The Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex Bonus Categories for July – September are Grocery Stores and Select Streaming Services
The third 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’ 2021 third quarter bonus categories include:
- Grocery Stores
- Select Streaming Services
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 will begin July 1, 2021, and run through September 30, 2021.
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, 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
There really isn’t any strategy associated with the Streaming category other than to make the Freedom/Freedom Flex card your payment method.
Yes, this can be somewhat time consuming if you subscribe to a number of services…you’ll have to decide if changing your payment method is worth it for the upcoming three months.
Below are the streaming services Chase will recognize for the 5%/5x earning. Chase’s terms state:
Merchants in the Select Streaming Services category specialize in delivering music and video content over the internet. Only subscription services paid for with the following select merchants will qualify for this offer: Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Netflix, Sling, Vudu, Fubo TV, Apple Music, SiriusXM, Pandora, Spotify and YouTube TV.
You can get details on all the categories at this Chase link.
Grocery Stores
The most obvious way to take advantage of this category is to make sure your Freedom or Freedom Flex card is the payment method for all your grocery shopping July through the end of September.
Just keep in mind, grocery shopping at Target and Walmart are excluded from earning 5%/5x with this category.
If you don’t see yourself spending roughly $500 per month on groceries, don’t forget that many grocery stores sell third-party gift cards, the purchase of which will trigger the 5%/5x earning, too.
Buy gift cards to restaurants and retailers from which you’ll be buying anyway, and earn the bonus amounts on that spend.
And, occasionally, grocery stores will offer fee-free Visa or Mastercard gift card deals, the purchase of which will allow you to earn the bonus points on a gift card that provides purchase flexibility. Use the Visa/Mastercard gift cards anyplace a Visa or Mastercard credit card is accepted.
The grocery category is one of the easier categories to max out due to most people buying at least some items from grocery stores each week, in addition to the large variety of gift card options that are available.
Wrap Up
The 2021 Q3 bonus categories for the Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex cards are Grocery Stores and Select Streaming Services.
Overall, not a bad quarter for those looking to max out their Freedom and Freedom Flex cards’ bonus categories.
