Compare the Features and Benefits of Chase Freedom Unlimited® and
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card

This is a staple card in the Chase Trifecta, which includes a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve, a Chase Freedom Flex, and this card, the Chase Freedom Unlimited.

The primary benefit of this card, from a bonus category perspective, is the ability to earn 1.5% on all purchases that don’t have a bonus category. So while you earn 3% on dining and drugstore purchases with the Freedom Unlimited, you’ll earn 1.5% cash back on anything else, like insurance or utilities.

But since the Chase Freedom Unlimited 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 a combo.

When you hold one of these premium Ultimate Rewards-earning credit cards, you can transfer points earned on the Freedom Unlimited 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.

If you book through Chase Travel℠ 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 Chase Travel℠ 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.

That said, even without a card combo, it’s still a solid card to earn 1.5% cash back (plus 3% on dining, including takeout and eligible delivery services, and drugstores) since it has no annual fee. 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.

It comes with a solid range of benefits for a card with no annual fee, too. 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.

Marriott Bonvoy offers co-branded credit cards from two major issuers: American Express and Chase. With so many options to choose from, it can be hard to narrow down the right Marriott credit card for you. If you’re interested in a Marriott Bonvoy credit card but don’t necessarily want to pony up a huge annual fee, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card could be the perfect fit. This card provides an excellent introduction into earning a ton of Marriott points, from the welcome bonus earned upon account opening to the everyday rewards rate.

You’ll not only earn 6x points (up to 17X total Bonvoy points per dollar spent when including your Bonvoy program earnings) on eligible hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy, but the Bonvoy Boundless credit card is a solid match for everyday purchases. Cardholders can earn 3x points per dollar on up to the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases at grocery stores, gas stations and dining. By maxing out that limit, you would earn 18,000 Marriott Bonvoy points alone from everyday spend! Not to mention, you’ll still earn 2x points per dollar on all non-bonus category purchases.

Once you rack up a sizable sum of Marriott Bonvoy points, you can redeem them at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels, where the 5th night is always free on awards, adding to the value.

With 8,500 properties and counting, you can find a Marriott Bonvoy hotel at virtually every corner of the world. It’s easy to search for properties through Marriott’s website, then press “use points/certificates” to see the award rate for your desired travel dates.

Another huge perk to discuss is the card’s free night award. You’ll receive the annual free night certificate every account anniversary year, and the free night valued at up to 35,000 points can be a huge money-saver every year – especially since you can add on up to 15,000 points from your account if the room you want is between 35,000 and 50,000 points. As we value Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.6 cents apiece, this translates into roughly $210 in value — which is more than double the value of the $95 annual fee!

There are even more benefits once you get to participating Marriott hotels thanks to the card’s automatic elite status perks. You’ll be bumped up from your Marriott Bonvoy member account to Silver elite status with the automatic 15 elite night credits, and this level offers 10% bonus Marriott Bonvoy points (as reflected in the card’s rewards rate) and priority late check-out. You can easily bypass the ranks to earn Gold elite status by spending at least $35,000 on the card every year (although, at that point, you’d probably be better off with the premium Bonvoy Brilliant card which grants automatic Platinum status – admittedly for a high annual fee. This level can be particularly rewarding, thanks to enhanced room upgrades upon availability, 2 p.m. late checkout (based on availability), and 25% bonus points on eligible Marriott stays.

Last but not least, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card isn’t just a great pick for your hotel stays. When traveling, you’ll be covered with a plethora of protections, including trip delay reimbursement, lost luggage reimbursement, and secondary rental car coverage. Finally, some important purchase coverages that are standard with Chase are included, including purchase protection and extended warranty.

In summary, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card is a popular pick for the $95 annual fee. It’s easy for cardholders to justify paying this cost every year thanks to the free night award, and that’s before you consider all of the other benefits on the card.

However, if you’re interested in a higher elite status level, a free night valued up to 85,000 points per night, and the possibility to earn Marriott Bonvoy points faster, you may want to consider other Marriott Bonvoy credit cards like the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card.