Registration is now open to activate the 5x category bonus earning with your Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom® cards. For the third quarter of 2021, the bonus categories are purchases at grocery stores and select streaming services.

As usual, the 5x earning rate only applies to the first $1,500 in spending in those categories. If you max out your bonus category spending for the quarter, you’ll get 7,500 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.

7,500 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points are worth $75 in cash. But you can get much more value by transferring to any of the following credit cards:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred – #1 travel card for beginners
• Chase Sapphire Reserve – great for frequent travelers
• Ink Business Preferred – highest Chase sign-up bonus for business customers

Once your points have been transferred to one of the above cards, you can amplify the value even further! If you transfer the points to Chase’s travel partners like United Airlines, Southwest or Hyatt, you can get way more value than the original $75.

7,500 points could be enough for a one-way flight to lots of great destinations!

For more information on Chase’s flexible points program, check out The Complete Guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

Key Things to Remember

• You need to activate the 5x earning rate by September 14, 2021
• The promotion runs from July 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021
• The promotion is valid on purchases at grocery stores and select streaming services

How to Activate

Unfortunately Chase doesn’t automatically enroll you into the bonus category earning promotion each quarter. To activate, you can go to the Chase Activation website and enter your last name, zip code and the last four digits of your credit card.

Alternatively you can log into your Chase Freedom or Freedom Flex account and activate from there.

You can also sign-up one time to have Chase send you a reminder email each quarter. That email contains a button for easy 1-click activation.

Bottom Line

All of the above applies to both the old Freedom and brand new Freedom Flex card. Remember that the Freedom Flex also offers 5% cash back on travel booked through the Chase travel portal, 3% on dining and drugstore purchases and 1% on everything else.

Grocery stores may be my favorite rotating category because it’s also one of the easiest to max out. Even if you find it difficult to hit the $1,500 max, remember that you can buy gift cards at grocery stores to hundreds of different places to use in the future. Before you start spending, it’s a good idea to check the list of participating merchants because some like Walmart and Target are not included. Finally, On July 1, make sure to update all of your streaming services to charge all monthly fees to your Freedom or Freedom Flex cards. With these tips, you’ll be on your way to earn lots of valuable rewards points!