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Chase Freedom Flex Loses Cell Phone Protection on September 20 and Drops Its Foreign Transaction Fee
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The Chase Freedom Flex is getting reworked, and two changes are locked in for September 20, 2026. One takes a benefit away. One quietly makes the card better.
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Cell phone protection ends September 20
As of September 20, the Freedom Flex no longer includes cell phone protection, the benefit that reimburses you for a damaged or stolen phone when you pay your wireless bill with the card. On a card with no annual fee, that was one of the more useful perks in the lineup.
If you have been paying your phone bill with the Freedom Flex for that coverage, you have until September 20 to move it. Check three things first:
- Your other cards. Several Wells Fargo and Amex products still include cell phone protection.
- Your carrier. Many wireless plans bundle device protection you may already be paying for.
- Your homeowners or renters policy. Some cover phones outside the home.
The foreign transaction fee disappears too
On the same date, Chase is removing the Freedom Flex's foreign transaction fee. That changes where the card belongs in your wallet. The fee had ruled the Flex out of any overseas purchase, because it cost more than the base earn rate paid back. Without it, the card is usable abroad, and genuinely good when a rotating bonus category lines up with what you are buying.
What to do before September 20
- Move your phone bill if the Flex was your device coverage.
- Repack your travel wallet. The Flex now belongs in the international conversation.
- Keep activating categories. The rotating bonus still requires opting in each quarter, and that part is not changing.
Losing a benefit is easy to miss. Kudos keeps track of the perks and credits attached to each of your cards, so a quiet removal does not cost you a claim you thought you had. See how perk tracking works.
When a card's benefits shift mid-year, Kudos updates what it recommends at checkout, so you keep using the right card without tracking every issuer announcement yourself.
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