Activate Your Q3 Chase Freedom 5x Bonus Category

Chase Freedom’s latest promotion is officially available for enrollment. From July 1 to September 30, you’ll earn 5% cash back (or 5x Chase Ultimate Rewards points) on purchases made at restaurants and wholesale clubs. But, no matter how hungry you are, the 5%/5x return is a limited to the first $1,500 in purchases.

Chase lists 151 restaurants that will qualify for the 5x bonus. However, there are other restaurants not listed that should still qualify based on their merchant code. The list of eligible wholesale clubs includes BJ’s, Sam’s Club and — for the first time — Costco.

However, the following types of merchants — or items sold by qualifying merchants — are excluded from the 5x bonus:

• Supermarkets/Grocery Stores
• Cafes, Catering or Bakeries inside of Grocery Stores
• Candy Stores
• Gourmet Food Shops
• Liquor Stores
• Gas and Fuel at Wholesale Clubs
• Wholesale Clubs specialty services such as travel, insurance, cell phone and home improvement
• Merchants that sell food and drinks located within larger merchants such as sports stadiums, hotels, casinos, theme parks and department stores

If you’re already a cardholder, you can register here to activate your spending bonus for the quarter. If you have multiple Chase Freedom accounts, be sure to activate them all.

You have until September 14 to activate your card(s), as Chase will retroactively credit you with bonus points on category spending from earlier in the quarter. But, there’s really no reason to wait, so go ahead and activate now.

Note that this 5x bonus category promotion does not apply to the new Freedom Unlimited Card, which offers a flat 1.5% back on all purchases.

Now through June 30, Chase is offering cardholders the chance to earn bonus points at grocery stores and wholesale clubs. If you activated your Q2 bonus before June 14, you still have through the end of the month to max out your grocery store purchases. Note that Walmart and Target don’t apply for the Q2 bonus.

However, there’s no hurry to spend a bunch at wholesale clubs. Chase has confirmed that wholesale clubs will continue to qualify for the 5x earnings through the end of the year.

For TPG’s review of the Chase Freedom card, watch this video, below:

For more info on the Chase Freedom card, check out these posts:

Source: thepointsguy.com