I’ve got some bad news. It looks like Chase Freedom is no longer going to be such an attractive credit card. Word on the street is rewards are going to be cut back. People have received letters in the mail (I have yet to receive it, but I haven’t really check my mail lately) mentioning the following down-grade in rewards:

1. The 3% cash back is being changed from the top 3 of 15 categories to 3 specific categories–gas, groceries, and fast food.
2. Effective June 30, 2009, the bonus redemption of a $250 check for $200 in rewards will be eliminated.
3. There will be a $30 annual fee, waived for the first year.

This is something that I heard and have not been able to confirm it, but it definitely makes a big impact on the credit cards that I use. I am also so close to the $200 reward where I could cash it in for $250 in rewards. Maybe I will load up on purchases on my Chase card this month to get to that mark before they end that reward.

I really don’t want to cancel credit cards because it could hurt my credit score, I might have cancel Chase Freedom over the next year to avoid the $30 annual fee. What I will probably do, is have them slowly lower my available credit over the next year to minimize the impact to some degree on my credit score.