Q3 2018 5% Quarterly Categories: Activate, Offers & Suggestions (Freedom, Discover, Dividend, Cash+)

Originally posted 6/15/18, reposting 7/1/18

It’s now possible to activate/enroll your 5% credit cards for the third quarter of 2018 on Chase Freedom, Discover IT, Citi Dividend, and US Bank Cash+. In this post we’ll provide the activation link for each card and link to track your spend, along with strategies to help increase spend on these categories.

Dates: July 1, 2018 – September 30, 2018. Store purchases can usually be done until the last minute. Online purchases should be given a buffer zone of a day or two.

Chase Freedom – Gas Stations, Walgreen’s, Lyft

Activation Link / Our original post

Earn 5% back at gas stations, Walgreen’s, and Lyft during the months of July, August, and September, up to $1,500 maximum. Some tips:

• Gas Stations. Aside from making Freedom your gas card, you might also find a gas station convenience store which codes as gas, and they may even sell gift cards. As an example, last I know, 7-Eleven locations code as gas on Visa. You can find various other gas data points in our Payments Workshop. [Official language: “Merchants in the Gas Stations category sell automotive gasoline that can be paid for either at the pump or inside the station, and may or may not sell other goods or services at their location. Please note that some merchants that do not specialize in selling automotive gasoline are not included in this category; for example, truck stops, boat marinas, oil and propane distributors, and home heating companies.”] 
• Walgreen’s. Can always buy gift cards if you don’t use drugstores much. Some Walgreen’s might give you a hard time buying variable-load Visa/MC/Amex gift cards with a credit card, or they may limit you to $500. Other gift cards like Amazon or Home Depot can be another option. And for all you NYC people: yes, Duane Reade counts as well. [Official language: “Includes purchases made using your Freedom card at Walgreens including Walgreens.com and Walgreens owned drugstores operating under the brand Duane Reade. Delivery service merchants and Rite Aid drugstores will not be included in this category.”]
• Lyft. Maybe try switching over from Uber to rack up extra points? Your call. [Official language: “Includes purchases using your Chase Freedom card for rides with Lyft. Lyft gift cards purchased outside of Lyft are excluded and will not earn bonus rewards.”]

Personally, I’ve had difficulty with buying gift cards at Walgreen’s in the past. I’ll use the Freedom for gas, though that won’t quite get me to $1,500. Note: there is currently an Amex Offer deal at Exxon, so not everyone will want to use Freedom for gas.

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

 

Discover – Restaurants

Activation Link / Our original post

Earn 5% back at the restaurants during July, August, and September, up to $1,500 maximum. Restaurants are commonly bonused on various credit cards; still, 5% is quite good, and it’s a category a lot of people will find useful. You can also buy gift cards at your local restaurant to max out the $,1500 and lock in the discount for the future.

Official terms: “Restaurant purchases are those made at merchants classified as full-service restaurants, cafes, cafeterias and fast food locations. Purchases made using tap-and-pay, mobile or wireless card readers, virtual wallets or similar technology may not be eligible.” In reality my guess is that most of those will work to trigger the 5%).

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

Citi Dividend – Airlines and Movies

Activation Link | Our Original Post

Earn 5% back on airlines and movies during the months of July, August, and September. Citi is slightly different to 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.

Some might find these categories useful. A lot of people will save their 5% bandwidth for the Best Buy and Department Store category during Q4 2018. 

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. Here are the current options.

Keep in mind that the Bookstores category is being replaced with Home Utilities beginning April 1. Prepaying your gas and electric can help max this out.

• Home utilites
• Select clothing stores
• Cell phones
• Electronic Stores
• Car rentals
• 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.