Chase Freedom Unlimited® vs. Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express

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Welcome Bonus

Chase Freedom Unlimited®: Earn an extra 1.5% on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back. That's 6.5% on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 4.5% on dining and drugstores, and 3% on all other purchases.

Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express: Earn a $200 statement credit after you spend $2,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.

You have the potential to earn more with the Chase Freedom Unlimited® welcome bonus, but you also have to spend a lot more. The Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express is much easier to earn and you can get it quicker. So we give the win to the Blue Cash Everyday in this round.

Cash Back Rewards

Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers 5% cash back on travel purchases when booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards; 3% cash back on dining, including take out; 3% cash back at drugstores, and 1.5% cash back on everything else. Those Chase Ultimate Rewards points are pretty cool. You can use them as statement credits and gift cards, or you can get more value when you use your rewards to book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.

For example, transfer your Chase points to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, and your points are worth 25% more if you use them to purchase travel through Chase. Or, you can get 50% more value if you transfer your rewards to the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and use your points to book travel through Chase.

Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express offers 3% cash back at supermarkets; 3% cash back on online purchases; and 3% cash back at gas stations. This is all subject to a cap of $6,000 a year; after that, you'll earn 1% cash back.

Which card is the better deal for you depends on how you spend money. If you spend more on groceries, then the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express is the way to go. If you spend more on travel and dining, then the Chase Freedom Unlimited® is an excellent choice.

Here are the details for each card.

Chase Freedom Unlimited® 

Rewards: 

Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express 

Rewards:

Rates and Fees

Both cards have the same introductory offer. You get 0% Intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months with the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. After that, your rate will be 20.49% - 29.24% variable, depending on creditworthiness.

The Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express also offers 0% Intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months, after which your rate will be 19.24% - 29.99%, depending on creditworthiness.

Neither card has an annual fee, but both have foreign transaction fees. The Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express has a slightly lower foreign transaction fee, but if you're traveling internationally, you should bring a card that doesn't have any foreign transaction fees.

Who the Chase Freedom Unlimited® is Best For

If you travel at all, it's hard to say no to the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. You'll earn 5% cash back on travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. Again, if you have one of the Chase cards we mentioned above, the Sapphire Preferred, Ink Business Preferred, or the Sapphire Reserve, you can transfer your points from the Freedom Unlimited to one of those cards, making the points worth more when using them for travel through Chase.

In addition, the 3% cash back you get on dining (including take out) and drugstore purchases is a higher rate than most cards pay, especially cards with no annual fee.

Who the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express is Best For

The Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express has decent rewards on groceries, gas and online purchases, and has no annual fee. You also get a Disney bundle credit of $7 every month after spending $13.99 a month on a Disney bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. If you spend on groceries, gas and online shopping (and who doesn't?) this card is a good option for you.

Does it make sense to get both cards?

Yes! If you get both cards, you'll earn 3% cash back on almost every basic household expense. Neither card has an annual fee, so you can just enjoy the rewards on dining, groceries, gas, drugstore purchases and travel. These cards complement each other very well.

Before you apply, you should be aware of Chase's 5/24 rule. This rule (which isn't officially noted anywhere but crowdsourced through public forums) means Chase will not extend credit to anyone who has opened more than five new accounts in the last 24 months–any credit card, not just Chase credit cards. So if you've opened four credit cards in the last 24 months, apply for the Chase Freedom Unlimited® first, and after you're approved, you can apply for the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, because other card issuers don't have this rule.

Approval Odds

The credit score data provided for some of the cards listed below comes from publicly available information in several forums. The accuracy of the information cannot be verified. Keep in mind that credit card issuers consider more than an applicant’s credit score and that underwriting standards change over time.

Chase Freedom Unlimited® 

The following credit score data are based on publicly available information we have collected from various forums. We have no way to confirm the accuracy of this data. In addition, keep in mind that credit card issuers use a number of factors in their underwriting process, and these factors can change at any time.

App Status	Date	Credit Score	Bureau	Credit Limit
Approved	03/04/2022	724	TransUnion	$13,900
Approved	03/04/2022	726	Experian	$13,900
Approved	02/16/2022	772	Experian	$18,000
Approved	02/16/2022	778	TransUnion	$18,000
Approved	02/16/2022	803	Equifax	$18,000
Approved	03/02/2022	793	TransUnion	$12,700
Approved	06/07/2021	782	Experian	$4,700
Approved	08/01/2021	772	Equifax	$13,200
Approved	08/01/2021	773	Experian	$13,200
Approved	08/01/2021	818	TransUnion	$13,200

Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express 

The following credit score data are based on publicly available information we have collected from various forums. We have no way to confirm the accuracy of this data. In addition, keep in mind that credit card issuers use a number of factors in their underwriting process, and these factors can change at any time.

App Status	Date	Credit Score	Bureau	Credit Limit
Approved	09/07/2022	692	Equifax	$5,000
Approved	01/05/2020	740	Not Provided	$16,000
Approved	07/26/2022	683	Experian	$2,000
Approved	02/13/2020	730	Equifax	$11,500
Approved	02/13/2020	747	TransUnion	$11,500
Approved	11/26/2021	755	Not Provided	$3,100
Approved	09/07/2022	665	Experian	$5,000
Approved	09/07/2022	667	TransUnion	$5,000
Approved	02/09/2022	736	Experian	---

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® requires higher credit scores, but they also extend higher credit limits. The Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express card approves lower credit scores, but they extend lower credit limits. If you can't get approved for the Chase card, give the Blue Cash Everday card a shot.