Compare the Features and Benefits of Chase Freedom Flex Review and
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

This is a primary card in the Chase Trifecta, which includes a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve, a Chase Freedom Unlimited, and this card, the Chase Freedom Flex. You’ll earn 3% on dining and drugstore purchases with the Freedom Flex. But whereas the Freedom Unlimited gives you 1.5% cash back on other spend categories, The Flex earns only 1%. That is because it has the rotating 5% bonus categories.

The rotating bonus categories each quarter can be fantastic. Amazon is a popular choice, meaning you’d earn 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points ($75) if you spent $1,500 during that quarter.

Since the Chase Freedom Flex is a pure cash back credit card unless you also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred® with which to combine your Chase Ultimate Rewards points, it’s ideally used as part of a combo.

When you hold one of these premium Ultimate Rewards-earning credit cards, you can transfer points earned on the Freedom Flex to the premium card. Once you’ve moved the Ultimate Rewards over to the premium credit card, you can take advantage of points transfers to 12 Chase airline and hotel partners or book travel through the travel portal.

Best of all, you can accrue cash back on this card and decide to add a Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred® later on – if you suddenly decide that you’d like to delve into the world of credit card rewards that transfer to frequent flyer and hotel programs to book free award flights and hotel nights.

If you book through the travel portal and have a Sapphire Reserve, your points redeem for 1.5 cents each, meaning that you earn 1.5X points or cash back per dollar and redeem them for 1.5X, giving you an effective 2.25% return on your spend.

If you book through the travel portal and have a Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred, your points redeem for 1.25 cents each, meaning that you earn 1.5X per dollar and redeem for 1.5X, giving you an effective 1.875% return on your spend.

But our absolute favorite way to redeem is always via airline and hotel transfer partners. The easiest high-value redemption is usually Hyatt. We often get better than 2 cents per World of Hyatt point. Keep in mind that Hyatt doesn’t charge any resort fees when you stay on a free night award. So let’s say you are looking at a hotel with a cash price of $259 and a $25 a night resort fee and 8% tax. That would come to $307 a night. But if that same room costs 8,000 or 12,000 Hyatt points, you could be using your points (which transfer at an even 1:1 ratio to all airline and hotel partners) with a rate of return of 3 – 4 cents.

To be clear, if you don’t also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred®, the rewards earned with the Chase Freedom Flex are purely cash back rewards.

That said, even without a card combo, it’s still a solid card to earn cash back, including 3% on dining , including takeout and eligible delivery services, and drugstores) since it has no annual fee.

The Chase Freedom Flex credit card comes with a solid range of benefits for a card with no annual fee. You’ll get Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty on the shopping side and you’ll be taken care of on canceled or shortened pre-paid trips if a covered reason arises. with the included Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance.

Although the Southwest Priority Card charges the highest annual fee of any of the personal Southwest credit cards, we argue that it should be the go-to card for frequent Southwest flyers. That’s because the perks of this Southwest credit card easily justify the $149 annual fee.

Cardholders get four Upgraded Boardings each year, a $75 Southwest annual travel credit, 7,500 bonus points every cardmember anniversary (worth $105), and 25% back on inflight purchases. If you fly Southwest just a couple of times per year, these perks should easily save more than the $149 annual fee.

In addition to the sign-up bonus, cardholders earn 3x points on Southwest purchases and 2x points on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partner purchases, local transit, commuting, and rideshare. In addition to those travel purchases, cardholders also earn 2x points on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming services. All other purchases earn 1x points.

All points earned count toward earning the Southwest Companion Pass. Plus, cardholders will earn 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points toward A-List and A-List Preferred Status for every $5,000 spent per year. And you don’t need to worry about foreign transaction fees with the Southwest Priority Card.

The only downside to Southwest Airlines credit cards is that Rapid Rewards points are only valuable for flying Southwest. If you want to earn flexible points, consider a credit card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to the Southwest Rapid Rewards program, so you’ll still be able to top off your Rapid Rewards account when you need points for your next redemption, but you can also transfer them to any of Chase’s other airline or hotel transfer partners.

Lastly, this card is great for getting a good chunk of the way to a Southwest Companion Pass with the bonus offer. Read our guide on earning a Southwest Companion Pass for up to two years via new account bonuses.