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

Send comments or suggestions to editor@travelstrategies.com or leave a comment below.

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-Q2 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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 {{CardItem|Freedom}}
-'''Gas stations and home improvement stores'''.  That's great for people who have large home improvement projects planned or need to replace an appliance. Lowes, Home Depot, and many Gas Stations also sell gift cards that you can use at other merchants, such as Amazon.
+'''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 can activate retroactively until mid-June. [//www.chasebonus.com Activation Webpage].
+You'll get credit for charges made before you register, but there is no reason to hold off. [//www.chasebonus.com Activation Webpage].
-Chase's Q3 categories are Grocery stores and Select Streaming Services.
 {{CardItem|Discover}}
-'''Gas stations, wholesale clubs, and select streaming services'''. Gas stations and wholesale clubs often have gift cards available.
+'''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: '''Jul - Sep''': Restaurants and PayPal. '''Oct - Dec''': Amazon, Target.com, and Walmart.com.
 {{CardItem|dividend}}
-'''Supermarkets and Drugstores'''. These are two of the easiest to use categories. Whatever you don't spend naturally, you can make up with card 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's Q3 Categories are Home Improvement and Gas.
 {{CardItem|nusenda}}
-'''Movies, Restaurants, Home Improvements'''. Restaurants are an easy category, but  there is a good chance that you are already have other cards that earn good bonus rewards for this category. See the notes about Home Improvement above. It's nice to earn bonus rewards for movies, but it won't add up to much.
+'''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: '''Jul - Sep''': Gas, Education. '''Oct - Dec''': Restaurants, Hotels, Airfare'''.
-{{CardItem|aboc}}
-'''Home Improvement, Gardening, Amazon.com and major Online Retailers'''.  These are easy categories.
-Once you set up your card, you are automatically enrolled for every quarter's bonus categories. [//www.platinumrewardsnow.com/Rewards_Calendar Category Details]
-ABOC has already released their complete 2021 schedule: '''Jul - Sep''': Travel. '''Oct - Dec''': Groceries, Food Delivery Services, Liquor Stores, Amazon.com.
 {{/List|card}}