We’re about to enter 2017, which means the new first-quarter 5x bonus categories are about to begin. Without further ado, let’s take a look at which ones may be useful.
Chase Freedom
The Chase Freedom website is still showing the 4 quarters for 2016, but some Reddit users have already asked customer service and found out in advance. The Q1 5x UR categories are: gas stations and Commuter Passes. The gas station category is very straightforward: purchases at gas stations to buy gas (and sometimes purchases at convenience stores attached to gas stations) can earn 5x UR points. If you see gift cards being sold inside a gas station, you may want to consider buying some there. However, we recommend starting with a small amount first to test whether it earns 5x before making a larger purchase. The Commuter Passes category is not as easy to understand. In general, monthly passes for buses and rail transit in major cities should qualify, but we still do not know whether reloading subway cards and similar transactions are included. In theory, these transactions use the same machine and should have the exact same merchant coding, so it is possible that 5x will also apply, but we do not have data points to confirm that yet.
【Breaking】The Q2 5x categories have also been revealed: drugstores and grocery stores.
Discover it
Discover’s 5% cashback categories are almost identical to Freedom’s, including: gas stations, ground transportation, and wholesale clubs. We already covered gas stations in the Freedom section above, so we will not repeat that here. Ground transportation includes buses, subways, ferries, taxis, and similar transit options. Uber and Lyft should also be included. The wholesale club category refers to Costco, Sam's Club, and BJ's. One important thing to note is that Costco does not accept Discover cards, so you would need to use your Discover card at costco.com to buy a Costco Cash Card, and then use the Cash Card to buy gas or shop at Costco.