It’s now possible to activate/enroll all 5% category credit cards for the fourth quarter of 2022, including the Chase Freedom, Chase Freedom Flex, Discover IT, Citi Dividend, US Bank Cash+ and a few others. In this post we’ll provide the activation link for each card and links to track your spend, along with strategies to help increase spend in these categories.
Dates: October 1st – December 31, 2022. Store purchases can usually be done until the last minute while online purchases should be given a buffer zone of a day or two.
Contents
Chase Freedom – Paypal, Walmart
Activation Link / FAQ / Sample Stores & Exclusions / Our original post
With your Freedom and Freedom Flex cards, earn 5% back this quarter on up to $1,500 in spend at Paypal and Walmart.
- Paypal – Paypal works at millions of online retailers and I find it one of the easiest categories to use. You can donate to many charities with Paypal or even pay your federal taxes with a credit card using Paypal. (You might not want to use a Chase card for P2P ‘friends and family’ payments due to cash advance issue.) This should work for in-store Paypal purchases via QR code as well at places like CVS and more; you’ve even get 7x at pharmacies on the Flex card.
- Walmart – Includes all Walmart stores, Walmart.com, and Walmart-branded gas stations. There aren’t typically ways of getting Walmart bonused which makes this is a nice category.
Tip: Click this link (login required) to check how far you are along the $1,500.
Discover – Amazon, Digital Wallets
Activation Link / Our original post
With your Discover card, earn 5% back this quarter on up to $1,500 in purchases at Amazon and with Digital Wallets.
- Amazon – might be useful for someone without one of the Amazon 5% cards.
- Digital Wallets – this includes Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Garmin Pay for online or in-store purchases. Should be a super easy to max this one out.
Activate to earn 5% Cashback Bonus at Amazon.com and Digital Wallets from 10/1/22 (or the date on which you activate 5%, whichever is later) through 12/31/22, on up to $1,500 in purchases. Amazon.com purchases include those made through the Amazon.com checkout, like digital downloads, Amazon.com gift cards, Amazon Fresh orders, Amazon Local Deals, Amazon Prime subscriptions and items sold by third party merchants through Amazon.com’s marketplace. Also includes in-store at Amazon Go, Amazon Bookstore, and Amazon 4-Star. Amazon, the Amazon.com logo, the smile logo, and all related marks are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Digital Wallet purchases include those made online and in-store with your smartphone, tablet, or wearable. Wallets that qualify include Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Garmin Pay. Using digital wallets to make purchases on Amazon.com will only earn a total of 5%. Listed merchants are in no way sponsoring or affiliated with this program.
Citi Dividend – Restaurants, Travel
Landing Page | Our Original Post
With your Dividend card, earn 5% back this quarter at Restaurants and on Travel. Citi is different than the other cards in that you have a $6,000 annual cap rather than a $1,500 quarterly cap. Thus, 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.
- Restaurants – Includes purchases at cafes, bars, lounges and fast-food restaurants. Excludes purchases at bakeries, caterers, restaurants located inside another business (such as hotels, stores, stadiums, grocery stores, or warehouse clubs) and third-party dining delivery services.
- Select travel – Includes airline, hotel, cruise line and travel agency purchases. Excludes timeshares, boat leases and rentals, campgrounds and trailer parks, and real estate agencies.
A lot of people already maxed out their Dividend cards for the year with $6,000 in purchases during Q2 at the Grocery or Drugstore category.
US Bank Cash+/Elan – Select your Categories
Activation link | Merchant List | Our Original Post
U.S. Bank Cash+ and Elan Max offer 5% cash back in two categories, up to $2,000 combined total per quarter. Keep in mind that Car Rentals was recently replaced with TV, Internet, and Streaming Services.
Here are the current options:
- TV, Internet, and Streaming Services
- Home utilities
- Select clothing stores
- Cell phone providers
- Electronic Stores
- 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.
Bank of America Cash Rewards
The Cash Rewards card from Bank of America offers 3% back on one selected category, up to $2,500 per quarter. If you don’t select anything it defaults to gas. Once you selected a category for one quarter, that remains your category in the future unless you change it. Each calendar month you can change it if you’d like, but you’re always limited to $2,500 for the entire quarter.
- Gas (default)
- Online Shopping
- Dining
- Travel
- Drug Stores
- Home Improvement/Furnishings
This category is especially lucrative for those who have Preferred Rewards status with Bank of America which can get you 5.25% back on one of these categories at the higher relationship level.
Lots of useful categories here. Important note: the Cash Rewards card also offers 2% back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs up to $2,500 per quarter, and that $2,500 limit combines with the Category Selection limit. After spending $2,500, you’ll earn 1% back on everything.
Other Cards with 5% Category
ABOC – Discontinued
Since August 27, 2021, the ABOC Platinum rewards card has moved to a new rewards provider and no longer offers the quarterly 5x categories.
Nusenda FCU – Retail Purchases, Restaurants
Landing Page | Our Original Post
- Earn 5% this quarter on up to $1,500 in purchases on Retail Stores, Online Retail Purchases, and Restaurants.
This is on top of the regular 1% for a total earn of 6% back.
Affinity FCU – Grocery, Gas
Landing Page | Our Original Post
- Earn 5% this quarter on purchases on up to $3,500 in purchases at Grocery Stores and Gas Stations.
The 5x is on top of regular earn for a total of 6x or 7x, depending on the card.
Abound CU – Amazon
Landing page | Our Original Post
- Abound Credit Union Visa Platinum card offers 5% on up to $2,000 on Amazon purchases.
Langley FCU – Drugstores, Groceries, Wholesale
Landing Page | Our Original Post
- Langley Federal Credit Union offers 5% back each month in one selected category, on up to $100 cash back total ($2,000 spend).
- The category options at time of this writing: Drugstores, Groceries, Wholesale Clubs
Vantage West [AZ] – Select your Category
Landing Page | Our Original Post
Get 5x points on the category of your choice, up to $1,500 per quarter. Eligible categories:
- Travel
- Restaurants
- Utilities [water, cell, electric, etc.]
- In-Store Wholesale Purchases [Costco, Sam’s Club, etc.]
- Department Stores
- Hardware & Home Improvement Stores
- Charitable Organizations
- Pharmacies & Drug Stores
- Amazon.com
Safe Credit Union [CA] – Retail, Travel, Charities & More
Landing Page | Our Original Post
- Safe Credit Union Cash Rewards Visa card offers 5% this quarter on Amazon, Retail (Target, Home Goods), Travel (Orbitz, Expedia), Department Stores, Utilities, Charities .
- (Apparently with no limit.)
US Bank no longer reliably credits category bonus.
Looking at statements the amount for Bonus was on several statements empty.
I reached out to customer service and they said they will look into it. After a while I got a letter stating there is nothing wrong but if you do have proof to fax/mail the statements/transactions where rewards are missing.
I did that and faxed it to them around 2 weeks ago. And today I got a letter stating I didn’t activate the category in Q4.
I am pretty sure I did and on the statements it also showed the bonus category.
But my dispute wasn’t just Q4 it was also 2 statements in Q3, strangely the last Q3 statement was correct.
Anyone else having the same problem?
Re: the Chase 5% 4th Q bonus:
Can no longer find the following post, but –
A poster posed the question – “Does the hotel trick still work?”
Referring to…?
Thank you.
Here’s the Comment:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-freedom-q4-2022-categories/#comment-1445379
Thank you very much!
Providing DP.
Used Discover card in EBAY to buy and used Google Pay as a payment method.
Discover didn’t recognize it as Google Pay.
Category: Online
DEPARTMENT Store.
1% Cashback…
Same for Google Store payment… They do offer online gpay, but for some reasons Discover thinking it is not Google pay…
Would try to find some time to dispute with Discover, but not sure it’ll work…
Does anyone know whether Citi treats Costco travel purchase as travel?
I have seen couple of points Chase treating them as travel but haven’t seen how it gets posted to Citi
I’m a newb at digital wallet payments. I added my Discover card to my Samsung Wallet and used Samsung Wallet to make a purchase at a restaurant. My Discover statement shows the restaurant name for the charge instead of Samsung Pay. Does that purchase qualify as digital payment purchase? Or is is supposed to show Samsung Pay to count?
I’m assuming DIscover has some way to internally recognize that transaction as digital wallet payment.
If I use Paypal with a Freedom card at CVS and I have a Chase offer for CVS, will the offer get triggered?
Inflation is hitting up American wallets, and it’s also hitting MS margin too.
First, let’s look at tax and interests. Suppose the saving account is: 4% and our tax rate is 25%. That means if you put $1000 in a bank, after one year you’ll receive $40 interest. After tax $40 (1-1/4) = $30 (net gain). so the rate is about 3% (again, net gain)
Secondly, let’s talk about the cost. For example, we use our 5% cards to pay tax. If we buy $500 card with $6 fee and $2.50 tax process fee, that’s $8.5. After converting to rate, it’s 1.7%.
Third, Paying tax
In Q1, you’ll lost one year interest. so the net gain of the percentage is: 5% – 1.7% – 3% = 0.3%
In Q2, you’ll lost ¾ year interest. Net gain = 5% – 1.7% – 3% x 0.75 = 1.05%
In Q3, you’ll lost 1/2 year interest. Net gain = 5% – 1.7% – 3% x 0.5 = 1.8%
In Q4, you’ll lost 1/4 year interest. Net gain = 5% – 1.7% – 3% x 0.25 = 2.55%
Conclusion, in my opinion, it doesn’t worth the time and gas to Pay tax in Q1/Q2 for MS purpose because it’s equal or less than 1%. In Q3/Q4, it seems Ok because it is close to 2% and above.
I have to pay estimated taxes, so interest rates have no bearing since the money has to be spent anyway. I’d rather get the couple percentage than none at all.
Can we use Google-Pay to pay IRS?
Haven’t got any 5% on Discover with digital wallet. Probably hold my horse for a few days before reach out to CS
Which digital wallet did you use? Apple Pay? Google Pay?
Same here. I used Google pay. I expect Discover will straighten it out fairly quickly.
So far none using ApplePay either. But it doesn’t show the amount as 1% either, so I think they’ll fix it at some point.
I’ve had only one AP purchase clear so far but it is showing on the 5% tracker as counting.
All of my purchases using Apple Pay, have now cleared and show 5% cashback. It took a few days after they posted but it is tracking correctly for me.
Pleasantly surprised that you can stack the bonus categories on the Chase Freedom Flex when using PayPal. Went to CVS to use the 5% Chase Offer I had activated. I made my purchase with PayPal QR code and bought a $50GC. The transaction resulted in 4% PayPal, 2% Drug Store, and 1% other. Total of 350 points.