The 2021 Fourth Quarter Bonus Categories for the Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex Cards are Walmart and PayPal
The 2021 fourth quarter bonus categories for the Chase Freedom credit card and the Chase Freedom Flex card are out and points/cash back earning for spend on those categories can now be activated.
Bonus Categories
The Freedoms’ fourth quarter bonus categories include:
- Walmart
- PayPal
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 Walmart and via Paypal will begin October 1, 2021, and run through December 31, 2021.
If you haven’t received your activation email yet, you can activate the fourth quarter categories here.
Obviously, you can activate your fourth quarter bonus categories at any point between now and December 14, 2021, 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.
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 Walmart and/or by using PayPal to checkout at many online retailers.
If, however, you don’t shop at Walmart and you’re not comfortable with PayPal, your spend won’t come close to hitting that $1,500 mark. Here’s an option to still earn some cash back/points this quarter.
Simply purchase Visa gift cards from Walmart – online or in-store – using your Chase Freedom card to pay.
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. And that $200 gift card will get you 1,034 Ultimate Rewards points (or $10 cash back, effectively wiping out the fee and “making you” $3.12).
Then, use the gift card(s) to pay for things that don’t earn a credit card spending bonus.
Purchases like groceries from stores other than Walmart, dining out, or, really, for any other purchase that doesn’t earn at least 5x miles or points with some other credit card.
And if you don’t want to pay the gift card fee, Walmart sells 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.
PayPal
I used to equate PayPal with eBay buying and selling, and not much else.
Well, that’s changed.
PayPal is similar to many of the mobile wallet payment systems, in that it is becoming more widely accepted as a payment method at a variety of merchants.
If you’re not familiar with setting up a PayPal account for making purchases, you can get details at this PayPal link.
Just look for the PayPal logo when making an online purchase, and be sure your Chase Freedom card is loaded to your PayPal account as the payment method.
And, for retailers that are set up to accept PayPal for in-store purchases (some grocery stores come to mind) you can scan the PayPal app at checkout to pay.
And just like that, you’ll earn 5%/5x on your purchase.
Interestingly, you can use PayPal to pay for your Walmart.com purchases…unfortunately, you’ll only earn 5%/5x on the purchase even though both Walmart and PayPal are Freedom bonus categories this quarter.
The Freedom Flex Card
If you don’t yet have a Freedom Flex card, now is a great time to apply.
The Freedom Flex (and the Freedom Unlimited) are currently offering a sign-up bonus of $200 after spending $500 within 3 months from account approval.
The bigger plus for applying NOW, though, is that you’ll earn 5% cash back on all your grocery purchases for the next year up to $12,000 in spend.
This grocery bonus ends September 30, 2021.
With grocery prices on the rise, this is a great way to somewhat offset those price increases.
Here’s a quick overview of the Freedom Flex’s regular bonus earning categories.
- Earn 5% on up to $1,500 on combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter (Walmart and PayPal for Q4 2021)
- Earn 5% on travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal
- Earn 3% on dining at restaurants including takeout and eligible delivery services
- Earn 3% on drugstore purchases
- Earn 1% on all other purchases
This makes the Freedom Flex card a really enticing card to hold and spend on regularly.
You can get details and apply at this link.
Just make sure you apply for the Freedom Flex if you want the quarterly 5% cash back categories, and not the Freedom Unlimited.
Wrap Up
The Q4 2021 bonus categories for the Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex cards are Walmart and PayPal.
Regular Walmart shoppers will easily benefit from this quarter’s category. And even if you’re not a regular Walmart shopper, there are ways to still benefit from the Walmart category.
And, concerning PayPal, even if you’re not familiar with PayPal, don’t dismiss it too quickly.
A large number of merchants offer PayPal as a checkout option for online shopping. And, now, in-store, as well. And the number is growing.
It might be worth looking at the PayPal link above to see if setting up a PayPal account is something you want to do.
Considering the ability to earn 5% cash back this coming quarter on purchases made via PayPal, it might be worth the effort.
