If you have the Discover It Cash Back or Chase Freedom Flex (or Chase Freedom) then don’t forget to activate your quarterly categories in March, June, September, and December, before the next quarter begins.
Discover makes their categories available on the 1st of those months, whereas Chase allows activation on the 15th. So for example, if you want to activate Q4 categories for both cards at once, you’d have to wait until September 15th at the earliest.
- Q1 Jan-March: Grocery Stores, Drug Stores, Select Streaming
- Q2 April-June: Restaurants and Wholesale Clubs (including gift cards for Costco/Sam’s/etc.)
- Q3 July-Sept: Gas Stations and Digital Wallets
- Q4 Oct-Dec: Amazon and Target
- Q1 Jan-March: Grocery Stores, Target, Gym & Fitness
- Q2 April-June: Amazon and Lowe’s
- Q3 July-Sept: Gas Stations, Electric Vehicle Charging, and “Select Live Entertainment”
- Q4 Oct-Dec: Paypal, Wholesale Clubs, and “Select Charities”
Chase defines “Live Entertainment” as including: amusement/theme parks, professional sporting events, ticketing agencies, aquariums, museums, theatrical productions, zoos, and more.
Remember that both cards can get more than 5% cash back, depending on how you redeem your points. Use Discover points for gift cards only, not cash or statement credits. Chase can also have discounts when redeeming points for gift cards, though the best use case is to transfer them to a Sapphire card like the Reserve to make use of the Chase Trifecta.
Other rotating-category cards include the Citi Dividend (unavailable for new sign-ups), Langley FCU Signature Cash Back Visa, Abound Credit Union Visa Platinum, and Nusenda card. You can choose your own categories with cards like the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards, U.S. Bank Cash+, Max Cash Preferred, and Huntington Voice. Cards like the Venmo Visa and Citi Custom Cash will automatically calculate your category.
This post will be updated as needed. For reference, some previous Discover categories are here.