Freedom 4th quarter 5X update

22

Every 3 months, Chase offers new categories with which Freedom cardholders can earn 5 points per dollar (up to $1500 in spend).  This quarter, the bonus categories are Amazon.com and “Select department stores.”  This is an update to the post “How to maximize Chase Freedom’s 4th quarter 5X?”  It turns out that in that earlier post I got at least one thing right and one thing wrong.  Read on…

Sears gift cards

In my earlier post, I said that I did not think that buying Sears physical gift cards at Sears.com would result in Freedom’s department store bonus.  I’ve since verified that this is true.  When you buy e-gift cards from Sears.com they are processed by Sears (and therefore qualify for Freedom’s bonus points), but physical gift cards are processed by Kmart and do not qualify.  Unfortunately, while shopping portals pay out for purchases of physical gift cards, they do not payout for purchases of e-gift cards (except briefly in October, they did, but that’s another story).

Kmart in-person

In the earlier post, I noted that Chase was most likely giving bonus points to purchases made at stores that were coded as department stores.  And, I noted that my local Kmart seemed to be coded that way.  Unfortunately, I tested a purchase there and found that I was not awarded bonus points.  So, to be safe, stick with the stores listed on Chase’s list (see Chase’s list here).

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

22 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments