Activate Chase Freedom’s 2017 Third Quarter Bonus Categories Today
The third 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.
Freedom’s third quarter bonus categories include:
- Restaurants
- Movie Theaters
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 on restaurant and movie theater purchases will begin July 1, 2017, and run through September 30, 2017.
If you haven’t received your activation email yet, you can activate the third quarter categories here.
Obviously, you can activate your third quarter bonus categories at any point between now and September 14, 2017, 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.
Restaurants are a good bonus category, but unless most of your meals are eaten out, it’s difficult to max out the $1,500 quarterly spend.
And, while it costs a fortune to actually see a movie in a theater these days – which means you can rack up a nice pile of cash back/Ultimate Rewards points in the process – it’s likely most won’t hit this category too hard.
Of course, you can always purchase gift cards from your favorite restaurants and movie theaters to use in the coming months as a way to boost your cash back/Ultimate Rewards points earning this quarter.
And, to double dip your points earning, don’t forget to add your Freedom card to your favorite airline or hotel dining program to grab those extra dining points at participating restaurants.
But, to put it bluntly, this quarter’s bonus categories don’t come close to being as lucrative as when grocery stores, gas stations and drug stores – all of which offer a wide variety of gift cards for purchase – are part of the quarterly bonus categories.
Here’s hoping the fourth quarter categories hold more cash back/points earning potential.
