Chase has long been the top issuer of cash back credit cards and earn cardholder benefits on a variety of products and services. Specifically, the no annual fee Chase Freedom Flex℠ offers its owners the following benefits:

• 5% cash back (1% thereafter) on purchases up to $1,500 in total bonus categories every quarter you activate
• Book through Chase Ultimate Rewards 5% Rewards on Trips Made
• 5% Rewards on Lyft Rides (until March 2025)
• 3% Rewards on Meals and Drugstore Purchases
• 1 percent back on all other purchases

The original Chase Freedom®* credit card is no longer available to new applicants, but the issuer recently announced a 2023 Announced bonus categories for the first quarter of the year. Existing Freedom Card Member.

From January 2023 to March 2023, Freedom Flex and existing Freedom Cardmembers will get 5% cash back on memberships at Target and grocery stores (excluding Walmart), and fitness clubs and gyms. You get “font-weight: 400″>.

Freedom Flex 2023 Cashback Bonus Calendar

The first step in maximizing your rewards in the bonus category is to keep up with the Freedom Flex reward calendar. There are new categories each quarter and Chase announces them just before the quarter begins.

Let's take a look at Chase's bonus categories for 2022 compared to the previous 2023 categories. -spacing-sm –table-inline”>

• Groceries (excluding Walmart and Target)
• eBay

• target
• Groceries (excluding Walmart)
• Fitness club and gym memberships

• Amazon.com
• Choosing a Streaming Service

• TBD

• Gas stations
• Car rental
• Entertainment Choices
• Movie Theater

• TBA

• Walmart and PayPal Purchases

• undecided

This cash back bonus gives you the potential to earn up to $75 in cash back at that rate until you reach your spending limit of $1,500 each quarter. Purchases outside of the bonus category will earn unlimited 1% cash back.

Activate the Chase bonus category How to Activate

To receive the full 5% cash back, you must activate the bonus category quarterly.

One of the easiest ways to activate is through the Chase Mobile app. You can also activate rewards through your account hub, phone, email, or designated Chase location. If you need a reminder to activate, set a reminder on your calendar so you don't miss a reward category.

When you activate a category, you'll get 5% cash back on all category purchases during the quarter, including those made prior to that quarter's activation. Maximum purchase amount per quarter is $1,500, then 1%. If you have multiple Chase accounts, be sure to enable each category.

This Quarterly Bonus Maximize Category

Q1 2023 Chase Freedom Flex Bonus Category Rewards Target, Grocery Maximize Rewards This Quarter Here's how to do it:

• Considering the variety of products sold at Target, it's easy to shop a lot at Target.You want to buy a few blouses for work, you have a kid who needs new school supplies for the semester, or Whether you're looking to spice up your home after the holidays, you'll find several acquisition options on Target.

Everyone needs to do some grocery shopping, so stock up on the pantry. Swipe your card every time.And if you hate shopping in person, activate through Chase Ultimate Rewards to enjoy 5% cashback on delivery purchases at Instacart grocery stores (up to $1,500, then 1%).

• Are you trying to get fit after the holiday season? Don't forget to pay your gym memberships and fitness club fees with Freedom Flex to get better rewards.
• If you're having trouble hitting the $1,500 cap this quarter, consider passing by purchasing a gift card at Target.

Additional Chase Freedom Flex Benefits

The Chase Freedom Flex is a World Elite Mastercard, a special class of Mastercard with specific benefits. Through this program, Freedom Flex cardholders have access to the following benefits, among others:

• Mobile phone protection: Monthly mobile phone protection with Freedom Flex If you pay your phone bill, we cover damage or theft up to $800 per charge, up to $1,000 annually. A $50 deductible applies.
• ShopRunner Membership: Get a free membership to ShopRunner. This will get him free shipping within two days from dozens of major retailers.
• Discounts: Lyft, Boxed, and Fandango are just a few of the retailers offering discounts to Mastercard World Elite cardholders.

Benefits unique to Chase Freedom Flex include:

• Travel Insurance: Non-refundable passenger fares purchased with Freedom Flex are covered by insurance valued at $1,500 per person, $6,000 each way.
• DashPass Membership: The first three months of membership to DoorDash shipping are free. After that, you will be automatically subscribed to the service and receive a 50% discount for an additional 9 months. If you order frequently, you'll save quickly with $0 shipping.

Comparison: Chase Freedom Flex Rotating Category vs Discover it Cash Back Bonus Category

Discover it® Cash Back also offers a rotating bonus category and like Freedom Flex you can earn a total of 5% cash back per quarter Bonus category purchases up to $1,500 each (1% after activation) plus 1% cash back on everything else.

For the past few years, Discover has announced his yearly bonus category upfront, but has switched to a quarterly cadence. The Discover it cashback bonus categories for Q1 2023 are:

• January-March 2023: Grocery stores, drug stores, some streaming services

Both Chase and Discover like to reward similar types of spending, with grocery stores, gas stations, and drugstores being the most popular and recurring categories. If you want to maximize your cash back rewards, you can apply for both Freedom Flex and Discover it Cash Back and use them at the same time.

One of the big differences between Discover's program and Chase's is that with Discover you only get 5% cash back on purchases in the rotation bonus category after you activate ( Up to $1,500 quarterly on bonus category purchases, then 1% thereafter). With Chase, you'll earn 5% cash back on all bonus category purchases made within a specified quarter. Even if you don't activate the bonus category by the deadline, they are usually pretty lenient. Whichever cashback card you choose, be sure to activate these categories so you don't miss out on rewards.

There's one more thing you should know about Discover it Cash Back. Discover's cashback match program matches. All cashback earned during his first year as cardholder. By maxing out the bonus category spending, he earns $75 in cashback each quarter for the entire year. Discover offers another $300 cashback reward equal to $300.

Comparison: Chase Freedom Flex Rotation Category vs. Citi Custom Cash Card Bonus Category

The Citi Custom Cash℠ card does not have a rotation category like the Freedom Flex, but 5% cash on category change We provide new ways to earn back.

Instead of activating quarterly categories, you can automatically earn 5% cash back on your top spending categories each billing cycle (up to $500, then 1% cash back). All other purchases earn 1% cash back.

At the end of your billing cycle, you'll earn 5% cash back on purchases in any of the following 10 categories.

• restaurant
• gas station
• grocer
• choose a trip
• transport Choice

>

• Choose a Streaming Service
• Drugstore
• Home Center
• Fitness Club
• Live Entertainment

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Benefits of Citi Custom Cash

Citi Custom Cash is a low maintenance card as you don't have to wait for a specific bonus category or activation date. The same roster of 5% bonus categories is fixed throughout the year.

Granted, you can't formally choose which bonus categories you want in each billing cycle, but you can track your spending and get the most out of your categories in any given billing cycle (and even different categories with no spending caps). loyalty card costs). .

Speaking of the categories available, you can also make a wide variety of purchases where you can earn 5% with Citi Custom Cash. Freedom Flex and other 5% rotating bonus category cards typically have about 7 or 8 bonus categories throughout the year instead of 10 for custom cash cards.

Where Chase Freedom Flex Wins

Freedom Flex's 5% rotating category structure has several advantages over the custom cash card reward style. Most obviously, Freedom Flex's bonus category has no spending cap for each billing cycle. Instead of a $500 spending limit per billing cycle, you get a quarterly spending limit of $1,500. While each card has the same total quarterly spend limit, Freedom Flex's approach makes it easier to maximize your cash back when your monthly purchases are large or your billing cycle is costly.

Moreover, Freedom Flex usually has two or three 5% bonus categories at once. This is especially useful for small categories such as streaming services. That category also tends to be a little more diverse depending on the season. For example, major online retailers such as Amazon.com typically give 5% back every year, but Citi Custom Cash doesn't give back at all for online shopping.

The custom cash category is tailored to your everyday spending and has unusual perks such as perks at live entertainment, but it's not limited to grocery store purchases and other costly categories ( (meals, etc.) only earn boosted cash back each billing cycle.

How to redeem rewards in Freedom Flex

Your account must be open and in good standing to redeem rewards. Rewards are tracked as points and each dollar earned in cashback is worth 100 points. Cash Back can be redeemed as a statement credit or as a direct deposit into a qualifying checking or savings account at a US bank.

The cash back reward will be credited to your credit card account immediately after redemption. If you check your statement, you'll see that the bonus category's compensation is listed as “Bonus from the 1st Quarter 5% Category.” Points will not expire as long as your account is active and in good standing.

You can also redeem your points for Chase Ultimate Rewards. Points can be redeemed for travel, gift cards, experiences, online shopping and more through this portal.

Alternatively, you can combine Freedom Flex with a more premium Chase credit card, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Chase Sapphire Reserve® — Potentially increase redemption value by 25% to 50% when points are redeemed for travel via the portal.

Both of these premium cards have annual fees, but

Conclusion

Chase Freedom Flex is a great cash back option. Good credit and plan to use the card to make various purchases. To learn more about the ideal cash back card for you, check out Bankrate's picks for the best cash back credit cards for 2022.

Information about Chase Freedom® is independently collected by warnow.biz. Publisher does not provide content and is not responsible for its accuracy.