
The Chase Freedom Flex® just increased its welcome offer, and at first glance, this card checks a LOT of boxes for me.
Right now, new cardmembers can earn a $250 bonus after spending just $500 in the first three months. The card also has no annual fee. (Chase Credit Cards)
And if you’re already in the Chase points world? This gets even more interesting.
$250 cash back… or 25,000 Chase points?
Chase markets the Freedom Flex as a cash-back card, but the rewards are actually tracked as Ultimate Rewards points. Chase states that $1 in cash back equals 100 points, which means that $250 welcome bonus is essentially 25,000 Ultimate Rewards points. (Chase Credit Cards)
If you also have an eligible Chase Sapphire card, you can combine eligible Ultimate Rewards points into that account, where you can potentially use them with Chase’s airline and hotel transfer partners.
So as someone already building a Chase points bank, I’m not really looking at this as $250. I’m looking at it as 25,000 more Chase points. And that’s where the card starts getting tempting.
Then I saw the Q4 categories…
From October through December 2026, the Freedom Flex’s rotating 5% categories are:
Grocery stores
Dining
American Red Cross donations
The 5% quarterly bonus applies to up to $1,500 in combined spending after activation. Walmart and Target are excluded from the grocery category. (Chase Media Center)
But here’s the really fun part:
Freedom Flex already earns 3% on dining year-round. During Q4, the dining rewards stack in a way that brings the total earning rate to 7% on eligible dining purchases within the quarterly spending cap. (Chase Media Center)
So for Q4, we’re talking:
7x on dining.
5x at eligible grocery stores.
No annual fee.
For my family’s spending habits, those are categories we could actually use without changing how we normally spend. This isn’t one of those situations where I’d be trying to convince myself to spend $1,500 in a random bonus category just to earn extra points. We already buy groceries. We already eat out. The points would come from money we’re spending anyway.
So… why haven’t I applied?
Because there’s one thing giving me pause:
Chase 5/24.
If you’re newer to points and miles, 5/24 is an important Chase application consideration. In practice, opening additional personal credit cards can affect your ability to qualify for certain Chase cards, so I don’t look at a new card as just a new card. I also look at what I’m giving up by using one of those spots.
And that’s where I’m stuck with the Freedom Flex. The card itself makes a ton of sense for us. No annual fee? Love it. Useful multipliers? Absolutely. 25,000 Chase points for only $500 in spending? That’s an incredibly easy welcome offer to hit. A card I could realistically keep long term? Yep.
But…
25,000 points isn’t a huge welcome bonus.
This is the part of points and miles that I think gets lost when we see a shiny new offer. A good credit card doesn’t automatically mean it’s the right card to open next. If I’m trying to be strategic about the cards I open, I have to ask myself:
Do I want to use one of my limited Chase 5/24 spots for 25,000 points?
Or would I rather save that spot for another card with a significantly larger welcome offer? That’s the debate I’m having right now. Because the Freedom Flex could potentially be a fantastic long-term earning card for our family.
But when you’re building a points strategy, welcome bonuses can be one of the fastest ways to build a large points balance. And 25,000 points is still… 25,000 points.
There’s another reason I’m tempted
Chase also just made the Freedom Flex more travel-friendly.
As of September 21, 2026, Chase removed foreign transaction fees from the Freedom Flex. Chase also announced that cardholders can preview upcoming 5% categories a quarter in advance. (Chase Media Center)
And we already know one of the Q1 2027 categories:
Grocery stores again.
That means eligible grocery purchases will be a 5% category for two consecutive quarters Q4 2026 and Q1 2027. (Chase Media Center)
For a family buying groceries every single week, that’s pretty appealing.
So am I getting it?
I’m still deciding. And I think that’s actually the bigger lesson here. When I first started learning about points and miles, I wanted someone to tell me which credit card was “the best.” Now I’m realizing that’s not really how this works.
The better question is:
Does this card make sense for what I’m trying to accomplish right now?
For my family, the Freedom Flex’s earning categories are fantastic. The $0 annual fee makes it an easy card to hold long-term. And being able to combine eligible rewards with my Sapphire setup makes those points more useful to me.
But I’m also trying to be intentional about my 5/24 spots.
So while the elevated offer definitely has my attention, I’m not automatically applying just because the offer got better. Sometimes a good offer is worth grabbing. And sometimes the smarter move is saving your next application for something that gets you closer to the trip you’re actually trying to book.
And that is exactly what I’m trying to figure out.
Credit card offers can change. Always verify the current offer and terms directly with the issuer before applying. This is simply how I’m thinking through the card for my own family’s points strategy, not financial advice.