How to maximize your rewards with Chase Offers

Chase Offers is a program that lets you “double dip” on rewards and discounts when you shop with participating retailers and pay with a Chase credit card. The key to maximizing this program is knowing it exists in the first place, and then taking steps to add Chase Offers you want to use to your account ahead of time.

Why should you use Chase Offers? Doing so is free and requires very little effort. Plus, Chase credit cards are already some of the most popular rewards cards available today. Several Chase cards earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which are some of the most flexible points out there. Chase also offers popular cash back credit cards, co-branded hotel and airline cards and credit card options for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

If you hope to use Chase Offers to maximize the rewards you earn on your favorite Chase credit card, read on to learn more.

What is Chase Offers?

Chase Offers works similarly to American Express’ Amex Offers feature. When you get approved for certain Chase credit cards, you’ll have access to an array of Chase Offers “deals” that you can apply to your account if you want.

There are a few key reasons Chase credit card offers are worth pursuing. First, these offers are free and preloaded within your online account management page or the Chase mobile app. In addition, the statement credits you earn with Chase Offers are given on top of any rewards you earn just by paying with your Chase credit card. To be clear, Chase Offers come back to you as statement credits, while your card will still earn rewards separately.

How does Chase Offers work?

Chase Offers are typically advertised as a percentage back on purchases with select merchants or a specific amount of cash back. There’s typically either a maximum amount you can earn, a specific spending requirement or both.

Keep in mind Chase Offers change all the time, and the one you like may appear once, only to disappear later. Here are a few recent examples of Chase Offers we have seen:

• 10 percent back at Sleep Number ($500 maximum statement credit)
• 5 percent back on Southwest Airlines purchases ($50 minimum purchase, $40 cash back maximum)
• $25 back at LensDirect when you spend $130 or more
• 10 percent back at Penn Station ($4 back maximum)
• 10 percent back at Vera Bradley
• 10 percent back at Great Wolf Lodge ($100 minimum purchase, $48 back maximum)
• 5 percent back at Ulta ($5 back maximum)

Limitations to keep in mind

While Chase Offers is free and easy to use, you should know the fine print and limitations.

Expiration dates

First, you’ll notice that Chase Offers all have an expiration date, and sometimes the date is only a few weeks (or a few days) from when the offer shows up in your account. For this reason, you should go ahead and add any Chase Offers you like to your card. There’s no penalty for letting an offer expire without using it, so you might as well.

Chase Offers are highly variable

Also, keep in mind that Chase Offers are tailored to each customer, so your friend may have access to better (or worse) offers than you do. They could have totally different offers altogether or Chase Offers from the same retailers but in different amounts.

Cash back comes with limits

Finally, don’t get too excited when you see offers that say 10 percent back or 20 percent back — at least not until you read the fine print. A lot of offers that advertise a percentage back are limited to $10 back or less on any size order (and sometimes just $2 back).

While earning $2 in cash back is certainly better than nothing, make sure you know the caps for these offers so you don’t get your hopes up.

Which credit cards have Chase Offers?

Chase Offers are available on many Chase credit cards, although offers can and do vary from card to card and person to person. Also, note that your Chase Offer won’t affect your regular rewards rate. Regardless of whether you apply a Chase Offer to your card or not, you’ll still earn the exact amount of cash back or other rewards you normally do from that card.

Here are a few popular Chase credit cards that let you apply Chase Offers:

How to add Chase Offers to your card

You can find Chase Offers when you log in to your account at Chase.com. Generally speaking, they’ll be found on the right side of your screen next to the details for each of your credit card accounts.

To see your offers, all you have to do is click on the “Chase Offers” section. From there, you’ll be taken to a separate page with all the Chase Offers you’re eligible for.

At this point, you can simply click on any Chase Offers you think you could use. When you do, the Chase Offer will be automatically applied to your account. If you make an eligible purchase within the time period your Chase Offer is valid, the cash back will be automatically credited to your account. If not, your Chase Offer will expire and fall off your account.

Maximize spending with Chase Offers

Since Chase Offers are given out on top of the rewards you earn with your Chase credit card, you should take advantage if you can. After all, you only need to check your account every once in a while and click on the offers you want to use. If you happen to use them, then the cash back will be automatically applied to your account with no work on your part.

Here are some additional ways to maximize your Chase Offers:

Earn more through the Chase shopping portal

Chase’s shopping portal is another tool that helps you earn points on eligible purchases, and you can use this portal in conjunction with Chase Offers. Like Chase Offers, Shop Through Chase helps you earn additional points or cash back on top of the rewards you earn with your credit card.

Let’s say you have a Chase Offer in your account from Shutterfly, but at the same time, Chase is offering bonus points in its portal for purchases from the same place. In that case, you could add the Chase Offer to your credit card account, click through the Chase portal to shop at Shutterfly and triple dip — rewards earned with your credit card, bonus rewards through the Chase portal and cash back from the Chase Offer you applied to your card.

Use other cash back portals

You can also score additional rewards by using other cash back portals to earn rewards at stores that show up in your Chase Offers. Some of the top shopping portals may include offers from merchants that align with Chase Offers from time to time, allowing you to stack your rewards even higher. Check out our list of the best cash back apps to find other shopping portals that may work for you.

Align Chase Offers with credit card bonus categories

Finally, you should take extra care to line up Chase Offers with the bonus categories your credit card offers, such as travel or dining. For example, you could add any number of Chase Offer restaurant or travel deals to a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred. In that case, you would score the Chase Offer and also earn 3X points on dining and 2X points on general travel purchases.

The bottom line

Make sure to check the Chase Offers in your account frequently so you can maximize them when offers for your favorite restaurants and retailers come along. Failing to do so means you’re leaving “free money” on the table.

If you own additional credit cards outside of Chase, read up on other credit card special offers and limited-time promotions that may apply to you.

*The information about the Chase Freedom Flex has been collected independently by Bankrate. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.