Chase Freedom Unlimited vs. Citi Double Cash

Short answer: Citi Double Cash is the simpler card, and the Freedom Unlimited wins only if enough of your spending is dining and drugstores. Both charge $0 and neither has credits we count. The Double Cash earns a flat 2% on everyday spending. The Freedom Unlimited earns 3x at restaurants and drugstores and 1.5x on everything else. Hand-calculated at one cent per point, the Freedom Unlimited comes out ahead once dining and drugstores are more than about one third of your spending, and behind the Double Cash below that. Pair it with a Sapphire card and its points can transfer to travel partners, which the optimizer prices at 1.7 cents per point in travel mode by default and which changes the math. Choose the Double Cash if your spending is spread across many categories. Choose the Freedom Unlimited if you eat out and use drugstores often, or already hold a Sapphire card. Their top rates (5x at Chase Travel; 5% on hotels, rental cars, and attractions at Citi Travel) apply only through each issuer’s own portal, and both cards charge a 3% foreign transaction fee. The head-to-head run below solves both cards against your own spending.