Chase Freedom® quarterly rewards categories for Q4 2025

Another quarter, another chance for Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom® cardholders to rack up 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in bonus categories. If you have either of these cards in your wallet, don’t miss out on the opportunity to earn up to $75 in additional cash back.

Note: Chase Freedom® is no longer accepting new applications, but existing cardholders are still eligible to earn in the bonus categories. Information about Chase Freedom® and Chase Freedom Flex^SM has been collected by CardRatings and has not been provided or approved by the issuer of the card.

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What are the Chase quarterly rewards categories for the fourth quarter of 2025?

From October through December 2025, Chase will award 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in total purchases made in four categories:

• Old Navy®
• Chase Travel℠
• Department stores
• PayPal® (December only)

Within each category, there are certain inclusions and exclusions according to Chase.

Old Navy®

This category includes transactions made through Old Navy stores, including physical stores and online. Purchases on other Gap, Inc. brands are not included (i.e. Gap, Banana Republic, Athleta, etc.). Purchases through short-term installment loan providers are not included such as Klarna, AfterPay, etc. This category does not include charitable donations through Old Navy or Old Navy affiliates. This category does not include transactions through third-party cash back platforms such as Fluz.

Chase Travel℠

This category includes prepaid travel purchases made on chasetravel.com or by calling the number on the back of your card to book. Eligible travel purchases include airline tickets, hotels, car rentals, cruises, activities and tours. Travel purchases through FROSCH and its family of travel companies will not qualify, even if you call the number on the back of your card to book. Any portion of your purchase paid for using points will not qualify. You may see “travel purchased through Chase” or “travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards” in marketing materials to refer to travel purchased through Chase Travel. To see a breakdown of your rewards earned from Chase Travel purchases, go online to your Rewards Activity page. You can also see it on your monthly card billing statement.

Department stores

Merchants in this category generally have multiple departments which sell apparel, home furnishings, furniture, electronics, cosmetics, housewares, and major household appliances. These departments may have their own separate check-out counters. Purchases made on a merchant’s website are included. Supercenters, discount stores, or specialty stores (e.g., stores that sell primarily one line of products such as shoe stores, pet stores, electronics stores, clothing stores), and online marketplace websites (online stores that do not have physical locations and sell a variety of products) are not included in this category. Gift cards purchased outside the specific department store (e.g., at a grocery store, online gift card mall, or other retailers outside the department store) are excluded. Additionally, gift cards purchased through department store websites where gift cards are fulfilled through a third party are excluded.

PayPal®

This category includes purchases made using your Chase Freedom card with PayPal. Purchases made using PayPal at merchants in the current 5% quarterly categories will be awarded a total of 5% cash back rewards. Payments made through the Xoom transfer service are not eligible for 5%. Must have/open a PayPal account. Please note, Person-to-Person (P2P) transactions made with your Chase Freedom card on PayPal may not be eligible for 5%.

Only PayPal purchases made in December are eligible for this bonus.

Chase 5% cash back calendar

The Chase 5% cash back calendar for 2026 hasn’t been revealed yet – each category will be announced before the start of the new quarter. However, we can look back at the 2023, 2024, and 2025 categories to get an idea of what the future might hold.

• 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 3% cash back on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
• 3% cash back on drugstore purchases
• 1% cash back on all other purchases

How to activate Chase Freedom cash-back categories

In order to earn 5% cash back on each quarter’s bonus categories, you’ll need to activate the offer. Doing so is easy, though. Chase offers numerous ways to activate the bonus categories:

• Through your online account or the Chase bonus activation page
• In the Chase mobile app
• Via an email sent by Chase before the start of each new quarter
• By calling the number on the back of your card
• At any Chase bank location
• When making a cash withdrawal at an ATM

The deadline for activating the Q4 2025 categories is December 14, 2025. Once you have activated the offer, all eligible purchases from the quarter will receive the bonus cash back.

While you are activating your Chase categories, don’t forget to also do so in your Discover account if you have an eligible card. Discover also has quarterly bonus categories that must be activated.

How to redeem Chase credit card rewards

Once you have earned cash back – whether from the quarterly bonus categories or regular spending – you have several options for redemption:

• Cash: Use your cash back as a statement credit or have it deposited into your bank account.
• Shopping: Cash back can be used to make purchases at Amazon.com.
• Gift cards: Choose from gift cards for a variety of merchants.
• Travel: Cash back can be used to pay for travel booked through Chase Travel℠.

Chase Freedom offers the ability to combine rewards

One extra perk of the Chase Freedom Flex℠ is the ability to combine rewards with other Chase cards. That’s because Chase Freedom Flex℠ rewards accumulate as Chase Ultimate Rewards points, the same points that cardholders of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Chase Freedom Unlimited® and the Chase Ink family of small business cards earn.

That means the points you earn with the Chase Freedom account could be worth more if you redeem them under your Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve account. For more info about making these points work for you, check out our Chase Ultimate Rewards® points guide.