Q2 2019 5% Quarterly Categories: Activate, Offers & Suggestions (Freedom, Discover, Dividend, Cash+)

It’s now possible to activate/enroll your 5% credit cards for the second quarter of 2019 on Chase Freedom, Discover IT, Citi Dividend, and US Bank Cash+. In this post we’ll provide the activation link for each card and links to track your spend, along with strategies to help increase spend in these categories.

Dates: April 1st – June 30th, 2019. Store purchases can usually be done until the last minute. Online purchases should be given a buffer zone of a day or two.

Contents

1 Chase Freedom – Grocery and Home Improvement Stores
2 Discover – Gas, Uber, Lyft
3 Citi Dividend – Drugstores, Fitness
4 US Bank Cash+ – Select your Categories
5 Bank of America Cash Rewards
6 Other Cards with 5% Category

Chase Freedom – Grocery and Home Improvement Stores

Activation Link / FAQ / Sample Stores & Exclusions / Our original post

Earn 5% back at grocery stores and home improvement stores during the months of April, May, and June, up to $1,500 maximum.

Grocery Stores – “Merchants in the Chase Freedom Grocery stores category…includes supermarkets as well as smaller grocery stores. Please note that some merchants that sell grocery items are not included in this category; for example, larger stores that sell a wide variety of goods, such as Target®, Walmart®, discount stores, warehouse clubs, and some smaller merchants such as drugstores and merchants that specialize in only a few grocery items. In addition, please note that purchases made at gas stations operated by merchants who also operate grocery stores are not included in this category.”
- Long list of sample grocery stores can be found here. Includes all the big ones like the Kroger family stores, Shoprite, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Winn Dixie, Safeway, Pathmark, Hy Vee, Giant and many more.
- The Grocery Store category does not include purchases made at Target® or Walmart®.
- Grocery Stores is an easy one to maximize for most people. If you don’t complete the entire $1,500, you can always buy a gift card to local grocery or else stock up on third party gift cards for places like Amazon, eBay, or Airbnb. Many large grocery chains even sell Visa/MC/Amex gift cards too.
Home Improvement Stores – “Merchants in the home improvement stores category specialize in selling a variety of home improvement supplies, from larger home improvement stores to smaller hardware stores. Please note that some larger merchants that sell a wide variety of general goods which may include home improvement supplies, for example, warehouse clubs, discount stores, or grocery stores, are not included in this category. Also, merchants that specialize in home furnishings, garden and landscaping supplies are not included.”
- Specific examples mentioned by Chase as eligible: Home Depot, Lowe’s, Menards, Ace Hardware, Sherwin Williams; see more examples here.
- Many home improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s sell third party gift cards to places like Amazon and Starbucks. That’s another way to max out this category.

Tip: Click this link (login required) to check how far you are along the $1,500.

Discover – Gas, Uber, Lyft

Activation Link / Our original post

Earn 5% back at gas stations, Uber, and Lyft during the months of April, May, and June, up to $1,500 maximum.

“Activate to earn 5% Cashback Bonus at Gas Stations (stand-alone), Uber and Lyft from 4/1/19 (or the date on which you activate 5%, whichever is later) through 6/30/19, on up to $1,500 in purchases. Purchases made at Gas Stations affiliated with supermarkets and supercenters may not be eligible. Purchases made through Uber Eats will not qualify. Purchases of Uber and Lyft gift cards may not be eligible…Certain digital wallet transactions qualify for 5%, for more information see Discover.com/digitalwallets. Purchases made using tap-and-pay, mobile or wireless card readers, virtual wallets or similar technology will not be eligible if the technology does not provide sufficient transaction details for rewards qualification. Rewards are added to your Cashback Bonus account within two billing periods.”
- In practice, I believe mobile wallets like Apple, Samsung, and Google Pay do qualify, despite Discover’s caution on this front.
- Check our Payments Workshop for some data points on whether gas stations attached to superstores/groceries count as gas.
- Some people are able to buy gift cards at the convenience store attached to a gas station and get 5x on that. YMMV, do small test first.
- It’s likely that reloading your Uber Cash will work for 5%, though Discover’s terms are ambivalent on that.
- I’m suprised about the UberEATS exclusion, I wonder if that’ll work in practice as well, despite the terms.

Tip: Login, then click this link to see you how far along the $1,500 you are.

Citi Dividend – Drugstores, Fitness

Landing Page | Our Original Post

Earn 5% back at drugstores and fitness stores during the months of April, May, and June. Citi is different than the other cards in that you have a $6,000 annual cap rather than a quarterly cap. So you can get 5% back on up to $6,000 in this quarter, you can save the entire amount for a different quarter, or you can use part up each quarter.

“Drugstores are classified as merchants that sell prescription and proprietary drugs and non-prescription (over-the-counter) medicines. Fitness clubs are classified as merchants that operate sports and recreation facilities requiring membership.”

Drugstores – a lot of people will max out their entire 2019 year’s $300 cashback limit with this quarter by purchasing gift cards at the drugstores. Stores like CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreen’s, etc, all sell a wide variety of gift cards, and these would trigger the 5% cashback reward.
Fitness Clubs – Places like Anytime Fitness, Planet Fitness, etc, should all work for this 5% category.

US Bank Cash+ – Select your Categories

Activation link | Our Original Post

U.S. Bank Cash+ offers 5% cash back in two categories, up to $2,000 combined total per quarter. Keep in mind that Car Rentals has been replaced with TV, Internet, and Streaming Services beginning this coming quarter.

Here are the current options:

TV, Internet, and Streaming Services
Home utilities
Select clothing stores
Cell phone providers
Electronic Stores
Gyms/Fitness
Fast food
Ground Transportation
Sporting goods
Department Stores
Furniture Stores
Movie theaters

Tip: Login here, then scroll down and click on the red “View Your Cash+ History” button.

Bank of America Cash Rewards

Our Original Post

The Cash Rewards card from Bank of America offers 3% back on one selected category, up to $2,500 per quarter. If you don’t select anything it defaults to gas. Once you selected a category for one quarter, that remains your category in the future unless you change it. Each quarter you can change it if you’d like.

Gas (default)
Online Shopping
Dining
Travel
Drug Stores
Home Improvement/Furnishings

This category is especially lucrative for those who have Preferred Rewards status with Bank of America which can get you 5.25% back on one of these categories at the higher relationship level.

Lots of useful categories here. Important note: the Cash Rewards card also offers 2% back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs up to $2,500 per quarter, and that $2,500 limit combines with the Category Selection limit. After spending $2,500, you’ll earn 1% back on everything.

Other Cards with 5% Category

ABOC – Home Stores, Warehouse, Wholesale Clubs

Registration Link | Our Original Post

Earn 5x points on qualifying home improvement, home supply, warehouse and wholesale club purchases during April, May, and June, up to $1,500 in purchases.
- Stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s sell third party gift cards to places like Amazon, that can help you max this out.
- Warehouse may include places like Walmart and Target.
- Wholesale clubs is always a popular category as well.