Amazon and Whole Foods are the new 5% cashback categories for the Q3 2020 that Chase Freedom cardmembers can take advantage of (up to $1500 in combined purchases made from July through September).
This is interesting, because there is already an Amazon Rewards Visa Signature credit card on the market that gives 5% cashback to Amazon Prime members on purchases made at Amazon.com and Whole Foods. If you only have the Chase Freedom credit card you’re, in essence, getting an equal deal than you would with the Amazon credit card.
If you have a Sapphire card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card card, you can transfer the points and potentially double the rewards value by booking your next trip through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal:
- Ink Preferred 1.25 cents per point,
- Sapphire Preferred 1.25 cents per point,
- Sapphire Reserve 1.5 cents per point
- or transfer on to airlines to get an average value of 2 cents per point.
How Do Chase Freedom Reward Categories Work
Merchants who accept Visa/Mastercard credit cards are assigned a merchant code. Chase groups similar merchant codes into categories to offer you rewards. Even though a merchant or some of the items that it sells may appear to fit within a rewards category, the merchant may not have a merchant code in that category. If that’s the case, purchases with that merchant won’t qualify for the rewards offer.
For a purchase to qualify for the 5% bonus Cash Back, the merchant must submit charges to your credit card by the last day of the relevant calendar quarter.
What’s Included in the 5% Cashback in Q3
- Purchases made at Amazon.com including: digital downloads, Amazon.com Gift Cards, Amazon.com Fresh orders, Amazon.com Prime subscriptions, and items sold by third party merchants through Amazon.com’s marketplace
- Purchases made at Whole Foods Market including physical Whole Foods Market store locations, 365 stores, and the website accessible at wholefoodsmarket.com
What’s Excluded from the 5% Cashback in Q3
- Purchases from merchants using Amazon Pay
- Purchases made at international Amazon retail sites (including: Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, or Amazon.co.jp), or any other website operated by Amazon
- Purchases made at international Whole Foods Market sites
- Purchases of Whole Foods Market or Whole Foods Market 365 products or services through third-party sites such as Eventbrite, Instacart, Google Express and Shipt
- Online purchases of event tickets, classes or gift cards redeemable at Whole Foods Market or Whole Foods Market 365 (including through buyatab.com)
- Purchases from certain third-party vendors operating at Whole Foods Market sites
- Purchases of massage chair services made at Whole Foods Market sites
- Purchases from Spa@Ink
Please remember to activate the rotating bonus categories in order to earn the 5% cashback.
