[2023.10 Update] Q4 is here, so don’t forget to activate the 5x categories on Discover it, Chase Freedom, and Citi Dividend. Time to reshuffle the cards in your wallet a bit. This quarter is actually pretty nice: the bonus categories on these 5x cards don’t overlap, and most of them are geared toward holiday-season shopping. If you can’t use them all up naturally, buying gift cards to stock up is also worth considering.

  • Discover it ( activation link): 5% back at Amazon and Target. These are both very useful merchants, so hitting the $1,500 cap over three months should not be too difficult for most people. And if not, you can always buy some Amazon gift cards now and save them for next year.
  • Chase Freedom family (activation link): PayPal – as long as you check out through PayPal, it should qualify. If you really need to, you could even pay a small fee to send money to a friend with a credit card and then have them send it back. Wholesale Clubs – places like Costco and Sam's Club, where there are plenty of third-party gift cards available. Select Charities – honestly, the only thing that comes to mind is that Swagbucks sometimes has donation offers that can come out ahead.
  • Citi Dividend( activation link ): surprisingly, the category is Grocery, which I did not expect. If you haven’t maxed out the annual $300 cashback cap yet, this should be very easy to finish off. If you still have room left, you can also buy third-party gift cards at grocery stores, such as Amazon or Best Buy, and use them during the holiday shopping season.

2023 Quarterly 5x Cashback Summary

Some credit cards offer not only the standard 1% cashback on everyday spending, but also rotating quarterly 5x bonuses, which is effectively 1% x 5 = 5% cashback. Using the right bonus-category card for the right type of spending is a great way to maximize savings. And with a little flexibility, these quarterly categories can sometimes be stretched to cover a much broader range of purchases. In this article, we’ll summarize the most common credit cards with quarterly bonus categories, what those categories are, and how to make the most of them. We’ll focus mainly on these common cards with quarterly bonus rewards:

  • Discover it (no annual fee, $100 welcome bonus, first-year cashback match)
  • Chase Freedom (discontinued, same categories as Flex)
  • Chase Freedom Flex (no annual fee, $200 welcome bonus, quarterly 5x UR)
  • US Bank Cash+ (no annual fee, $200 welcome bonus, choose 2 categories for 5% cashback each quarter and 1 category for 2%)
  • Citi Dividend (no annual fee, no longer available to apply)

Discover it

Discover no longer announces the entire year’s 5% cashback categories all at once. Instead, it releases them on the first day of the month before each quarter begins.

  • Q1: groceries, drugstores, and select streaming services. With drugstores and grocery stores included, it’s usually easy to max out the 5%. Besides normal everyday spending, you can also buy third-party gift cards to fill up the cap, such as Amazon gift cards, gas cards, and more.
  • Q2: restaurants and wholesale clubs. These two categories mostly require straightforward spending, though Sam's Club does sell quite a few third-party gift cards that can help.
  • Q3: Gas and digital wallet. At gas stations, you might consider stocking up on gas gift cards or buying third-party gift cards; it’s best to test with a small purchase first to see whether it earns 5%. For digital wallets, it’s usually pretty easy to max out if you use Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay.
  • Q4: not yet announced
  • Quarterly 5x activation link: activate after logging into your Discover account, or log in here: activation link
  • Activation deadline: only purchases made after activation count toward 5% cashback
  • 5x cashback cap: 5% on the first $1,500 each quarter, then 1% after that
  • When cashback posts: after each statement closes
  • Tracking link: check how much of the $1,500 cap you’ve used (login required)
  • Card overview: Discover it credit card review
  • Pros: no annual fee. For new cardholders, the quarterly 5% cashback is also matched in the first year, effectively making it 10% cashback for those categories.

Chase Freedom/Flex

  • Q1: Grocery Stores (excluding Walmart and Target), Target, and fitness clubs and gym memberships. With groceries included, most people should find it easy to max this out through normal spending. In addition, grocery stores and Target both sell lots of third-party gift cards, such as Amazon, Visa gift cards, gas cards, and more, so if you’re a little short of $1,500, that can be a good option.
  • Q2: Amazon.com and Lowe's. Both merchants sell many third-party gift cards. If your Amazon spending isn’t enough, you can buy third-party gift cards or simply reload your Amazon balance directly.
  • Q3: Gas Stations, EV Charging, Live Entertainment. This quarter doesn’t feel especially useful to me. Other than gas and charging, the main angle is probably seeing whether certain gas stations sell third-party gift cards that still earn 5x.
  • Q4: not yet announced
  • Quarterly 5x activation link: Chase Freedom Flex official page
  • Activation deadline: activate by the 14th of the last month of each quarter, and all eligible purchases from that quarter will still earn 5x retroactively
  • 5x cashback cap: 5x on the first $1,500 each quarter, then 1x after that
  • When rewards post: after each statement closes
  • Usage tracker: link to check quarterly 5x usage (login required)
  • Card overview: Chase Freedom Flex
  • Pros: no annual fee. The 5x is actually earned as UR points. If you also have a premium Chase card, those points can be transferred to airline miles and hotel points, and can be redeemed for about 1.6 cents per point in value. That makes quarterly 5x UR roughly equivalent to 8% cashback.

Citi Dividend

  • Q1: Amazon.com and Select Streaming Services (Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Music, Apple Music, CBS All Access, Disney+, AT&T TV NOW, ESPN+, fuboTV, HBO Max, NBA League Pass, Netflix, Pandora, Showtime, Sling TV, Spotify, Starz, SiriusXM, Vudu, YouTube Red, YouTube TV, and Tidal). Starting off with Amazon right away—Citi is really going all out! If you can’t use it all up, consider the Visa gift cards and third-party gift cards mentioned above. Citi uses a combined annual cap, so if you have heavy spending needs, once you max out this card, you can put it in the drawer.
  • Q2: Grocery Stores and Drugstores, another category that can easily max out the full-year cap. Most people spend a lot at grocery stores and drugstores, and there are also many third-party gift cards available, so it’s easy to use up.
  • Q3: Gas again. Prioritize using other cards first. The first two quarters will probably have already maxed out this card; if not, then wait for Q4 holiday shopping season, which will likely include Amazon, department stores, or similar categories.
  • Q4: Not announced yet
  • Quarterly 5x activation link: Citi official activation link
  • Latest activation deadline: You only start earning 5% cash back after activation
  • 5x cash back limit: Total annual cash back is capped at $300, then 1% after that
  • When cash back posts: After each statement closes
  • Card overview: Citi Dividend (no longer available for direct application)
  • Pros: No annual fee. There is no quarterly cap, so if one quarter’s 5% category is especially strong, you can knock out the full year’s $300 in that quarter alone.

US Bank Cash+

  • Choose your own quarterly 5% categories: If you have other 5x credit cards, then in Q1 it may be better to choose cell phone (you can overpay), Bookstore (for back-to-school book purchases), or fast food (to cover some dining spend). Of course, it depends on your spending habits.
  • Quarterly 5x activation link: US Bank official site
  • Latest activation deadline: Unknown (readers who have this card are welcome to share data points)
  • 5x cash back limit: 5x on the first $2,000 per quarter, then 1x after that
  • When cash back posts: Unknown (readers who have this card are welcome to share data points)
  • Card overview: US Bank Cash+ credit card (no annual fee, $125 welcome bonus, choose 2 quarterly 5% cash back categories and 1 2% category)
  • Pros: No annual fee. You can freely choose categories and use category swapping strategies.

How to make the best use of these quarterly 5x categories

Casual credit card users

For casual credit card users, it’s enough to know the 5x categories and carry the corresponding credit card during the relevant quarter.

Advanced credit card users

Because these quarterly 5x cash back categories are only valid in a given quarter, even if you have all of the cards above, you still can’t cover year-round spending such as gas and groceries. In that case, you can use category swapping to turn one bonus category into 5% cash back in another category. For example, when grocery stores earn 5x, you can buy gas gift cards and save them for later quarters, so your gas purchases in the remaining quarters also effectively earn 5x. Drugstores also sell many other merchants’ gift cards (such as Amazon and eBay). Department stores such as 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 all your spending. For more detailed analysis, see:

MS users

  • Gas stations: 7/11 may have Vanilla cards, and the store may code as gas station
  • Drugstores (CVS, walgreen): PayPal my cash, various Vanilla cards
  • Sears, Bedbathbeyond, Best Buy: $200 Visa gift cards, with PIN

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

Appendix