Update: Just a reminder than tomorrow, 12/14, is the final day to register for the Freedom Q4 categories! You have until 12/31 to finish spending.
Registration for Q1 opens on 12/15 and I don’t know about you but I’m going to blow through $3,000 of “spending” on 2 Freedom cards for 15.5K UR points at CVS on New Year’s day pretty easily 😀
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Originally posted on 11/28:
-Chase Freedom Mastercard-Earn $100 cash back (in the form of 10,000 Ultimate Rewards points) when you spend $500 in 3 months.
-Chase Freedom Visa-Earn $100 cash back (in the form of 10,000 Ultimate Rewards points) when you spend $500 in 3 months.
There is no annual fee for Freedom!
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The 5 point categories for 2013 have been announced and are as follows:
Q1, January – March: Gas stations, Drugstores & Starbucks
Q2, April – June: Restaurants & Movie theaters
Q3, July – September: Gas stations, Theme parks & Kohl’s
Q4, October – December: Select department stores & Amazon.com
Don’t forget that at gas stations and drug stores you can buy gift cards for other stores so that you earn 5 points per dollar there as well.
Plus many drug stores and gas stations carry Vanilla Reload cards, so that means 5 points per dollar and you can cash out the cards with Bluebird!
Of course if you have an Ink Bold, Ink Plus, Ink Cash, or Ink Classic card you will earn 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent all year round on telecom, cable, internet, as well as everything from office supply stores, which includes gift cards to other stores and prepaid cash cards. With the Bold/Plus cards that’s capped at $50,000 per year and with the Classic/Cash cards that’s capped at $25,000 per year. The cards also earn 2 points per dollar year round at gas stations and either hotels (Bold/Plus/Classic) or dining (Cash)
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Don’t forget to activate your Q4 2012 Chase Freedom 5% categories by 12/14 and finish spending for hotels, airlines, Best Buy, and Kohl’s by 12/31.
You can also buy Amazon Kindle gift cards at Best Buy stores to earn 5 points per dollar. Kindle gift cards work for everything sold on Amazon.com
Or you can buy gift cards from airlines or hotels that will lock in 5 points per dollar for future travel.
Here is a link that explains where you will and won’t earn the 5 points per dollar this quarter.
You earn 5 points per dollar on up to $1,500 of spending per quarter.
Although they are called “5% categories” you really get 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent which can be cashed out for 5% cash. For $1,500 in spending you will earn at least 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points.
However if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Ink Bold, or Ink Plus card then you can transfer the points over to one of those cards and then transfer them at a 1:1 ratio into much more valuable airline miles (United, British Airways, Southwest, Korean, etc) or hotel points (Hyatt, etc)
If you are grandfathered for Freedom Exclusives you also get 10 points per transaction and a 10% bonus on base spend points.
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45 Comments On "2013 Freedom Bonus Categories Released!"
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> Don’t forget that at gas stations and drug stores you can buy gift cards for other stores so that you earn 5 points per dollar there as well.
If I buy Vanilla Reload cards at a 7-Eleven or Walgreens, will I get 5 points per dollar?
Dan, for big spending is the united club card the way to go? I want 1 nonamex card I have an SPG that I do the bulk of it on but for my vendors that don’t take Amex….
No groceries? That is a big disappointment.
@A S:
Yes.
@Momofboys:
Depends on how much spending and where the spending is done.
@Not happy:
My local gas station sells gift cards to my local grocery store.
If you need grocery bonuses, consider the AMEX BCP:
http://www.dansdeals.com/go/bluecashpre/
@Dan: We’ll get 5 points at 7-Eleven? Thats a “drugstore”?
BTW this is a grate card
i use this in in the city for the money meter for parking
i pay .25 cents & i get back 11 points
Is it up to $1,500 spend each month for all categories that month, or in each category that month (i.e., In January: $1500 at Gas Stations, $1500 at Drugstores and $1500 at Starbucks)?
@Hans: It’s $1,500 total spenidng in all 3 cats. IE: you can spend $1,500 in gas in January then you are done.
Dan, i did your us airways deal on sharing the milage and i opened 2 accounts for my wife and i shared between mine and hers. now im trying to book a award ticket, and they tell me that my account is in audit? is there anything i can do….. thx for your help!
@YUDI:
Just wait for the audit to pass, you didn’t do anything wrong.
The amazon bonus from oct to dec, is good for a payments?
@Yisroel: Keep Dreaming
@Dan , i have 2 Chase Ink cards, one is Ink Plus and the other is a very old one which earns 3% on office supplies, drug stores, etc, since i have the Ink Plus and Sapphire Preferred will i be able to transfer the points of the Ink 3% Cash card to UR?
whats the best personnel credit card offer now
I have a Chase United card and need another 700 miles to hit 25K for a ticket needed within 2 weeks. Any way to make purchases and pay the card to have it added to my Mileage Plus account immediately or something similar to get the mileage quickly? Thank you!
Is best buy consider office suply (I bought a laptop wondring if will get 5%)?
i got this card two weeks ago already! and i got all this stuff u mentioned…. it aint nothin new @dan
I was in 3 different Best Buy stores today and not one sold Amazon gift cards.
@ED:
Don’t have Ultimate Rewards points?
@chumy:
No.
@FREEDOM:
OK then.
@PGA:
Did you look for Kindle gift cards like I wrote?
i have a lot of points on my chase freedom card, but it seems as though the points on my saphire preferred are more usable towards travel….is that true and if so can i transfer my freedom points to my sapphire and how?
i just got this card about 2 weeks ago and i’m going to israel next week. does it have a foreign transaction fee? thanks!
@chanie: Yes, there are foreign transaction fees. Use the SaPphire card
@Dan: No, I don’t have ultimate rewards points. Any other way?
@chanie: @I WANT POINTS!!: I have a Chase sappire card also a Freedom card. is is not a sappire preferred card . I mostly use the Freedom, what are the differeces btreen both and which do I benefit more???
i don’t have a sapphire card. i have united & continental & southwest & citi thank you & amex gold. do any of these not charge a foreign transaction fee? thanks!
@I WANT POINTS!!:
You can transfer Freedom points to Sapphire by logging into your Ultimate Rewards account on Chase.com
@chanie:
Southwest Premier has no Forex fee, Southwest Plus does.
hi, if i have a chase freedom card, do i need to apply for the benefits you listed? or will the points automatically appear on my online account when i spend?
tia
if i get a chase saphire credit card for my friend does he build credit with it if no please explain what i should do to help him nobody in his household has credit cards
so if i go to my gas station and spend $.69 on a fountain drink i get 17 points ? (1 regular, 5 bonus , 10 with chase checking, 1 10% bonus ???
@Az:
Well the bonus is only 4 (for a total of 5 points per dollar), but you have the gist of it 😀
#LoveFreedom
“Registration for Q1 opens on 12/15 and I don’t know about you but I’m going to blow through $3,000 of “spending†on 2 Freedom cards for 15.5K UR points at CVS on New Year’s day pretty easily ”
Why? is this because you only get bonuses up to 1,500 in eligible spending per card per month?
@Az:
From the post,
“You earn 5 points per dollar on up to $1,500 of spending per quarter.”
why 15.5 not 15k
what is the extra 500 points from??
@ih:
Chase Exclusives.
@Dan
From the post “I’m going to blow through $3,000 of “spending†on 2 Freedom cards for 15.5K UR points at CVS on New Year’s day pretty easily â€
How?
And, why the first day?
@Tayar:
Vanilla Reloads before others buy them out 😀
@Dan:
Thank you. And, thanks for all you do here. Today, I cashed two MVDs, to get me closer to required spend on my Ink card (based on your pointers).
@Dan: with 10% bonus and 10 points per transaction, isn’t it much more that 15.5 K?
dan, ur gonna get the vanilla reloads or vanilla gift cards? why does it pay the gift card vanilla fees are not low?
@Mendel:
The 10% doesn’t apply for the bonus amount.
@cards:
Reloads.
$3,000 of reloads will cost $23.70 and can be liquidated for free via Bluebird.
15.5K UR points are worth $300.
Seems like that pays to me 😀
Dan you had mentioned that you should not transfer UR to any account except spouse cuz of risk, what about miles like united can that be transferred to anyone else not a spouse?
Hi Dan, you said “15.5K UR points are worth $300.”
Are you sure about that? how can you value 15.5k = 300$. I dont think your math is right. 15.5K UR = 155$ only.
Dan: Why do u need to purchace new vanilla cards? Why not reload ones u already have?
@happy9z:
If you’re selling your UR points for $155 you’ll have a whole lot of buyers 😀
@ezi:
No way to reload via credit card except buying a new one in-store.
Can you put a current value on chase rewards points / united points and amex points. Ex: someplace you say that you aim for 1.9 on chase points where? havent seen that high anyplace. Places that buy them vary in offers. Saw independent blogger value United points @ about 1.81. Best I can find for 55,000 + 55,000 is 1.35. Is that sensible??
thanks so much