Chase has revealed the Freedom 5% categories for the first quarter of 2023:
- Grocery Stores (excluding Walmart)
- This is always a favorite category and easy to use. Major Grocery Stores also carry a wide variety of gift cards such as Visa or Amazon gift cards, making it easy to max out that way.
- Some Walmarts (maybe the Walmart Neighborhood stores) might code as Grocery.
- Target
- A lot of people will prefer 5x Ultimate Rewards points instead of getting 5% off with REDcard.
- Fitness Clubs & Gym Memberships
These categories will go live for activation tomorrow at this link and will show there publicly tomorrow (for now it’s only showing in the online login). Today is also the final day to activate the categories for Q3 2022.
Hat tip to reader Ben
5% on supermarket is one of two best CF deal for us. Actually Paypal and supermarket are the only ones worth using for us now, others we can beaten with 5.25% categories on multiple BOA Customized Cash Reward cards or too small. And we spend more than $1.5k/qtr on both those so it’s simple, spend to $1.5k then put CF away. No worries about whether to use Target card or switch the gym membership to CF for 3 months. Airline points are a different game. We don’t fly very much, and I think it’s easy to overestimate how much airline points are really worth (compare to the cash price with that airline but there might have been a better cash price elsewhere, or use the full price of a business ticket to determine point value when you would not have been willing to pay the cash differential to upgrade, either way inflating the true point value). But if airline points work for you in your view, that’s all that’s necessary.
Does Instacart comes under “Grocery” for Chase Freedom?
Details are now live: “INSTACART (only with Grocery Store deliveries)”
https://creditcards.chase.com/freedom-credit-cards/merchants
I wonder if a membership to the YMCA would count as a fitness expense.
Yes, it does
I don’t understand why Discover and Chase BOTH have groceries on the same quarter.
It’s good for people that MS, but people that use the card for regular shopping, its a waste.
Because they are competing and want you to use their card instead of their competitors. They don’t do this to benefit you, they do this for you to form a habit of using that card.
I am more likely to use their card if they don’t compete.
Both will be in my wallet for Q1 if one was groceries and one was gas. The way it is set up now they split customers.
Well, I think Discover announced their Q1 bonus category first, followed by Chase.
You can’t blame Chase to trying to get some business from Discover.
Do you really think that Chase changed their categories, and all that involves, in the two weeks since Discover announced theirs?
and blame Discover for announcing first? lol
They only splits customers for people use Chase cards purely for cashback.
For people use Chase cards to earn Ultimate Rewards points that they’ll later use for things other than cashback, Chase 5x can be worth more than Discover 5%, and in some cases (like transferring to an airline and then redeeming for business class travel) much much more.
Agreed. Chase over Discover for me if I have to choose.
Well, I don’t have a CFF right now. I only have a CSP. The CFF (or the OG Freedom) might be my downgrade path if I were to need it.
Poor Discover. Jaime decided to get rid of them.
RIP.
Would ski passes be considered as Gym & Fitness?
Doubtful. Depends what the merchant selected for their merchant code. Both Epic and Ikon passes coded as entertainment for me with Chase. Merchant code was recreation services
Been a while for Target…
Remember there are two types of Walmart. Wal-Mart Discount Stores, Wal-Mart Supercenters, Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets, Sam’s Club. WalMart Supercenters sell fresh produce and have full grocery store. Walmart discount stores do not have fresh produce only highly packaged processed goods. I assume the WalMart Supercenters code as grocery. Test with a small purchase then wait a couple days for purchase to process in account.
Only Walmart Neighborhood stores have coded as grocery in the past for Chase.
DFS needs to wise up. Just copy Chase’s last quarter categories.