Chase Freedom 2nd Quarter Categories Expanded
Yesterday I covered how you can convert an existing Chase Freedom card to the Freedom Unlimited via secure message. The ability to earn 1.5X Ultimate Rewards everywhere with the Freedom Unlimited is attractive, however I also suggested that you might want to hold off. Next month starts Quarter 2, where grocery stores will be a 5X category.
Grocery Stores & More
Actually until today the Chase Calendar said “grocery stores and more”. Thankfully we now know what the “more” is. In addition to earning 5X at grocery stores with the Chase Freedom in quarter 2, you can also earn 5X at Wholesale Clubs such as Sam’s Club and BJ’s.
No Costco?
As of now Costco doesn’t accept Visa credit cards in-club and most likely won’t until after the 2nd quarter is over. Earlier this year they announced a delay in the switchover from American Express to Visa and said it will be happening sometime over the summer.
Update: It appears that online purchases from Costco.com (where they do accept Visa) may be included in the 5X. See Patrick’s comment below for more information.
Update 2: Costco will start accepting Visas on June 20, 2016.
Conclusion
Many people spend a lot of money at warehouse clubs and the ability to earn 5X on that spend will be attractive. With the addition of warehouse clubs to grocery stores, I can easily say that Chase Freedom’s Quarter 2 is easily the best overall of any of the 5%/5X rotating category cards. My ultimate strategy will still be to max out one of my Freedom cards in early April so I can earn 5X and then convert it to a Freedom Unlimited. I will then spend the rest of the quarter using my other Freedom cards for grocery purchases.
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[…] a bad little discount, but it gets better. Many cards earn a grocery store bonus. For example, the Chase Freedom card earns 5X this quarter at grocery stores on up to $1,500 in spend and others have a grocery bonus as well. (Such as my Old Blue.) Of course, […]
[…] a reminder the Chase Freedom card is currently paying 5X at grocery & warehouse stores on up to $1,500 in purchases through the end of June. That is a […]
Contacted Chase on whether the 5% Freedom bonus is available for Aldi. Told not on the list, except that list was finale months ago. No real help when I called Barclay and Visa. I did converse with someone at Aldi and she told me that US Bank codes Aldi has a grocer.
A local Supervalu chain is offering a $5 catalina, good for a week, when $50 of selected GC are purchased. The selections shown in the ad are not that great.
[…] Back: If you shop at BJ’s often the 5% back is nice, although the Chase Freedom announced today that warehouse clubs such as BJ’s will be included on that card for the 2nd quarter. Since […]
Hi Shawn,
I have question regarding amex blue cash preferred card. Does it earn 6% cashback for purchases at target. I seems recall you once claim it does in one of your post, but I can not find it anymore.
Sarah, the Blue Cash Preferred doesn’t earn 6% at Target. However, you can buy Target gift cards at a grocery store as a workaround.
Visa categorizes some Target stores as grocery, but Amex doesn’t unfortunately.
Not a moot point regarding Costco for those of us with nearby grocery stores that do not accept credit cards for VGC. Would love to hear of a grocery in northern VA that does still accept credit cards: our two major chains recently stopped.
@Kate, if you can’t ring up at least $800-$900 worth of actual groceries in 3 months then you’re probably not eating or cooking enough. There are probably lots of other options even without VGCs that you can use to max out this promo, like gas cards, Amazon, restaurants etc. Those are all allowed to be purchased with a credit card. Of course everyone has a different spending pattern so I’m speaking for myself, but I very easily blow through $1,500 of actual groceries in 3 months, but if I didn’t and I spent only let’s say $900 or so, even without VGCs I’ll just buy the actual supermarket’s $600 worth of gift card and use them up in June. $1,500 in 3 months is not that much money to max out.
I don’t understand the assumption that Costco online purchases won’t count. If warehouse clubs are included then what difference does it make whether the purchase is online or not? Ultimately is sort of a moot point because you can easily max out just buying gift cards at supermarkets but just don’t understand your logic.
Online stores are generally categorized differently than if you go into a store and purchase items. With that said, it appears based on that Reddit link above that online purchases will count and I have updated the post.
Reddit post reports that Costco and Costco.com WILL qualify per phone convo with CSR (Visa MCC 5399).
https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/4agymr/freedom_q2_includes_sams_club/d10kzm1
That is presuming Costco completes the transition from Amex to Visa by the end of June, which is unlikely.
According to above, costco.com already accepts Visa?
Dan, yes. You can buy merchandise online and pay with any card, and it’s also been a workaround for as long as I can remember to be able to use any card at Costco. Buy a cash card online and pay with your preferred card and then use the cash card at the physical store.
Correct. In-store there isn’t any Visa and likely won’t be until after the 2nd quarter is over. Online they do accept Visa and if that Reddit link is correct then online purchases will earn 5X as well.