Chase has released all of the 2021 5% bonus categories for the original Chase Freedom card and the brand new Chase Freedom Flex card (read more about the card below).

Chase Freedom Calendar 2021 5% Bonus Categories

The Chase Freedom 5% bonus categories for 2021 are as follows:
1st quarter (January 1, 2021- March 31, 2021) – Wholesale Clubs, Internet, Cable, & Phone Services, Select Streaming Services.
2nd quarter (April 1, 2021 – June 30, 2021) – Gas Stations and Home Improvement Stores.
3rd quarter (July 1, 2021 – September 30, 2021) – Grocery Stores (excluding Target® & Walmart®) and Select Streaming Services.
4th quarter (October 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021) – Walmart® and PayPal.

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Just to compare, below are the 2020, 2019 and 2018 5% bonus categories for the Chase Freedom card.
Chase Freedom Calendar 2020 5% Bonus Categories
The Chase Freedom 5% bonus categories for 2020 were as follows:

1st quarter (January 1, 2020- March 31, 2020) – Gas Stations, Internet, Cable & Phone Services and Select Streaming Services.
2nd quarter (April 1, 2020 – June 30, 2020) – Grocery Stores, Fitness Club & Gym Memberships and Select Streaming Services.
3rd quarter (July 1, 2020 – September 30, 2020) – Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market.
4th quarter (October 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020) –  Walmart and PayPal.

Chase Freedom Calendar 2019 5% Bonus Categories
The Chase Freedom 5% bonus categories for 2019 were as follows:

1st quarter (January 1, 2019- March 31, 2019) – Gas Stations, Tolls, Drugstores.
2nd quarter (April 1, 2019 – June 30, 2019) – Grocery Stores (not including Walmart and Target Purchases) and Home Improvement Stores.
3rd quarter (July 1, 2019 – September 30, 2019) – Gas stations and select streaming services.
4th quarter (October 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019) –  PayPal, Chase Pay & Department Stores.

Chase Freedom Calendar 2018 5% Bonus Categories
The Chase Freedom 5% bonus categories for 2018 were as follows:

1st quarter (January 1, 2018- March 31, 2018) – Gas Stations, internet/cable/phone services, Chase Pay, Android Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay.
2nd quarter (April 1, 2018 – June 30, 2018) – Grocery stores (not including Walmart and Target), PayPal and Chase Pay.
3rd quarter (July 1, 2018 – September 30, 2018) – Gas Stations, Lyft and Walgreens.
4th quarter (October 1, 2018 – December 31, 2018) – Department Stores, Wholesale Clubs and Chase Pay.

Here is the link to the Chase Freedom 5% calendar on chase.com.

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 the fourth quarter of 2021 ends on December 14, 2021.

Overview of the Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card

The original Chase Freedom card is no longer available for new applicants but Chase just introduced the new Freedom Flex card which is similar but even better. Even if you have the original Chase Freedom card, you can still apply for the new Freedom Flex card. You can also ask Chase to convert your Chase Freedom card to the Freedom Flex card.

While both cards earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in rotating bonus categories each quarter, the Chase Freedom Flex also earns 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase and 3% on drugstores and dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery services).

Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex are technically cash back cards only and points earned cannot be directly transferred to airline and hotel loyalty programs. However, if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Ink Business Preferred or Ink Plus, 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.

The Freedom Flex is currently offering a signup bonus of $200 cash back after spending $500 on purchases in first 3 months.  In addition, you will earn 5% cash back on grocery store purchases (not including Target® or Walmart® purchases) on up to $12,000 spent in the first year.

Interested in another 5% cashback card? You might want to consider a Discover card.