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How to Use the Chase Freedom Calendar

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How to Use the Chase Freedom Calendar

The Chase Freedom card offers users a revolving calendar, allowing users to earn cash back on different shopping categories throughout the year. The calendar changes categories every three months on this no-annual-fee cash back credit card. The card stands out for its generous $100 sign-on bonus if you spend $500 in the first three months of carrying the card. You also earn five times the cash-back… if you know how to use the card to its fullest potential.

Basic Cash Back Benefits

The Chase Freedom® Card gives users one percent back on purchases throughout the year, and two percent back on Airlines and Hotels through the Ultimate Rewards program that is provided on the company’s entire line of personal credit cards. Cash back comes in the form of points, where each point is valued at one cent. You need at least 2,000 points to redeem cash back.

That means spending at least $400 on bonus categories or $2,000 on non-bonus categories before you can cash in. There is no annual fee, somewhat of a rarity on cash-back credit cards, but the real cash back comes when you take advantage of the Chase Freedom® Calendar. Happily, these points never expire, so you have all the time you need to accumulate enough to cash in.

The Rotating Calendar Bonus

Every year, Chase publishes a different rewards calendar, usually in December of the prior year. Once you know the type of purchases that will earn the higher cash-back rate of five percent, you can plan your purchases around it. Understand that these rewards are limited to $1,500 of purchases per quarter (or $75 cash back). You still earn one percent on purchases that don’t fall under a bonus category, on top of your bonus rewards. It’s important to remember that you have to activate your rewards each quarter to earn five times the cash back under the bonus categories.

In 2015, the Chase Freedom® Calendar looked like this:

Jan 1 – Mar 31 Grocery Stores, Movie Theaters, Starbucks
Apr 1 – Jun 30 Restaurants, Bed Bath & Beyond, H&M, Overstock.com
Jul 1 – Sep 30 Gas Stations, Kohl’s
Oct 1 – Dec 31 Amazon.com and more

More Tips for Maximizing Rewards

Because the Ultimate Rewards program is included with other Chase cards, you can combine rewards points to reach your cash-back status more quickly. And because you get 15 months interest free to pay for the purchases you make, you gain more flexibility in your budget.

The Chase Black Card is Palladium

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Chase JP Morgan Palladium Black Card

The tale of the Black Card dates back to the 1980’s when a rumor began to circulate that American Express offered an exclusive credit card, which happened to be this color, to wealthy celebrities and the social elite. The buzz was that it had no credit limit, something unheard of at the time. While there is no proof that the American Express Black Card existed at that time, the rumors grew large enough that American Express decided to take advantage of all the free word-of-mouth publicity, and in 1999 launched the this card by invitation only. The card was given to their Centurion Platinum card members who had been spending at least $150,000 a year. It’s due to this history that the “black card” is viewed by many as the most prestigious of all the credit cards available.

The success of this ultra exclusive credit card encouraged other companies to try and copy the formula. The Chase Black Card was introduced in 2009 and is issued under the JP Morgan brand. It’s officially called the JP Morgan Palladium card. It comes with an annual fee of $595, and there’s a $99 fee for each additional user.

It isn’t your normal plastic credit card. Instead, it weighs in at about an ounce, and it’s made out of various metal alloys (mostly copper) including a small amount of palladium (There were rumors when the card first launched that it was made of pure palladium, and that the card was worth over $1000 in precious metal value alone, but these rumors turned out to be false.). Instead of signing the card when you receive it, your signature is laser etched onto the card before it’s delivered to you.

Not just anyone can get access to this card. In order to have a chance of getting this card, you need to have a private JP Morgan banker. Only those customers with at least $1 million worth of assets at JP Morgan qualify for a personal banker. There is also a loophole that can score you this card if you specifically ask for it. Customers who are part of the Chase Private Client program can also get hold of this card, and this only requires assets of $250,000 with the bank.

Here are some of the benefits that come with carrying this card around:

  • 2x travel and 1x all other places point rewards.
  • 35,000 point bonus if annual spending exceeds $100,000.
  • Complimentary Lounge Club membership to over 350 airport lounges worldwide with 1 guest.
  • Complimentary United Airline Club membership to over 270 airport lounges worldwide with 2 guests.
  • Complimentary Global Hotel Alliance Black status.
  • EMV chip embedded for which will allow chip-and-signature transactions abroad.
  • Primary rental car collision damage waiver.

While the Chase-JP Morgan Palladium credit card was created to compete against the American Express Centurion Black, the fees for these two cards are drastically different. The Amex Centurion has a $7,500 initial fee, a $2,500 yearly fee, and there’s a $1,500 fee for each additional user. When this is taken into consideration, along with the benefits offered, the JP Morgan Palladium credit card is more on par with the American Express Platinum credit card. When it comes to exclusivity and how difficult it is to obtain, however, it’s definitely on par with the American Express Centurion card.