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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 {{DISPLAYTITLE: {{Title|quarterly categories}} (2021)}}
 {{seo|description=This quarter's categories for the Freedom Flex, Discover It, and other rotating category cards}}
-{{Page|article|Card Strategies}}
+{{Page|article|Earn Points|advanced optimization}}
-Here is a list of the current (and often upcoming) categories for the different "rotating category" cards, as well information for registering your bonus categories on "pick your own category" 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 more information and tips about using these cards to optimize the rewards you earn on your spending, make sure to look at our [[305|Advanced Bonus Category Optimization guide]].
+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}}.
-{{TOC}}
-*[[#"Rotating category" cards|"Rotating category" cards]]
-*[[#Picking your category on "Pick your category" cards|Picking your category on "Pick your category" cards]]
-{{/TOC}}
 {{Main|article}}
-'''Bold text'''=== "Rotating category" cards ===
-<br/>
 {{List|card}}
+{{CardItem|Freedom}}
+'''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.
-{{CardItem|Freedom}}
+You'll get credit for charges made before you register, but there is no reason to hold off. [//www.chasebonus.com Activation Webpage].
-'''Chase Freedom Flex and Freedom Cards:  Wholesale Clubs; Internet, cable, and phone services; Select streaming services'''.  Many people will want to continue to pay their mobile bill with a card that provides free cell protection. If you switch any subscription services to your Freedom Flex, make sure to switch back at the end of the quarter.
-Unlike the older Freedom Card, the Freedom Flex is a Mastercard and can't be used in-store at Costco, but it can be used on Costco online. All the warehouse clubs sell a variety of gift cards.
+{{CardItem|Discover}}
+'''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 can activate retroactively later in the quarter. [//www.chasebonus.com Activation Website]
+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]
-{{CardItem|Discover}}
+{{CardItem|dividend}}
-'''Discover It Card: Grocery stores (not including Target and Walmart), Walgreens and CVS'''.
+'''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.
-Discover has already announced their complete 2021 schedule. '''Apr -Jun''': Gas stations, wholesale clubs, and select streaming services. ''Jul - Sep'': Restaurants and PayPal. '''Oct - Dec''': Amazon, Target.com, and Walmart.com.
+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].
 {{CardItem|nusenda}}
-'''Nusenda Credit Union Platinum Rewards Card'''. Earns 5% on up to $1,500 per quarter just like the Discover It Card, but without the first-year bonus. No annual fee.
+'''Retail stores (in-person or online), Restaurants'''. Should be easy to maximize with organic shopping or gift cards.
-{{CardItem|aboc}}
-'''The ABOC Platinum Rewards Card'''.  Earns 5x points on up to $1,500 per quarter. Points are worth 1 cent when redeemed for travel or a bit less when redeemed through other mechanisms. No annual fee and a $150 signup bonus ($1,200 initial spend).
 {{/List|card}}
-=== Picking your category on "Pick your category" cards ===
+{{Box|Activating the U.S. Bank Cash+ Card}}
-<br/>
+{{Card|Cashplus}}
-{{List|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.  [//cashplus.usbank.com/?redirect=cashplus Activation Webpage].
-{{CardItem|CashPlus}}
+{{/Box}}
-'''The U.S. Bank Cash Plus Card is the "standard" rotating category card'''. It has been around for the longest, is available throughout the whole country, and unlike the other cards, it allows you to choose two categories, instead of one. It earns 5% cash back, capped to $2,000 of bonus category spending each quarter. Inconveniently, U.S. Bank forces you to re-select your categories every quarter and you won't earn bonus rewards on those categories until you do so. No annual fee.
-{{CardItem|BOACash}}
-'''If you can keep $100,000 of investment or retirement money at Merrill Lynch, the Bank of America Cash Rewards Card is another good option'''. Normally, it earns 3% on your choice of categories. But, if you have a total of $100,000 or more in combined assets at Merrill Lynch and Bank of America, you'll receive "Platinum Honors" status in their Preferred Rewards program and get a 75% bonus on your credit card reward points. This increases the effective reward rate to 5.25%. The Cash Rewards Card has a higher quarterly limit ($2,500 of spending) and is the only "pick your own category card" that lets you change your category every month, instead of every quarter. But many people just keep it locked to "online shopping" to earn bonus points on everything they buy online. No annual fee.
-{{CardItem|Vantage}}
-'''The Vantage West Connect Card is available to people who live in certain parts of Arizona'''. It earns 5% in a single category of your choice but is capped at only $1,500 of spending each quarter. No annual fee.
-{{CardItem|HuntingtonVoice}}
-'''The Huntington Voice Cards are lower value options and require you to live near a branch'''. The [//www.huntington.com/Personal/voice-credit-card/credit-card-rewards personal version] earns 3% in one category (up to $2,000 per quarter) and the [//www.huntington.com/SmallBusiness/voice-business-credit-card business version] earns 4% in one category (on up to $7,000 per quarter). But you can only apply in one of their branches located in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. No annual fee.
-{{CardItem|Synovus}}
-'''The Synovus cards are similar to the Huntington Voice cards, but for people in the Southeast'''. Cards are only available in branches located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Depending on the card, you'll earn 3x points or 3% cash back and rewards are capped at $3,000 per quarter. The cashback and point-based reward versions have no annual fees. The Synovus Travel version has a $50 annual fee, but gives you a 20% rebate on travel purchase with points (3.6% cash-back rate), and earns 5x points (6% cash-back rate) on travel purchases as well. No annual fee.
-{{/List|card}}
 {{/Main|article}}
 {{NextPages}}
 {{Next|Credit Cards 101}}
-{{Next|general purpose}}
+{{Next|uncommon categories}}
-{{Next|travel spending}}
+{{Next|optimize rewards}}
 {{/NextPages}}
 {{/Page|article}}