Update 4/15/23: Both the Q1 2023 category bonus offer and the welcome bonus have expired. See our coverage of the Freedom Flex current welcome bonus.
This is just a quick post this morning, but I wanted to highlight an opportunity to get 9% cash back on your groceries in the early part of 2023.
Chase just announced the first-quarter rotating category bonuses for the no-annual-fee Chase Freedom Flex card. If you’re not familiar with the card, it offers 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in purchases per quarter in spending categories that change quarterly. This quarter’s categories are grocery stores, Target and fitness clubs and gym memberships. What makes this interesting is that the Chase Freedom Flex card is also offering 5% back on your first $12,000 in grocery store purchases as a welcome bonus.
Both of these bonuses stack, meaning that you’ll get both bonuses for grocery store spending in Q1 2023 if you sign up for a new Chase Freedom Flex card and use it for your grocery store spending in the first three months of 2023. Here’s how this works:
- You earn 1% base cash back for your purchase
- You earn 4% additional cash back for your grocery store purchase from the quarterly bonus categories (on up to $1,500 in spending)
- You earn 4% additional cash back for your grocery store purchase from the welcome bonus (on up to $12,000 in spending during your first year of holding a Chase Freedom Flex card)
At the end of the day, if you are a new Chase Freedom Flex cardmember, you can earn 9% on your first $1,500 in grocery store purchases made during the first three months of 2023. You will also get a $200 welcome bonus after you spend $500 on the card and you will continue to earn 5% cash back on groceries until you spend $12,000 on groceries in your first year of having the card.
Note: Be sure to apply for the Chase Freedom Flex card if you want to take advantage of this 9% cash back stack. The Chase Freedom Unlimited card does not offer rotating category bonuses.
Apply for the Chase Freedom Flex or the Chase Freedom Unlimited and earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Don’t take my word for it… it’s in Chase’s offer details
9% back on anything sounds too good to be true, but this is something that Chase thought about and actually put in the terms and conditions of the current Chase Freedom Flex bonus offer. If you click through the link above to Chase’s website and find the offer details for the Chase Freedom Flex card, here’s what you’ll read:
[I]f grocery stores is a quarterly bonus category during your first 12 months, you can earn both this 5% new cardmember bonus and the 5% quarterly bonus offers simultaneously until you reach the spend cap for each. However, because both bonuses are earned as 4% additional Cash Back rewards on top of the 1% Cash Back rewards earned on each purchase, the most you will earn is 9% Cash Back rewards: 1% on every purchase, plus 4% on grocery stores through this new cardmember bonus, plus 4% on grocery stores through the quarterly bonus.
Offer Details for Freedom Flex
So, getting 9% cash back isn’t just my speculation; it’s in the terms and conditions.
Bottom Line
The Chase Freedom Flex card made our list of best credit cards for groceries because of its current welcome bonus offering 5% rewards on up to $12,000 of grocery store spending in the first year. The Q1 category bonus makes the card an even better deal. If you spend a lot on groceries, now is the time to get a Chase Freedom Flex card.