The Best Chase Credit Cards of 2023

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Credit card points and frequent flyer miles are incredibly useful, no matter what program you earn them with or what you eventually choose to do with them. While there are a few different types of credit card rewards, you benefit regardless of which kind your card earns by collecting a rebate on your everyday spending — as long as you practice financial discipline and pay off your statement in full each month.

Take a look below at our choices of the best available Chase cards, including our overall top pick, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Compare the Best Chase Credit Cards

Best Chase Credit Cards of 2023

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card - Product Name Only: Best overall for travel rewards
• Chase Sapphire Reserve® - Product Name Only: Best premium card
• Chase Freedom Unlimited® - Product Name Only: Best for everyday spending
• Chase Freedom Flex℠ - Product Name Only: Best for bonus categories

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a premium rewards card that has set the standard for other credit card issuers who updated their own products to keep up with the Reserve's top-of-the-line rewards and benefits. But even if you don't want to pay the steep annual fee for the Reserve, Chase has other excellent rewards cards to consider, including options that earn cash back and great small-business credit cards.

For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a solid welcome bonus offer of Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, worth Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card - Featured Reward Value in travel per Insider's points and miles valuations. Its also featured on our list of best credit cards.

Chase Credit Card Frequently Asked Questions

Are Chase credit cards hard to get?

Chase credit cards are no more difficult to get than most other banks. Many Chase rewards credit cards require good to excellent credit to qualify, which means a FICO score of at least 670. One notable exception is the Chase Freedom® Student credit card, which is designed for students who are new to credit. If you don't have an established credit history yet, it may be easier to get approved for this card.

Are Chase credit cards good?

Chase credit cards are some of the best in the business. Chase has become a leader in the credit card rewards and benefits space, growing its Chase Ultimate Rewards® program with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve®. These cards remain a powerhouse of value, and the Chase Ultimate Rewards program is fiercely competitive, with a ton of different ways to redeem points and a number of different cards available with varied benefits.

Who is eligible for Chase credit cards?

Many people are eligible for Chase credit cards, but the issuer does have some application quirks to be aware of. Chase enforces an unofficial policy, commonly referred to as the 5/24 rule, which prevents you from getting approved for Chase cards if you've opened five or more credit cards with any bank in the last 24 months. Also, Chase now only allows you to have one Sapphire card at a time, so you'll have to choose one or the other. You're also not eligible if you've earned the bonus on any Sapphire card in the past 48 months.

Are Chase cards worth it?

Chase credit cards are worth it for most customers. If you're looking for a new Chase card to boost your stash of Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, or you're interested in getting access to new benefits or perks, it's worth considering a new Chase card — just make sure that you know how opening a new card for the welcome bonus or benefits can impact your credit score calculation. Often, the benefits you'll receive can be worth far more than the card's annual fee, and even no-annual-fee options come with valuable perks.

Chase Credit Card Reviews

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card - Product Name Only

Why the Chase Sapphire Preferred is worth it: The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a reasonable annual fee and great benefits, and comes with an excellent welcome bonus offer.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers a substantial welcome bonus offer for a moderate annual fee. It earns 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards® (2x points on all other travel purchases), 3x points on dining, 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), 3x points on select streaming services, and 1 point per dollar on everything else.

Points are worth 1.25 cents on travel booked through Chase, but you can still transfer them to Chase's frequent flyer and hotel loyalty program partners. You'll also receive primary car rental insurance coverage, trip delay coverage, purchase protection, and a 10% anniversary points bonus. The annual fee is a manageable $95.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Review

Chase Sapphire Reserve® - Product Name Only

Why the Chase Sapphire Reserve is worth it: The Chase Sapphire Reserve® makes it easy to earn rewards for travel and more with a great welcome bonus offer and a lucrative points-earning scheme.

With 5x total points on air travel and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards® (after earning the $300 travel credit), 3x points on other travel and dining, and 1 point per dollar on everything else, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® earns points quickly through your everyday spending, and it comes with a slew of perks.

Points are worth 1.5 cents each toward travel booked through Chase, but you can also transfer them to over a dozen Chase airline and hotel partners — typically, this gets you the most value for your points. Benefits include access to airport lounges through the Priority Pass network, trip delay coverage, purchase protection, up to $100 to cover the Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS application fee, primary car rental insurance, and access to the new Chase Sapphire Terrace at Austin airport.

However, while the airport lounge access can be great, most Priority Pass lounges are in international terminals, which isn't helpful when you're flying domestically.

The annual fee is $550, but that's offset by up to a $300 travel credit each year, which is good for things like taxis, subway fares, parking, tolls, and flights.

There aren't many downsides to this card — besides the upfront annual fee. Chase has invested heavily in making the Chase Ultimate Rewards® program competitive. Booking flights by transferring points to frequent flyer partners is generally more lucrative — that's usually how people use points to fly in first and business class — but it can be complicated because you have to decipher award charts, find availability, and work around often complex airline rules.

However, because the Chase Sapphire Reserve® allows you to get 1.5 cents for each point when you book paid travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® travel portal, there's a simpler and still-valuable option.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card Review

Chase Freedom Unlimited® - Product Name Only

Why the Chase Freedom Unlimited is worth it: The Chase Freedom Unlimited® helps you earn points for everyday purchases and get cash back with no annual fee.

 If you already have the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and are saving your points for a redemption, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® can give your balance a nice boost. While Chase markets the card as "cash back," it actually earns Chase Ultimate Rewards® points that you can redeem for cash, gift cards, travel, and more (1 point = 1 cent).

If you have a premium card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can pool your points from the two cards. The Chase Freedom Unlimited® earns a minimum of 1.5% cash back (or 1.5 points per dollar spent), so paired with a Chase Sapphire Reserve®, it's a great card to use for purchases that aren't made on travel expenses or dining.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® also earns 5% cash back on travel booked through Chase and 3% back on dining and drugstore purchases.

Best of all, the card has no annual fee and comes with a Chase Freedom Unlimited®. After that, there's a 14.99%–23.74% variable APR APR. If you have a major purchase ahead of you, that introductory offer can be useful.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is a fantastic all-around card. However, to get the most value when it's time to spend your points, you need the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, too, so you can pool your points. Otherwise, points are only worth 1 cent each no matter how you use them and they can't be transferred to airline or hotel partners.

Chase Freedom Unlimited Review

Chase Freedom Flex℠ - Product Name Only

Why the Chase Freedom Flex is worth it: The Chase Freedom Flex℠ offers 5% cash back or 5x points on up to $1,500 of spending in categories that rotate each quarter when you activate (then 1%), in addition to 5% back on travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3% back on dining and drugstore purchases, and 1% back on everything else

Just like the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ is marketed as a cash-back card, but actually earns Chase Ultimate Rewards® points that you can redeem for cash, gift cards, and travel (1 point = 1 cent). You can combine them with Chase Ultimate Rewards® earned from a different card, which gives you the option to get a bonus when redeeming them for travel or transfer them to travel partners.

The key feature of the Chase Freedom Flex℠ is that it earns 5% cash back (5x points) on up to $1,500 spent per quarter once activated in rotating quarterly bonus categories. In the past, quarterly categories have included Amazon, grocery stores, and gas stations. From July 1 to September 30, the Chase Freedom quarterly bonus categories are gas stations, electric vehicle charging, and select live entertainment.

However, that's not where the bonus cash back ends; the Chase Freedom Flex℠ also earns 5% cash back (with no cap) on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3% back on dining and drugstore purchases, and 1% back on everything else.

It doesn't have an annual fee, and there's a Chase Freedom Flex℠ (with a Chase Freedom Flex℠ APR afterward).

Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card Review

Why You Should Trust Us: How we chose the best Chase cards

Chase issues a lot of extremely valuable credit cards. We landed on the best of the best in this post by only including cards with one or more of the following attributes:

• A sizable welcome bonus
• Above-average return rates
• Valuable ongoing benefits

You can read other Chase credit card reviews (and a review of nearly every credit card on the market) by heading to our credit card reviews hub.

We take a look at the pros and cons of each credit card in narrow categories to determine which card has the highest upside for each financial situation. The credit cards editorial team does not communicate with Insider's business team to push specific cards for monetary gain (though some cards are affiliates).

Here's more about how we rate and review credit cards at Insider.