One of our favorite features of the Chase Freedom card (read our full profile) is the opportunity for card members to earn 5% cash back in different, rotating categories each quarter. There is a $1,500 spending cap on combined purchases for each three month bonus period but it is still an excellent way to accumulate substantial cash back rewards.
The new quarter begins on October 1st and will run through December 31st of this year. The 5% bonus rewards will be applied to purchases made on Amazon, Zappos, Audible, and Diapers.com.
If you already are a cardholder, you will need to register your card via the Chase website to activate your spending bonus. Note: As long as you activate your card prior to each quarterly deadline, Chase will retroactively award you any bonus points in the specific spending categories for that particular quarter.
If you don’t yet have the Chase Freedom card, now might be a good time to consider it. New members are currently being offered 10,000 bonus points which can be redeemed for cash back (10,000 points = $100). To qualify, you need to spend at least $500 during the first three months that your account is open. Another valuable feature of this card is that if you choose not to redeem points for cash back, you can transfer them to Ultimate Rewards if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa or the Chase Ink Plus Business Card. Ultimate Rewards points can then be transferred to travel partners such as United, Hyatt Hotels, or Southwest Airlines.
Remember that if you have multiple Chase credit card accounts, you need to activate each of them individually in order to receive the 5% bonus category rewards.