5% Categories For 2026 2nd Quarter
Nothing quite gets the juices flowing like a 5x earning swipe. Okay, outside of massive welcome offers and spending bonuses at least. However, if you are in a bonus dry spell then 5x earning is where you look for that spending high. Here are all of the currently available 5% categories for 2026’s 2nd quarter. Including easy access activation links for each card. Make sure you lock them in now so you don’t miss out when the calendar flips to April!
Chase Freedom Flex (Original / Vanilla Freedom – No Longer Available)
The categories for this upcoming quarter for the Freedom Flex, and original Freedom, are as follows (5x earning on your first $1,500 in spend from all 3 combined):
- Amazon.com
- Chase Travel
- Donations to Feeding America
- Activation Link
I know some love the Amazon quarter, but I despise it. There are so many ways to get 5x (or more) on Amazon essentially whenever you want that this doesn’t move the needle for me at all. The other two options are not good either, unless you planned on donating to Feeding America any way (or are moving your normal donations there).
Discover Card
Next up is the Discover card, which is probably my favorite option these days. We do have four of them between the wife and myself. Over the last year or two I have found their categories to have more meat on the bone compared to the competition. You can earn a cumulative 5% back on the first $1,500 in spend on the following categories this quarter:
- Restaurants
- Home Improvement Stores
- Activation Link
Not a terrible quarter, but not the best in my opinion. I do like the home improvement stores option since that is an area that could come in handy for larger projects. They also sell gift cards at these stores that can work other places. Restaurants is a less exciting option for me since plenty of cards offer some good bonus earning there that beats 5% cash back.
US Bank Cash+
The US Bank Cash+ earns 5% back on up to $2,000 in spend each quarter. That is a bit different from the first two cards, which is capped at $1,500. You also get to select 2 categories from their list which is nice, even if a little more limited since nothing changes:
- Shopping
- Furniture stores
- Electronic stores
- Department stores
- Select clothing stores
- Sporting goods stores
- Services & Utilities
- Home utilities
- Cell phone providers
- Gyms/fitness centers
- Ground transportation
- Entertainment
- Movie theaters
- Fast food
- TV, internet and streaming
- Activation Link
