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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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{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}}
-{{Image|WalletandCards.jpg|full}}
+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.
-If you really want to optimize the rewards you earn from your spending, you can take advantage of some of our more advanced strategies.
+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}}.
-<blockquote>
+{{Main|article}}
-By taking advantage of "pick your own category" cards,  "rotating category" cards, and gift cards, you can earn 5-10% rewards on a chunk of your credit card spending. But it will take more effort than simply using a small collection of credit cards for different types of purchases.
-</blockquote>
-{{TOC}}
 {{List|card}}
 {{CardItem|Freedom}}
-'''Chase Freedom Flex Card'''.  Earns 5x Ultimate Rewards on a rotating set of categories. If you have a Chase Sapphire or Ink Preferred Card, you can transfer these points to airline or hotel programs, providing a value of about {{Value|UR|5}} cents per dollar.  No annual fee. You can eventually get multiple copies of this card by converting other Chase Ultimate Rewards cards.
+'''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|Discover}}
-'''Discover It Card'''.  Earns 5% cashback on a rotating set of categories. But you’ll earn double the rewards during the first year.  Discover cards aren’t accepted at every business, but that isn't very important for most of the merchants in most of its bonus categories.  No annual fee.
-{{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.
-{{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}}
-{{List|card}}
-{{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 Card'''.  Earns 5x Ultimate Rewards on a rotating set of categories. If you have a Chase Sapphire or Ink Preferred Card, you can transfer these points to airline or hotel programs, providing a value of about {{Value|UR|5}} cents per dollar.  No annual fee. You can eventually get multiple copies of this card by converting other Chase Ultimate Rewards cards.
 {{CardItem|Discover}}
-'''Discover It Card'''.  Earns 5% cashback on a rotating set of categories. But you’ll earn double the rewards during the first year.  Discover cards aren’t accepted at every business, but that isn't very important for most of the merchants in most of its bonus categories.  No annual fee.
+'''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.
-{{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.
-{{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}}
-*[[#"Rotating category" cards|"Rotating category" cards]]
-*[[#"Pick your category" cards|"Pick your category" cards]]
-*[[#The Cash Card|The Cash Card]]
-*[[#Maximizing high reward rates with gift cards|Maximizing high reward rates with gift cards]]
-{{/TOC}}
-{{Main|article}}
-=== "Rotating category" cards ===
-{{List|card}}
+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|Freedom}}
+{{CardItem|dividend}}
-'''Chase Freedom Flex Card'''.  Earns 5x Ultimate Rewards on a rotating set of categories. If you have a Chase Sapphire or Ink Preferred Card, you can transfer these points to airline or hotel programs, providing a value of about {{Value|UR|5}} cents per dollar.  No annual fee. You can eventually get multiple copies of this card by converting other Chase Ultimate Rewards cards.
+'''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.
-{{CardItem|Discover}}
+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].
-'''Discover It Card'''.  Earns 5% cashback on a rotating set of categories. But you’ll earn double the rewards during the first year.  Discover cards aren’t accepted at every business, but that isn't very important for most of the merchants in most of its bonus categories.  No annual fee.
 {{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}}
-{{Card|CashPlus}}
+{{Box|Activating the U.S. Bank Cash+ Card}}
+{{Card|Cashplus}}
-=== Picking your category on "Pick Your Category" Cards ====
+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].
+{{/Box}}
 {{/Main|article}}
 {{NextPages}}
 {{Next|Credit Cards 101}}
-{{Next|general purpose}}
+{{Next|uncommon categories}}
-{{Next|travel spending}}
+{{Next|optimize rewards}}
 {{/NextPages}}
 {{/Page|article}}