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 Q4 2018 Category Bonus

The Chase Freedom® bonus categories for Q4 2018 are:

• Department Stores
• Wholesale Clubs
• Chase Pay

I found maximizing the category bonus to be tougher than usual this quarter. Since I don’t shop at department stores and Chase Pay is not widely accepted, almost all of my bonus points were earned at Costco. However, time is running out since you only have until December 31 to complete your category spending to earn 5x the points on the full $1,500.

To get the maximum points for the quarter, make a trip to Costco to do an annual stock up. You can easily spend hundreds of dollars on things you’ll actually use, like groceries, laundry detergent, soap, tissues, paper towels, etc. Anyone with a family knows how quickly you can go through these items!

If you don’t want to buy so much stuff at one time, another great strategy is to buy Costco Cash cards (Costco’s version of gift cards). You can buy up to $1,000 per card, to use at a later date. The cards never expire and can be used to buy anything at Costco, including gas.

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®.