Chase Freedom recently announced the 2016 rotating categories where you can earn 5x points on your purchase (up to $1,500 per quarter) instead of the normal 1x point per dollar spent. You’ll earn 5x points at gas stations and local commuter transportation spend for the first quarter of 2016. Normally this is just for gas purchases but now you can get 5x back on commuter transportation such as taxis, Uber, and Lyft. This does not include Amtrak but it does include subways. If you already have the Quicksilver card you get a 20% back discount on Uber rides so this will only really help you on gas purchases and Lyft when you get a surge rate too high on Uber for instance.
Discover It Card has announced the 5% Cashback Bonus categories for the 1st Quarter of 2016 which will almost be exactly the same as Chase Freedom. This will be purchases at Gas Stations and for Ground Transportation with registration available now.
2nd Quarter
5x points at grocery stores including stores such as Kroger and Albertson’s but does not include Walmart or Target. If you have trouble spending the full $1,500 within the quarter you can always purchase gift cards to use throughout the year from Visa or Mastercard or buy up Amazon Gift Cards.
3rd Quarter
My favorite bonus is this quarter for Dining out and then some other bonus which is still TBD. Dining out works out great for me and my friends because we like to frequent restaurants, bars and nightclubs which all normally fall under this category. This gets maxed out easily.
4th Quarter
Fourth quarter is still TBD but most likely Amazon, Zappos, or Kohls like it seems to be each year.
You can check out the other Cash Back Players here such as U.S. Bank but they really are not even worth mentioning anymore as their card has really just went to junk status in my book.
