Points are great, but sometimes it’s nice to get some good ol’ fashioned cash back. Sure, it might not give you outweighed value on travel, but it provides flexibility. If you want to use it for travel, great; if you need a hand with the groceries this month, perfect. But what if you could have both…
As cashback cards go, The Chase Freedom Unlimited is as good as it gets. It has no annual fee, 6.5% cashback on travel, 4.5% on dining and drug stores, and 3% back on anything else. Its intro bonus comes in the form of an extra 1.5% on top of anything you buy for the first year up to $20,000, potentially $300 extra.
The interesting kicker with this card is that you can link it with another Chase Cards that uses Ultimate Rewards and turn your cashback into points. It’ll be a flat transfer of 30,000 points from $300, but you can increase that value with smart transfers. This is a perfect card for beginners.
Pros:
No annual fee
Potential $300 intro bonus can be used as cash or points
Simple earning categories
Cons:
It has a foreign transaction fee of 3%, so it’s a no-go abroad
Few perks beyond the basics