The new Chase Freedom 2018 Q4 bonus categories have been announced: from October 1-December 31, 2018, Freedom cardholders can earn an extra 5x / 5% at Wholesale Clubs, Department Stores. and Chase Pay. That should make this a pretty easy quarter in terms of maxing out $1,500 in purchases to get this bonus.
The Deal
- The Chase Freedom 2018 Q4 5% bonus categories will be:
- Wholesale Clubs
- Department Stores
- Chase Pay
- Activate here beginning September 15, 2018
Key Terms
- Earn an extra 5% / 5x Ultimate Rewards on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in the designated categories between October 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018
- Must activate to earn 5x beginning September 15, 2018
Quick Thoughts
With holiday season coming up, it should be pretty easy for most people to max these out between grocery shopping at wholesale clubs and gift purchasing via department stores and Chase Pay. Keep in mind that there is also a Chase Pay promotion running through September 30th for Chase Sapphire and Freedom Unlimited cardholders, though that one is limited to a couple of merchants and a lower spending threshold. Overall, I’d say the Q4 categories look pretty good for most people.
H/T: The Points Guy
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
[…] I recently discovered a small tip that might help (see the video below). Since Chase Pay is a Chase Freedom Q4 5x category and there is also a bonus for Sapphire or Freedom Unlimited cardholders to earn an extra 1500 […]
[…] cap on this every quarter, that’s another 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points per year. With the current quarter including wholesale clubs, department stores, and Chase Pay, I’d imagine that most readers […]
The responses here seem to be presuming the Chase Pay bonus can only be had thru the app, but one can use Chase pay on line at walmart.com, and others. Online orders have worked in the past to earn the quarterly bonus. Any reason to think online purchases using Chase Pay at checkout will be excluded from earning the bonus points this time around?
No. Online will surely work. If it works through linking with Samsung Pay though, those with Samsung Pay compatible devices can use it virtually anywhere becuase of MST acceptance.
Chase pay may actually be more useful than it was previously. You can now link Chase pay with samsung pay.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-pay-can-now-be-linked-to-samsung-pay/amp/
Good info! I had missed that. Thanks.
I don’t see any way of linking the two. Anyone know what the process is – if it is still possible? I read in the comments to the post you linked to that Chase backed out on the partnership.
I haven’t done it myself yet, but from what I’ve gathered, you need to log in to the Chase Pay app from a device compatible with Samsung pay, and you should be prompted to link the two. I don’t know if this will trigger the bonus (I’ve seen some reddit reports that it might not), but certainly doesn’t hurt to try and see what happens.
I did just add it and it’s exactly as described above. You log in to Chase pay and add a card. You’re then prompted to add it to Samsung Pay. When you get to the payment screen you are prompted to either use the QR code or pay with Samsung pay. If you hit the Samsung pay icon, it pulls up the Samsung Pay payment screen, but it has the Chase Pay icon alongside the Samsung Pay icon. If you’d just go to Samsung Pay you wouldn’t see the Chase Pay icon. Hopefully this means that it will post as Chase pay too. I guess time will tell.
Thank you! Followed your post and was able to see how to do it! Now to see if it works for the 5X UR points next quarter. If so, it’s a pretty big deal!
Tried at best buy and walmart. Worked at both places. It says chasepay even though i paid with samaung pay. Thank you for your guidance. 🙂
Chase Pay is worthless where I live. Only places that take it are BB (hardly ever have a reason to go there) Starbucks (NEVER go there) and a couple of gas station chains that up charge for credit card purchases (uh, no). Samsung Pay, on the other hand, I have been able to use everywhere I’ve tried it. Maybe I’m missing something with Chase Pay?
I’m really starting to question my decision to switch to Chase cards. I rarely have the opportunity to take advantage of the bonus categories with the Freedom card. I have the CSR, CFU, Ink Business Cash and Freedom. Can’t believe how complicated my life is over when I just put everything on my Barclay Aviator Silver card and occasionally Citi Hilton card.
For those who also have a Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you can earn an effective 7.5% by transferring UR points to that card and using the points for travel (due to the 50% bonus).
Are Walmart and Target department stores?
Following
No