Chase Freedom Flex℠ Card Recently Get 5% Cash Back Announced Q1 2023 Categories: Grocery (Excluding Walmart), Target Purchases (both in-store and online), Fitness Club and Gym Memberships. Cardholder earns 5% cash back on total spending up to $1,500 per quarter, after which he gets 1% cash back (activation required).

In Q1 2022, his 5% bonus on Freedom Flex His categories were grocery stores (excluding Walmart and Target) and his eBay. Target, fitness club, and gym memberships not included. I think the 2023 option is more widely applicable.

Interestingly, Walmart sells more groceries than any other retailer in the United States, but it typically sells Freedom Flex and its predecessor, the original Chase Freedom credit card* (which has been discontinued). were excluded from the 5% grocery quarter. This is also true in Q1 2023 (although Q4 2022 saw Walmart come along with PayPal).

However, Target — another large, diversified retailer that sells groceries and much more — is expected to be included in Q1 2023. This is unlike Freedom Flex (or the original Freedom) offering his 5% cashback in Q1 2022 and other previous quarters. groceries. Please note that you can only earn 5% total cashback in Q1 2023 on groceries purchased at Target (cannot be doubled). On the plus side, you'll get 5% cash back on all your Target purchases (including non-grocery) via Freedom Flex in Q1 2023 (up to your quarterly spending threshold of until reached).

Chase also said Freedom will allow Flex cardholders to earn his 5% cashback on groceries ordered via his Instacart in Q1 2023 (but , other of his Instacart purchases are not eligible). When activated through Chase Ultimate Rewards,

All of this leads to a very broad first quarter earnings potential. My only regret is that the $1,500 limit is not high. As I wrote before, I firmly believe that this limit should be raised to account for inflation. It hasn't changed since 2011. Adjusted for inflation, $1,500 in 2011 is equivalent to about $2,000 today.

The latest consumer price index data shows that food prices have increased by 12% since November 2021. I think half of the time, if you get 5% of your groceries back with Freedom Flex, you'll get almost half that amount back (assuming you didn't earn any rewards last year, probably cash or

Personally, I plan to use Freedom Flex for grocery shopping in Q1.I don't have a fitness club or gym membership, but your situation may vary. Yes.

Groceries have universal appeal, but gym memberships and Target purchases are hard to maximize with other cards.In some situations, you might want to put them first. It depends on how you spend your money and whether you have other cards. There are many top grocery credit cards that offer 3-6% cash back on groceries. If you have one of these cards, in Q1 2023, you'll primarily get Freedom Flex for Target purchases if you only get 1% cashback in these categories with other cards and/or use a gym membership.

Competition

Many cashback enthusiasts have Freedom Flex and Discover it® cashback. It has a very similar structure (5% cashback on spending up to $1,500 in quarterly category rotation after activation, then 1% cashback thereafter). The beauty of this strategy is that the cards usually have different quarterly bonus categories, giving you plenty of chances to win 5% cash back.

Unfortunately, Q1 2023, for the second year in a row, is an unusual quarter with a lot of overlap between categories covered by Chase and Discover (Discover's Q1 category is , grocery stores, drug stores, and some streaming services). Ironically, 2022 will see Discover combine groceries with fitness club and gym memberships, as Chase does in his 2023.

If you spend a lot of money on Target, gym memberships, drug stores, or eligible streaming subscriptions, this may not be a serious conflict of interest. Prioritize Target and Gym with the Chase card, drugstore and streaming with the Discover card, and fill the gaps on either card (or both) with groceries. Some people may spend enough on groceries to reach the quarterly total spending threshold of $3,000 (to maximize this in a 13-week quarter, 1 I need to spend about $230 per week on groceries).

You can consider. You can also buy gift cards to help you reach your limit (especially since Target and many grocery and drug stores have gift card racks that offer a wide variety of cards).

Looking further ahead

Unlike years past, Discover now joins Chase, choosing to roll out 5% of the categories one quarter at a time (Discover announced them all earlier in the year). was). As such, it's difficult to predict the rest of the year.

Using the past as a guide, both cards will likely focus heavily on holiday shopping in Q4. However, this usually doesn't overlap as much as the grocery quarter. In Q4 2022, Discover's 5% categories are Amazon.com and digital wallets, while Chase's categories are Walmart and PayPal.

Q2 and Q3 are more difficult to judge. In 2022, Discover's second quarter categories were Gas Stations and Target. Q3 was restaurants and PayPal. Chase, meanwhile, opted for his Amazon.com and some streaming services in Q2 and gas stations, car rentals, movie theaters and live entertainment in Q3. Things can certainly change, but it seems likely that we'll see a similar set of categories in 2023.

Two categories that Chase has introduced in the past few years but will not in 2022 are internet, cable and phone bills, and home improvement. If Chase wants to bring them back sometime in 2023, I'd go with either (or both!).

Other Valuable Freedom Flex Perks

5% in Select Quarters Freedom Flex is a very useful card, even if you don't like the cashback category. 5% cash back on travel purchases with Chase Ultimate Rewards, 5% cash back on Lyft rides (March 2025), 3% cash back on restaurant and drugstore purchases, 1% on everything else cashback.

This year, we've exhausted 5% of rotating categories in 3 of the 4 quarters and come close to that in the remaining quarters. I am a big fan of this card. There is no annual fee and I once saved $299 with Purchase Protection. This is my go-to dining card.

Conclusion

Freedom Flex is very popular. Considering the whole package, there really is something for everyone. It remains to be seen what the 5% category will be after Q2 2023, but I am confident that this will continue to be a versatile cash back card that I use regularly.

For travel enthusiasts, Freedom Flex also pools rewards points with other Chase cards so you can earn even more points with transferable rewards cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve® I like it because I can

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*All information regarding the Chase Freedom® credit card is collected independently by Bankrate and is neither screened nor screened. Approved by the publisher.