I have many reviews and tips on the famous Chase Freedom Card which offers $50 sign-up bonus and gives you 3% cash back on certain categories. This credit card is one of my top rated rewards credit cards and it is also the most popular credit card issued by Chase with more than 1.5 million cardholders. If you use the Chase Freedom Card together with the Blue Cash from American Express, you will be surprised to see how much cash back you can earn from them (Of course, this is good for big spenders only.).

However, it seems I neglect the other upgraded Chase Freedom Card issued from Chase—the Chase Freedom Plus Credit Card. This is a new credit card product launched in late 2007 aimed to attract more credit card consumers who want to get more rewards by using a credit card. Some of previous Chase Freedom Card members have converted to the Chase Freedom Plus Card while they can still keep the same account number. So what’s new in the Chase Freedom Plus Credit Card?

As far as I can tell, there are four improvements on the Chase Freedom Plus Card.

• The number of bonus categories increases from 3 to 6.
• The rewards cap for bonus categories is lifted. This is a really good move for those big spenders!
• The sign-up bonus is increased to 10,000 bonus miles which can be redeemed as $100 ($50 for the Chase Freedom Card).
• More versatile rewards programs. Unlike the Chase Freedom Card which you can only accumulate points or cash, the Chase Freedom Plus Card allows you to choose which kind of rewards you want to accumulate. You can switch between cash back, points and miles.

According to the fine print, this program gives you more freedom to choose which rewards you like:

If you choose to switch how you earn rewards, and you are earning your rewards as rebates, your rebates will be converted to points at a rate of $0.01 to one point, and to miles at a rate of $0.01 to one mile. For example, $5 in rebates will transfer to 500 points or 500 miles. If you are earning your rewards as points, your points will be transferred to the cash back program at a rate of 1 point to $0.01. For example, 500 points will transfer to $5 in rebates. Points will be transferred to the miles program at a rate of 1 point to 1 mile. For example, 500 points will transfer to 500 miles. If you are earning your rewards as miles, your miles will be transferred to the cash back program at a rate of 1 mile to $0.01. For example, 500 miles will transfer to $5 in rebates. Miles will be transferred to the points program at a rate of 1 mile to 1 point. For example, 500 miles will transfer to 500 points.

The 15 categories that are eligible for receiving bonus rewards are:

• Cable/Satellite TV, internet providers
• Department stores
• Utilities
• Fast food & quick service restaurants
• Gas & convenience stores
• Drugstores
• Pet supply stores/veterinarian
• Phone/cell phone bills
• Movie theaters
• Grocery stores
• Movie rentals
• Dry cleaners
• Local commuting
• Beauty salons/SPAs
• Gym memberships

The bad news is this card has a $30 annual fee which can be waived for the first year.

My thoughts: Upgrade to the Chase Freedom Plus Card is not a good move besides to receive the $100 bonus. I would suggest you open a new Chase Checking Account which can give you $125 sign-up bonus (You can easily get a coupon with $125 bonus at the post office.). If you have a Chase checking account, your Chase Freedom Card will automatically be upgraded to get 3% cash back from 5 categories (You can only get 3% cash back from 3 categories if you don’t have a checking account at Chase.).

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