Find out the 5% Chase Freedom® cashback categories.
Chase Freedom® is a great credit card for earning accelerated rewards with your purchases. With quarterly rotating categories, you can earn cash or points to use for Amazon.com or travel. But the catch is you need to activate the 5% cashback categories every three months, and you’re capped at $1,500 in combined purchases each quarter. For all other purchases, you’ll still earn unlimited 1% cash back, though.Here’s a layout of what you can expect:
| Quarters | January–March 2019 | April–June 2019 | July–September 2019 | October–December 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary 5% category | Gas stations | Grocery stores — Walmart and Target not included | Gas stations | Department stores |
| 5% sub category | Tolls and drugstores | Home improvement stores | Select streaming services | Wholesale clubs and Chase Pay |
What’s new
Grocery stores remain unchanged as a 5% cashback category in the April to June 2019 quarter, and gas stations remain unchanged in July to September. The main difference between these quarters in 2019 and 2018 is the subcategory.
Last year, you could earn 5% cash back on PayPal and Chase Pay purchases in the second quarter and Lyft and Walgreens in the third. In 2019, Chase removed these subcategories and added home improvement stores and select streaming services instead.
Select streaming services include Netflix, Hulu, Sling, Vudu, FuboTV, Apple Music, SiriusXM, Pandora and Spotify.
Steps to activate your Chase Freedom® cashback categories
Getting 5% cash back on your purchases is a great deal. But you have to activate each category to get your rewards.
When to activate?
You can activate your Chase Freedom® cashback categories two weeks before the quarter starts until the 14th day of the final month of the quarter. This means that for the July through September quarter you can activate the 5% category by September 14 and still get the cash back retroactively on all qualifying purchases.
How to activate?
There are a few ways to activate your categories:
- Visit the Chase Freedom® or Chase Ultimate Rewards website. Provide your email and get notifications when it’s time to activate.
- Call the number on the back of your card.
- Visit a Chase bank branch.
- Use an ATM while making a cash withdrawal if you’re a Chase checking customer.
What counts as a 5% cashback category purchase?
Up to $1,500 in combined purchases per quarter purchased in the accelerated categories earn 5% cash back. After that, and for everything else you buy, you’ll earn 1% cash back. If you maximize your categories, you can earn $300 annually on these categories alone.
With the Chase Freedom® you actually earn points
Unlike other cashback credit cards where you earn cash as a statement credit or a deposit, with the Chase Freedom® you earn points. This gives you redemption flexibility to get cash, gift cards, to book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards program or to pay for your Amazon.com purchases.
Another card with rotating categories
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Tips to maximize your Chase rewards
- Clear the signup bonus.
Spend $500 on purchases within your first 3 months of card membership and earn $150 bonus cash back. - Add an authorized user.
This way you can quickly clear the signup bonus and reach the 5% cap on the quarterly categories. - Pair your card.
The Chase Freedom® is an excellent credit card by itself. But pair it with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and you can get a solid, points-earning combo. - Transfer your points.
If you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, transfer your points to that card and redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards for 25% higher value. Both the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve® also let you transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio with Chase hotel and airline partners. - Link your card to PayPal.
This can help you quickly reach the cap when PayPal is listed in the 5% categories. - Use a digital wallet.
When Chase Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay or a similar service is listed in the quarterly categories use them to pay for purchases that otherwise don’t fall into the category and get 5% back instead of the base 1%.
Compare Chase Freedom® vs Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Compare bonus rewards categories
The Discover it® Cash Back has the following 5% cashback categories in 2019:
- January to March
Grocery Stores - April to June
Gas stations, Uber and Lyft
- July to September
Restaurants - October to December
Amazon.com
Both the Chase Freedom® and the Discover it® Cash Back cards have offered gas stations, grocery stores and wholesale clubs in the previous quarters. The two categories lacking in the Chase card were restaurants and Amazon.com purchases.
However, when Chase Pay is listed in the 5% categories, use it on categories that aren’t listed, including restaurants that accept this payment method.
Which card is better?
It’s hard to give a universal answer since everyone’s spending needs are unique to their lifestyle. But if you’re looking to maximize your cash back, using both cards for the 5% cashback categories could prove worthwhile.
Bottom line
The Chase Freedom® can be a solid choice if you’re looking to get the highest cash back on multiple categories that rotate throughout the year. It can be an even better choice if you pair it with either the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve® to maximize your rewards.
If you use a digital wallet — especially Chase Pay — you can earn 5% cash back on categories that aren’t listed in the quarters. Similar cashback cards don’t have this option.
But if you’re not sure whether this card is right for you, consider other cashback credit cards and compare your options.
The 3 types of cashback credit cards, explained