Discussion: Will Chase Eventually Limit Us to One Freedom-Family Card?

There was an interesting post today on Frequentmiler looking for data points about whether Chase is stopping to allow users to apply for a second card in the Freedom family, e.g. if you’re holding a Freedom, you wouldn’t be allowed to apply for a Freedom Unlimited. Readers there commented confirming that it still is possible to apply directly for the both cards. 

It got me thinking: but could it happen? Chase has already restricted us from applying for a second card in the Sapphire family, a rule that hit us with no prior notice. And they did the same to the Southwest line. What’s the likelihood of that happening to the Freedom line? Is there an urgency to signup ASAP for both Freedom cards if you are eligible?

The biggest difference between the Sapphire line and the Freedom line is customer acquisition cost. The Sapphire Preferred and Reserve cards cost Chase hundreds of dollars for the signup bonus, plus many (most?) cards are obtained through an affiliate channel who take a hefty commission. The Freedom line has a much lower signup bonus and lower affiliate commission costs, making it less of a target for trimming.

Also, the Freedom card, honestly, is a fairly limited card in the sense that – maxed out – it earns $300 per year (30k points) which is a total of $210 more than someone who had put that spend on the Freedom Unlimited would have earned. Basically, it’s a very finite cost which might not be of major concern to Chase.

This issue might also depend on whether Chase makes up their mind to stop allowing Ultimate Rewards pooling. If they do enact such a change, it’s less likely they’ll enact a Freedom limitation since consumers holding both don’t cost as much. If they don’t enact the rule (or if they enact a pooling limit instead of restricting it entirely), there’s a better chance they’ll try limiting users from cherry-picking the best rate at each retailer by limiting us to one Freedom card.

I give it at least a 50% chance that this kind of rule restricting multiple Freedom cards won’t ever take place, but it’s worth preparing for the possibility that it can happen. If you’re interested in holding the two Freedom cards and are eligible, it’s worth getting it sooner rather than waiting. There’s an enticing signup offer now on the Freedom Unlimited card for 3x everywhere the first year as well.