Chase Freedom® Card owners receive 5x points per $1 spent (up to $1,500) in specific categories each quarter. If you max out your category spending for the quarter, you’ll get 7,500 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.

As you approach the end of any quarter, it’s a good idea to check your account to see if you’ve maxed out or if you have some spending left to do. It would be a shame to leave easy points on the table!

How to Maximize Your Q1 2019 Category Bonus

The Chase Freedom® bonus categories for Q1 2019 are:

• Gas Stations
• Tolls
• Drugstores

This group of bonus categories are among the easiest to max out. However, time is running out since you only have until March 31 to complete your category spending to earn 5x the points on the full $1,500.

If you still have spending to do, here are a few quick ways to max out:

1. Gas Stations – gas up any car your household owns before the end of the quarter
2. Tolls – consider prepaying tolls for the rest of the year
3. Drugstores – stock up on personal items, medication, snacks, gifts and more.

If you still find yourself not maxing out, a great strategy is to buy gift cards at your local drugstore. Most drugstores, including Walgreens and CVS, have large gift card stations where you can find virtually any type of gift card. Here are a few gift cards that I purchased this quarter:

• Amazon – I buy stuff at Amazon a few times a month, so I’ll go through my gift card balance in no time
• Netflix – this gift card will pay for my Netflix account for the next year
• McDonalds – a guilty pleasure but it’ll end up getting used

Pro Tip: I would never advise spending just to reach quarterly maximums. But if you know you’ll eventually use the products purchased or can buy gift cards you know you’ll use in the future, then why not spend enough to get all the bonus points for the quarter.

Transfer Your Chase Freedom Points to Get Even More Value

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 so much more 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®.