Registration is now open to activate your 5x/5% category bonus earnings on your Chase Freedom Flex℠, Chase Freedom® and Discover it® Cash Back cards. For the second quarter of 2024, the bonus categories are:

• Chase: purchases made at Amazon.com, restaurants, and hotels
• Discover: purchases made at gas stations and EV charging stations, home improvement stores and public transit

Chase 5x Bonus Categories

NEW: Category Stacking

This quarter Chase is doing something new and exciting! Instead of the usual 5x points (or 5% cash back) on spending in the bonus categories, cardholders of the Chase Freedom Flex can earn bonus points from the quarterly categories in addition to the “always-on” categories. I’ll explain.

The Freedom Flex card earns 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3x points on dining and 3x points at drugstores year-round. That’s in addition to the quarterly rotating 5x categories. Until now, Chase has never had a quarterly rotating category that overlapped with an “always-on” category. However, for Q2 2024, there are two overlapping categories!

So cardholders will earn a total of 9x points on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel and 7x points on dining. You might be asking, “wait, shouldn’t cardholders earn 10x and 8x points for those purchases?” That’s a great question, so I’ll explain why 9x and 7x are correct.

When Chase says certain categories earn 5x points for a quarter, what they really mean is that cardholders earn an extra 4x points on top of the 1x points that are earned for all purchases. Here’s the impact on the two overlapping categories:

• Hotels booked through Chase Travel: 1x base points + 4x points from the “always-on” bonus + 4x points from the quarterly bonus = 9x points
• Dining: 1x base points + 2x points from the “always-on” bonus + 4x points from the quarterly bonus = 7x points

Card	Regular Earnings Rates	Q2 Bonus Earnings Rates
Chase Freedom Flex	- 1x points on all purchases; plus - an extra 4x points on travel purchased from the Chase Travel Portal - an extra 2x points on dining and drugstore purchases	- an extra 4x points on hotels booked from the Chase Travel Portal, restaurants and Amazon.com
Chase Freedom (no longer available to new applicants)	- 1x points on all purchases	- an extra 4x points on hotels booked from the Chase Travel Portal, restaurants and Amazon.com

The Basics

As usual, the bonus earnings rates only apply to the first $1,500 in spending in those categories. If you max out your bonus category spending for the quarter, you’ll earn 7,500 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.

While 7,500 Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points are worth $75 in cash, you can get way more value by transferring those points to any of the following cards:

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

Once your points have been transferred to one of the above cards, the value of those points are amplified even more! If you transfer the points to Chase’s travel partners like United Airlines, Southwest or Hyatt, you can get so much more value than the original $75. For example, 7,500 Chase UR 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 earnings rate by June 14, 2024
• The promotion runs from April 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024
• The promotion is valid on purchases made at Amazon.com, restaurants, and hotels (only hotels booked through Chase Travel will earn 7x, booking directly with hotels will earn 5x)
• The bonus earnings rate only applies to the first $1,500 in spending across all categories, after which the earnings rate is 1x

Note: As usual, there are various inclusions and exclusions for each category. For the hotels category, purchases made directly with the hotel (earning 5x) and prepaid hotel accommodations made through Chase Travel (earning 7x) will qualify. For the dining category, merchants whose primary business is sit-down or eat-in dining, including fast food restaurants and fine dining establishments, will be included. Delivery and takeout services will also be included if they classify as a restaurant merchant. It’s always best to check the Chase Merchant List to confirm everything that’s included and excluded in each category.

How to Activate

Unfortunately Chase doesn’t automatically enroll you into the bonus category earning promotion each quarter. To activate, 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 account and activate from there. Chase sprinkles links in lots of different places on their website, making it very easy to activate. In just a few minutes, I found a few different places to activate my card for this upcoming quarter.

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

You can also request to receive a reminder email from Chase prior to each quarter. Upon receipt of the email each quarter, you can activate via an easy 1-click activation button.

Discover 5% Bonus Categories

Discover also limits the bonus earnings to the first $1,500 in spending in those categories. However, unlike Chase, there’s no option to earn points instead of cash. So maxing out your bonus category spending for the quarter will earn you $75.

That money can be redeemed as a statement credit, a direct deposit to a checking account or used to purchase 3rd party gift cards. Gift cards are often available with 5% to 20% added value, depending on the merchant.

You can also donate your cash back to charity or to pay for purchases on Amazon.com or with PayPal.

Key Things to Remember

• The promotion runs from April 1, 2024 (or the date on which you activate the 5%, whichever is later) through June 30, 2024
• The promotion is valid on purchases made at gas stations and EV charging stations, home improvement stores and public transit
• The 5% earnings rate only applies to the first $1,500 in spending across all categories, after which the earnings rate is 1%

Note: As usual, there are inclusions and exclusions to be aware of in each category. Gas station and EV charging stations affiliated with supermarkets, supercenters, and wholesale clubs may not be eligible. For home improvement, purchases made in store and online at home improvement retail stores, building supply stores, lawn, nursery, and garden supply stores are included. Finally, public transit purchases include local commuter passenger bus, rail, and ferry services. However, taxi and rideshare services are not included. If you’re unsure what may be included or excluded, visit the Discover Cashback Calendar page to confirm.

How to Activate

You won’t earn the 5% cash back bonus unless you activate this feature on your card each quarter. To do so, go to the Discover Online account page and click on “Log In to Activate.”

Discover also automatically emails you about 15 days prior to the start of the next quarter with a reminder. Upon receipt of the email, you can activate via an easy 1-click activation button.

Bottom Line

This should be a pretty lucrative quarter for both Chase Freedom/Freedom Flex and Discover cardholders.

Chase is giving cardholders some pretty easy ways to maximize bonus earnings this quarter. The beauty of having Amazon as a bonus category is that so many people already shop there, so you don’t have to change your regular spending habits. Just make sure you set your Freedom or Freedom Flex card as the default payment option. Restaurants is another great category and there’s the added bonus of earning 7x instead of 5x on those dining purchases.

In my opinion, Discover’s categories are less exciting than Chase’s. I work from home, so I won’t earn much from gas stations or EV charging. Of course, people who drive a lot for work or any other reason, will be much more excited about this category. With spring projects right around the corner, the home improvement category could have good earnings potential for many.

If you find it difficult to earn the maximum bonus points or cash back, remember that you can buy gift cards to hundreds of other merchants at Amazon and home improvement stores. Those gift card purchases count towards the bonus earnings and you can use them at any time in the future.

Happy spending and more importantly, happy bonus earning!