Chase is now allowing a product change from the original Freedom card which is a Visa to a Freedom Flex card which is a Mastercard. Last year they stopped allowing the change from Visa to Mastercard, but in the past few days they’ve started allowing it again.
Freedom Flex is better due to the 3x Dining and Drugstore category. Specifically, some people might now be nudged to change their original Freedom to a Freedom Flex if they’re planning on using the card for Dining during Q4 2026 for the 5x category – the Freedom Flex always gets a bonus 2x on Dining (3x total), and so during Q4 2026 it’ll be 7x (1x base + 4x category bonus + 2x Dining bonus).
- Note: you still can’t change a Sapphire (basic/CSR/CSP) card to a Freedom Flex – you’ll have to change it to the original Freedom card since both are Visa. Presumably, after converting to the original Freedom, you’ll then be able to process a separate conversion from the original Freedom to the Freedom Flex.
For context: Freedom Flex is the only Chase Ultimate Rewards card which runs on Mastercard. The original Freedom is a Visa and is called in the Chase system ‘Freedom with Ultimate Rewards’. It’s the same as the Freedom Flex minus a few benefits which were added when they created the Freedom Flex years back. The OG Freedom card is no longer available for applications. Some people still have it from years back or from a product change. Some people like the OG Freedom for Costco since it’s a Visa, but otherwise the Flex version is superior in every way.
