When making use of for a brand new bank card, you all the time need to discover the greatest welcome supply — the one that provides essentially the most bang on your buck, essentially the most factors, essentially the most money again.

However what if there is a welcome supply so probably profitable that it retains you from signing up for different playing cards for a complete yr?

After getting the Chase Freedom Limitless in September of final yr, that is the state of affairs I discover myself in. Let me clarify.

Within the fall of 2023, I took benefit of a implausible (now-expired) welcome supply on considered one of Chase’s hottest cash-back playing cards, the Chase Freedom Limitless. On the finish of my first yr, Chase will match all of the money again earned on the cardboard in my first 12 months of card possession.

This implies the cardboard’s earnings charges are basically doubled for the primary yr of the Freedom Limitless. As an alternative of incomes 5% again on journey bought by Chase Final Rewards, I will earn a complete of 10% again. As an alternative of three% again on eating and drugstores, I will earn 6%. And as a substitute of 1.5% again on all different purchases, I will earn a strong 3%.

These elevated earnings charges are a few of the greatest you will discover on any cash-back card, maybe ever. And they’re (or had been) accessible for a full yr of card possession.

Not a foul return on simply my third-ever bank card. However why am I ready to drag the set off on one other?

It goes with out saying that the welcome supply I jumped on is fairly profitable. However is it so profitable that I’ve boxed myself out of getting different playing cards in the intervening time if my final purpose is maximizing worth?

I feel the reply to that query is sure. Loads of different playing cards I might join supply lavish journey perks and the like, nevertheless it’s laborious to beat 10% money again on journey booked by Chase. And given my private spending habits (trace: I eat out so much), a complete of 6% again on eating can be a implausible return.

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Observe that this spending class additionally contains takeout and eligible supply companies, which is all of the encouragement I would like to make use of DoorDash a couple of extra instances per week (my Freedom Limitless additionally got here with three months of complimentary DashPass).

Positive, I might go for a premium journey card within the meantime and benefit from a welcome supply I like there. However when maximizing worth on day-to-day spending, the Freedom Limitless will virtually all the time be my greatest wager, at the least till that lump sum of matched money again hits my account within the fall.

Fortunately, I already know what my subsequent transfer will likely be when these first 12 months are up — and it’ll assist me maximize the rewards on my Freedom Limitless even additional, in case you can consider it.

When my first 12 months on the Freedom Limitless are over, I plan to use for one more well-liked and useful providing from Chase: the Chase Sapphire Most well-liked Card.

That is for a couple of causes. First, Chase’s 5/24 rule dictates that Chase will not approve any new card candidates who’ve opened 5 or extra private bank cards throughout all banks within the final 24 months. That implies that, as a common rule, if I am filling out my pockets, I will need to prioritize getting Chase playing cards first, as no different card issuers have a rule like this.

Extra importantly, although, the Sapphire Most well-liked is one of some playing cards — together with the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Ink Enterprise Most well-liked — that can permit me to transform my money again on the Freedom Limitless into totally transferable Chase Final Rewards factors.

That implies that I unlock Chase’s full vary of 14 airline and lodge switch companions. And it means each cent earned with the Freedom Limitless will likely be 1 Final Reward level, price 2.05 cents per TPG valuations — successfully incomes me an over 20% return on all journey purchases and an over 12% return on eating and at drugstores.

To summarize: By making the most of the matched cash-back supply on the Freedom Limitless after which changing my money again into factors with one other Chase card, I’ll quadruple the usual return on the Freedom Limitless for my first 12 months of card possession.

The matched cash-back supply on the Freedom Limitless was a uncommon one. You undoubtedly do not see welcome affords with probably limitless returns on well-liked cash-back playing cards day-after-day.

However it’s a nice instance of the must be versatile within the bank card rewards recreation. I had initially deliberate on getting the Sapphire Most well-liked a lot earlier in my playing cards journey; now, I’ve kicked that down the street to maximize my return on spending within the meantime.

This supply additionally works for me, specifically, given my spending habits. I do not journey a ton, however I spend so much on consuming out, making the 6% again in that class a boon for my backside line.

So, in case you take away something from this text, let or not it’s this: Bank card rewards are all about what’s useful to you. Discover the cardboard, perks and welcome supply that take advantage of sense on your life-style and spending habits. And when one thing actually profitable comes alongside, be able to take benefit. Then take into consideration which card to pair it with subsequent.

To be taught extra, learn our full evaluate of the Chase Freedom Limitless.

Apply right here: Chase Freedom Limitless