Should You Sign Up For The Old Freedom Card Before It’s Discontinued?

We wrote on our original post on the Chase Freedom changes (and has since been confirmed) that the old-school Chase Freedom 5% will no longer be available for new applications after September 14th in favor of the new Freedom Flex cards. Existing Freedom cardholders can keep their card or can change it over to become a Freedom Flex card.

Earlier today we confirmed that existing Freedom cardholders can sign up for the new Freedom Flex card, and even get the signup bonus too. It’s considered a separate product from the old card, and you can get the signup bonus even if you recently got the bonus on the old Freedom card.

Some are wondering if they should sign up for the old-style Freedom card now or wait until the new Flex card is released. The signup bonus on all Freedom cards is currently a sweet $200 + 5% on grocery for a year up to $12,000. The upcoming Freedom Flex is slated to have the same signup bonus offer as well. We don’t know how long the signup offer will last, but it should be there at least during the initial launch of the Freedom Flex card.

Before we start it’s worth noting that for most of this question is irrelevant due to the 5/24 restriction which presumably will be in effect on the Freedom Flex card. However, if you are under 5/24 and are interested in adding the Freedom card to your arsenal, there are a few angles to consider:

If you want to get as many Freedom card bonuses as you can, some have suggested signing up now for the old Freedom card, and then signing up again in a few weeks for the new one. In theory that would work since we’ve confirmed that the two cards are separate, and you can get the bonus on the Flex even soon after getting the bonus on the Freedom.
However, from a practical standpoint, I don’t think this is too relevant since Chase is not likely to approve you for two new personal cards in quick succession, especially when the two cards are so similar.Theoretically, it could still make sense to apply now for the old Freedom, and then try for the Flex in 6 months. However, we have no idea if the enticing $200+5% signup offer will be around for that long, so I wouldn’t plan on that.
If you don’t have any Freedom 5% cards, and you want to get as many Freedoms as you can for the long-term ability to max out the rotating 5% categories, you’ll want to sign up now for the old Freedom card, and then in 6 months or a year sign up for the new Flex card with whatever signup bonus is around then. This way you’ll have two 5% Freedom cards long-term.
Which leads to the next question…if I’m signing up for one Freedom card, should I do it now or wait until the Freedom Flex is released to save myself the product change phone call?
Initially I wrote here to apply now for the added referral bonus. But readers pointed out that Freedom is no longer available via referral. So I’d recommend waiting until the Flex is released with the hopes that – as part of the revamp – they’ll make the signup offer available via referral. I wouldn’t wait too long, however, since we don’t know how long the $200+5% signup offer will be around.

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