Chase Freedom Business Credit Card - $50 Bonus & 3% Cash Back on airfare, hotels, office supplies

Online application

I'm posting this deal because there does not seem to be a lot of information on the Chase Freedom BUSINESS Credit Card. Not only is there a $50 bonus for opening the card, but there is 3% Cash Back in different categories than the standard Chase Freedom personal card such as hotels, office supply stores, and airlines. There is a monthly $2,000 cap on the 3% categories. Sign up here for business CC. As far as I know, the Business freedom card is eligible for the $250 check for $200 rewards conversion like the personal CC, which is equivalent to 3.75% CashBack in those categories.

Not only is this a great card for Cash Back, it can also waive fees from your Chase Business Checking account. If you don't have a business checking account, you can sign up for one here with a $200 bonus (no longer alive). You can go to your local branch and sign up for both for a total of $250 cash bonus.

Credit card T&C: You will earn 1 base point for each $1 of net purchases. Each billing cycle, you will also earn an additional 2 bonus points for each $1 of eligible net purchases made at merchant locations in the 5 bonus categories where you have spent the most. Retail establishments must classify their merchant location for Visa/MasterCard as one of the following bonus categories: airlines, bookstores (excluding purchases where “Amazon.com” appears as the merchant on your monthly transaction statement), cable/satellite TV/Internet Service Providers, car rental agencies, gas & convenience stores, drugstores, dry cleaners, gym/recreation memberships, local and suburban commuter passenger transportation (including ferries, bridges, tolls, parking garages, taxis/limos), lodging establishments, office supply stores, quick copy printing services, dining establishments (including quick serve payment/fast food restaurants), telecommunications, or utilities. Purchases not eligible to receive the 2 bonus points include, but are not limited to, purchases made at superstores, warehouse clubs and discount stores. Online and catalog purchases are not eligible to receive the 2 bonus points unless the merchants have correctly identified and billed the transactions. We do not determine whether merchants correctly identify and bill transactions as being made in each particular category. However, we do reserve the right to determine which purchases qualify for the 2 bonus points. You do not earn points on balance transfers, cash advances, cash-like charges such as travelers checks, foreign currency, and money orders, any checks that are used to access your account, overdraft advances, interest, unauthorized or fraudulent charges, or fees of any kind, including fees for products that protect or insure the balances of your account. Maximum bonus point accumulation on net purchases earning 2 bonus points is 4,000 points per billing cycle, which equates to $2,000 in net purchases. The top bonus categories earning 2 bonus points vary per billing cycle depending on your spending habits. There is no maximum amount of base points that can be earned on net purchases earning 1 point (which includes net purchases in bonus categories after you reach the per billing cycle maximum accumulation and bonus categories that are not entitled to bonus points that billing cycle). See Rewards Program Rules and Regulations which will be mailed after your account is established.

Thanks for posting.

3% (possibly 3.75%) on hotels and airfare is tempting. Looks like this is in-branch only? Do you know how much common carrier insurance it offers on plane tickets?

thanks

since when....i still can do itgoog40 said: I have the Freedom Business card and they got rid of the $250 for $200 bonus check offer near the end of last year. They replaced it with a $1000 for $900 offer, so it's not nearly as good as it once was.

online application added to OP. but i recommend going in branch to open the biz checking for the $200 bonus promo.

You can open a business checking account as a sole proprietor using your SSN. That's what I did. When they asked what I do, I just said I sell things on eBay (which is true).

I'd like to know the answer to that question too. I've heard conflicting accounts as to whether the Business Freedom cards can still convert $200 for $250.

goog40 said: I have the Freedom Business card and they got rid of the $250 for $200 bonus check offer near the end of last year. They replaced it with a $1000 for $900 offer, so it's not nearly as good as it once was.

This has been my experience as well.

I applied for and received a Chase Freedom Business Card. But they thought I would have too much credit with Chase, so they closed a 16 year old card that had not been used in two years. Mixed feelings about this, but I am glad to be able to get 3% back on airlines, hotels, and rental cars.

Wonder if I would qualify for the extra top categories if I just have a regular Chase personal checking account instead of a business checking account. Can't find anywhere where it specifically says you have to have a BUSINESS checking account.

Also, enjoy this CC while you can. Soon Chase will be "upgrading" (really downgrading) Freedom Biz CCs to the Chase Business INK CC. Not sure how this NEW CC will work with rewards, but probably similar to the downgrade others are talking about on the personal Chase Freedom CC thread.

SuperG03

lhendricks92 said: goog40 said: I have the Freedom Business card and they got rid of the $250 for $200 bonus check offer near the end of last year. They replaced it with a $1000 for $900 offer, so it's not nearly as good as it once was.

This has been my experience as well.

This is NOT my experience. I just cashed $200 in rewards for $250 check. This card is awesome! This is THE BEST card for generic travel rewards because you can earn 3% rewards on your travel expenses like airfare, lodging and car rentals. No other card comes close (Discover is 2% and you can double your rewards at some merchants for effective rate of 4% but its restricted to small currencies ($20/25) and/or stores I dont shop at)...Considering the 25% bonus on top while cashing rewards, this works out to 3.75% rewards.

[Strategy]If you travel frequently, consider using your personal freedom for expenses that are either covered by both cards or only the personal card will cover. This way you'll milk both cards.
[/Strategy]

somdave2005 said: For those that have the card, how are the rewards? Similar to the regular chase freedom card? I'm particularly interested in the $250 check for $200 rewards redemption, and conversion into UA, BA, and Continental airlines miles. Does this card qualify for the Chase Rewards plus shopping portal? Many Thanks. - Dave

Rewards are just as good as personal Freedom card. You'll still have 250 for 200 and conversion to miles is also an option but IMO roundtrip within US for 25k miles is a better deal.

Edit: Plus you can use the rewards plus portal with this card.

somdave2005 said: Wonder if I would qualify for the extra top categories if I just have a regular Chase personal checking account instead of a business checking account. Can't find anywhere where it specifically says you have to have a BUSINESS checking account.

I qualify and I dont have business checking account. I only have a personal checking account with them. If you do get business checking, make sure you upgrade your personal checking to premier. Its one of the perks for business checking customers. There is no monthly fee on the personal checking account linked to savings account. Definitely worth it because you get a 3x5 safe box.

SuperG03 said: Also, enjoy this CC while you can. Soon Chase will be "upgrading" (really downgrading) Freedom Biz CCs to the Chase Business INK CC. Not sure how this NEW CC will work with rewards, but probably similar to the downgrade others are talking about on the personal Chase Freedom CC thread.

SuperG03

Again, this seems false/speculative. Do you have anything that'd confirm this? I've had personal freedom and havent received anything about 'upgrade'. I've had business freedom and havent heard anything about its rewards being changed. The personal freedom conversion (reported in the other thread) seems targetted and selective rather than chopping off the whole program. Makes me believe there may have been something in their credit/spending/card usage profiles that alarmed Chase into converting those customers.

You've gotta remember that this is a miserable time to be a CC company. They're looking at mountains and mountains of lates, defaults etc. Collections isnt working. So their risk models are dramatically altered to lower their risk exposure. A side effect of that maybe a few good but on the fringes customers are affected.

TheWalL said: SuperG03 said: Also, enjoy this CC while you can. Soon Chase will be "upgrading" (really downgrading) Freedom Biz CCs to the Chase Business INK CC. Not sure how this NEW CC will work with rewards, but probably similar to the downgrade others are talking about on the personal Chase Freedom CC thread.

SuperG03

Again, this seems false/speculative. Do you have anything that'd confirm this? I've had personal freedom and havent received anything about 'upgrade'. I've had business freedom and havent heard anything about its rewards being changed. The personal freedom conversion (reported in the other thread) seems targetted and selective rather than chopping off the whole program. Makes me believe there may have been something in their credit/spending/card usage profiles that alarmed Chase into converting those customers.

You've gotta remember that this is a miserable time to be a CC company. They're looking at mountains and mountains of lates, defaults etc. Collections isnt working. So their risk models are dramatically altered to lower their risk exposure. A side effect of that maybe a few good but on the fringes customers are affected.

You are right about it being a miserable time to be a CC company. Regarding my original post, the Business INK CCs will be arriving soon (before end of this year). Now, again, this does not mean everyone will immediately be converted to it. I am just saying that in a very similar fashion as the personal freedom CC, the business freedom CC will be affected. I think in my original post, I made it seem like it will be ASAP, but when I say soon, I meant probably over the course of the rest of 2009 and 2010 (same as the time frame regarding the personal freedom CC). I can't give you anything concrete on this, as I don't know the exact details. As soon as I do, I will let you guys know. For now, just take it for what it is worth. If you don't want to believe it, then don't, but I am just trying to share the info that I know. Thanks.

SuperG03

w0lfe said: TheWalL said: lhendricks92 said: goog40 said: I have the Freedom Business card and they got rid of the $250 for $200 bonus check offer near the end of last year. They replaced it with a $1000 for $900 offer, so it's not nearly as good as it once was.

This has been my experience as well.

This is NOT my experience. I just cashed $200 in rewards for $250 check.

Do you have the Freedom Rewards or the Freedom Rewards Exclusive (the one where you need a business checking account with Chase)?

I'm on the normal rewards program and am only seeing the $1000 for $900 offer, even though I signed up last year when the $250 for $200 offer was available (it was one of the benefits they listed).

I have Freedom rewards. I also have the Exclusive thing because I have personal checking account. I'm not seeing any terms wherein they restrict the Chase Exclusives for business cards to business checking accounts. I did recently try to cash in on the $200 for opening business checking but the branch's business specialist shot me down as I didnt have registration stuff. I was receiving Top 5 cats and had seen 250 for 200 before that though.

beethovengirl said: My husband and I don't have any business checking accounts but the application asks for "Average Business Checking Account Balance Ytd." How should I answer this?

thanks $0?

By the way, the rewards program on my Personal Freedom card just got slashed (finally). This is a pretty good backup card so I can still get 3% on drug stores, commuting, etc. I still have the option to cash out $250 check for $200 rewards. (I do have a business chkg account).

TheWalL said: beethovengirl said: Thanks for posting.

3% (possibly 3.75%) on hotels and airfare is tempting. Looks like this is in-branch only? Do you know how much common carrier insurance it offers on plane tickets?

thanks I got the standard visa insurance on plane tickets. Visa just downgraded this coverage to 250k from 1MM.
hmm, I (or rather my husband) got $100k common carrier insurance on this card so I'll probably use my Schwab 2% card for plane tix as it's still $1 million last I checked.

SegaRob said: beethovengirl said: TheWalL said: beethovengirl said: Thanks for posting.

3% (possibly 3.75%) on hotels and airfare is tempting. Looks like this is in-branch only? Do you know how much common carrier insurance it offers on plane tickets?

thanks I got the standard visa insurance on plane tickets. Visa just downgraded this coverage to 250k from 1MM.
hmm, I (or rather my husband) got $100k common carrier insurance on this card so I'll probably use my Schwab 2% card for plane tix as it's still $1 million last I checked.what is common carrier insurance?
http://co.douglas.co.us/commissioners/documents/Attachment.pdf

still alive

marvelous35 said: marvelous35 said: I got my downgrade letter too. Bummer since I have only had the card for around 8 months.

Oddly enough, using the link in the first post, I just applied for another Chase Business Freedom card. We'll see what comes from it.

I got my new Chase Freedom Business Card today. It says I get 3% on my top 3 categories.

The bad news: Chase closed 3 of my other credit cards (CL = $39000) for a credit line of $5k on the new card. Worse yet, I had over 8000 pts on one of the cards and cannot redeem them now. I am going to call Risk Management to see if I can somehow redeem them.

Talked to Risk Management. When you apply for a new card, they review all of the credit you have. And if they feel you have too much, they close accounts until they are happy. One of the accounts Chase closed, my wife is the primary. Since I applied to for the card, her cards should not have been included in the review. So they reopened that account. Fortunately, that is the card that also had rewards points on it.