The Chase Freedom credit card comes with rotating quarterly bonus categories where you can earn 5x points on your purchase of up to $1,500 per quarter instead of the regular 1x point per dollar spent. You can now start taking advantage of Chase’s 2018 first quarter rotating categories for this card. The 5% back categories with Chase Freedom really aren’t that exciting for me but this time around it covers what I spend money on the most. This includes cable and internet and phone services if you take out all of my travel purchases but you can do some of those too on Apple or Samsung Pay!
Coming this Summer 2023:
For this quarter, which includes January, February, and March, you can earn 5% cash back on the following:
Gas Stations
Internet, Cell, and Phone Services
Chase Pay, Android Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay
Go here for the rest of of the summer 5% back including Gas purchases.
$200 Bonus for New Accounts
If you’re new to the Chase Freedom Card you can get a $200 Bonus by applying here. You’ll get a $200 bonus after spending $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.
Android Pay, Apple Pay, Chase Pay, and Samsung Pay
Since purchases using Chase Pay, Android Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay trigger the 5% cash back, it should be easy to max out your $1,500 spend cash back! All you have to do is pay with the mobile app at participating stores, or while shopping online. You’ll probably be surprised with how many merchants accept mobile payments and you can normally tell when the card swipe box has a wifi looking sign.
Internet, Phone, and Cable Bills
You can also change your Internet, Cell Phone, and Home Phone service bills to charge your Chase Freedom card instead of the card that is currently being billed. If your combined bills are less then $1,500 for the three months, you can also pre-pay your cell phone bill, for instance, and it will just give you a credit on your bill for the coming months. This option is only good though if you are not currently using a credit card that earns 5x points. Keep in mind that you cannot purchase a phone and get the 5% back because it doesn’t cover equipment. It only covers the service.
Gas Stations
This is a great time to get 5% back at gas stations while fuel costs are higher than normal. Discover Card is also offering a 5% back at gas stations for the first 3 months of 2018. Our favorite Gas Station is Shell where they have a Fuel Rewards program and you can stack the savings on each fill-up.
While there are some great sign-up bonus miles and points cards you should always pay attention to the 5% back on bonus categories that rotate quarterly. This is true especially with Chase and Discover. If you are a Chase Freedom, Discover It, Citi Dividend, or US Bank Cash+ cardholder, make sure to activate your 2017 Q4 bonus categories.
1. Discover it: 10x Back at Amazon.com & Target
The Discover it has a quarterly cap of $1500 in spend on 5x categories. Remember that all new Discover IT cardholders will earn a 2x bonus on cash back earned in the first 12 months of card membership, You can learn more about that here and apply here for an additional spend bonus. including on cash back earned in bonus categories, making quarterly category spend worth 10% cash back in the first year!
2. Chase Freedom: 5% Back at Walmart & Department Stores
Now is a great time to apply for the Chase Freedom card and get $150 bonus after spending $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening. You will also get the Holiday spending 5% cash back bonus at Walmart and Department Stores. The Chase Freedom has a quarterly cap of $1500 in spend on 5x categories per account. (more…)
Everyone should always have one of the credit cards that earn 5% back on bonus categories that rotate quarterly. If you are a Chase Freedom, Discover It, Citi Dividend, or US Bank Cash+ review card holder you can now activate your quarterly rewards for July, August, and September bonus categories.
1. Chase Freedom – 5% Back at Restaurant and Movie Theaters
Restaurant might be the favorite bonus category for many people. Don’t forget to use this card when you eat out!
The Chase Freedom has a quarterly cap of $1500 in spend on 5x categories per account. If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards earned with the Freedom to the CSR and transfer to travel partners, or redeem at 1.5 cents/point towards travel effectively making this 7.5% back.
Restaurants is my favorite 5% back category because I dine out a lot and you can use this for bars and nightclubs which can be expensive and add up fast. I do not mind that Chase Freedom has the same category during these months because I max out both cards with the $1,500 spend with “dining.” Remember that all new Discover IT cardholders will earn a double bonus on cash back earned in the first 12 months of card membership, including on cash back earned in bonus categories, making quarterly category spend worth 10% cash back in the first year.
Right now with Discover It you are earning a full 5% back at Sam’s Club plus another 5% online offer in Discover Deals. Put those two stackable offers together for this quarter and it’s hard to beat. I ordered a garage door opener from those links and cards.
Discover It is also bringing back the restaurants for the next quarter. This comes a quarter later than 2016 when we would already be saving 5% back on dining. We are surprised Chase Freedom has not mentioned any bonus yet for dining out.
Discover released a sneak peek at the 5% cash back bonus categories for July through December 2017. You’ll earn the bonus on everyday purchases at restaurants, Amazon, and more!
Discover Bonus Categories 2017
Use Your Discover it Card to Earn 5% Cash Back on Sam’s Club (in-store and online), Online Costco Purchases, and Gas in the first quarter of 2017. The ground transportation bonus category is broad. It includes purchases like subway passes, railway tickets, taxis and tour bus tickets. Plus, it will include rideshare such as Uber and Lyft spending. You can get up to $75 cash back each quarter on bonus categories with your Discover it card. if you do not have the Discover It Card you can get it here with a sign-up bonus!
The Discover 5X categories starting January 2017 will be:
1. Gas stations (Supermarket stations may not be eligible)
2. Ground transportation
3. Wholesale clubs – Sam’s Club, Costco (Online), BJ’s Wholesale
You can activate the bonus now for spending from January 2017 through March 2017.
Another great thing about Discover Card is they have no foreign transactions fees, so you can use it on bonus purchases when traveling to places such as London or Prague.
Chase Freedom Bonus Categories for 2017
The Chase Freedom bonus categories have been released for the first 2 quarters of 2017. You’ll get 5X Chase Ultimate Rewards points (5% cash back) on up to $1,500 in combined spending when you spend at gas stations and on commuter transportation from January to March 2017. You can usually buy groceries, beer, lottery tickets, and more at gas stations!
You’ll also earn 5X Chase Ultimate Rewards points when you shop at grocery stores and drug stores from April to June 2017, on up to $1,500 in combined purchases.
Nothing is worse in rewards schemes than devaluations after you sign up or to see that your points magically redeem for less than half of their value. While PNC Bank is not as popular as Chase, Discover, and American Express they seem to get away with ripping their business customers off with these worthless rewards redemptions. This is one of the worst examples of a fraudulent claim on rewards since the U.S. Bank Edge Business Visa. We really do not know how it’s possible they can get away with this with such deceiving advertising. It goes to show you always have to read the fine print and study the rewards malls and redemption areas before applying for a credit card.
The claim from the PNC Points Visa Business Credit Card is 5% for ALL purchases, unlimited. You can see it here at (pnc.com/en/small-business/borrowing/business-credit-cards/pnc-points-visa-business-credit-card.html). We will not be linking to this worthless card.
A friend of mine messaged me saying “It looks like the Disney magic act. 50,000 points for $100. lol. That’s very deceptive. Rip off… deceptive to say you earn 5points per dollar.” We totally agree with this because when you sign up for a card and work to spend $3,000 on that particular card that is like an investment to get the bonus of say 25,000 points. You then would expect 25k on the PNC cardto redeem for 1:1 but there is a major catch.
We went over to the rewards mall and $100 check was 50,000 points. Should be 10,000
25k points should = $250 after 3k spend. Such a rip-off.
We did find one good thing to say about this Business Credit Card from PNC. You can get an introductory 0% APR for the first 9 billing cycles following account opening on purchases and balance transfers. Special limited time offer ends 6/30/2016.
PNC Claims: Earn 5 Points for Every $1 Spent
There is no limit to the number of points you can earn on qualifying purchases.
Reality: 5,000 Points do not equal $5 when it comes time to redeem.
Nothing is worse in rewards schemes than devaluations after you sign up or to see that your points magically redeem for less than half of their value. While PNC Bank is not as popular as Chase,