Freedom Flex℠, Discover it® and Freedom® categories for first quarter 2023

Another quarter, another chance for CardNamediscontinued, CardNamediscontinued and Chase Freedom® cardholders to rack up 5% cash back in the rotating bonus categories on up to $1,500 spent in bonus categories after you activate. Note that 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)

So what are the categories for Jan. 1-March 31, 2023?

GROCERY STORES, DRUGSTORES and
SELECT STREAMING SERVICES

 

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GROCERY STORES* and
GYM and FITNESS CLUB MEMBERSHIPS

 

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*Excluding Target and Walmart

If you have either of these cards in your wallet, don’t miss out on the opportunity to earn up to $75 cash back in the bonus categories. You’ll earn 5% back on the first $1,500 in combined spending on purchases in the bonus categories for each card. Remember for both cards that you’ll only earn that bonus if you activate each quarter – that’s easy to do through your cardholder account online.

We should also note, that Flex℠ isn’t just a rotating categories card. It also offers some pretty solid tiered ongoing rewards: 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase, 3% back at restaurants and drugstores and 1% back on your other purchases.

History shows it’s rare for these two cards’ quarterly categories to perfectly overlap, so it’s worth talking about the benefits of carrying BOTH cards in order to maximize your cash back earning opportunities. Neither card carries an annual fee, so you can certainly have them both in your wallet without worrying about offsetting that fee. But there are some other things to consider as well:

Bonus offers

Both cards feature new cardholder bonus opportunities, but they’re dramatically different.

CardName offers news cardholders a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months of card ownership. It’s a solid bonus, but it could pale in comparison to the CardName offer. 

For new CardName cardholders Discover will MATCH every dollar of cash back you earn during your first year as a cardholder. That means if you max out the 5% bonus categories (that’s $1,500 combined spending in those categories in the quarter) in just two quarters (quarterly activation required) you’ll earn $150 that will then become $300 thanks to the match after your first year. As you can see, it wouldn’t be difficult to far exceed the intro bonus offered by the Chase card, though you do have to wait until the end of your first year to see the match.

Introductory APR periods

Both of these cards feature introductory 0% APR periods, which could certainly come in handy if you’re planning a spring road trip or a costly home improvement project.

CardName offers an introductory 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months (then, RegAPR), which means this card could be a money-saving addition to your wallet if you’re planning a big purchase, say, at a home improvement store.

CardName also has an introductory 0% APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers (then, RegAPR), so either card is a good option based on this criteria alone.

CardName offers the opportunity to combine rewards

Earning 5% back on your rotating categories is nice, sure, but what if you could also make those rewards have even more value when it comes time to redeem them? Turns out, that’s pretty simple to do with CardName. 

That’s because CardName rewards accumulate as Chase Ultimate Rewards points, the same points that cardholders of CardNamediscontinued, CardNamediscontinued, CardNamediscontinued and the Chase Ink family of small business cards earn as well. The key is understanding that you can combine all of your Chase Ultimate Rewards points into a single bucket and some of those buckets mean your points are worth more when you redeem them for travel through the Ultimate Rewards portal.

For example, CardName members enjoy 25% more value when they redeem their points for travel through Ultimate Rewards, and CardName cardholders can take advantage of 50% more value when redeemed that way.

True, both of those cards charge annual fees – AnnualFees for the CardName and a hefty AnnualFees for CardName – but they also offer you excellent rewards, perks and features, especially if you happen to enjoy traveling. Furthermore, neither CardName nor CardName charge annual fees, so you won’t be losing money if you carry those cards in addition to one of the more premium cards.

Use your cards strategically to earn the highest possible rewards for each purchase and then combine all your points under your CardName or CardName to make those rewards take you even further. For more info about making these points work for you, check out our Chase Ultimate Rewards® points guide.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

For more details about the cards above, head over to the full CardName and/or CardName. For some additional cash-back rewards options, keep reading.

OTHER CASH REWARDS CREDIT CARDS

If you like the idea of earning big cash back but don’t like the unpredictability of categories that rotate based on what the credit card issuer wants to do, you might be the perfect candidate for a “cardholder choice” rewards card.

These types of cards are still fairly unusual in the consumer credit card market (they’re more common among small business cards), but here are a couple of options you can consider:

EDITOR’S NOTE

For even more cash-back rewards options, explore all of our picks for “Best Cash-Back Credit Cards.”