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If you have the Chase Freedom Flex℠ or the Chase Freedom®, listen up. Chase just unveiled its 5% bonus categories for Q1 2026, and they’re now open for activation.
Cardholders can earn a total of $75 cash back — or 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points — by maxing out spending each quarter. However, you'll need to activate the offer each quarter before you can start earning 5% cash back.
Here's everything you need to know about the Chase Freedom 5% rotating bonus categories.
Page Contents
Chase Freedom 5% Cash Back Overview
Each quarter, Chase introduces new rotating cash back categories on the Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom®.
After you activate for the quarter, you’ll earn a total of 5% cash back on the first $1,500 in combined purchases in the eligible categories. This includes the card’s 1% base rate plus a 4% bonus. Purchases above the $1,500 cap and all non-bonus spending earn 1% cash back.
If you max out the bonus categories each quarter, you can earn $300 cash back, or 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points, each year. That’s a meaningful return!
How to activate Chase Freedom 5% bonus categories
If you enrolled by December 14, 2025, Q4 2025 categories are active through December 31, 2025. Q1 2026 categories are now open for activation and run from January 1 through March 31, 2026.
You’ll need to activate each quarter, and you can do that easily by clicking here.
Chase Freedom 5% Cash Back Categories 2026 First Quarter
Chase revealed its Q1 2026 5% cash back categories and opened them for activation on December 15, 2025. Between January 1 and March 31, 2026, you can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases with Norwegian Cruise Line, on dining, and on donations to the American Heart Association.
Registration closes on March 14, 2026, but it’s worth taking a moment to activate now so you’re ready to start earning bonus cash back on January 1.
Keep in mind that purchases must post to your account between January 1 and March 31, 2026, to be eligible for the bonus cash back.
Chase Freedom 5% Cash Back Categories 2025 Fourth Quarter
Registration for Q4 2025’s 5% cash back categories opened on September 15, 2025, and once activated, covers eligible purchases made between October 1 and December 31, 2025.
If you registered for this offer by December 14, you can continue to earn 5% cash back at the following merchants through the end of the year, on up to $1,500 in combined purchases:
- Old Navy
- Chase Travel (for a total of 9% total cash back on Freedom Flex)
- Department Stores
- PayPal (December only)
Maximize Your Earnings With a Premium Chase Card
The best way to leverage the points earned from your Freedom Flex or Freedom Card is by combining them with a premium Ultimate Rewards-earning card like:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees)
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees)
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
- Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (Rates & Fees)
- 5X points on Lyft rides through September 2027
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide
- 3X points on eligible streaming services
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 2X points on all other travel
- 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases
- 8x points on all purchases through Chase Travel℠
- 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly
- 3x points on dining worldwide
- 1x points on all other purchases
- 8X points on all Chase Travel℠ purchases
- 5X total points on eligible Lyft rides through 9/30/2027
- 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly
- 3x points on advertising purchases made with social media platforms and search engines
- 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases
The way this works is straightforward. If you only hold the Freedom Flex or Freedom Card, you can redeem your earnings only as cash back at a value of 1¢ per point.
However, if you hold a premium card, you can transfer your earnings to the premium card. Then, you can redeem these points through the Chase Travel Portal or Chase Pay Yourself Back to get up to 2¢ per point, depending on which card you have. Moving points to a premium card also opens up the option of transferring these points to a Chase travel partner, where you can get even more value for your points.
You can maximize the earning potential on the Freedom Flex or Freedom Card by spending just $500 per month in the quarterly bonus categories. If you do, you'll earn $300 cash back (or 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points) each year.
Related: How to Combine Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Between Credit Cards
Final Thoughts
You can now activate and spend the 5% bonus categories on the Freedom Flex or Freedom Card for January-March 2026.
If you hold the Freedom Flex or the Freedom Card, activating and leveraging your quarterly bonus categories is a must. The 5% rotating bonus is one of the main features of these cards, and it's where they deliver the most value. If you don't, you're leaving money on the table.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), and Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (Rates & Fees)
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