Chase Freedom’s 2018 Fourth Quarter Bonus Categories Are Out

Savings Beagle | September 15, 2018 | Miles and Points | No Comments

The fourth quarter bonus categories for the Chase Freedom credit card are out and points/cash back earning for spend on those categories can now be activated.

Bonus Categories

Freedom’s fourth quarter bonus categories include:

Wholesale Clubs
Department Stores
Chase Pay

All purchases made in these categories earn 5% cash back – or my favorite, 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent – on up to $1,500 in combined purchases.

Bonus earnings at Wholesale Clubs, Department Stores and on Chase Pay purchases will begin October 1, 2018, and run through December 31, 2018.

You can activate the fourth quarter categories beginning today at this link.

Obviously, you can activate your fourth quarter bonus categories at any point between now and December 14, 2018, to ensure you earn the bonus cash back/Ultimate Rewards points. I usually get it out of the way as soon as it becomes available to make sure I don’t forget.

Considering the fourth quarter is holiday spending time, these categories do hold promise for earning the full $75 cash back or 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points.

How to Play It

Of course, holiday shopping could put a large dent in that $1,500 of spend if most of your purchases will be made at a Costco, Sam’s Club and the like or the various retailers Chase has determined fall into the department store category.

And while Chase Pay has limited reach in the mobile wallet world, there are a few workarounds that can make it more lucrative for maxing out this quarter’s $1,500 in spend.

Click this link to see retailers that accept Chase Pay and how to use Chase Pay to actually make a payment.

If you have a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, it is now possible to link Chase Pay to Samsung Pay and open your mobile payment options to a much wider number of retailers.

Walmart is one of the options where you can use Chase Pay, on Walmart.com, to pay, or Samsung Pay to pay in-store. For in-store purchases, just be sure the cashier knows you’re paying with credit and hold your phone near the reader for a few seconds, or more, until the payment is registered. These new-fangled, techie things can be finicky at times.

Why Walmart? And many grocery stores when using Samsung Pay for that matter?

For purchasing gift cards, of course!

Simply purchase Visa gift cards from Walmart – online or in-store – using Chase Pay/Samsung Pay to make the purchase.

A $200 Visa gift card comes with a fee of $6.88, which is about as low a fee as you’ll find for a $200 card.

Then, use the gift card(s) to pay for things that don’t earn the 5x spending bonus.

And if you don’t want to pay the gift card fee, Walmart – and I’m sure a number of the department stores and for sure grocery stores – sell merchant specific gift cards that do not include an additional fee.

Grab a bunch of gift cards to retailers you’ll be buying from anyway and earn the extra cash back/UR points in the process.

The bonus categories themselves will be enough for many to max out the cash back/Ultimate Rewards earning this quarter. And if not, the Chase Pay workarounds will definitely get you there.

Ultimate Rewards Points and the Freedom Card

Not sure why maxing out the Chase Freedom credit card’s bonus categories is so beneficial? Read the post below to learn how valuable Ultimate Rewards points can be.

Why I love Chase Ultimate Rewards Points and You Should Too

Don’t have a Chase Freedom credit card? Read our review and apply at the link below.