Brooklyn Lowery / Bankrate
The Chase Freedom Flex® bonus categories have been announced for the first quarter of 2025, and they should be winners for most cardholders. The categories are grocery stores (excluding Walmart and Target); fitness clubs and gym memberships; hair, nail and spa services; and Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Cardholders will earn 5 percent cash back in each of these categories from Jan. 1 through March 31, 2025 (up to $1,500 in spending, then 1 percent cash back after that). Activation is required.
The average American household should be able to maximize the promotion via grocery spending alone. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average U.S. household spent $6,053 on “food at home” (essentially groceries) in 2023. That works out to just over $1,500 per quarter.
If you don’t spend that much on groceries — or the other myriad household items you can purchase at grocery stores — perhaps the other categories will help you hit the $1,500 limit. If you’re still coming up short, I’d suggest buying gift cards at a grocery store with your Freedom Flex. This would essentially be a way to get 5 percent off other types of purchases (for example, if you bought a gift card to a restaurant or clothing retailer).
Of course, it’s never a good idea to overspend to earn credit card rewards, but you can come out ahead by smartly allocating purchases you would make anyway. Earning 5 percent cash back on $1,500 in planned spending is a free $75.
Consider the opportunity cost
While grocery spending is likely to offer the broadest appeal to the widest group of Freedom Flex cardholders in Q1, if you have another grocery rewards credit card, it might make more sense to focus on the other Freedom Flex bonus categories. For example, I get 6 percent cash back at U.S. supermarkets with my Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express. That earn rate applies on up to $6,000 in annual spending, then it drops to 1 percent back.
Personally, I plan to use the Freedom Flex for my first $1,500 in 2025 grocery spending because I’ll have no problem maxing that out and hitting the Blue Cash Preferred’s $6,000 limit before the end of 2025. But for someone who has both cards (or another card with elevated grocery rewards) and won’t max out both thresholds, it might make sense to prioritize grocery spending on the other card and use the Freedom Flex for something else.
For example, if you’re only earning 1 percent back on expenses such as gym memberships, haircuts, manicures and massages on your other cards, bumping that up to 5 percent back via the Freedom Flex would be worth more to you than getting 5 percent back on groceries if you can earn something like 4, 5 or 6 percent back on groceries with a different card.
You could consider paying a full year of your gym membership up-front, or perhaps purchasing six-month package of manicures or massages.
Note the exclusions
Walmart is the nation’s largest grocer, but it’s not eligible for the Q1 Freedom Flex promotion (nor does Walmart spending earn bonus points on most grocery rewards credit cards). That’s because card networks assign each retailer a merchant category code and Walmart is classified as a “discount store.” Yes, Walmart sells a lot of groceries, but it sells a lot of other stuff, too. And each store only gets one merchant category code. The card networks don’t distinguish whether you bought a big-screen TV or bathing suits or bananas. Target sells a lot of groceries too, but like Walmart, they’re not a grocery store for the purposes of this promotion.
The bottom line
The Chase Freedom Flex is one of three cash back credit cards that I use frequently. I’m on track to maximize all four sets of its rotating quarterly 5 percent bonus categories in 2024 for the first time since signing up for the card’s predecessor (the original Chase Freedom) way back in 2012. I should easily maximize the Q1 2025 promotion at grocery stores, and I expect the card’s Q1 bonus categories (especially groceries) will be a hit with most cardholders.
The information about the Chase Freedom Flex® has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.
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