【Updated 2025.10】Q4 is here. Spending usually goes up during the holiday shopping season, so make sure you use these 5x categories in the right places. Also, new Discover cardholders get first-year Cashback Match, which effectively makes it 10% cash back. Summary below:

  • Discover: Amazon.com and drugstores earn 5% cash back, on up to $1,500 in purchases. Everyone is already familiar with these two categories. Amazon is great for shopping and also sells lots of third-party gift cards. Drugstores like CVS and Walgreens also sell many third-party gift cards, plus $500 Visa gift cards. That $1,500 cap should be very easy to max out. (activation link)
  • Chase Freedom Flex/Freedom: Old Navy, Chase Travel, Department Stores, and PayPal (December only). Personally, I think these categories are pretty weak. Old Navy: I have absolutely no use for it; after living in the US this long, I’ve never gone there to buy clothes. Chase Travel: 5x is nice, but this card already earns 5x there, so I’m not sure whether it stacks to 9x or 10x. Department Stores: this category comes back almost every Q4, but honestly, not many people shop at physical department stores anymore, so it’s not that useful. Some stores do sell third-party gift cards, though usually not VGCs. PayPal (December only): last year it seemed like PayPal 5x was available for the entire fourth quarter, so I’m not sure why they changed it to just December this time. Probably because they don’t want everyone using it only on PayPal and nowhere else. If you can make use of PayPal, just pull this card out in December and spend the full $1,500 cap. activation link
  • Citi Dividend: Citi Travel and restaurants. Nothing particularly special here. But I’d guess most people already maxed out the full $300 cash back during the grocery-store quarter. (activation link)

2025 Quarterly 5x Cash Back Summary

Some credit cards offer not only the usual 1% cash back on everyday spending, but also rotating 5x quarterly categories, which means 1% × 5 = 5% cash back. Using the right bonus-category credit card for the right purchases can help maximize your savings. And if you’re a little flexible, these quarterly bonuses can even be used to cover almost all spending categories. Today, we’ll summarize the most common credit cards with rotating quarterly bonuses, the corresponding categories, and how to fully take advantage of the 5x bonus. This article mainly covers several of the most common quarterly bonus cards:

  • Discover it (no annual fee, $100 welcome bonus, first-year Cashback Match; quarterly 5% becomes an effective 10% cash back)
  • Chase Freedom (no longer available for new applications; 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 quarterly 5% cash back and 1 category for 2%)
  • Citi Dividend (no annual fee, no longer available to apply for)

Discover it

Discover no longer announces its full-year 5% cash back categories all at once. Instead, it now announces them on the first day of the month before each quarter begins.

  • Q1: 5% cash back on restaurants, home improvement stores, and streaming services (or 10% if you’re a new cardholder). Restaurants: not much to say here; you can only eat so much. I don’t recommend buying restaurant gift cards. On one hand, these gift cards are often available at a discount elsewhere; on the other hand, if you can’t use them soon, they can be vulnerable to theft. Home improvement stores: places like Lowe's and Home Depot sell lots of third-party gift cards, including Amazon and gas gift cards, so it may be worth buying some. Some stores also sell $200 Visa gift cards; just pay attention to the packaging when buying. Streaming: if you already subscribe to these services, prepaying for the full year at the beginning of the year could be a good move. It’s worth noting that Amazon Music is included in this streaming category, so in theory you may be able to convert this into Amazon value by using gift Amazon music membership.
  • Q2: Wholesale Clubs and Grocery Stores 5x. Wholesale Clubs: this is a solid category, but the terms explicitly exclude Walmart and Target purchases, and Costco does not accept Discover. So that leaves only places like Sam's Club and BJ's Wholesale. Fortunately, there’s a lot you can buy at Sam's Club, including many third-party gift cards, and you can also buy Sam's Club’s own gift cards, which can also be used at Walmart. Grocery Stores: this varies a bit by region, but in general, most grocery stores count except Walmart, Costco, and Target. If regular grocery shopping isn’t enough to max out the category, you could consider buying grocery store gift cards since you’ll eventually use them anyway. Some larger grocery stores also sell gas cards and other third-party gift cards worth checking out.
  • Q3: gas/EV charging, public transit, and utilities bills. Utilities are probably the most useful part here, since you can prepay your bills. Discover’s utilities category is fairly broad and includes electricity, water, gas, cell phone, internet, TV, and landline service. If you applied for Discover within the past year, the first-year Cashback Match makes this effectively 10%, which also makes gas and EV charging pretty worthwhile. (activation link)
  • Q4: not yet announced
  • Quarterly 5x activation link: activate after logging into your Discover account, or log in here: activation link
  • Latest activation deadline: you only start earning 5% cash back after activation
  • 5x cash back limit: 5% on the first $1,500 each quarter, then 1% after that
  • When cash back posts: after each statement closes
  • Tracking link: link to check how much of your $1,500 has been used (login required)
  • Card review: Discover it credit card review
  • Pros: no annual fee. For new cardholders, the quarterly 5% cash back is also matched in the first year, making it an effective 10% quarterly cash back.

Chase Freedom/Flex

  • Q1: Norwegian Cruise Line, grocery stores, Target, gyms and memberships, and hair & spa services. It looks like a lot of categories, but since grocery stores are included, maxing out the quarterly $1,500 cap should not be too hard. If not, you can always buy third-party gift cards at grocery stores. Chase also added an extra anniversary 5x category for this card: from March 1 to 31, tax preparation and insurance (TAX Preparation&Insurance) also earn 5x points.
  • Q2: The 5x cash back categories are Amazon and Select Streaming Services. Amazon: just use it for normal shopping; if you cannot max it out, you can consider buying Amazon gift cards or directly reloading credit to your account and saving it for next quarter. Streaming Services include Apple Music, Apple TV, Disney, ESPN+, Fubo TV, Max, Hulu, Netflix, Pandora, Paramount+, Peacock, Showtime, SiriusXM, Sling, Spotify, YouTube Premium, YouTube TV and Vudu. Just use it for your normal subscriptions; if you really want to, you can prepay the whole year during this quarter. Activation link
  • Q3: Gas stations, EV charging, Select Live Entertainment, and Instacart
  • Q4: Not announced yet
  • 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 made earlier in that same quarter will also earn 5x.
  • 5x limit: 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 review: Chase Freedom Flex
  • Pros: No annual fee. The 5x is actually earned as UR points. If you also have a premium Chase card, you can transfer points to airline miles and hotel points, and potentially get 1.6c per point in value. That makes the quarterly 5x UR roughly equivalent to 8% cash back.

Citi Dividend

  • Q1: Amazon and streaming services. Streaming services include Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Disney, DirecTV Stream, ESPN+, fuboTV, Max, NBA League Pass, Netflix, Pandora, Paramount+, Showtime, Sling TV, Spotify, Starz, SiriusXM, Vudu, YouTube Red, YouTube TV, and Tidal. For Amazon, just max it out directly; if that is not enough, buying gift cards and loading them into your account also works.
  • Q2: Citi Travel and Grocery Store. Citi Travel is not especially recommended, since prices may not be better than on other platforms, which makes the cash back less meaningful. Grocery Store: this depends somewhat on your area, but in general most grocery-selling stores count except Walmart, Costco, and Target. If your normal grocery spend is not enough to max it out, you can consider buying grocery store gift cards, which you will eventually use anyway. Some larger grocery stores also sell gas cards and other third-party gift cards, which may be worth considering. One advantage of Citi, though, is that you can earn the full annual $300 cash back cap in a single quarter. If grocery stores are a good fit for your spending, you can spend more here and max out at $6,000, then toss this card in the drawer for the rest of the year. (Activation link)
  • Q3: Gas stations and Home Improvement
  • Q4: Not announced yet
  • Quarterly 5x activation link: Citi official activation link
  • Activation deadline: You only start earning 5% cash back after activation
  • 5x limit: $300 total cash back per year, then 1%
  • When rewards post: After each statement closes
  • Card review: Citi Dividend (no longer available for direct application)
  • Pros: No annual fee. There is no quarterly cap, so if one quarter has especially strong 5% categories, you can knock out the full year's $300 cap right away.

US Bank Cash+

  • Choose your own quarterly 5% category: If you have other 5x credit cards, then in Q1, choosing Dell iPhone (can overpay), Bookstore (for back-to-school book purchases), and fast food may be better (to cover part of your dining spend). Of course, it depends on your spending habits.
  • Quarterly 5x activation link: US Bank official site
  • Activation deadline: Unknown (readers who have this card are welcome to share)
  • 5x limit: 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)
  • Card review: US Bank Cash+ credit card (no annual fee, $125 welcome bonus, choose 2 quarterly 5% categories and 1 2% category)
  • Pros: No annual fee. Flexible category selection lets you do category swapping.

How to Best Use These Quarterly 5x Categories

Casual credit card users

For ordinary credit card users, it is enough to know these 5x categories and carry the corresponding card during the relevant quarter.

Advanced credit card users

Because these quarterly 5x cash back categories are only valid for a single quarter, even if you have all of the cards above, you still cannot cover all of your spending year-round, such as gas and groceries. In that case, you can use category swapping to turn other purchases into 5% cash back. For example, when grocery stores earn 5x, you can buy gas gift cards to stock up for later quarters, which effectively gives you 5x on gas during the rest of the year. Drugstores also sell gift cards for many other merchants (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 so that all of your spending can earn 5% cash back! For a detailed analysis, see: 【Unchanged】

MS users

  • Gas stations: 711 may have Vanilla cards, and the store code is also gas station
  • Drugstores (CVS,walgreen): PayPal my cash, various Vanilla cards
  • Sears, Bedbathbeyond, Best Buy: 200Visa gift cards, with pin

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

Appendix