The Offer
The Chase Freedom card earns 5% in rotating categories and this quarter’s categories are Amazon, Zappos, Audible, and diapers.com. Typically, each category runs for three months of the year and you can earn 5x on up to $1500 per quarter. Chase just announced a positive change for this quarter.
- From November 23 until December 31 you’ll earn 10% back as a category bonus. The stores are still the same: Amazon, Zappos, Audible, and diapers.com.
- You can earn 5% on the full $1500 between October 1 and November 22. Then, on November 23 the quarter resets and you can earn 10% on up to $1500.
If you want to max this out, you’ll spend $1500 between October 1 and November 22, then spend another $1500 between November 23 and years end. In total, you’ll end up with $225 in rewards (or 22,500 UR points).
The Fine Print
- If you’ve previously activated the Q4 Freedom benefit, no action is required to take part in this offer.
- If you didn’t activate, then activate the offer here before December 14 (we recommend doing this now so as not to forget).
Our Verdict
Nice to see that Chase is spicing things up with their quarterly categories. 10% is good, but 10x UR points is even better!
Remember also that the Freedom card currently has an increased signup bonus of $175. Also, you can get 25% off Amazon gift cards utilizing a current Amex offer.
HT: Reddit
Be careful if you make your purchases on 12/31, chase goes by the transaction date so Amazon may take its own sweet time to post the transaction to your chase card. This means your transaction date would be 1/1/2016 instead of 12/31/2015 and the transactions will not qualify for the 10% promotion. I called Chase customer service and all the guy can do is to say call Amazon, passing the buck. Customer service at Chase is pretty bad and getting worse. Probably cuz they’ve offshored it to the Philippines.
is there any way to get third party gift cards from Amazon with this? For example is it possible to buy Staples gift cards from Amazon with Freedom card and then go to Staples either in person or online and buy Target gift cards with Staples gift cards? Thanks.
Not online at staples.com. Usually won’t work in store either.
Also tried loading serve today with NWbuxx and mangomoney visa at customer service counter. Approved then reversed back onto card for both.
If I do not max out the 5% 1500, and starting the 23rd I buy amazon GC, will that count towards the 10% first?
2nd – lets say it does, and I exceed the 1500 allowed for the 10% discount, does the 5% kick back in?
Here are two bad news for you:
Nw buxx didn’t load to my serve card today.
Ag fed doesn’t sell prepaid visa gift cards online anymore.
The locusts have moved from Redbird to serve and marauded the entire crop . Now we all will starve.
The sky is not falling. NW Buxx loaded to Serve for me today@ KATE.
Looking forward to some Amazon shopping now with Freedom!!
Ha, thanks Kathy.
I think I was running into my spending limit. 800 in one week.
Wow, I’m going to have to do some serious math depending on the cost of the amazon orders I’ll be putting in for the holidays in the next month! Between Discover’s double cash promo, Freedom’s 10x, and Amex offers $15 off for $60 orders, this is pure competition!
Does this offer include gift cards or at a minimum, Amazon gift cards?
The Discover Double CB deal does not exclude Amazon GCs.
This is a key point in order to be competitive.
Q. What types of purchases qualify for 5% cash back in the Amazon.com category?
A. All purchases you make at Amazon.com, including digital downloads, Amazon.com Gift Cards, Amazon Fresh orders, Amazon Prime subscriptions, and items sold by third party merchants through Amazon.com’s marketplace are included. 5% cash back does not apply to purchases made at Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp, Amazon.ca, or any other website operated by Amazon.com, its affiliates and subsidiaries.
https://creditcards.chase.com/freedom/merchants
I have the same question. Would it count to buy something like a Southwest gift card, which “Ships from and sold by ACI Gift Cards Inc., an Amazon company”…?
Concur with posts above that suggest this Chase change is a mere response to competition. I hadn’t activated this quarter’s pathetic Chase Freedom category bonus as the Discover IT already had it at 10%. (half now, half at year end — ok, good to see Chase trumps that, as CUR points ARE valuable)
Yet as Dave points out, yesterday, we had amex deals out with series of 25% discounts for using their cards with Amazon. (buy $60, get $15 back — the deal for once showed up on all of my amex cards.)
Concur with posts above that suggest this Chase change is a mere response to competition. I hadn’t activated this quarter’s pathetic Chase Freedom offer (til now), as the Discover IT already had it at 10%. (half now, half at year end — ok, good to see Chase trumps that)
And as Dave points out, yesterday, we had amex deals out with series of 25% discounts for using their cards with Amazon. (buy $60, get $15 back — the deal for once showed up on all of my amex cards.)
I have been using my Discover and even Citi Dividend because they’re offering 5% at Best Buy.
This will stack nicely with the $15 promo we get if we use our UR points during checkout.
I have a lot of AMEX cards and AU cards all with Amazon $15 off $60 offer. That’s 25% off and a better deal than 10x UR. I don’t know if I’ll take advantage of this deal.
Depends on your valuation of UR points too. If you have a sapphire, most people put them at .02 a piece which makes it a 20% deal. Some hoard UR points and value them more.
Can you explain how people value it at $.02 per point? Is that when redeeming for travel?