Chase Dropped the Freedom Flex Foreign Transaction Fee. It Also Dropped Your Phone Insurance.
The Chase Freedom Flex stopped charging foreign transaction fees on September 21, 2026. The same refresh removed cell phone protection and added Points Boost offers on select hotels booked through Chase Travel. New cardmembers can earn a $250 welcome offer after spending $500 in the first three months.
The short version
The 3% foreign transaction fee is gone as of September 21, 2026.
Cell phone protection was discontinued on September 20, 2026.
The limited-time welcome offer is $250 after $500 of spending in three months.
Points Boost makes Ultimate Rewards points worth up to 10% more on select Chase Travel hotel bookings, or 1.1 cents instead of 1 cent.
The annual fee is still $0.
What exactly changed on the Chase Freedom Flex?
The Chase Freedom Flex is a no-annual-fee cash back card built around 5% rotating quarterly categories. Chase announced four changes on September 21, 2026. Foreign transaction fees are gone. Points Boost arrived for Chase Freedom cardmembers. You can now preview the next quarter's 5% categories a quarter early in the Chase Mobile app. The card also got new art with a deeper blue background.
Chase put the headline change plainly. Freedom Flex cardmembers can now "make purchases abroad or from international online merchants without paying foreign transaction fees," according to the company's September 21 announcement.
A foreign transaction fee is a surcharge your issuer adds when a purchase runs through a non-U.S. bank. Chase charged 3% on this card. On $4,000 of spending during a trip, that was $120 of pure cost.
Is losing cell phone protection a big deal?
The Chase Freedom Flex dropped cell phone protection on September 20, 2026. That benefit reimbursed damage or theft on phone lines when you paid the monthly bill with the card, typically up to $800 per claim with a $50 deductible and a $1,000 annual cap.
Most cardholders never filed a claim. For a few, it was the only reason the card stayed in the wallet. If you have been routing your phone bill to the Freedom Flex for coverage, move that charge. The Ink Business Preferred and several Wells Fargo cards still carry phone protection.
Worth saying out loud: Chase gave something and took something on the same day. The foreign transaction fee cut is worth more to a traveler than phone insurance. It is worth less to someone who never leaves the country.
Is the $250 welcome offer good?
The Chase Freedom Flex welcome offer is $250 after $500 of purchases in the first three months. That is a 50% return on the required spend, which is unusual on a card with no annual fee. The previous public offer was $200 after $500. Chase called it limited time and gave no end date.
One rule still applies. The Freedom Flex counts against Chase's 5/24 restriction, meaning Chase generally will not approve you if you have opened five or more personal cards from any issuer in the past 24 months. If you are close to that line, spending a slot on a $250 offer is a real decision. Our best travel credit cards guide walks through which Chase card deserves the slot first.
How much is Points Boost worth on a Freedom card?
Points Boost is Chase's system for making Ultimate Rewards points stretch further on specific bookings in Chase Travel. On Freedom cards, the uplift tops out at 10%. Chase states that 100 points normally redeem for $1, and with a Points Boost promotion those same 100 points could be worth up to $1.10.
That is a small lift, and the ceiling matters. Sapphire cardholders see much larger boosts on the same platform. A 10% bump means a 40,000-point hotel redemption returns $440 of value instead of $400. We broke the mechanics down in our guide to how Chase Points Boost works.
The real value of the Freedom Flex has never been redemption anyway. It is earning. Pair it with a Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve and those 5% category points become transferable to airline partners instead of capped at 1.1 cents.
Should you use the Freedom Flex abroad?
The Chase Freedom Flex now works overseas without a fee penalty, but it earns 1% on everything outside its bonus categories. Most foreign spending falls into that bucket. A flat 2% card beats it on ordinary purchases abroad, and a card with a dedicated travel category beats it on hotels and flights.
Where it does win: the 5% rotating categories apply worldwide. Q4 2026 covers dining, grocery stores and American Red Cross donations on up to $1,500 of combined spending. Eat at restaurants in Lisbon for three months on this card and you earn 5% with no foreign transaction fee. Activation for Q4 runs through December 14, 2026, and we covered the Q4 category details here.
Chase also confirmed Q1 2027 categories early: top streaming services and grocery stores. Grocery appearing in consecutive quarters is a first for the program.
What this means for you
If you already hold the Freedom Flex, you gained a travel-friendly card for free and lost a benefit few cardholders ever claimed. Check whether your phone bill was pointed at this card, and move it if so.
If you do not hold it, the $250 offer at $500 of spending is one of the better no-fee bonuses available right now. The catch is 5/24, not the card itself. And if you were carrying the Freedom Flex specifically for phone insurance, that reason is gone.
FAQ
When did the Chase Freedom Flex foreign transaction fee end?
The Chase Freedom Flex stopped charging foreign transaction fees on September 21, 2026. The fee was previously 3% of each transaction converted to U.S. dollars.
Does the Chase Freedom Flex still have cell phone protection?
No. Chase discontinued cell phone protection on the Freedom Flex on September 20, 2026. Paying your phone bill with the card no longer provides damage or theft coverage.
What is the Chase Freedom Flex welcome offer right now?
The Chase Freedom Flex is offering $250 after $500 of purchases in the first three months from account opening. Chase describes it as a limited-time offer and has not published an end date.
How much is Points Boost worth on the Chase Freedom Flex?
Points Boost raises the value of Ultimate Rewards points by up to 10% on select hotel bookings through Chase Travel for Freedom cards. That moves 100 points from $1.00 to as much as $1.10.
Does the Chase Freedom Flex charge an annual fee?
No. The Chase Freedom Flex has no annual fee, and the September 2026 refresh did not change that.
Is the Chase Freedom Flex subject to Chase 5/24?
Yes. Chase generally declines Freedom Flex applications if you have opened five or more personal credit cards across all issuers in the previous 24 months.
The Bottom Line
A no-fee card that earns 5% in rotating categories and charges nothing to use overseas is a better card than it was last week. Phone insurance leaving stings for a small group. Everyone else came out ahead.
Subscribe to the TravelPointsPro newsletter for every points deadline, dated and sourced, the day it lands.
Comments