Chase has revised the formula for how the Chase Freedom calculates cash back… and not for the better.

The Chase rep I talked to says she believes the changes in terms are only for new card holders.  Existing card holders would not be affected.  As an existing card holder, I haven’t received any notices from Chase about any changes in terms, but I will keep you posted should I get something in the mail.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

I have been noticing in my web server logs for a couple months now that quite a number of people have been searching for a head-to-head comparison of the Amex Blue Cash vs. Chase Freedom cards. As subscribers to my cash back tutorial already know, I consider these two credit cards to be the best ones available today.

Given the number of people searching for this kind of comparison, I thought it best to prepare a quick post to help people decide between the two. So if you’re one of those folks that stumbled onto this post through the search engines, welcome!

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Popularity: 100% [?]

Last year was a year of change for me. I overhauled my system in 2007, which resulted in $892.78 more cash back than 2006’s total of $1,329.97 (a 67% increase). The main catalysts behind this increase were two new cash back credit cards, a new online checking account and a new online savings account.

Starting in May of last year, I switched my primary credit card from the Chase Perfect Card to the Blue Cash from American Express. I continued to use my Chase Perfect Card to back up my Blue Cash card, until it dawned on me that I could do even better by backing it up with the Chase Freedom credit card. So in October, I began using the Chase Freedom as my new backup card.

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Popularity: 59% [?]

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Popularity: 25% [?]

UPDATE 09 NOV 2008: Chase has updated how the Freedom Card works since this post.  See the new terms here.

When I was designing my cash back calculator, I decided to include the Chase Freedom Cash Visa Signature card to see what kind of cash back it could generate. I was pleasantly surprised with its results. This card was consistently coming out on top for many spending scenarios, and no less than second place at any level of spend. With these kinds of results, the card earned a permanent spot on my calculator.

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Popularity: 44% [?]

In my last post, I talked about how the Chase PerfectCard MasterCard was a nice companion to American Express’ Blue Cash card. Although I still believe this is true, I’ve found another card that fits the bill even better.

The new card is also from Chase, and it’s the Chase Freedom Cash World MasterCard. I’ve been using this card for about a week now, and I’ll share a deep dive review of my experiences with it here in the coming weeks after I’ve kicked the tires a bit more with it.

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Popularity: 60% [?]