If you’ve been following the recent credit card news then you’re probably aware of the alternative signup offer on Chase Freedom Unlimited card that normally offers 1.5x on all purchases. The obvious question is “should you get this new offer?” but the lesser obvious question is “why does it exist?”. But if you can brainstorm why Chase created this offer then you can probably guess if this offer will be trumped.
As a reminder, the “normal” Chase offer is as follows:
- 15,000 Ultimate Rewards (UR) points for 500 spend
- 2500 UR for adding an authorized user
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/18/UKQ1G1H8K7
“normal” Chase offer mentioned above
And the “new” Chase offer is as follows:
- 3x UR on all purchase on first year
- 2500 UR for adding an authorized user
“new” Chase offer mentioned above (copied from DoC)
Why Does this Offer Exist?
Because Discover IT Miles. Chase Freedom that earns 5x on quarterly designated categories has a history of competing with Discover IT which also earns 5% on quarterly designated categories.
Discover Miles earns 1.5% and Chase Freedom Unlimited does the same. However, Discover Miles has long rewarded 3x to its user on first year and I believe that Chase is directly mimicking the same offer.
Will this Offer be Trumped?
I believe so. Off the top of my head I can’t recall Chase not having points, nights, or dollar signup offer. The Freedom card, along with Ink Cash, have long been advertised as a cashback earning card. It makes complete sense for Chase to offer dollar (which will basically be UR) offer on top of 3x offer. Also, if we believe that Chase FU is competing with Discover Miles then it will to have similar (but likely better) signup offer than Miles.
But Why Does it Not Have a Signup Offer Now?
Because Chase probably isn’t 100% sure about offering this offer. I believe they’re just testing the offer, collecting data, and analyzing “how good will 3x on 1st year be for us?”
This is similar somewhat, but not quite, similar to how Chase tested 1/24 rule on some Southwest offers first and several months later, it became a reality. I speculated about 1/24 expanding to more than CSP/CSR back in October 2017 and this is just one of those speculation post.
Should I Get this Signup Offer?
No because
- I expect a better offer
- It will take a lot of spend for you to earn $150 signup offer through 3x earning rate. This rate becomes worse when you realize that you could have put the same spend on a 2% card
- I don’t like the idea of MSing a ton on a Chase card and you would have to MS a lot to make this offer worth
- If you’re under 5/24, you should think about the possibility of getting $500 offer through CSR/CSP or $100 through CIP. Now imagine trying to earn the same amount through MS at 3x rate.
