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VS

Compare the Features and Benefits of Chase Freedom Unlimited® and
United Gateway℠ Card

Detailed Comparison Overview

Key Facts
Annual Fee
Avg. Min. Credit Score
APR on purchases
APR on balance transfers
Ongoing APR
Balance transfers fees
Best Multiplier
Avg. Point Value
(Learn More)
Bonus Offer
Rating
Review
Key features
Unique Card Benefits
0% Intro APR on Purchases
Secondary Car Rental CDW Waiver
Purchase Protection
Extended Warranty
Trip Protections
Free Access to Credit Score
0% Intro APR on Balance Transfers
No Foreign Transaction Fees
Concierge Services
Annual Fee
$0
Avg. Min. Credit Score
670-850
APR on purchases
0% Intro APR (on purchases for 15 months, 19.99%-28.74% thereafter)
APR on balance transfers
0% Intro APR (on balance transfers for 15 months, 19.99%-28.74% thereafter)
Ongoing APR
19.99%-28.74% (Variable)
Balance transfers fees
Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Best Multiplier
5x Airfare

Earn this multiplier when you purchase via Chase Travel℠. If you purchase any other way, you will earn 1.5X points.

5x Car Rentals

Earn this multiplier when you purchase via Chase Travel℠. If you purchase any other way, you will earn 1.5X points.

5x Hotels

Earn this multiplier when you purchase via Chase Travel℠. If you purchase any other way, you will earn 1.5X points.

5x Lyft
3x Dining Out / Food Delivery
3x Drugstores
1.5x Everything Else
Avg. Point Value
(Learn More)
$0.01 - $0.0175
Bonus Offer
Earn an extra 1.5% on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) — worth up to $300 cash back. That's 6.5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 4.5% on dining and drugstores, and 3% on all other purchases.
Rating
YBCC Card Rate Stars Filled
YBCC Card Rate Stars Empty
(4.25) Our Review

Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.

Review

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.

drugstores-chase-freedom-unlimited

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.

Read more
Unique Card Benefits
yes
0% Intro APR on Purchases
yes
Secondary Car Rental CDW Waiver
yes
Purchase Protection
yes
Extended Warranty
yes
Trip Protections
yes
Free Access to Credit Score
yes
0% Intro APR on Balance Transfers
yes
No Foreign Transaction Fees
no
Concierge Services
no
Annual Fee
$0
Avg. Min. Credit Score
670-850
APR on purchases
0% Intro APR (on purchases for 12 months, 21.49%-28.49% thereafter)
APR on balance transfers
-
Ongoing APR
21.49%-28.49% (Variable)
Balance transfers fees
Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Best Multiplier
2x Airfare

Applies only to United purchases. Otherwise, earn 1X

2x Transit
2x Gas Stations
1x Everything Else
Avg. Point Value
(Learn More)
$0.012
Bonus Offer
Earn 30,000 United MileagePlus® Miles after spending $1,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of opening an account, plus 0% APR on purchases within the first twelve months.
Rating
YBCC Card Rate Stars Filled
YBCC Card Rate Stars Empty
(3.75) Our Review

Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.

Review

The United Gateway card does a solid job of providing enough benefits to make you wonder if it will be sufficient, vs investing $95 or more on one of the other Chase United credit cards since this is the only one with no annual fee.

The answer will depend on you.

If you fly several times a year and check a bag each time, then you’ll come out ahead paying the $95 annual fee on the United℠ Explorer Card since you’ll get free checked bags (one for you and a companion on the same itinerary) every time you pay with your card on a domestic flight. You also won’t get priority boarding with the Gateway card.

However, if you are on “Team Carry-On Only,” then this card provides many of the same benefits, including the benefit that gives you access to expanded Saver economy coach availability just like a United Silver Premier member. However, unlike all of the other United cards, you won’t be entitled to upgrades on award tickets.

Additionally, you won’t have any opportunities to earn PQPs from spending on this card whereas all the other United cards do offer that benefit.

Lastly, you might do better with a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card if you aren’t using the checked bag benefit or the expanded award availability benefit. That’s because you’ll have more opportunities to earn points from spend on the Sapphire Preferred, and while you can transfer those points right over to United, you can also take advantage of all of the other Chase Ultimate Rewards airline and hotel transfer partners.

united-gateway-card

In the end, it depends on you if this is a good card for you, or if another similar card might be better.

Read more
Unique Card Benefits
yes
0% Intro APR on Purchases
yes
Secondary Car Rental CDW Waiver
yes
Purchase Protection
yes
Extended Warranty
yes
Trip Protections
yes
Free Access to Credit Score
yes
0% Intro APR on Balance Transfers
no
No Foreign Transaction Fees
yes
Concierge Services
yes

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