Update: The 10 points per dollar for car rentals and hotels ends 7/31. It can take a couple of days for charges to post, so take advantage of it now rather than waiting for Sunday.
Originally posted on 7/1:
You can view credit card offers by clicking on the “Other Credit Cards” tab on top of the DansDeals banner to view links for card offers. You can click on the link that says “View all card offers by issuing bank” and scroll down to view all card offers from the bank of your choice.
You can click here to activate this quarter’s Chase Freedom 5% categories.
For Q3 you can earn 5 points per dollar on up to $1,500 in spending at restaurants (which includes caterers, cafes, etc) and at wholesale clubs like BJs, Costco, and Sam’s Club. That’s 7,500 potential points this quarter.
Gas stations at these clubs won’t earn 5 points per dollar, but you can buy gift cards from the clubs that will earn 5 points per dollar and then use the gift cards to pay for gas. For example you can buy Costco Cash cards online to earn 5 points per dollar that are useable online, in-store, or at Costco gas stations.
Additionally you can earn 10 points per dollar on up to $2,500 in spending on hotels and car rentals that are booked through Chase on your Freedom card. This 10x promotion also applies to the Freedom Unlimited card. You must use cash and not redeem points for the hotel stay or car rental in order to earn 10 points per dollar. This 10x promotion is only valid for travel booked in July, though travel can take place at any time. That’s another 25,000 potential points this quarter.
Chase Freedom is an excellent no annual fee card thanks to its quarterly 5% categories. While they call it 5% cash back, you’ll really get 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent which can be worth much more than 5% cash. For $1,500 in spending per quarter you will earn at least 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points over the course of a year (7,500 points per quarter at 5 points per dollar spent).
While Chase Freedom is a great card for the bonus categories, it’s not a great card for everyday spending. However the brand new Chase Freedom Unlimited® card is excellent for everyday spending.
2016 Chase Freedom bonus categories:
Q1: Gas stations and local commuter transportation
Q2: Grocery stores and wholesale clubs like BJs, Costco, and Sams Club.
Q3: Restaurants and wholesale clubs.
Q4: Wholesale clubs, Holiday shopping (Likely Amazon.com) and more to be announced.
Freedom alone can’t transfer points into much more lucrative airline or hotel miles, but if you or your spouse has a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Ink Plus card then you can transfer points from Freedom to one of those cards and from there to your favorite travel currency. You can read at the end of this postwhich currencies they can transfer to and why those points are much more valuable than just taking cash back. The Freedom card can also keep your points alive for free if you do close one of those cards.
The value of the points will be based on where you use them, but if you use those points for a trip worth where they are worth 2 cents each then you’ll have effectively earned 10% back on those “5 point categories.” The sky is the limit of the value of airline miles as they aren’t tied to the cost of a ticket. That’s good for people in the know and bad for those who are not. 1 mile can be worth 0.25 cents or it can be worth 25 cents, it all just depends on how you use them!
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36 Comments On "Freedom Q3 Bonus Spending Now Live, Plus A 10x Freedom+Freedom Unlimited Category Announced!"
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Anyway to MS at these categories? Do any restaurants or Wholesale clubs sell VGCs?
Yes, SamsClub Sells MasterCard gift cards
Why is every Quarter 5% on Wholesale clubs?
The freedom though doesn’t give primary insurance though no?
Dan, are kosher restaurants included?
@Insurance:
Correct, secondary only.
@Scotchy88:
Of course.
Can you define what you mean when you say “booked through chase”?
Thanks
Just tried out the portal for rental cars and the rates are actually really good, even before the 10%. May use this
@MeirS:
Follow the link in the post to book.
@Larry:
Just beware that Freedom doesn’t give primary CDW insurance.
Can I open 2 or more cards
@Scotchy88: Nope, only 10x for treif restaurants
Didn’t these start in June??
@1234:
I have 3. They were downgraded from Sapphire Preferred.
@al613:
Lol
@Eli:
No. June is in Q2. This is a new quarter.
wonder if i can buy hotel gift cards now and get the 10%?
@Dan: What is the practical implication? What does that mean if I do not have auto insurance separately?
@ydbe:
They don’t sell gift cards.
@Anonymous:
Means nothing if you don’t have personal car insurance.
Is Restaurant Depot a wholesale club for these purposes?
@High end hobo: @Levi: BJ’s too.@SHabbat shalom: Chase wants folks to consider them a good alternative to the Citi Costco card.
If I only have liability and don’t have collision on my personal insurance, is the secondary insurance that comes with the CC essentially primary for me?
@Abraham: It may depend on the state. Someone collided with my Alamo rental car while it was parked and left the scene without leaving information. I made a claim with Amex, but my personal insurance ended up paying it as a liability claim (with no deductible) because it was in a different state than my personal policy.
Guys, I think you can do the following: you can book with the card that have primary insurance (for example Sapphire) and then, if there is no problem with the car, you can pay with Freedom card
@Anonymous: It was reported that Restaurant Depot posts as Grocery.
http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=8756.msg1025872#msg1025872
what makes you say amazon is included in holiday shopping? any data points on this?
So how does it work? I just swipe my card at any restaurant and I automatically get to bonus points? Or is there a list of specific ones that the bonus points can be earned by?
is there a foreign transaction fee?
Anyone know if this is targeted?
@Scotchy88 works at any restaurant.
@leiba yes
@My Man No. Just sign up via the link above to activate
If i were to use the chase freedom to rent a car, does the freedom also qualify for car rental insurance the Sapphire does ?
Does Chase count airbnb as hotel?
Is there any plans on 5% cash back on charity like a while back?
Does Costco sells any Visa or MC Gift Cards?
Does the bonus work for buying costco through google expreess?
These categories are only for freedom or freedom unlimited too?
Dan’s will Chase clawback the bonus if I end up cancelling the refundable reservation? I’m looking to book something for January but if I find a better rate I want to cancel it.
What type of website would I have to make advance hotel or car rental reservations on to get the 10x points…can I use Hotwire or Priceline or do I need to use a hotel or car rental website only ??
Visa says the following on CDW:
‘This benefit is available on all Visa Standard Credit, Visa Rewards Credit, and Visa Premium Rewards cards.’
What am i getting wrong?
@Abe: it’s not primary on freedom so you’ll have to file a claim with your own auto insurance and then they’ll cover what your insurance doesn’t cover