The Chase Freedom FlexSM Credit Card (review) is an incredible no annual fee card belonging to Chase’s Freedom portfolio, which can help you maximize your points, thanks to its quarterly bonus categories. With a new quarter (and year!) being around the corner, Chase has just opened registration for its Q1 2026 bonus categories, so this is a great time to register.
Note that these same bonus categories are also valid for the Chase Freedom Card, which is no longer open to new applicants.
In this post:
Why I love the Chase Freedom Flex
The Chase Freedom Flex Card is easily one of the best no annual fee cards out there, as it offers 5x points in rotating quarterly categories, for up to $1,500 of spending per quarter. Most people use this as a cashback card, meaning the 5x points really translates into 5% cashback in these categories.
The card has other bonus categories as well, as it offers 3x points (or 3% cash back) at drugstores and on dining.
The best part is that in conjunction with cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review), Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review), or Sapphire Reserve for BusinessSM (review), points earned on this card can be converted into Ultimate Rewards points, and be transferred to the Ultimate Rewards airline and hotel partners, or can potentially be redeemed at a favorable rate through Chase Travel℠.
Since I value one Ultimate Rewards point at significantly more than one cent, that’s my preferred use of those points.
Chase Freedom Flex Q1 2026 bonus categories
For the first quarter of 2026, the Freedom Flex Card is offering 5x points on the first $1,500 spent on dining, and with Norwegian Cruise Line and the American Heart Association. As far as key dates go:
- You need to register between December 15, 2025, and March 14, 2026
- If you register, you can earn 5x points between January 1 and March 31, 2026
How to register your Chase Freedom Flex for 5x points
Registration is easy — just go to the registration page and enter your last name, billing zip code, and the last four digits on your card, and you’ll be registered.
My take on Q1 2026 5x points categories
Everyone has different spending patterns, so will have different takes on the quarterly bonus categories. Personally, the Q1 2026 bonus categories don’t excite me at all. Bonus points for one specific cruise line and one specific charity is very niche.
The 5x points on dining is useful in theory, though I already have other cards that earn me 5x points on dining, so that’s not really any reason to switch spending to this card. So my Chase Freedom will be collecting dust for the first three months of 2026.
How to make Chase Freedom Flex points more valuable
To recap, you earn points on the Chase Freedom Flex, and each point can be redeemed for one cent cashback.
However, if you have this card in addition to one of the cards that accrues Ultimate Rewards points, you can transfer these points to Ultimate Rewards. So 5% cashback converts into 5x Ultimate Rewards points per dollar with one of the above cards.
Bottom line
The Chase Freedom Flex is one of the best no annual fee cards out there, thanks largely to the ability to earn 5x points in rotating quarterly categories. Registration has just opened for the Q1 2026 bonus categories, so it’s a good time to register.
Between January 1 and March 31, 2026, it’s possible to earn 5x points on dining, as well as with Norwegian Cruise Line and the American Heart Association. While dining is a widely useful bonus category, there are also lots of cards offering bonus points on that spending.
What do you make of the Q1 2026 Chase Freedom Flex bonus categories?
Looks like a Chase Rep confirmed on TPG that it will be 7x for dining with Freedom Flex.
4th quarter was pretty much a bust for me and my Flex was barely used. While I won't be using it for NCL or donations to that particular charity, 5% on dining will be easy to use, and is a great category. Makes up for some lackluster categories we had all throughout 2025.
Bro, make a $1500 paypal payment to a family member and redeposit the cash. 7,500 points for $43
Freedom flex sucks. In fact, all Chase consumer cards stink. Bad. Do better Chase. I’m closing my accounts spring 2026…unless sapphire preferred refresh is good. Very good.
Bye?
Last year this happened, dining actually earned 7x points - the chase categories are really a 4x boost - usually that's the baeline 1x plus 4x but in the case if dining, the baseline is 3x. I'll have to see data points once the new year hits, but I'm very much hoping to earn 7x on dining for these three months.
Won’t the Freedom Flex earn 7X in dining during Q1? 3X from its normal dining multiplier + 4X from the quarterly category bonus?
It should- this is not a bad quarter at all if so. You normally cannot get 7% on anything, capped or not (excluding the value of a SUB as a percentage back of the required spend) as no bank can make money on that for long!
Which "other cards" earn you 5x points on dining? The best regular earn rate of any card in that link is 4x.
@ Derek -- The Citi Prestige, which is no longer open to new applicants (but which I have) earns 5x points on dining. The Citi Strata Elite also offers 6x points on Friday and Saturday nights. The Citi Custom Cash can also offer 5x points, up to certain limits, if you choose restaurants as your bonus category.
Still weird to link people to a list that shows, in fact, no cards offering 5x on dining.
You have a defunct card that does so and some hyperspecific cases. No mainstream card offers a flat 5x on dining right now
Chase UR ecosystem is going down the drain fast. Sapphire Reserve annual fee jump in exchange for a coupon book while dropping 3x for general travel, now Freedom Flex getting rid of useful 5x categories. This quarter PayPal is for 1 month only (full quarter last year), next quarter no supermarkets (used to be a reliable 5x category for several years).
I found the PayPal category pretty easy to use. If you value Chase points at 1.5 cents/percent x 5 = 7.5%. I paid $1500 toward my quarterly federal taxes for a 1.75% fee netting 5.75%. One charge, then back to the sock drawer.