Difference between revisions of "Quarterly bonus categories"

Latest revision as of 13:25, 1 October 2021

Easily Earn Points for Free Travel, Boost your rewards with "Pick Your Own Category", "Rotating Category", and Gift Cards

Q4 2021 is underway. Make sure to activate for this quarter's categories. More details about the quarter's categories are available on the activation pages.

For information and tips about using these cards to optimize the rewards you earn on your spending, make sure to look at our Advanced Bonus Category Optimization guide.

Freedom Flex Card Guide	PayPal and Walmart. PayPal is probably the easiest category of the year. You can pay via PayPal on many websites, or use it for taxes and charities. If you add your card to PayPal Key, you should be able to use it almost everywhere online. Remember that the promotion doesn't cover regular person-to-person payments. Another good option this quarter is to purchase gift cards at Walmart. You'll get credit for charges made before you register, but there is no reason to hold off. Activation Webpage.
Discover it Card Guide	Amazon, Walmart.com, Target.com. Perfect for the holidays, although many people are already earning 5% back at Amazon and Target (although not the 10% back you'd earn during your Discover card's first year. All three stores sell a wide variety of gift cards. You'll only earn bonus rewards on purchases that are made after you activate each quarter. Activation Webpage
Citi Dividend Guide	Restaurants & BestBuy. Hopefully, you already maxed out your annual cap with groceries or another category, as you likely already have good options for restaurants and you may not have things you want at BestBuy. You'll only earn bonus rewards on purchases that are made two or more days after you activate. Activation Webpage.
Nusenda Reward Card Guide	Retail stores (in-person or online), Restaurants. Should be easy to maximize with organic shopping or gift cards.

Activating the U.S. Bank Cash+ Card

Unlike the other "pick your own category" cards, you need to re-activate the categories on the Cash+ card every quarter. Any spending made that quarter before activation won't earn bonus rewards. Activation Webpage.

Credit Cards 101

Credit Cards that Offer Bonus Rewards on Less Common Categories

Optimize Rewards by Using Different Cards for Different Purchases

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-Q3 2021 is underway. Make sure to activate for this quarter's categories. More details about the quarter's categories are available on the activation pages.
+Q4 2021 is underway. Make sure to activate for this quarter's categories. More details about the quarter's categories are available on the activation pages.
 For information and tips about using these cards to optimize the rewards you earn on your spending, make sure to look at our {{Link|advanced optimization|Advanced Bonus Category Optimization guide}}.
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 {{List|card}}
 {{CardItem|Freedom}}
-'''Grocery Stores and Select Streaming Services'''.  Grocery stores usually sell a wide variety of gift cards you can use at other merchants, making it easy to get full value this quarter.
+'''PayPal and Walmart'''.  PayPal is probably the easiest category of the year. You can pay via PayPal on many websites, or use it for taxes and charities. If you add your card to PayPal Key, you should be able to use it almost everywhere online. Remember that the promotion doesn't cover regular person-to-person payments. Another good option this quarter is to purchase gift cards at Walmart.
 You'll get credit for charges made before you register, but there is no reason to hold off. [//www.chasebonus.com Activation Webpage].
-Chase has announced the categories for '''Oct - Dec''':  Walmart and PayPal.
 {{CardItem|Discover}}
-'''Restaurants and PayPal'''. The good news is that PayPal can be used all over the internet. You should also get credit for purchases made with your Discover Card through PayPal Key.
+'''Amazon, Walmart.com, Target.com'''. Perfect for the holidays, although many people are already earning 5% back at Amazon and Target (although not the 10% back you'd earn during your Discover card's first year. All three stores sell a wide variety of gift cards.
 You'll only earn bonus rewards on purchases that are made after you activate each quarter. [//www.discover.com/credit-cards/cashback-bonus/cashback-calendar.html Activation Webpage]
-Discover has already announced their complete 2021 schedule: '''Oct - Dec''': Amazon, Target.com, and Walmart.com.
 {{CardItem|dividend}}
-'''Home Improvement and Gas'''. If you won't be naturally spending enough in these categories, you should be able to purchase gift cards at these locations, especially at Home Improvement stores. If you have a nearby Lowe's, link your Dividend Card to the Jet Blue Shopping site to earn extra points on all your Lowe's purchases.
+'''Restaurants & BestBuy'''. Hopefully, you already maxed out your annual cap with groceries or another category, as you likely already have good options for restaurants and you may not have things you want at BestBuy.
 You'll only earn bonus rewards on purchases that are made two or more days after you activate. [//www.citi.com/credit-cards/credit-cards-citi/citi.action?ID=dividend-quarterly-offer Activation Webpage].
-Citi has announced the categories for '''Oct - Dec''': Restaurants & BestBuy.
 {{CardItem|nusenda}}
-'''Gas and Education'''. Gas is a tough category, there is a good chance you are already earning good bonus rewards and most gas stations aren't a good source for gift cards. If you have education expenses, it is usually easy to max out this quarter, but if you don't, it is hard to take advantage of this category.
+'''Retail stores (in-person or online), Restaurants'''. Should be easy to maximize with organic shopping or gift cards.
-Nusenda has had the same schedule every year: '''Oct - Dec''': Restaurants, Hotels, Airfare'''.  '''Apr - Jun''': Movies Restaurants, Home Improvements'''.
 {{/List|card}}