Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex Bonus Categories for April – June 2024 are Hotels, Restaurants and Amazon/Whole Foods
The 2024 second quarter bonus categories for the Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex credit cards are out and points/cash back earning for spend on those categories can now be activated.
Bonus Categories
The Freedoms’ 2024 second quarter bonus categories include:
- Hotels
- Restaurants
- Amazon and Whole Foods
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.
That equates to $75 cash back or 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points if you max out the $1,500 spend for the quarter.
Bonus earnings will begin April 1, 2024, and run through June 30, 2024.
If you haven’t received your activation email yet, you can activate the first quarter categories here.
Activation can be done at any point between now and June 14, 2024, 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.
Our Thoughts on These Bonus Categories
If you’re traveling during the April through June time period, this is a really nice set of bonus categories.
Pay for your hotel room and/or expenses and you’ll earn 5x per dollar spent. And since you’ll be spending a little extra on restaurants during your travels, you’ll earn 5x on that spend as well.
One word of warning…if your travels will take you out of the U.S., none of the Freedom cards waive foreign transaction fees (typically 1%-3% of a charged amount), so using a Freedom card for any charges in a different country will result in added fees. Which means, the benefit of 5x for hotels/restaurants might not be worth it.
But, if your travels will be within the U.S., you just might max out the $1,500 spend on your hotel and restaurant expenses alone.
Restaurant side note – It may turn out that the Freedom Flex will earn 7x per dollar spent at restaurants during this quarter. The reason…previously, when Chase has offered bonuses on credit cards that already provide a bonus on a specific area of spend, the offered bonus is added to what will regularly be earned. For the Flex card, it earns an extra 2x – above the usual 1x – at restaurants for a total of 3x. This quarter’s 5x on restaurant spend may be added to the 2x which is always earned, making the total bonus for restaurants 7x. A really nice bonus. But, we’ll have to wait and see what actually posts once April 1 comes around to know for sure.
The Amazon and Whole Foods categories will benefit those who regularly shop those options. Both Amazon, and most Whole Foods stores, have third-party gift card options that will help to boost your cash back/points earning if needed.
Overall, not a bad second quarter of bonus categories for the Freedom cards. What do you think? Will you be able to max out your $1,500 quarterly spend on these bonus categories?
