Hey, how's it going everyone? Happy holidays! It's Ernest from Trip Astute. In
this video, we're covering the 2019 first quarter bonus categories
for the Chase Freedom, Discover It, and US Bank Cash+ card.
I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. I know I say it every quarter,
but I honestly can't believe
that the year is nearly over. For the start of the new year comes time to
review our rotating bonus categories for some of our favorite cash back cards. 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 2018 fourth quarter
bonus categories of department stores, wholesale clubs, and Chase Pay.
Starting in January, you'll earn 5% on gas stations, drugstores, and tolls. The 5%
bonus applies for up to $1,500 of qualified spending. The bonus category of
tolls is a bit quirky, but I know it'll be useful for folks with quick pass
readers that accept credit card payments. In fact, you might even consider loading
up your account with funds in order to maximize the quarterly benefit. For gas
stations, keep in mind that the bonus only applies to stand-alone gas stations.
Fuel purchases from other stores like Costco, Sam's Club, or Walmart do not
count toward the 5% bonus, and the fine print says that truck stops, boat marinas,
oil and propane distributors, and home heating companies are excluded. And
finally, drugstores is a useful category especially since they sell a lot of
items including gift cards. Again, like other bonus categories, just be careful
of what qualifies as a drugstore. In general, standalone stores will
definitely count, but pharmacies inside of supermarkets or wholesome clubs are
usually excluded. For the Discover It card, we're ending the fourth quarter
bonus categories of Amazon.com purchases and wholesale clubs, which was awesome.
Starting in January, you'll earn 5% on purchases at grocery stores excluding
purchases at Target and Walmart. Like the Chase Freedom, the bonus is valid
for up to $1,500 of qualified spending. With the grocery-store bonus category,
you 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 you won't earn the bonus. Discover actually did an
interesting thing and released their entire bonus calendar for 2019. I'm
curious to see whether this will pressure the other rotating bonus card
issuers to share their calendars as well. If anything, it's nice being able to see
ahead and plan accordingly. I'm excited to see gas purchases, restaurants,
ride-sharing, and Amazon.com as bonus categories in 2019. For the US Bank
Cash+ card, we're not seeing anything new this quarter. If you're not familiar
with this card, US Bank allows you to pick your rotating 5% categories every
quarter and also has two percent categories where you can earn unlimited
cash back. They even let you earn the 5% bonus on up to $2,000 of spend per
quarter on the combined selected bonus categories, which is even better than the
Chase Freedom. I just got this card, so I'll likely be selecting gym and home
utilities as my 5% categories for this new quarter. Lastly, I'm not including an
update on the Citi Dividend card, only because at the time that I'm recording
this video, they have not published their 2019 calendar. It's possible that they
will publish it by the time this video is released, so I'll make sure to add it
to our cheat sheet. I apologize for the inconvenience, we're traveling to the UK
for the holidays so I needed to record some videos ahead of time so I can edit
them on the plane. As always, we put together a wallet-size cheat sheet that
you can download for free from our website. I know it takes me a while
before these new categories get set in my brain, so I'm hoping these come in
handy. I'll include a link in the video description below. As a reminder, make
sure you log in and activate the bonus for these cards. While you can wait until
March 14th 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 reward you a bonus until you activate it, so do it now so you don't
miss out. In case you're interested in applying, I've included a link to our
revamped credit offers page. We've partnered with
CardRatings.com so any sign-ups that go through our site helps to support the
channel, especially when it comes to new equipment and storage for our videos. As
of December 2018, the Chase Freedom and US Bank Cash+ are offering a $150
welcome bonus, and Discover is offering a cash back match for an entire year, so
it's pretty lucrative. In case you're wondering about the Citi Dividend card,
it's no longer available for new applicants, but you can still get it
through a product change from another Citi card. What do you think of the new
quarterly bonus categories? Are you excited or disappointed by them? Let us
know in the comment section below. We hope you enjoyed this video and found it
useful. If so, please give us a thumbs up and consider sharing our video with
others. It really helps us to grow the channel and build our community. We hope
you have a wonderful holiday season. Until next time,
travel safe and travel smart.