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If you have the Chase Freedom Flex℠ or the Chase Freedom®, listen up. Chase's 5% bonus categories for Q3 2026 and are open for activation and you can now spend within them.

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.

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

Q3 2026 categories are open for activation and apply to purchases from July 1 through September 30, 2026. You’ll need to activate each quarter, and you can do that easily by clicking here. Registration closes on September 14, 2026.

Chase Freedom 5% rotating categories activation page
Screenshot of Chase Freedom

Chase Freedom 5% Cash Back Categories 2026 Third Quarter (July-September)

Chase's Q3 2026 5% cash back categories opened for activation on June 15, 2026. Between July 1 and September 30, 2026, you can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases on gas stations, public transit, EV charging, select live entertainment, and donations to United Way.

Registration is open through September 14, 2026. But it’s worth taking a moment to activate now so you’re ready to start earning bonus cash back starting July 1.

Chase Freedom 5% rotating categories for Q3 2026
Screenshot of Chase Freedom

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
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Bonus Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee

$95Rates & Fees

Credit Score

Excellent, Good

  • 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 gas and EV charging
  • 3X points on vacation homes at top brands like Airbnb, Vrbo and more
  • 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
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Welcome Bonus Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee

$795Rates & Fees

Credit Score

Excellent

  • 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
Sapphire Reserve for Business℠
Sapphire Reserve for Business℠
Welcome Bonus Earn 200,000 bonus points after you spend $30,000 on purchases in your first 6 months from account opening and access more than $7,000 in total business and travel value in your first year.
Annual Fee

$795Rates & Fees

Credit Score

Excellent, Good

  • 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

Past Freedom Card Rotating Bonus Categories

One of the first things you pick up looking at the historical calendar of Freedom bonus categories is that many of them repeat. Grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, and department stores often show up once or twice each year. We’ve listed the bonus categories below, dating back as far as 2014, followed by some tips to maximize the categories we see repeating each year.

Year

First QuarterSecond QuarterThird QuarterFourth Quarter
2026January – March
• Norwegian Cruise Line
• Dining
• Donations to American Heart Association
April – June
• Amazon
• Chase Travel
• Donations to Feeding America
July – September
• Gas stations
• Public transit
• EV charging
• Select live entertainment
• Donations to United Way
TBD
2025January – March
• Grocery stores (excluding Target and Walmart)
• Fitness clubs
• Hair, nails, and spa services
April – June
• Amazon
• Select streaming services
• Internet cable and phone services
July – September
• Instacart
• Gas stations
• EV charging
• Select live entertainment
October – December
• To be announced
• Activate starting September 15, 2025
2024January – March
• Grocery stores (excluding Target and Walmart)
• Self-care and spa services
• Fitness clubs and gym memberships
April – June
• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Amazon.com
July – September
• Gas stations
• EV charging
• Select live entertainment
• Movie theaters
October – December
• PayPal
• McDonald's
• Pet shops and vet services
• Select charities
2023January – March
• Grocery stores (excluding Walmart)
• Target
• Fitness clubs and gym memberships
April – June
• Amazon.com
• Lowe's
July – September
• Gas stations
• EV charging
• Select live entertainment
October – December
• PayPal
• Wholesale clubs
• Select charities
2022January – March
• Grocery stories (excluding Target and Walmart)
• eBay
April – June
• Select streaming services
• Amazon.com
July – September
• Gas stations
• Rental cars
• Movie theaters
• Select live entertainment
October – December
• PayPal
• Walmart
2021January – March
• Wholesale clubs
• Internet, cable, & phone services
• Select streaming services
April – June
• Gas stations
• Home improvement stores
July – September
• Grocery stores
• Select streaming services
October – December
• PayPal
• Walmart
2020January – March
• Gas stations
• Internet, cable, & phone services
• Select streaming services
April – June
• Grocery stores
• Fitness club & gym memberships
• Select streaming services
July – September
• Amazon.com
• Whole Foods
October – December
• Walmart
• PayPal
2019January-March
• Gas stations
• Drug stores
• Tolls
April – June
• Grocery stores
• Home improvement stores
July – September
• Gas stations
• Select streaming services
October – December
• Department stores
• Chase Pay
• PayPal
2018January-March
• Mobile wallets
• Gas stations
• Internet, cable, and
phone service merchants
April – June
• Groceries
• PayPal
• Chase Pay
July – September
• Lyft
• Walgreens
• Gas stations
October – December
• Wholesale clubs
• Department stores
• Chase Pay
2017January-March
• Gas stations
• Local commuter transportation
April – June
• Grocery stores
• Drug stores
July – September
• Restaurants
• Movie theatres
October – December
• Walmart
• Department stores
2016January-March
• Gas stations
• Local commuter transportation
April – June
• Grocery stores
• Wholesale clubs
July – September
• Restaurants
• Wholesale clubs
October – December
• Wholesale clubs
• Drug stores
• Department stores
2015January-March
• Grocery stores
• Movie theaters
• Starbucks
April – June
• Restaurants
• Bed Bath & Beyond
• H&M
• Overstock.com
July – September
• Gas stations
• Kohl's
October – December
• Amazon.com
• Zappos.com
• Audible.com
• Diapers.com
2014January-March
• Gas stations
• Movie theatres
• Starbucks
April – June
• Restaurants
• Lowe's
July – September
• Gas stations
• Kohl's
October – December
• Amazon.com
• Zappos.com
• Department stores

Related: Credit Cards With Rotating Quarterly Bonus Categories

Final Thoughts

You can now activate and spend within the 5% bonus categories on the Freedom Flex or Freedom Card for July to September 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), Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (Rates & Fees)

Tip of The Day
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Comments

  • Mike says:

    I have a Freedom unlimited card, when i go to the chasebonus site and enter my information it doesn’t recognize my despite putting the correct information.

  • D. Belcore says:

    I asked AI if this applies on international dining (it does), but was reminded that the Freedom Flex card has a 3% fee on International transactions. If you could include such info in your articles, it would be helpful. Thank you.

  • Ben says:

    This is awesome! Can you please deposit my 5 AA miles?

  • Janet says:

    What’s the best way to redeem the 5% cash back to get the most bang for my buck? I have a Chase Sapphire. I have 5% from the 1st quarter sitting in my freedom account and don’t know what to do with it.

  • Luke says:

    Id like to know what counts as fitness club & gym memberships. What about home gym memberships such as The Mirror (now Lululemon), NordicTrack iFit, Bowflex JRNY, Peloton, etc, etc ?

    • JT Genter says:

      Check out AwardWallet’s Merchant Lookup Tool to see how purchases have posted: https://awardwallet.com/merchants/

      Chase defines fitness club & gym memberships as: “Merchants in this category include health clubs, exercise, or athletic facilities requiring membership and offering access to services related to physical fitness, such as fitness clubs, fitness centers, fitness studios, gyms, aerobics, cardio fitness and other services such as yoga and cross fit training. Merchants that specialize in offering personalized or therapeutic services such as massage therapy, dietary and weight management counseling and personal training are not included in this category. In addition, some merchants that sell a wide variety of general goods, which may include fitness or athletic apparel, sporting goods, dietary food, health food or similar supplements are not included in this category. Also, certain lodging, hotel, motel, resort and central reservation services offering access to third party facilities that include fitness clubs or gyms are not included in this category unless they classify as a fitness club or gym membership merchant.”

  • Ilia Khan says:

    Thanks for posting this, it reminded me to sign up both my cards. With gas prices as high as they are will max these out quickly ha

  • sol says:

    maybe getting a second card for the rotating categories?

    • JT Genter says:

      It’s definitely possible. I currently carry back the Freedom Card and the Freedom Flex to double up on how much I can earn at 5% each quarter.

  • KareK says:

    I have been super busy and forgot about this! Thank you! I think there needs to be a website that I can just change all my streaming at once. I guess I’ll need to think if it’s worth it or will my purchases at Amazon fullfill the bonus.

  • jp says:

    I’m thinking of getting a second card for the rotating categories

  • joe says:

    best thing to do is have a reserve card along with this one and you can double dip the bonuses

  • Pat says:

    I would encourage readers to use the Paypal category for the Chase Freedom cards to make charitable donations. I have discovered that even charities that do not list Paypal as a pay option on their own website may be listed on Paypal’s own charitable giving website https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/hub. That way you get 5x UR points for charitable deductions up to $1500.

  • gabriel says:

    hmm, it’s a little complex and demands too much attention for applying, There are better promotions…

  • Lauren says:

    Is there a way to check your progress against the bonus category spending limit? I haven’t been too successful trying to gauge my progress using the Chase mobile app, aside from manually adding my purchases to review the total vs the goal.

  • Alex says:

    I really wish I didn’t have to activate these manually each quarter, Walmart is nice though, spend a bunch there.

  • BW says:

    This quarter’s bonus category (Walmart + Paypal) is sort of underwhelming…

  • Fenspinbi says:

    It’s nice that Chase dovetails the PayPal category with Discover, effectively giving a bonus on PayPal for 6 months out of the year. Having Walmart as a bonus category on both the Freedom/Freedom Flex and Discover it also raises the cap to $3000 this quarter, which will be great for some people.

  • Bill says:

    Absolutely love the grocery store bonus category!

    • Patrick says:

      With flex I am getting 5% base on grocery plus 4 % freedom quarterly bonus plus 50% more when merging points into Reserve account : Ie 13.5% all together .

  • ajfrisby says:

    Why not list the “Select Streaming Services”? Wording that way makes it seem like there is a catch.

  • Michael says:

    They used to send me a text to sign up for the new categories but they stopped doing it and l forget about it. Thanks for the reminder. It’s nice to get something back for using the card. It has taken me a long time but now l have enough points for some free tickets somewhere on the beach. Love my Freedom card

  • Lucio says:

    Nice news. The fight for conquer the client does not end for air companies.

  • Nancy says:

    Are both cards (Freedom Flex and Freedom card) activated at the same time or do you need to activate them separately?

  • Michael says:

    I have a freedom unlimited card but it doesn’t offer rotating categories. I downgraded from a sapphire reserve card. I also have a chase freedom with rotating categories. Should I switch to a flex card? Thank you

  • Jennifer says:

    As long as you hold the card, you should just sign up for it even if you do not intend to have and spend in the quarterly categories.

  • Charles says:

    The $1500 cap on the home improvement center purchases might been too little for many card holders.

  • arshi007 says:

    I had activated this but seems like this time around, AmEx has just overshadowed my spend compared to Chase. Got the Plat with the 10x grocery and gas offer and then used that to get HD/Lowe’s GC for 10x back so the Chase quarterly category has just been unused. Wish Chase can make this more like the Citi Custom Cash now.

  • Darren says:

    I both have the grocery signup bonus for the Flex and the Amex Platinum. Wish Amex was a year, though 10x is pretty sweet.

  • Nancy says:

    I wish next quarter was groceries instead of gas. I only have to fill up every few months since the virus started.

  • Derrick says:

    I wish that Chase would release the entire calendar like Discover.

    • Fenspinbi says:

      On the upside, it’s kind of exciting and gives one something to look forward to (I was pleased this quarter, as I used quite a bit of the quota on wholesale clubs and internet/phone service), and Chase allows for retroactive 5x earnings if you activate very late, so it’s much more forgiving if one forgets, unlike Discover. Downside is that you can’t form a cohesive strategy for the whole year, but that’s mitigated by having overlapping redundancies from holding 10+ other cards (CFU, CSP, Hilton, Discover, AA cards). I believe that Chase piggy-backs off of other issuer’s calendar categories because they understand that many cardholders have both cards, and thankfully share the space, rather than competing. Wholesale clubs are a 6-month contiguous bonus category this year if you hold the Freedom/Flex and Discover it® card.

  • Robert says:

    Always great to see gas stations as a bonus category. Would love to see streaming services stay on as a permanent category though.

  • Linda Mary Falat says:

    I like the fact I can transfer to a travel partner. Not all cards allow you to do this.

  • Alan says:

    Thanks for the reminder!

  • AJ says:

    I prefer to pick my bonus categories each month/quarter as opposed to them being selected for me. I have certain cards for certain categories.

  • BW says:

    Yay for gas stations!

  • Keith Anderson says:

    Other than the sign-up bonus, is there any reason to apply for the Chase Freedom Flex if you already have the Chase Freedom and the Freedom Unlimited?

    • JT Genter says:

      That’s something that I’m struggling with as well. I have both the Freedom and the Freedom Unlimited, and I’m struggling to justify using a 5/24 slot for a new Freedom Flex. There are some unique perks of the Freedom Flex – like cell phone insurance, Postmates discount, Lyft promo, etc: https://awardwallet.com/credit-cards/chase-ultimate-rewards/freedom-flex/

      But, the real reason to justify signing up for the Freedom Flex is the solid $200 sign-up bonus + 5X on groceries for a year.

  • arshi007 says:

    Given that the Freedom Flex is a MC, it will have limited value at Costco. OTOH, if you have the legacy Freedom (which I have kept for now), then this is a good opportunity to earn 5% on Costco purchases.

    One more reason to NOT product change if you have the Freedom.

  • Paul says:

    I agree that I think for certain categories this should be a permanent offer

  • Karl says:

    I very much think certain categories should be made permanent.

  • Charles says:

    Earning further cash rebates at Costco is certainly a very welcoming news to many.

  • Robert Felter says:

    “Select streaming services” which ones might those be?

    Thx in advance

  • Gilberto Souza de Morais says:

    5% of the Purchase Value as Cash-back is so generous.

  • Keith A GARDENER says:

    I want the flex but like some am nervous that applying for another new chase card…this will be my 6th as well as needing to dowmgrade my CSR to get the SUB again has me a little on pause. Anyone feeling the same?

    • Froide says:

      I’m being very conservative about applying for cards right now, too. I want the Chase Freedom Flex and the Chase Ink Business Cash cards but will wait awhile before applying.

  • Sara says:

    Anyone know if Walmart Grocery is included? The terms say “Purchases in the Walmart category include purchases at Walmart Discount Stores, Walmart SuperCenters, Walmart Neighborhood Markets, http://www.walmart.com, Walmart branded gas stations operated by Walmart, any other Walmart branded retail stores operated by Walmart, and purchases made with Walmart Pay.”

  • KareK says:

    Eh I just don’t shop at Walmart too much or use PayPal. I guess this holiday season either I need to use PayPal or just not max out the bonus this time. I don’t like to shop too much at Walmart unless I have to because I don’t like several of their company practices. I wonder why they picked Walmart and did not include Target? Amex just might get my business this holiday season.

  • Jennifer says:

    Citibank and DIscover cards also have this feature. What they do not have is the higher point value if you have a more premium card with an annual fee.

  • Will says:

    Do anyone incur extra expenses from shopping through PayPal?

  • Peter O. says:

    Yes. I love when PayPal is up. All my online purchases bring me the bonus!!!

  • Maryjane says:

    My card is activated. It is now so easy to activate the categories through the app. I can remember when this was not the case and it seemed that every quarter I had to figure out where they had hidden the activation on their webpage. It almost negates my chronic underlying annoyance that the categories have to be activated at all. (But not quite.).

  • Ash says:

    Supposedly the Freedom Flex will not be eligible for Q3 categories on new sign-ups even though it’s technically possible to get approved before the Q3 enrollment window ends. Seems strange. Product changes from OG Freedom (and perhaps others?) still seem to allow Q3 enrollment.

  • Jesusita Soliz says:

    I haven’t been using this card much, but have had it a while and had no idea I had to activate these bonuses. I wish I had known and would have used this card for all my purchases at Amazon & Whole Foods since July – which were a lot! Thanks for this useful info for someone still trying to get on top of the best way to use my cards!

  • George Ciava says:

    I’d like to buy Iphone 12 max for my girl friend hope apple will be publish iphone 12 more fast or else i will be choose HUAWEI phone as it’s have great 5G network.

  • Robert says:

    Q3 has been very good. Usually Amazon falls into Q4’s “holiday” category. Maybe back to back quarters for Amazon this year?

  • Henry J says:

    Wait for this labor holiday to buy many things and this cashback would be better to choose this card. Thanks for tips.

  • Ben says:

    I don’t want to use Chase again since i have been reject to apply a new card as 5/24 rule. That’s very bad experience for chase . I usually use AE card to earn Marriott points.

  • paul5795 says:

    This is an odd post. The whole purpose of the freedom card is to get the rotating bonuses . . . so how many cardholders would not be aware of the current categories more than two months into the quarter??

  • M says:

    Thanks for the reminder! So curious what next quarters extra points selection will be, hope they continue with amazon.

  • Justin says:

    Can I also use the Chase UR Pay Yourself Back to these Whole Foods purchases on the Freedom?

    • JT Genter says:

      The Pay Yourself Back featured is only available to Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders for now, but Chase did say that they would add more cards later. You still have the option to redeem Chase Freedom earnings for 1% cashback.

  • askmrlee says:

    To help you plan for the year, Discover will give 5% cashback for Amazon (and Walmart.com and Target.com) in Q4 (Sep-Dec). So if you have the right set of cards, you’ll be earning 5% for the rest of the year at Amazon.

  • Nacho says:

    For Chase cards, check out the Pay Yourself Back program. A great way to redeem ultimate rewards points at a good value. It allows you to offset purchases on your card.

  • Michael Graham says:

    I can’t wait to activate my extra points. It ads up to a free vacation. Hooray!

  • Richard says:

    When are the credit cards going to bring back price protection of purchases?

    • JT Genter says:

      Unfortunately, I think that’s a long-gone benefit. Services that automated these claims flooded benefits administrators with claims, so cards killed off the benefit. I’m hopeful that banks will figure out a way to offer the benefit with limits — such as claims needing to be for at least $20 or that you can only make up to 5 claims a year.

  • Tiffany says:

    While 5% is very generous, I dislike that cardholders even have to ‘activate’ this cashback! It should be automatic. Also, it’s frustrating not to know what the next quarter cashback will be…

  • Y Wang says:

    Amazon bonus is always a welcome category.

  • Otto says:

    Amazon and Whole Foods are the same company. Neither of which I support due to their contributions towards global inequality and terrible labor practices. I will not be utilizing this category. I dislike how it’s not “Grocery” and restricted to one store.

  • Shawn says:

    Keep in mind that the 5% for Amazon includes Amazon Fresh orders, but not Amazon Wholefoods orders, if you want to leverage it for grocery delivery.

  • CK says:

    Thanks–helpful! However, is the activation site down? It keeps deleting my info and saying “We can’t enroll you with the information provided”

  • Lauren says:

    Well this quarter seems like a bust. I’ve heard of Whole Foods but haven’t seen one in my area, and I generally don’t order online often. I guess this is the push I needed to figure out if it would be cheaper to buy some of my recurring grocery/household item expenses from Amazon.

  • DL says:

    Great category again but I already have 2k+ gift card balance in my Amazon account. Thanks to 4 freedom + CSR and Q2’s category.

  • Yana says:

    I own the Freedom card for years and for me the categories, while a great bonus, are often a hit or miss. I might be one of the very few people who don’t shop on Amazon and whole foods is the one grocery store that I do not have in my neighborhood.
    Also plenty of other categories they often have, I use a business credit card to pay for. So unfortunately I don’t get much benefit from the Chase Freedom card aside from it having no annual fees.
    Wish I could take better advantage of the 5% points bonus.

  • Geebs says:

    Anyone else find it odd there are only two options? There have previously been three, though Q2 chase added back streaming to provide that flexibility after the shutdown. Also surprised Chase chose a very specific grocery brand, not to mention one of the most expensive and region-specific. Guess I’ll have to be giving Discover the majority of my cashback business this quarter.

  • Maryjane says:

    Thanks for the reminder to activate. I’ll do that today through the app. Amazon is a great category. I can’t say I’m as enthusiastic about Whole Paycheck though…but that’s just me.

  • Andrew says:

    Fitness and Gyms are a joke right now- I guess that’s offset by the streaming since that’s what people are doing instead.

  • rp says:

    Grocery stores is useful… Gyms during lock down is a NO !!

  • lenin1991 says:

    Note that they added “Streaming Services” as an additional category this quarter!

  • Slimcustomer says:

    Getting a CSP is not worth it after the signup bonus. Even if you managed to max out all 5% categories on the freedom and got $300 for the year, you would only get $75 additional for having the CSP, and the annual fee is $95. Already get >2.5% on dining and travel with other no fee cards. We buy grocery gift cards to max out the 5% grocery quarters for Discover and Chase, as we would never come close to maxing them out otherwise. Gets us 5% off groceries all year long.

  • KareK says:

    I always love it when they have groceries. I always max out the bonus. I will have to look at the fitness more closely. I wonder if it includes anything online. I know my gym offers online classes since the gym is closed. So it might still be an option.

  • m says:

    Chase didn’t get the memo on gyms and fitness clubs?

  • The Arts Traveler says:

    Well, this quarter should be maxed out in a week. In all that is going on it’s easy to forget the usual things you have to do to maximize points and so on.

  • Dhangfun Karnasuta says:

    At this time with the Covid-19 pandemic, I don’t think anyone will dare go to the gym or fitness.

  • Gsbe says:

    I do miss my gym, that is for sure. I will tkae the bonus on groceries though!

  • Lauren says:

    I’ll admit I was peeved at first when I activated and saw that Walmart purchases won’t be eligible. There’s a Walmart local to me and it’s where I do my grocery shopping because the prices are the best compared to some of the other local area chain markets. My guess is that they want the focus to be points earned from actual markets and not from a trip to a mass merchandiser like Walmart or Target because you needed non-grocery items.

  • Robert says:

    It would be great to see grocery stores include Walmart and Target. In my experience, groceries there are substantially cheaper than chain supermarkets and I won’t pay more for everyday purchases just to earn points.

    • Darren says:

      I’m pretty sure that I’ve had a grocery-only WalMart code as groceries. They say this just to set expectations though. It’s the store that sets its merchant code, not Chase. Stores like this will never code as groceries so Chase is just being proactive in notifying people that it won’t count.

  • Chris says:

    Why wouldnt the switch the gym/fitness center out? That makes no sense.

  • JL says:

    The grocery store bonus is very nice during this time.
    The gym…not so much.

  • Cha says:

    The gym bonus is unfortunately a joke nowadays.

  • Jennifer says:

    I wish they would just automatically register everyone for these 5% bonus categories. Why do people have to activate? It is just a way to make sure some people would not qualify for it.

    • Erik Paquet says:

      I agree that would be nice, but I think they want to force people to think about their Freedom card at least 1x per quarter. If the goal was to have fewer transactions qualify, they wouldn’t make the earning retroactive for transactions made before registration.

    • Katie says:

      Making people register is a way for marketing to advertise this as true and get people to sign up but have hope that a certain percentage won’t maximize their rewards and capitalize.

    • Michael Graham says:

      They used to send me a text when it was time to activate, but they don’t do that anymore. Now sometimes l forget about it

  • Katie says:

    5% at grocery stores it is. No gyms for the rest of the year.

  • Maryjane says:

    I’ve already activated. It’s nice that they’ve made it so easy to do so on the app. It used to be difficult to find but it’s much improved. I wish they’d get rid of the need to activate the categories altogether but that’s probably too much to ask.

  • Talchinsky says:

    A great time to earn points on groceries since that’s about the only thing we should be spending on in this time of Coronavirus.

  • Shane says:

    5% cash back bonus on gym memberships is pretty pointless. Most, if not all, gyms are currently closed due to the COVID-19 situation.

    • JIE says:

      Thanks

    • Karl says:

      They should swap the pointless category out with a “useful” one.

      • EC says:

        Karl, I enjoyed your, perhaps unintentional, pun… “pointless.” Although, I guess it’s technically a cashless category here. Yes, the inclusion of gyms makes it look as if an unaware, preprogrammed computer was choosing categories this quarter. Would have thought they’d catch this. They use these categories as incentives to spend and no incentives will work on gym spending right now. That’s certainly why they added streaming services with the update. Glad they adjusted a bit.

  • Dan says:

    Hmm, strange indeed that they did not swap out the gym category for something more useful during the present situation (e.g., pharmacies, hardware stores, etc.) I guess they plan these promotions far in advance and it’s difficult to change them on short notice.

    • Andy says:

      How can the substitution be so difficult when practically all it takes is a revision in their database?

      • Trev says:

        Probably due to contractual agreements. I would guess that merchants give something back in exchange for incentivizing business on this kind of scale.

  • Harvey says:

    Pair this with a CSR and you’ll be earning URs in no time