Chase Freedom Q2 2018 to be Grocery, Chase Pay, and Paypal

Update 3/13/18: This is now confirmed in a press release. It’s clear there that all Paypal purchases will work, both online or in-app.

R/churning member abhirupduttamit heard from a Chase rep the upcoming Q2 2018 Chase Freedom 5% categories:

  • Grocery stores
  • Chase Pay
  • Paypal

These aren’t yet showing on the calendar or in the login, but a reader in the comments here confirmed the same from a Chase rep. We’ll update when it goes public.

Q1 2018 also has Chase Pay, and it’s not surprising to see that again as Chase has been pushing hard for their mobile wallet. Personally, I’m pleasantly surprised to see Paypal as that’s literally the easiest one for me, personally. I’ll max it out with some gift card purchases on eBay which no longer have any other category bonuses.

The Q2 2018 categories will be available for activation on March 15, and will be usable from April 1 through June 30, 2018. Discover will also be offering Grocery as their Q2 2018 category.
    Chuck
  • On March 13, 2018, 14:11

View Comments (149)

  • PAYPAL AT AIRLINES IS NOT EARNING 5X!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Two people on FlyerTalk just posted that they earned 1x on Southwest, and one posted how the charge came across. Instead of the charge being credited to PAYPAL * COMPANY NAME, it was credited to Southwest (with some ticket info after the SOUTHWEST name), and PAYPAL.COM was only in the "additional" info field.

    https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase-ultimate-rewards/1898143-2018-2nd-quarter-freedom-bonus-categories-groceries-paypal-chase-pay-5.html#post29613287

    This is NOT how PayPal posts for non-airline purchases. And since airlines like to use this "enhanced" purchase record format (giving some info about the ticket purchased), I suspect that this issue will come up with other airlines too.

    So unless you can do a small "test purchase" somewhow, I'd recommend not using PayPal for airlines if you're doing it only to get the 5x with Freedom this quarter.

  • For those who are scheduled to pay your federal taxes due, payusatax accepts paypal as payment. They charge a 1.97% fee, but you will net gain ~3.07% with the chase freedom category. This seems to work on estimates taxes due for q1 or for next quarter q2.

  • correct me if i'm wrong but wouldn't you be able to use paypal to reach minimum spend on pretty much any credit card this way?

    have your wife or whatever use your card to send you X amount like $5,000.. there's a 3% fee which is negated by the 5%?

  • Q: Would anyone know if currently being unemployed precludes me automatically from being approved for the Chase Freedom? I currently have the sapphire (I was approved without hesitation when I was employed). I wanted to maximize UR points and piggyback the Freedom. I currently am contemplating starting a business and/or applying for new work soon. I left my job a month ago voluntarily. I do get some income occasionally in freelance but not steady income as of now. Would it be better to wait to apply? Didn't want to risk a hit to my credit which is very good.

    Any input appreciated.

    Thanks,
    S

    • Also, AMEX mentioned it wouldn't preclude me. They'd just pull my credit limit down from another card and allocate that to the 2nd card. I'm more inclined toward the Freedom than what AMEX offered so I was wondering if that might pertain here, too.

  • So, if I PP a large amount to my main checking account am I just having to pay a 3% fee, and I still get the %5 cashback. Because I kinda wanna use it like a balance transfer, avoid the balance transfer fee, and get net 2% cashback. Thank you someone more experienced than me in matters like this

  • can some one shed light on how to maximize paypal for the 2nd quarter with freedom card?

    • Most online retailers accept Paypal, so assuming you do any online shopping outside Amazon, there's a good chance you'll be able to maximize it.

      • Chuck, what happens if we make an online purchase and use Paypal as payment, but then need to return an item to the store? How is the refund processed if you paid with Paypal? Thanks!

  • Does this include ebay purchases using paypal? If yes, that would help after April 30 for PPDG when Old ink Mastecards will be totally gone.

    • I think that is exactly what Chuck is talking about at the top. Chuck, correct me if I'm wrong.

  • I almost never actually pay for anything with PayPal. The only way I've used it for years has been to send money to Friends / Family, Venmo-style. For that reason, I'm actually a little confused about how to make a PayPal payment for something using the Chase Freedom.

    Do I just need to select it in my PP account as my primary form of payment, and then select PayPal as the payment method anywhere that will allow it?

    I realize that if I'm correct in my statement that it might sound like I'm crazy for even asking, but this is actually how unfamiliar I am with the day-to-day use of PayPal as a means of payment.

    To add to my confusion, it's always kind of wondered why using PayPal to make a payment would be preferable to just using my Credit Card to make a payment, as it pertains to merchants who accept it. In my mind, PayPal is still the eBay form of payment, even though I know it's been separated out. Which kinda brings me back to ... what it the real purpose of PayPal, besides sending money to other (something that now can be done with about a hundred different services ... iMessage, venmo, zelle, etc)

    TIA for any clarifying responses.

    • Yep, you got the idea of PayPal for online purchases.

      I've had weird issues where I couldn't choose an alternate credit card than my default when checking out with PayPal online so yes, it's better to be safe and make the Freedom the default when the quarter starts and then switch it back to your default card after the quarter ends. I think Chase is counting on people to forget doing that with all these different mobile payment bonus categories...

      Some people feel more secure using PayPal as a form of payment online rather than give a lesser known retailer their credit card information directly. I used to use PayPal regularly because of this, however, I've discovered that when I needed to make a return in a brick & mortar, the retailers would only give me store credit and not a return to my credit card. So after that I've hardly ever used PayPal for online payment unless it's the only form of payment accepted/I know I won't likely make a return.

      But, Chase URs are valuable to me so I will be changing that habit this quarter.

      • I always choose my linked checking account whenever I send money to avoid any fee. I make sure to ensure the linked credit card it selected inside PayPal when I pay for something on eBay, so that I can get reward benefits of using the card.

        It makes sense that some people use PayPal as a digital wallet as the other responder suggests. I hadn't really thought of that.

    • Like you, I don't use PayPal to pay for anything online anywhere I could use a credit card directly (and that will change for Q2). I suspect that most people who use PayPal that way are simply using it as a digital wallet; at checkout you can just enter your PayPal credentials and select a pre-entered card, rather than scrambling around to find a card and type in the card number, etc. PayPal also keeps a record of transactions, so if you do everything within PayPal it could make it easier to track down specific expenditures. Finally, there are people who receive money into their PayPal account (gifts, shopping portal cashback, personal repayments, eBay sales, etc.) and don't want to go to the trouble of transferring that money to a bank account; they'd rather spend down the cash in their PayPal account, using credit card as a backup funding source. To each his own.

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