Chip Strategy: Wildcard, Free Hit, Bench Boost & Triple Captain
By Geomi George · Published 22 August 2026
Chips are the biggest single levers you have in Fantasy Premier League. Played at the right moment, one chip can swing your season by 30, 40, even 50 points. Played badly — or, worse, left to expire unused — and you have thrown away one of your best weapons. Here's how each chip works and when to pull the trigger.
The chips you get
In a typical season you receive a set of chips, and in recent seasons FPL has given you two of each across the campaign — one to use in the first half of the season, one in the second. Always check the current season's rules in-game, but the strategic principles below hold regardless.
| Chip | What it does |
|---|---|
| Wildcard | Unlimited free transfers for one gameweek — rebuild your whole squad with no points hit |
| Free Hit | Unlimited transfers for one gameweek only, then your squad reverts |
| Bench Boost | Your four bench players score too, for one gameweek |
| Triple Captain | Your captain scores 3× instead of 2×, for one gameweek |
Wildcard: patience beats panic
The Wildcard is your rebuild button. The temptation is to burn it early after a bad start — resist that. The best Wildcards are planned, not reactive. Hold it until either your team structure is genuinely broken (multiple players injured, priced out, or benched) or a clear fixture swing arrives where a cluster of teams turns from tough to easy.
A great Wildcard doesn't just fix this week — it sets you up for the next four to six gameweeks. Look ahead on the fixtures page and target teams whose upcoming run is turning green.
Free Hit: for the awkward weeks
Free Hit shines in two situations. The first is a blank gameweek, where several teams don't play and you'd otherwise field a half-empty side — Free Hit lets you load up on the teams who do play, then revert. The second is a big double gameweek, where you temporarily pack your team with players who play twice.
Because your squad reverts afterwards, Free Hit is a one-week raid. Don't use it to fix long-term problems — that's the Wildcard's job.
Bench Boost: build for it
Bench Boost only pays off if your bench is strong. Playing it when you have two £4.0m non-playing defenders on the bench is close to wasting it. The move is to plan a gameweek ahead — ideally a double gameweek — and use your free transfers (or a Wildcard the week before) to make sure all 15 of your players are nailed-on starters with good fixtures. Then every one of them banks points.
Triple Captain: chase the ceiling
Triple Captain rewards the highest ceiling, not the safest floor. The ideal target is an elite, penalty-taking attacker at home to a weak defence — and, best of all, in a double gameweek where they play twice, giving you two bites at a triple score. A premium striker against bottom-half opposition at home is the classic spot.
Don't triple a defender or a midfielder hoping for a clean sheet. You want a player whose realistic best case is 15+ points, because you only get to do this a couple of times.
The cardinal sin: letting a chip expire
Every season, thousands of managers reach the deadline with an unused chip. That's pure waste. If you're near the end of a chip window and a "perfect" moment hasn't arrived, take a "good enough" one. A Bench Boost in an ordinary week still scores you something; an expired one scores you nothing.
A rough seasonal rhythm
- Early season: hold chips, learn your squad, only Wildcard if genuinely broken.
- Mid-season: fixture swings and cup rotation create Wildcard and Free Hit opportunities.
- Double/blank gameweeks: the prime window for Bench Boost, Triple Captain and Free Hit — plan these in advance.
- Run-in: use whatever's left; never carry a chip past its deadline.
Treat your chips as a set of planned moves rather than emergency buttons, and they become the part of the game where you gain the most ground on your rivals.
Once the season is live, the Transfer Planner helps you map moves several gameweeks ahead so your chips land at the right moment.
