This New Chase Card Lets You Earn Tons of Cash Back on Travel — and There's No Annual Fee

Chase announced Monday a new credit card built for our pandemic lifestyles, helping travelers earn a bunch of cash back now to put toward vacations one day.

The Chase Freedom Flex is a new card that will earn 5 percent cash back on a rotating series of spending categories (think grocery stores, streaming services, and other domestic needs) as well as 5 percent on all travel purchases booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Additionally, it will earn 3 percent on dining and drugstore spending and 1 percent on all other purchases.

"Customers are going to the grocery store more and ordering takeout meals more frequently," says BJ Mahoney, General Manager of Chase Freedom. "While we started to build these products before the onset of [COVID-19], feedback since then has confirmed our theory that customers want to earn more while dining or at grocery stores."

The card will have no annual fee, Chase says. (Find the full slate of cash-back rewards listed below.)

Account holders will also get Mastercard’s World Elite Benefits with the card. Among those benefits are discounts on Lyft rides and Postmates orders, a cell phone protection plan, and, for when you’re ready to start traveling again, a suite of concierge services and free upgrades at a select number of hotels.

"Broadly speaking, we know our customers are traveling a bit less," Mahoney says. "However, with a wide breadth of travel options available through Ultimate Rewards — including car and home rentals, zoo and museum tickets, and many others — there are plenty of options for 'day trip' type activities that our customers are doing more frequently."

The Chase Freedom Flex card is a brand-new offering that’s similar in many ways to the existing Chase Freedom Unlimited card, which is also getting a refresh today. Both cards earn users 5 points per dollar on travel purchases and 3 points per dollar on dining and drugstore purchases. The Unlimited card will continue to offer 1.5 points per dollar on other purchases, versus the 1 percent back of the Flex card.

"While customer preferences have certainly shifted in recent months, we are confident Flex and Unlimited will deliver superior value in both the short and long term," Mahoney says. "While economic circumstances are fluid, we think the respective earn structures serve customers both in the immediate and longer term when the demand for travel and in-person dining increase."

Cash Back Percentages for the Chase Freedom Flex Card, According to Chase