Chase has released their 5x Freedom and Freedom Flex categories for the first quarter of 2022:
- Grocery Stores (excluding Walmart and Target)
- eBay
These are already showing within the Chase login and will be live for activation tomorrow, December 15th. Grocery stores is always a nice category. Lots of supermarkets also sell gift cards which can help for maxing out the category.
Just to be safe, make sure to make your purchases at least one business day before the last business day of the quarter (i.e. March 30th instead of March 31st) because, apparently, the transaction does not post to your Ultimate Rewards account until the following business day. I had a transaction from HomeDepot.com post to my Freedom account on March 31, 2021 but it did not post on my Ultimate Rewards account until the following day, April 1st (i.e. it did not earn UR points until April 1st), meaning that I missed out on the Home Improvement stores 5% bonus category for the 1st quarter of 2021 (January 1, 2021 to March 31, 2021).
Good advice. I, luckily, just got the 5% Paypal bonus for a 12/30 transaction that didn’t post until 1/2, but better safe than sorry!
Not necessarily any more safe. My 6 month experiment demonstrated a simple explanation, Chase makes every attempt to choose the quarter which benefits them. My Q2 purchase on 6/30 posted 7/1, I was denied Q2. My Q3 purchase on 9/30 posted 10/1, I was denied Q3. My Q1 purchase on 12/31 MT (1/1 ET) went pending on 1/2, then on 1/3 posted retroactively to 12/31, and I was denied Q1.
JD 
TKO 
MisterBill
How do you pay directly through ebay? or has that changed? Normally you pay via Paypal?
It still registers as “ebay” with Chase, even if PayPal handles the payment. I bought a phone from ebay in 2020 during the 5X quarter, using the Freedom card via PayPal, and it credited correctly.
Does this stack with the 5% on groceries sign up bonus? Making it 10x
It’s 9x. (1x base + 4x category bonus + 4x 1st year grocery bonus)
The comment section is a AMEX vs Chase vs Discover hell in a cell match.
This is what these banks do to us. They got us all fighting for crumbs lol
Seems like yesterday that we got grocery stores. Q3 2020, in fact.
Yeah dog. Easy 7,500.
always excluding Walmart and Target. CHASE hates those 2 so much?
Q4 2021 does include Walmart.
No, it’s just treats them separately. It just excludes the from the grocery category, but includes them at other times. They just don’t think they’re “grocery” enough for the grocery category.
And it’s not just Chase. MANY BANKS that include grocery as an extra earning category have the same restriction in their language. Look at Discover:
https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/cashback-bonus/cashback-calendar.html
Earn 5% Cashback Bonus at Grocery Stores and Fitness Club & Gym Memberships, January 1-March 31, 2022, on up to $1,500 in purchases.2 Excludes Walmart and Target purchases.
Look at what Amex says for the Amex Gold card:
3 additional points (for a total of 4 points) on the first $25,000 of eligible purchases per calendar year at supermarkets located in the U.S. (superstores, convenience stores, warehouse clubs, and meal-kit delivery services are not considered supermarkets)
What are the main examples of superstores? Walmart and Target, of course!
for walmart, there are neighbourhood market stores (purely grocery, no super store stuff) which are coded as grocery properly while superstores not coded as grocery despite having small grocery section. I verified this using AMEX BC at multiple walmart stores, so this is either discriminated against or just inability of the CC issuers
I suppose someone with BoA custom cash can try to see if it’s the network (VISA) or the bank
PenFed includes Walmart/Target grocery in their 3x category (Platinum Rewards Visa). Given the value of their points, the actual return is only 2.55%. Better than nothing, I guess.
I think it’s the other way around esp with Target
I have two chase freedoms and discover. $4500 to spend. It’s too bad my liquidation method for visa gift cards dried up last month. Otherwise this would be totally awesome.
That stinks. I have 1 known place that lets me buy MO’s with pre-paid gift cards. If it dries up, I’ll be up a creek.
Wonder if the eBay cash back will have exclusions for bullion or other coins/precious metals. Probably will.
Freedom Paypal 5% doesn’t have an exclusion… so hopefully Freedom ebay 5% will be the same.
I already get 6% on groceries w/BCP and ebay??? Meh. Incredibly lame.
Okay, but it’s nice for those who don’t have BCP, or for those with large families who go over the BCP cap on grocery spending. If nothing else, it’s another $1500 to put toward gift cards for places where you might not otherwise get decent rewards.
Also BCP doesn’t code as grocery at certain stores like Fred Meyer. Chase does.
I think you have it backwards. The BCP is incredibly lame because you can get 5x or 5% at least half the time with rotating category cards, all for no annual fee and without occupying an Amex slot.
I don’t really mean to defend the BCP–I plan to dump mine as soon as I get a Citi Custom Cash–but in 2022 Discover It and Chase Freedom Flex are doubling up first quarter. What are you going to do for supermarkets the rest of the year?
On the off chance I’m not spending towards a signup bonus/retention offer, Visa/MC gift cards left over from Q1 (I have a bunch of Freedom cards) or from office supply using Ink Cash. I also have a Citi Dividend which sometimes has grocery as its 5% category, although I understand people can’t get that card anymore. BCP is great for the first year, but I don’t understand paying an ongoing $95/year for the privilege of earning 6% on $6000/year in grocery spend. As you suggest, Citi Custom Cash is a better card.
BCP gets you Amex offers, which sometimes are pretty good. It’s a good card for someone who doesn’t want to get deep in the game but has a family with decent grocery spend.
I should clarify that I don’t understand why anyone *around here* would hold it. You’re right that if someone is into credit cards enough to hold more than one, but specifically doesn’t want to bother with more than one Amex card, BCP is a perfectly reasonable choice as their Amex card.
BCP < 5% on CF. If you transfer MR points to Hyatt, you easily a return on spend greater than 6%…..
BCP is nominally 6% for groceries. In reality, it’s 4.41% (because of the $95 AF) and ONLY if you spend exactly $6000 in a year on groceries. If you spend more or less than $6000, you earn even less than 4.41%.
6% < 7.5%. Meh.