Brooklyn Lowery/Bankrate

The Chase Freedom Flex® Bonus categories have been announced for the first quarter of 2025 that should be a win 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 January 1 through March 31, 2025 (up to $1,500 in spending, 1 percent cash back thereafter). Activation is required.

The average American household should be able to maximize advertising through food spending alone. According to the Bureau of Labor StatisticsThe average U.S. household spent $6,053 on “food at home” (essentially groceries) in 2023. That equates to just over $1,500 per quarter.

If you don’t spend that much on groceries or the countless other household items you can buy at grocery stores, perhaps the other categories will help you reach the $1,500 limit. If you still don’t have enough money, I recommend using your Freedom Flex to purchase gift cards at a grocery store. This would essentially be a way to get 5 percent off other purchases (for example, if you bought a gift card to a restaurant or clothing retailer).

Of course, overspending to earn credit card rewards is never a good idea, but you can stay ahead by smartly splitting up the purchases you would make anyway. If you get 5 percent cash back on planned spending of $1,500, that’s $75 free.

Consider the opportunity cost

While first quarter grocery spending is likely most attractive to the broadest group of Freedom Flex cardholders, if you have another grocery rewards credit card, it may make more sense to focus on the other Freedom Flex bonus categories. For example, I get 6 percent cashback on my money in US supermarkets Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express. This earning rate applies to annual expenses up to $6,000 and then drops back down to 1 percent.

Personally, I plan on using the Freedom Flex for my first $1,500 in 2025 for grocery shopping, as I will have no problem maxing out and reaching the Blue Cash Preferred’s $6,000 limit before the end of 2025 to reach. But for someone who has both cards (or if you’re buying another card with increased rewards for groceries and doesn’t max out both thresholds), it may make sense to prioritize grocery spending on the other card and use the Freedom Flex for something else .

For example, if your other cards only earn you 1 percent back on expenses like gym memberships, haircuts, manicures, and massages, it would be worth more to you to get that up to 5 percent back through the Freedom Flex than it would be to get 5 percent back on groceries , if you can get around 4, 5 or 6 percent back on groceries with another card.

You might consider prepaying for a full year of your gym membership, or perhaps purchasing a six-month package of manicures or massages.

Note the exclusions

Walmart is the largest grocery retailer in the country, but it is not eligible for the Q1 Freedom Flex promotion (most of which also do not award bonus points to Walmart purchases). Grocery Rewards Credit Cards). This is because card networks assign a card to each merchant Merchant category code and Walmart is classified as a “discounter.” Yes, Walmart sells a lot of groceries, but also a lot of other things. And each store only receives one merchant category code. The card networks don’t differentiate whether you bought a big screen TV, swimsuits or bananas. Target also sells a lot of groceries, but like Walmart, it is not a grocery store for the purposes of this promotion.

The end result

The Chase Freedom Flex is one of three Cashback credit cards which I use frequently. I’m on track to max out all four sets of rotating quarterly 5 percent bonus categories in 2024 for the first time since I signed up for the card’s predecessor (the original Chase Freedom) in 2012. I should easily maximize the promotion at grocery stores in the first quarter of 2025, and I expect the card’s Q1 bonus categories (particularly groceries) to be a hit with most cardholders.

Information about Chase Freedom Flex® was collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been verified or approved by the card issuer.