2006 Update - They Are Now the Chase Freedom Card
Written: Jul 23 '06
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Pros: Highest rebate rates. Instant cash rebate. Proactive Fraud Prevention/Protection. Robust online account management.
Cons: Higher APY (it only matters if you tend to carry a balance).
The Bottom Line: If my friend asks me to recommend just one credit card, Chase Freedom is the one.
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| inphri's Full Review: Shell MasterCard (Chase Manhattan) |
This is still the best credit card I would recommend to my friends and family, but a few things have changed over the years, so I wanted to post an update. First off, the name has been changed to the "Freedom Card" by Chase, and the image on the card is now blue with a few waves. You can still have your photo and signature printed on the front of the card, if you choose.
Highest Rebate Rate, and It Is Instant Rebate
I have had this card when it was a Shell credit card. Back then, it only gave 5% rebate on Shell gasoline purchases. Now the Freedom Card gives 5% rebate on any gasoline purchases, not just at the Shell stations. In addition, in some rare cases, you can get 5% rebate even though you did not buy gas. As long as the merchants identify themselves as "gas stations" (I don't know why they do that), then you will get 5% rebate. For example, an ice cream shop I frequent is categorized as a "gas station" and any ice cream treat I buy there gives me 5% rebate. For everything else, you get 1% rebate.
The best part is that the rebate is an instant cash rebate. It is not "points" that you have to accumulate to exchange for something else later. It is not a rebate check you only get on your anniversary date with the credit card. It is not a step-laddered rebate (i.e., 0.25% for the first $1,000, 0.5% for the next $1,000, etc). It is a full 1% or 5% rebate on every dollar you spent, and the amount is immediately credited on your next billing statement right away. So you just pay that much less when you get your next bill. This is great because I don't want to wait for a full year before I can get my rebate back (with no interest).
This is by far the highest rebate rate I have seen, except for the "Reward Card" also issued by Chase. However, the Reward Card is not my favorite because the rebate is given in points, and it is not instant. I would love to talk about it in more details, but it is not listed on epinions.com.
Proactive and Almost Annoying Fraud Prevention
All Chase credit cards come with their aggressive Fraud Prevention watch. In some cases, I love it, because they proactively watch out for me before I even realized there was a fraudulent activity on my account. Real fraud has happened to me twice, and they took care of it like a snap. There was no liability on my end, period. The only consequences I had to endure were the wait time to receive the new replacement card, and the hassle of switching all my automated payment plans that linked to the old card account number. They definitely provide a peace of mind in fraud protection.
However, some other times they can get a little annoying. When my husband was deployed overseas, I found our Freedom Card (and the Reward Card) being deactivated because they thought the purchases made in Turkey and Greece were fraud. A word of advice: If you are traveling overseas, make sure you call their Customer Service and put a travel notice in your account. Otherwise, it is a true hassle not being able to use the card when you need it.
On Line Account Management
Chase provides a lot of functionality for the credit card holders to manage their accounts online. If you have multiple Chase credit cards (I personally have 4 different types of credit cards issued by Chase), you can have all of them under one login, which is very convenient.
From the website, you can see current activities, view past statements (up to 6 months if you still want to receive monthly paper statements, or, up to 6 years if you elect to become paperless), change your payment due date, schedule electronic payment, add an authorized user, set up alerts, assign nicknames to quickly identify each account, and even dispute a questionable charge right from your computer.
The only aspect I think is lacking in the online account management is regarding the rewards. For Freedom Card, it does not matter because it's always an instant cash rebate credited to the account on the next statement. But for other Chase cards that give points, I can't see what my points can do for me.
This Card Is Not For Everyone
Despite all the benefits, it is not for everyone if you have the habit of carrying a balance. The APY is definitely not competitive. My current purchase rate is over 18% and cash advance rate is over 24%. I think it varies depending on the card holder's credit score. It does not matter to me because I never carry a balance. But if you cannot pay the balance off every month, the rebate is definitely not worth the high interest.
Other Miscellaneous Benefits
Oh, I have not mentioned but this card has no annual fee. Well, I never pay any annual fee to use a credit card, and nor should you. The other fringe benefit I like is the direct mail offers. Usually they want you to try out their identity theft protection plan free for 30 days, and they give you a $15 check as an incentive on top of the free-trial. I am not interested in the identity theft program, but I always cash the check. All I have to do is make a quick phone call in 2 weeks and tell them I want to cancel it. That is the easiest $15 to make without costing anything out of my pocket.
Freedom Is My Absolute Favorite Credit Card
The reasons are simple. 5% on gas and 1% on everything else, these are the highest rebate rate I have ever seen. Instant cash rebate is the quickest way I can get the reward back in my pocket. No waiting for the anniversary, no step-ladder, and no accumulation of points. The customer service is adequate. I don't really have any outstanding experience with the regular customer service, but that is simply because I never had any problem needing someone there to fix. I have dealt with the Fraud Prevention quite a few times and they are satisfactory overall. I have over 20 credit cards and Chase Freedom is one of the 2 main cards I use (the other one being Chase Reward).
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
inphri
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Member: Selene Nieh
Location: Fairfax, VA, USA
Reviews written: 53
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
I intend to actively share my experience and opinion. Information is never enough! ^_^
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