Rotating bonus category cards are an easy way to earn points or cash back.
Though they do require some effort since you have to remember the new categories every
quarter.
However, for those of you that love earning points and cashback, it’s worth moving your
spending onto these cards to maximize the bonus categories.
Hey, how’s it going everyone?
It’s Ernest from Trip Astute.
In this video, we’re covering the 2020 quarter one bonus categories for the Chase Freedom,
Discover It, US Bank Cash Plus, and Citi Dividend card.
I honestly can’t believe that we’re at the end of 2019.
This year just flew by!
I not only started a new full-time job this year, which was a bit of career shift for
me, but I also turned 40 years old and got married.
It’s definitely been an eventful year for me.
Since the year is coming to a close, it’s time to review the new rotating bonus categories
for some of our favorite cash back cards.
As always, we’ll not only review the new categories, but also share some free tools
on our website that you can use to help you remember the new bonus categories.
But first, if you’re new here, welcome to our channel.
Trip Astute is a travel channel that is focused on sharing ways to make travel easier, affordable,
and more enjoyable.
Traveling can be stressful and expensive, so we’re looking for ways to help you maximize
your experience through travel tips, points and miles, and innovative gear.
If that sounds interesting to you, please consider subscribing.
For the Chase Freedom card, we’re ending the fourth quarter bonus categories of Department
stores, PayPal, and Chase Pay.
From January to March 2020, you’ll earn 5% on gas stations, select streaming services,
and internet, cable, and phone services.
The 5% bonus applies for up to $1500 of qualified spending per quarter.
For gas stations, Chase defines it as places that sell automotive gasoline that can be
paid for either at the pump or inside the station.
In the past, they have excluded places like Costco and Sam’s Club.
And this quarter, they specifically list places that are included and excluded.
Warehouse stores is in the excluded list.
However, I’ve noticed that Costco Gas does earn a bonus on my Ink Business Cash card,
and it coded as fuel the last time we had gas stations as a bonus category on the Freedom
card.
Since I’m driving a lot more for work, getting the extra bonus on fuel is always useful to
me.
I’ll post a follow-up in the comment section and my community tab once I test it out in
the new quarter.
The streaming services bonus includes Netflix, Sling, Vudu, FuboTV, Apple Music, SiriusXM,
Pandora, Spotify, Hulu, and ESPN+.
The internet, cable, and phone services bonus should be useful for a lot of folks.
Keep in mind though that it doesn’t cover equipment charges.
So you’ll earn a bonus on your monthly service bill, but you won’t earn a bonus if you
go into the store to get a new phone or cable modem.
And if you try to pay your bill in-store, it likely won’t code correctly either.
For me personally, this isn’t very helpful since I already get 5% or 5X points with my
Chase Ink Business Cash.
In fact, the Ink Business Cash is one of my favorite cards and I highly recommend checking
it out.
It has no annual fee, but includes a lucrative welcome offer.
The card has several 5% or 5X categories like office supplies, internet, streaming service,
cable, and phone services.
It also earns two points per dollar for fuel and dining out charges.
For more information on why I think this card is underrated, check out the collaboration
video I did with Wise Flys several months ago.
I believe two of us picked this card as our most underrated credit card.
The Chase Freedom remains one of my favorite cards.
I’ve had this card since 2012, and I consider it a workhorse in my wallet.
It might look like any other 5% rotating bonus card, but if you value Chase Ultimate Reward
points at more than one cent, as I do, you’ll be earning a lot of value with this card.
In fact, I would argue that I earn an adjusted rate of 7.5% with this card since I value
Chase UR points at 1.5 cents.
For more information on how I measure point values and adjusted earning rates, check out
our video on the topic.
For the Discover It card, we’re ending the fourth quarter of 2019 with the awesome bonus
categories of Amazon.com, Target, and Walmart.com.
Starting this quarter, you’ll earn 5% on purchases from grocery stores, Walgreens,
and CVS.
Like the Chase Freedom card, the bonus is valid for up to $1500 of qualified spending
per quarter.
With the grocery store bonus category, you’ll also want to be careful with the type of stores
that qualify.
Standalone grocery stores are generally included, but convenience stores, gas stations, warehouse
clubs, discount stores, and supercenters are not eligible.
Since these places are not standalone grocery stores, the charges are encoded differently,
which means that they most times do not earn the bonus.
Discover also specifies that Walgreens and CVS purchases must be at standalone stores
in order to get the bonus.
This means that if you visit a Walgreens or CVS that happens to be in another stores like
Walmart or Target, it likely will not qualify for the bonus.
That being said, having grocery stores, Walgreens, and CVS is quite useful.
Even if you don’t spend a lot on groceries, you can often buy other things at these stores,
like the occasional gift card, to maximize the quarterly bonus.
The Discover It is a solid cash back card.
I’ve had mine since 2009.
While I use it regularly, I still prefer my Chase Freedom.
This is mostly due to the fact that I prefer to earn points over cash back.
With points, I’m generally able to redeem them for even more value.
Though depending on your credit card set-up and strategy, you might find more flexibility
in earning cash back.
For the US Bank Cash Plus card, there are no new categories or changes this quarter.
If you’re not familiar with the card, US Bank allows you to pick your rotating 5% categories
every quarter and also has 2% categories where you can earn unlimited cashback.
They even let you earn the 5% bonus on up to $2000 of spend per quarter on the combined
selected bonus categories, which is even better than the Chase Freedom.
The card also includes some unique and rare bonus categories like home utilities and gym
memberships.
I got this card in 2018, and I’ve used it as a backup for spending categories that aren’t
covered by my Chase Freedom or Discover It card.
I also like that I can put my gym membership on it and earn 5%.
For this quarter, I’ve selected the gyms and home utilities.
Since I try to capture a bonus category on as much of my spending as possible, this card
helps me to get closer to that goal.
Lastly, Citi Dividend users are ending the fourth quarter bonus category on purchases
from Best Buy and Department stores.
Starting this quarter, they’ll earn 5% at fitness clubs and supermarkets.
Keep in mind that the Citi Dividend card has a yearly award bonus cap of $300 per calendar
year, which means that you’re not as restricted by a specific quarter’s bonus.
You just need to track how much bonus you earn over the entire calendar year.
And it is possible to earn all $300 in one quarter if you like.
While the Citi Dividend card is not available for new applicants, it is available through
a product change from another Citi card.
This is important to note since Citi seems to have a more open policy when it comes to
downgrading cards.
For example, I’ve seen people report online that they’ve been able to product change
from co-branded Citi cards like the ones associated with American Airlines and also their Thank
You Rewards program cards.
This means that if you have a Citi card that you want to cancel, it might be worthwhile
seeing if you can product change to the Citi Dividend.
It doesn’t have an annual fee, and you’ll likely find a few categories every year that
can earn you a bonus.
Plus, you’ll eliminate the credit score impact that would occur if you canceled the
card.
I converted my Citi Double Cash to it in 2018 since I prefer to put my non-bonus spending
on my Freedom Unlimited or Ink Business Unlimited.
Again, you might be wondering why I would prefer to do that when those cards only earn
1.5% instead of 2% on the Double Cash.
However, my adjusted earning rate is higher using my Chase cards since I’m able to redeem
at a greater value.
Again, I’ll include a link to the “How much are my points worth” video in case
it’s not quite clear why I earn more with my Chase cards.
As always, we’ve put together some free tools that you can download to help you remember
these categories.
We have our popular wallet-sized cheat sheet and our smartphone lock screens.
I’ve got a few variations of the lock screen too in case you only want information for
only one of the cards and not the others.
And if you have any ideas for things that might be helpful for you to remember, let
me know.
I’m always trying to find new ways to help and provide some extra value.
I know that it takes me a while before the new categories get set in my brain.
So if you’re like me and need a little reminder, I’m hoping these tools come in handy.
Just head over to our website and click on Credit Cards, and then Free Credit Card Tools.
I’ll also include a link in the video description too.
As a reminder, make sure you log-in and activate the bonus for these cards.
While you can wait to activate your Chase Freedom bonus category since Chase will award
the points retroactively, you’re better off doing it now before you forget.
Unfortunately, Discover, US Bank, and Citi won’t award you a bonus until you activate
it, so do it now to avoid missing out.
And in case you’re interested in applying for any of these cards, I’ve included a
link to our Credit Card offers page.
Any sign-ups that go through our site or link helps to support the channel.
It’s an easy way to support us, especially if you’ve found our content to be valuable
and helpful.
As of December 2019, the Chase Freedom and US Bank Cash Plus are offering a $150 to $200
welcome bonus and Discover is offering a cashback match for an entire year, so it’s pretty
lucrative.
Lastly, I wanted to do a quick plug for our free card consultation service.
As of this video, we’ve done more than 180 consultations.
I appreciate everyone signing up and taking the time to fill out the questionnaire.
I’ve enjoyed the sessions, and it’s helped me to not only refine my recommendations but
also inspire new topics for videos.
If you’re interested in signing up, just head over to our website or click on the link
in the video description.
You’ll get a 15-minute audio or video call with me and a personalized report with my
recommendation.
What do you all think of the new quarterly bonus categories?
Are you excited or disappointed by them?
Let me know in the comment section below.
We hope you enjoyed this video and found it useful.
If so, please give us a thumbs up, subscribe, and consider sharing our video with others.
It might not seem like much, but it helps us to grow the channel and our community.
Until next time.
Travel safe and travel smart.