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Some credit cards offer more than the standard 1% cash back on everyday spending. They also feature rotating 5x quarterly categories, which effectively means 1% x 5 = 5% cash back. Using the right bonus-category card for the right type of purchase can help maximize your savings. And with a little flexibility, these quarterly bonus categories can sometimes be stretched to cover almost all of your spending. Today, we’ll summarize the main quarterly 5x cash back cards, their bonus categories, and how to make the most of these 5x rewards.

2017

【10/20 Update】According to user testing, Discover’s Q4 5% cash back on Amazon also works with Amazon Pay, a third-party payment method similar to PayPal. It’s easy to use: just sign in with your Amazon account at checkout and select your Discover card. That said, there are relatively few Amazon Pay merchants, and many of them are lesser-known stores. Still, if you happen to have a purchase in mind, it may be worth a look.

【10/17 Update】Q4 2017 is here, so it’s time to rotate the cards in your wallet accordingly. Make sure you know each card’s 5x category so you don’t use the wrong one. With Thanksgiving and Christmas both falling in Q4, this is the biggest shopping season of the year, so using these 5x categories well can save you quite a bit. Here’s a quick summary of the best ways to use them:

  • Discover it for Amazon and Target (activation link): If you have spending early in the quarter, go ahead and use it. If you can’t use up the category later, you can buy gift cards to save for future use, including third-party gift cards. Be sure to activate first, or you won’t earn 5%. If you want to do MS, some Target stores sell $400 Visa gift cards. Those can probably only be used to buy MO, and likely cannot be loaded at WM.
  • Chase Freedom for Walmart and Department Store (activation link): Walmart sells all kinds of gift cards, so if you expect a lot of spending at a particular merchant, you can buy that merchant’s gift card at Walmart first and then use it there. Walmart’s Visa gift cards can also generally be used for bird-feeding or buying MO, so maxing out the category is usually pretty easy.
  • US Bank Cash+ lets you choose 2 categories at 5% (activation link): Since you can pick your own categories, this one should be easy to max out.
  • Citi Dividend for Best Buy and Department Store (activation link): Best Buy sells $200 Visa gift cards, and combined with Best Buy member rewards and apps like shop kick, it may still be possible to cash out without much loss. That said, I’m guessing most people already finished their spend during the drugstore 5x quarter...

Overall, Q4’s 5x categories are mostly shopping-related. If none of these categories match what you need, consider buying third-party gift cards at Walmart, Target, or Amazon so that nearly everything can effectively earn 5x.

2017 Quarterly 5x Cash Back Summary

This article mainly covers the four most common credit cards with quarterly rotating bonus categories:

Discover it

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  • Q1: Gas, transit, and Wholesale Club. This is great news for heavy Sam's Club shoppers. Unfortunately, Costco only accepts Visa in-store. If you shop a lot at Costco, you can use Discover on Costco.com to buy a Cash Card (Costco.com accepts Discover), and then use that at Costco.
  • Q2: Home Improvement and Wholesale Store. Home Improvement includes Lowe's and Home Depot, both of which sell a large number of third-party gift cards. Wholesale includes Sam's Club, where in addition to many third-party gift cards, you can also buy $500 Master gift cards. Costco.com also accepts Discover, so you can buy a Cash Card for in-store use. Activate by June 30.
  • Q3: Restaurant. Just use it directly; there aren’t many special tricks here. Activate by September 30.
  • Q4: Amazon and Target. Activate by December 31.
  • Quarterly 5x activation link: Activate by logging into your Discover account, or sign in here: activation link
  • Latest activation deadline: You only start earning 5% cash back after activation
  • 5x rewards cap: 5% on the first $1,500 each quarter, then 1%
  • When rewards post: After each statement closes
  • Card review: 【$100 bonus, Cashback Match】 Discover IT
  • Pros: No annual fee. For new cardholders, the quarterly 5% cash back is also doubled, making it effectively 10% back on those quarterly categories.

Chase Freedom

  • Q1: Includes gas, subway, and other public transit, but not parking, tolls, or Amtrak. Activate by March 14.
  • Q2: Drugstores like CVS carry all kinds of gift cards, including Amazon, Visa gift cards, and eBay, so this quarter is usually easy to max out. Grocery stores also sell a variety of gift cards, but note that Walmart and Target do not count as grocery stores.
  • Q3: Restaurant and Movie Theater. Activation starts June 15.
  • Q4: Walmart and Department Store. Activation starts September 15.
  • Quarterly 5x activation link: Chase Freedom official site
  • Latest activation deadline: Activate by the 14th of the last month of each quarter, and all eligible purchases from that quarter will still earn 5x
  • 5x rewards cap: 5x on the first $1,500 each quarter, then 1x
  • When rewards post: After each statement closes
  • Card Review:【Limited-Time 17,500-Point Welcome Bonus】 Chase Freedom
  • Pros: No annual fee. The 5x earnings are actually UR points. If you also have a premium Chase card, those points can be transferred to airline miles and hotel points, potentially yielding a value of 1.6 cents per point. That means the quarterly 5x UR can be worth the equivalent of 8% cash back.

US Bank Cash+

  • Choose Your Own Quarterly 5% Categories: If you already have other 5x cards, then for Q1, categories like cell phone (you may be able to overpay), bookstore (for back-to-school book purchases), and fast food are better picks, since they can cover some dining spend. Of course, it depends on your spending habits.
  • Quarterly 5x Activation Link: US Bank official website
  • Latest Activation Deadline: Unknown (readers who have this card are welcome to share data points)
  • 5x Rewards Cap: Earn 5x on the first $2,000 each quarter, then 1x after that
  • When Rewards Post: Unknown (readers who have this card are welcome to share data points)
  • Card Review: US Bank Cash+ (no annual fee, $125 welcome bonus, choose 2 categories for quarterly 5% cash back and 1 category for 2%)
  • Pros: No annual fee. Flexible category selection makes category shifting possible.

Citi Dividend

  • Q1: Home Depot and furniture stores. If you do not have an immediate need, there is not much to get excited about, so you may as well wait for Q2. Activate by March 31.
  • Q2: Includes drugstores such as CVS, Walgreen, and Rite Aid. Activate by June 30.
  • Q3: Hilton and airline purchases. Activate by September 30.
  • Q4: Best Buy and department stores. Activate by December 31.
  • Quarterly 5x Activation Link: Citi official activation link
  • Latest Activation Deadline: You only start earning 5% cash back after activation
  • 5x Rewards Cap: Total annual cash back is capped at $300, then 1% after that
  • When Rewards Post: After each statement closes
  • Card Review: Citi Dividend (no longer available for direct application, but you may be able to product change into it)
  • Pros: No annual fee. There is no quarterly cap, so if one quarter has especially strong 5% categories, you can max out the full $300 annual limit in that quarter alone.

How to Best Use These Quarterly 5x Categories

Casual Credit Card Users

For casual credit card users, you just need to know the 5x categories and carry the corresponding card during the relevant quarter.

Advanced Credit Card Users

Because these quarterly 5x cash back categories only apply during specific quarters, even if you have all of the cards above, you still cannot cover all spending year-round, such as gas and groceries. In that case, you can use category shifting to turn those bonuses into 5% back on other types of spending. For example, if Chase Freedom offers 5x at grocery stores in Q2, you can buy gas gift cards and save them for later quarters, effectively earning 5x on gas during the rest of the year. The same applies to Citi Dividend in Q3: drugstores also sell many third-party gift cards, such as Amazon and eBay. In Q4, department stores like Sears also sell many third-party gift cards, and Best Buy does too. Use gift cards as a bridge to earn 5% cash back on more of your spending. For more detailed analysis, see:

MS Users

  • Gas stations: 7-Eleven may have Vanilla cards, and the store may code as a gas station
  • Drugstores (CVS, Walgreen): PayPal My Cash and various Vanilla cards
  • Sears, Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy: $200 Visa gift cards with PIN

For Dividend, drugstores are the best category because the fee is 1%.