Today is the first day of a new quarter and a new set of 5 percent categories for the Chase Freedom credit card (one of my favorite credit cards).

This quarter (April 1, 2016- June 30, 2016), the Chase Freedom 5% categories are grocery stores (not including Walmart and Target) and wholesale clubs (including BJs and Sam’s Club). The 5% only applies to the first $1,500 spent on combined purchases each quarter. This means if you spend $1,500 on a combination of grocery stores and wholesale clubs this quarter you will receive a total of 7,500 points (1,500 plus a bonus of 6,000 points).

If you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card or an Ink Plus you can transfer points from your Freedom account into one of those accounts and then can transfer those points to various travel partners.

Don’t Forget to Activate

Please note, that in order to earn the 5% you must activate the offer each quarter (by text, email or other methods). If you have a Chase Freedom and have signed up for email reminders you should have already received an email asking you to activate this quarter’s categories. If you have not yet activated the 5% for this quarter, you can register now or any time during the registration period and earn the full 5% for the entire quarter retroactively. Registration for this current quarter ends on June 14, 2016.

How to Maximize the 5% Bonus

If you were not planning on spending a total of $1,500 on your Chase Freedom at grocery stores and wholesale clubs this quarter, one option to maximize the bonus is to buy gift cards from grocery stores and use them for future purchases. For most people, this is the easiest quarter to meet the $1,500 spending on as pretty much everyone shops for groceries.

Overview of the Chase Freedom Credit Card

For anyone not familiar with this card, the Chase Freedom credit card is a great no annual fee card that earns you points that can be indirectly transferred to frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs. Chase Freedom is technically a cash back card only and points earned using the Chase Freedom cannot be directly transferred to airlines and hotel programs. However, if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card, Ink Plus® Business Card or Ink Bold® Business Card you can transfer your points from your Chase Freedom account to one of those cards and then from there to the various Ultimate Rewards travel partners. See related post How To Combine or Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Between Accounts.

While the Chase Freedom® normally offers 1% cash back on all purchases, every quarter there are certain bonus categories for which you can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in bonus categories each quarter. This means if you spend the full $1,500 each quarter in those 5 percent categories you can earn a total of 30,000 points a year (6,000 points + extra 24,000 bonus points).

The bonus categories vary each year and are announced at the end of the previous year. You have to register each quarter for the bonus and then you can earn the 5% on up to $1,500 on purchases for that quarter.

The Chase Freedom® card is currently offering a higher than usual signup bonus of 15,000 bonus points (which can be redeemed for $150 cash back) after you spend $500 in your first 3 months from account opening and 2,500 bonus points (which can be redeemed for $25 cash back) when you add your first authorized user and make your first purchase within this same 3-month period.

If you already have the Chase Freedom you are currently able to earn $50 for referring the Chase Freedom to friends/family using Chase refer-a-friend.

If you do not have the Chase Freedom, this would be a great time to apply since the sign up bonus is higher than normal. The only downside is that the bonus has been higher in the past (I have seen the sign up bonus at 20,000 bonus points a couple of times in the last 2 years so you might want to wait for a higher sign up bonus if you do not plan to spend a lot in these categories in the next quarter). If you spend a lot on groceries you can still apply for this card and earn the 5%. Warning: If you are thinking of applying for the Chase Freedom, please note Chase will deny applicants for the Chase Freedom if they are subject to the Chase 5/24 rule for credit card approvals. See this post for more information about the 5/24 rule.

Please note we do not have affiliate links but if you apply for a Chase Freedom card through my referral link I will earn 5,000 points if you apply and are approved.