Chase Freedom Flex

Rewards by category

Our take

The Chase Freedom Flex is built for drivers. It earns 5x Ultimate Rewards points on gas, which is why it sits at number one in SwipeCaddy's gas ranking, and 3x on dining with no annual fee attached. If fuel is one of your biggest recurring line items and you eat out regularly, this card covers both without costing you anything to hold.

The catch is the cap. The 5x rate covers up to $1,500 in gas spend per quarter; anything past that earns the base 1x. At the conservative one-cent-per-point valuation SwipeCaddy uses, maxing the cap is worth about $75 a quarter, roughly $300 a year. Everything outside gas and dining earns 1x, so this is a specialist card, not an everything card.

In a two-card wallet, the Freedom Flex plays the bonus role. Put gas and dining on it, and route the rest of your spending to a flat-rate card that beats its 1x floor. Because there is no annual fee, it costs nothing to keep it in rotation for those two categories alone, even in quarters when your gas spending is light.

The math

Run $200 a month of gas through this card and you're earning about $120 a year at our conservative valuations. There's no annual fee to earn back — everything above the 1x base rate is pure upside.

Where it lands in our rankings: #1 for transit & rideshare · #1 for entertainment · #2 for gas

Store bonuses

• Lyft2x

Common questions

Does Chase Freedom Flex have an annual fee?

No — Chase Freedom Flex has no annual fee.

What does Chase Freedom Flex earn on gas?

5x on gas (up to $1,500/qtr (combined); lower rate after the cap).

What rewards does Chase Freedom Flex earn on everything else?

1x on all other purchases, in Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Is there a cap on the Chase Freedom Flex 5x gas earnings?

Yes. The 5x rate applies to up to $1,500 in gas purchases per quarter, after which spending earns the card's 1x base rate. At one cent per point, a maxed cap returns about $75 per quarter. If you regularly hit the limit, move overflow gas spend to whichever other card in your wallet earns the most.

Does the Chase Freedom Flex earn extra on dining?

Yes, dining earns 3x Ultimate Rewards points, roughly 3% back at the conservative one-cent valuation, and unlike gas there is no quarterly cap on the category. That makes it a reasonable default for restaurant spending if you do not carry a dedicated dining card. With no annual fee, using it for both gas and dining costs you nothing.

Related reading

• The 5% fine print: spend caps on Citi Custom Cash, Freedom Flex, and friendsEvery 5% card caps its bonus: Citi Custom Cash at $500/month, Chase Freedom Flex and Discover it at $1,500/quarter (activation required), U.S. Bank Cash+ at $2,000/quarter, Blue Cash Preferred's 6% at $6,000/year. Do the math and each card's maximum edge over a flat 2% card is only $180–$240 a year — and after the cap, most drop to 1%, below the boring card you skipped.
• How we value points and miles (and why our numbers are lower than everyone else's)SwipeCaddy ranks cards by reward rate × a conservative cash value per point: 1¢ for cash back and transferable points (Chase, Amex, Citi, Capital One, Bilt), 1.1–1.3¢ for airline miles, 0.4–1.4¢ for hotel points, and 0.8–0.9¢ for store currencies. Optimistic transfer values are recorded for context but never ranked, because most people never achieve them.