Chase Freedom Q3 categories: Last chance to activate to earn 5% back/5 points per dollar at gas stations, EV charging and select entertainment

12.09.2023 - 20:37 / thepointsguy.com / Chase Freedom

After a strong start to the year with its Q1 and Q2 categories, Chase Freedom (no longer available to new applicants) and Chase Freedom Flex℠ cardholders have another chance to easily earn bonus points in this year's Q3 categories: gas stations, electric vehicle (EV) charging and select live entertainment.

You can earn in these bonus categories now through Sept. 30. After activation, cardmembers can earn 5% back (or 5 points per dollar spent) on up to $1,500 of spending in these categories during Q3 — and 1% (or 1 point per dollar spent) after that.

But you'll need to hurry if you haven't activated yet — you must activate by Sept. 14 in order to take advantage of these Q3 bonus categories.

Here's how it all works.

Now through Sept. 30, Chase Freedom and Chase Freedom Flex cardmembers can earn 5% cash back (or 5 points per dollar) on spending in the following categories:

As noted above, you must activate your card to unlock the bonus-earning potential in these categories.

It's simple to complete this process online through your Chase account — with your last name, last four digits of your card and ZIP code. Registration is now open.

Summer is the season of fun, and these categories allow cardholders to earn bonus points wherever the season takes them. Whether you're hitting the road to go to the beach or snagging this season's event tickets, you'll feel even more summer magic as you earn bonus points along the way.

Here are the bonus details:

Remember that Chase limits the 5% back (or 5 points per dollar) to the first $1,500 spent in combined bonus categories each quarter you activate the bonus. After you reach the maximum, you'll earn 1% back on these purchases.

Each quarter, Chase announces a group of bonus categories that will earn 5% cash back (or 5 points per dollar) throughout the upcoming three-month period. Generally, these categories are announced halfway through the month before the new quarter starts to give cardmembers time to activate new categories beforehand. However, you can activate your categories up until midway through the last month of the quarter.

The categories tend to repeat periodically — for instance, grocery stores, restaurants and gas stations are all common categories that you'll notice frequently pop up on the cash-back calendar. So depending on the categories and whether you can maximize them, these two cards can offer quite a nice chunk of cash back or bonus points over the course of a year.

Related: Check out our full Chase Freedom Flex card review

Chase limits the 5% back (or 5 points per dollar) to the first $1,500 spent in combined bonus categories each quarter you activate the bonus.

While that may not sound like a lot, that cash back adds up over time. Maximizing