The Points Guy
- The Chase Freedom has a unique approach to earning bonus cash back: It offers 5% back on up to $1,500 spent in combined purchases on bonus categories that change four times a year. You have to activate the bonus categories each quarter to earn the bonus cash back.
- Currently, the card's bonus categories are department stores, Chase Pay, and PayPal.
- Many retailers - from Land's End to Wayfair - accept PayPal, so you can earn 5% cash back on your Black Friday and Cyber Monday purchases.
- Read more personal finance coverage.
The Chase Freedom is currently my credit card of choice for Nordstrom purchases, because department stores are one of the current bonus categories. This could not be better timed, as department stores like Nordstrom and Macy's offer some great options for holiday gifts.
Department stores aren't the only purchase category eligible for bonus rewards with the Chase Freedom right now, though; Chase Pay and PayPal are also included in the card's 2019 Q4 bonus categories.
While Chase Pay, Chase's mobile wallet app, is actually in the process of being phased out, PayPal is going strong as ever. You can check out through PayPal on hundreds of websites, so if you have a Chase Freedom, it's the perfect credit card to use for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping.
Keep in mind that we're focusing on the rewards and perks that make these credit cards great options, not things like interest rates and late fees, which will far outweigh the value of any points or miles. It's important to practice financial discipline when using credit cards by paying your balances in full each month, making payments on time, and only spending what you can afford to pay back.
How it works
The Chase Freedom earns 5% back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases on select bonus categories each quarter of the year. You need to activate the bonus categories, via a link Chase will email to you, in order to be eligible for the bonus cash back.
You have until the end of 2019 to earn bonus cash back on the current bonus categories of Chase Pay, PayPal, and department stores.
The Chase Freedom is a cash-back credit card with no annual fee, but there's a neat twist. If you have a Chase card that earns Ultimate Rewards points - like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve - you can move rewards over from the Chase Freedom and convert them into Ultimate Rewards points.
This means the cash back you earn from the Freedom card can be "upgraded" to travel rewards points that you can redeem through Chase or with Chase's travel partners, like Hyatt and United - and it means that instead of just 5% back, you can earn 5x points on eligible bonus purchases with the Chase Freedom.
The Points Guy values Chase points at 2 cents apiece, so you're effectively doubling your return on spending if you convert your cash-back rewards into points by getting 10% back.
Where to shop with PayPal
You can pay through PayPal on hundreds of retailers' websites, from Asos to Etsy to JetBlue. If you want to use the Chase Freedom to earn 5% back or 5x points, I'd just suggest going about your holiday shopping online as usual, until you get to the checkout step.
Oh, and don't forget to check Chase's Ultimate Rewards shopping portal before you make your purchase to see if you can earn bonus rewards on top of what you'll get for paying with the Freedom card.
Read more: Anyone who buys things online should be using a shopping portal to earn bonus rewards
If you notice that a retailer doesn't accept PayPal, it could be worth seeing if you can make the purchase somewhere else that does accept PayPal, or at a department store.
If you can't find a viable alternative, don't worry - with the cap for earning 5% back set at $1,500 in purchases each quarter, it's easier to max out the bonus categories than you might think when it's holiday shopping season.
If you're looking for gift ideas, don't forget to bookmark Insider Picks' guides to the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.
Click here to learn more about the Chase Freedom.
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