Chase Freedom Unlimited®: Earn Expired

Is 5% only for new users?

This card is now obsolete. A new card, called the Chase Freedom Flex is being released on September 15 that gives you far more benefits including free cell phone insurance

Not really, still the best card for non category purchases at 1.5 cash back.

Not really, still the best card for non category purchases at 1.5 cash back.

for certain values of "best" anyway

Specifically people who travel and get high value out of Chase points specifically to do so

If the above is you except "amex" points instead then the blue plus (at 2x MR per $ spent) is best for non-category

If the above is you except "citi" points (for some weird edge cases) then Citi DC is best at 2x TYPs effectively for non-category

If you are instead looking for cash rewards then obviously 1.5% cash back is terrible return on spend... on the low end the citi doublecash beats it at 2%, and either then Alliant card at 2.5% or the BoA system if you have plat honors status at 2.625% are also candidates.

what's is your recommendation for the best cards? looking for cell protection, trip cancellation insurance, double manufacturer warranty, and auto insurance for rental car

Best cards for warranty remain the citi cards that still offer warranty benefits- they add 24 full months of warranty on top of both the MFG warranty and any other extended warranty.

Everyone else offers, at best, 12 extra months (and only that if the original is at least that long) and some of them don't stack after other extended warranties either.


Which of those Citi cards is "best" depends on a lot of other factors. The Costco one is the only "free" one (assuming you're a costco member).... The Prestige can be pretty valuable (and profitable) over its annual fee, but only if you travel and can get use out of the travel credits and the 4th night free hotel benefit.... (likewise the other paid cards that retain the warranty benefit will also be situational to the user).


Best for car rental by a mile is the Chase Sapphire Reserve- but again you need to travel enough to get sufficient benefits otherwise to offset the annual fee.

CSR offers primary rental car insurance (as does the CSP, but with a few added limitations, and if you travel enough the CSR is a lot better card).

Oh, IIRC Chase also offers primary car insurance as a benefit on a few United Airlines cards- but I find airline cards are mostly not worthwhile compared to more flexible travel cards like CSR unless you BOTH fly a LOT and have to do so with 1 specific airline for some reason).

There's also a few business cards (from Chase, and Cap One) that offer primary- but AFAIK it's only if specifically renting for business reasons not personal.


AFAIK everyone else offers secondary insurance (meaning your personal car insurance gets hit first, and the credit card only covers leftovers).

Now- Amex will let you upgrade to primary coverage, but only on a for-pay basis, and it's pay per rental too... so CSR is the easy winner there.



For cell protection- well, mine is "don't drop your phone" and it's worked well for over 20 years now...Instead I pay my cell bill on a Chase Ink Cash, which gets me 5x UR points for the spend... but if you really need it then what is "best" will vary depending on your needs.. like, how expensive is your phone for example?

There's a bunch of cards that will cover you up to $600 per claim- but if you have a $1000 phone that's pretty meh.

Allow me to once again suggest the Citi Prestige though (see, now it's "best" for TWO things on your list!)- it will cover $1000 per claim (though a max of $1500 between 2 claims in a year)- with a $50 deductible.

Second best is probably the new Chase Freedom Flex discussed earlier in this thread- no AF, and $800 for a single claim (though annual max is $1000 a year).... after that, if you'd rather have coverage for two $600 max claims, there's a ton of free cards offering that from various banks.


One other note on cell coverage- similar to most CC car rental coverage, AFAIK all phone protection coverage is secondary, not primary... so if your homeowners or automotive insurance would normally cover the incident you'd be expected to file through that first... (like phone stolen from your home or car)




That just leaves trip cancellation.... which despite travelling quite a bit I've never actually had to use.

Citi Prestige used to actually be excellent here but they cut a lot of the travel protections so no longer...this IS another good spot to plug the chase sapphire reserve though... up to $10,000 per covered person, max $20,000 per trip which is as good as it gets (CSP offers the same- as does at least one of Chases United cards but see earlier remarks on airline cards mostly sucking)

After that there's a couple of IHG cards that offer up to $5,000 per person, max $10,000 per trip... one is free, the other has an annual fee (though the annual fee one gets you 1 free night a year at an IHG- and BTW also offers cell phone protection at $800 per claim max $1000 a year coverage, $50 deductible)

Wow. Superb information. I have bookmarked your response for future reference.

Now, I have a few curve ball questions for which I haven't found answers as yet and am seeking your insight.

1. Hypothetical Question. Let's say someone has the Chase Freedom card that extends a manufacturer warranty by 1 year so you have a total of two years. In month 1 of the 24 month total warranty period you buy a computer. Now, it is month 10 of the 24 month warranty period and the person decides to product change the Freedom to the Freedom Flex. The computer breaks downs in month 15. Under which card is the extended warranty for the computer covered -- the Freedom or Freedom Flex or none! [The computer was bought when one had the Chase Freedom Visa card and the computer broke down when the person has the Chase Freedom Flex Mastercard].

W
2. The City Simplicity card was the only Citi card that one couldn't "product change" to another card. Has City changed its policy?

Thanks.

Hypothetical Question. Let's say someone has the Chase Freedom card that extends a manufacturer warranty by 1 year so you have a total of two years. In month 1 of the 24 month total warranty period you buy a computer. Now, it is month 10 of the 24 month warranty period and the person decides to product change the Freedom to the Freedom Flex. The computer breaks downs in month 15. Under which card is the extended warranty for the computer covered -- the Freedom or Freedom Flex or none! [The computer was bought when one had the Chase Freedom Visa card and the computer broke down when the person has the Chase Freedom Flex Mastercard].

Answer: Typically coverage remains under the terms of the card used for the original purchase.... (and specifically the terms in place on that card at time of purchase- so if they suddenly dropped coverage to 6 months instead of 12 after your purchase you'd still get 12 months)

Question: The City Simplicity card was the only Citi card that one couldn't "product change" to another card. Has City changed its policy?

Answer: I've never had a simplicity- the interwebs however suggest it's somewhat YMMV

https://www.reddit.com/r/CreditCa...ct_change/

First, if true, this is fabulous information. Are you sure? How sure....50%, 75%, 100%? Also, if true, I am trying to see how this would work in a practical sense. The original card is Freedom Visa and the new card is Chase Flex Mastercard. Chase has outsourced the extended warranty to a 3rd party. I assume you call the third party related to the Freedom Visa but when you give them your credit card number, wouldn't they say, "the card is already cancelled"? I assume I would say, yeah, I know that, but it was valid (not cancelled) when the purchase of the computer was made and therefore I am still eligible for the extended warranty. Is that correct?

Thanks in advance

FWIW I've only ever used Citi for extended warranty coverage (which is also through a 3rd party as I think all these coverages are).... but when I did they didn't care about my CC number at all.

They just needed the original dated receipt, and a copy of a citi card statement showing a charge matching the original purchase.

They asked for no evidence that card was even still open (though it was)

I would expect the Chase process to be similar but have no direct experience with it.

Thanks.

Separate question. Do you think I should switch from Citi Simplicity to Citi Rewards Plus? I have always paid my balance in full each month since inception. I think neither Citi Simplicity nor Citi Rewards Plus provide extended warranty (at one point in the past Simplicity did)