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December 17, 2025: Chase has announced the Q1 2025 5% bonus categories for the Chase Freedom and Chase Freedom Flex® cards. Starting January 1, 2025, you can earn 5% rewards in the following categories:
- Grocery stores, excluding Walmart® and Target®.
- Norwegian Cruise Line®
- Fitness Clubs & Gym Memberships
- Hair, nails & spa services.
These bonus categories are available to cardholders who have a Chase Freedom Flex℠ or Chase Freedom card. Of the upcoming quarter’s categories, grocery stores are probably the most useful, and this will put the Freedom Flex on our list of the best grocery cards for the next three months.
Here’s what you need to know about the Chase Freedom categories and the Chase 5% cash back calendar.
Q1 2025 categories: Grocery, Norwegian cruises, fitness, spa services
The Chase Freedom categories for the first three months of 2025 include grocery stores, Norwegian Cruise Line®, fitness clubs & gym memberships, and hair, nails & spa services.
Grocery stores, excludes both Walmart® and Target®. Grocery stores includes supermarkets, full-service grocery stores, and smaller grocery stores. Warehouse clubs, discount stores, drugstores, gas stations, and specialty merchants are not included. Grocery delivery services will be included if they process transactions under a grocery merchant code.
Norwegian Cruise Line® cruise fares must be purchased directly with Norwegian Cruise Line to qualify. Travel agency purchases, as well as sightseeing activities and excursions are not included.
Fitness Clubs & Gym Memberships include health clubs, exercise, or athletic facilities requiring membership and offering access to services related to physical fitness, such as fitness clubs, fitness centers, fitness studios, gyms, aerobics, cardio fitness and other services such as yoga and cross fit training in physical merchant locations. Virtual and at-home fitness services, as well as purchases of equipment are not included.
Hair, nails & spa services include merchants who specialize in massages, spa treatments, manicures, tanning, and barber and salon services. Spa services and related products purchased at hotels or retailers will generally not qualify.
Chase Freedom 2025 categories at a glance
Here’s a quick look at the 2025 categories that Chase has announced for the Chase Freedom. We’ll update this as further categories are announced.
- Q1 (Jan-Mar): Grocery stores, Norwegian Cruise Line®, fitness clubs & gym memberships, and hair, nails & spa services.
- Q2 (Apr-Jun): Not yet announced
- Q3 (Jul-Sep): Not yet announced
- Q4 (Oct-Dec): Not yet announced
How to activate Chase Freedom quarterly categories
You can activate your Chase Freedom cash back bonus categories without even logging into the Chase website. All you need is the primary cardmember’s last name, the last 4 digits of the Chase Freedom credit card and the billing zip code. Simply head to chasebonus.com to activate once categories are announced.
You may also receive an email with a one-click link to activate your cash back categories.
Once you have activated your Chase Freedom Flex categories, you’ll receive a confirmation email letting you know that you have activated your categories.
If you want more details on the specifics of the categories, the confirmation email you receive contains a link to the “Merchant List.” At this link, you’ll find details about what each bonus category includes. For categories that include “select” merchants, you’ll find a list of merchants participating in the quarterly category promotions.
Activate with one click from your email
If you’re a Chase Freedom Flex℠ or Chase Freedom cardholder, you should receive an email from Chase with a link to activate your quarterly category bonuses. This email is by far the easiest way to make sure that your category bonuses are activated. Simply click “Activate with 1 click” in the email and your bonus categories will be active.
When do I need to activate?
Typically, Chase allows you to activate your bonus categories on your Chase Freedom card from two weeks before the cash back quarter begins until two weeks before it ends.
Even if you forget to activate your cash back categories until late in the quarter, as long as you activate your categories before the activation deadline, you will earn 5% cash back for all eligible purchases (up to $1,500) that you made during the quarter.
Stacking the 5% categories with a welcome bonus: 9% cash back
In the past few years, Chase has periodically offered 5% cash back on up to $12,000 in purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, or both, as part of its welcome bonus through various channels. In the offer terms and conditions of the welcome bonus, Chase explicitly states that this bonus stacks with the 5% quarterly categories on the Freedom Flex card. This means it’s possible to get 9% cash back by stacking these bonuses.
See our coverage of the best current welcome bonus of the Chase Freedom Flex to find out if you can get a similar welcome bonus that stacks with the cash back categories.
Historical Chase Freedom 5% calendars
There is no guarantee that Chase will offer any particular bonus category until it is announced, but knowing what Chase has historically offered can give you an idea of what might be coming in the future.
Here are the previous 5% categories for both the Chase Freedom Flex℠ card and original chase Freedom card.
Chase Freedom cash back calendar for 2024
- January-March: Grocery Stores (excluding Walmart and Target), Fitness Clubs & Gym Memberships, and Self-Care & Spa Services
- April-June: Amazon.com, Hotels, and Restaurants
- July-September: Gas stations, EV charging, select live entertainment, and movie theaters
- October-December: PayPal, pet shops, and select charities
Chase Freedom cash back calendar for 2023
- January-March: Grocery Stores, Target, Fitness Clubs & Gym Memberships
- April-June: Lowe’s, and Amazon.com
- July-September: Gas stations, EV charging, and select live entertainment
- October-December: PayPal, Wholesale Clubs, and Select Charities
Chase Freedom cash back calendar for 2022
- January-March: Grocery stores (excluding Walmart and Target purchases)
- April-June: Amazon.com and select streaming services
- July-September: Gas stations, car rentals, movie theaters and select live entertainment
- October-December: Walmart and PayPal
Chase Freedom cash back calendar for 2021
- January-March: Wholesale clubs, select streaming services, phone, cable and internet services
- April-June: Gas stations and home improvement stores
- July-September: Grocery stores (excluding Walmart and Target purchases) and select streaming services
- October-December: Walmart and PayPal
Chase Freedom cash back calendar for 2020
- January-March: Gas stations, Internet, cable and phone services and select streaming services
- April-June: Grocery stores, fitness club and gym memberships, select streaming services
- July-September: Amazon.com, Whole Foods Market
- October-December: Walmart and PayPal
Chase Freedom cash back calendar for 2019
- January-March: Gas stations, tolls and drugstores
- April-June: Grocery stores and home improvement stores
- July-September: Gas stations and select streaming services
- October-December: Department stores, PayPal and Chase Pay
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to activate the quarterly categories before the start of the category?
You can activate your quarterly categories at any time after they are published and before the next quarter’s categories are published. If you activate your quarterly categories before the end of the quarter, you will retroactively earn cash back rewards for eligible purchases.
If a purchase is included in multiple 5% categories, will I earn 10% cash back?
No. You’ll earn a maximum of 5% cash back on any given purchase through Chase’ quarterly 5% cash back categories. But if you are currently earning additional rewards on gas and groceries as part of a sign-up bonus, you can earn up to 9% cash back on some categories because the welcome bonus stacks with the 5% bonus categories.
How can I get 9% cash back with the Chase Freedom Flex℠?
Chase periodically runs a welcome bonus on the Chase Freedom Flex℠ that gives new cardmembers 5% on up to $12,000 of gas and groceries in the first year. This bonus stacks with quarterly categories. If you opened a new card with this welcome bonus, and gas or groceries is a quarterly category, you can get 9% cash back in groceries broken down as follows: 1% base rewards, 4% bonus rewards from the quarterly bonus category, 4% bonus rewards from the welcome bonus category.
Advertiser disclosure: Cards and Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Cards and Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers. Compensation may affect how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies or all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card benefits.
