The Chase Freedom Flex℠ 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 kicking off in a couple of weeks, Chase has just opened registration for its Q2 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 Card
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 Business℠ (review), rewards earned on this card can be converted into premium Ultimate Rewards points, and be transferred to the Ultimate Rewards airline and hotel partners.
Since I value one Ultimate Rewards point at significantly more than one cent, that’s my preferred use of those points.
Chase Freedom Flex Q2 2026 bonus categories
For the second quarter of 2026, the Freedom Flex Card is offering 5x points on the first $1,500 spent on Amazon, Chase Travel, and donations to Feeding America.
Now, it actually gets a little better than that. With the 5x points categories, you’re earning 4x bonus points on top of the points you usually earn for spending (typically 1x points). Since the card ordinarily offers up to 5x points on Chase Travel purchases, that means that in Q2 2026, you can earn up to 9x points on Chase Travel, up to the $1,500 total limit.
As far as key dates go:
- You need to register between March 15, 2026, and June 14, 2026
- If you register, you can earn 5x points between April 1 and June 30, 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 Q2 2026 5x points categories
Everyone has different spending patterns, so will have different takes on the quarterly bonus categories. As I see it, being able to earn 5x points on Amazon is awesome, and I’ll definitely be maxing this out in Q2.
The 9x points on Chase Travel is potentially pretty good as well, given the stacking opportunities there. That being said, the card offers limited travel protection, so it wouldn’t be my first choice card for many travel purchases.
Lastly, while making a donation to Feeding America sounds nice, I don’t typically choose where to make a donation based on the number of points I can earn.
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. With it soon being a new quarter, Chase has just opened registration for its Q2 2026 bonus categories, so be sure to register.
Between April 1 and June 30, it will be possible to earn 5x points on Amazon, Chase Travel, and donations to Feeding America, on up to $1,500 in spending (Chase Travel is actually up to 9x points, since the card ordinarily offers up to 5x points on those purchases). Personally I will have no issues maxing this out with Amazon, so I’m happy to see these categories.
What do you make of the Q2 2026 Chase Freedom Flex bonus categories?
Oof. What a sad Q2 set. Many Amazon customers already have a Prime card and get 5x as it is (yes, I know, not UR, but, for a 'cash-back'-like equivalent, still.) Further, many have CSR, which earns 8x on Chase Travel (better than 5x). I donno, feels pretty WEAK to me.
I am pretty un excited about this quarter but I suppose Amazon shoppers could take advantage of collecting UR points.
Very meh for me though.
This card has been increasingly useless. The catagories used to be much more general so it was easier to use and therefore more valuable. They used to have general categories such as mobile phone or supermarkets. Now, they have specific retailers or even companies for donations. Furthermore, Amazon and Chase Travel is nothing to get excited about as conflicts directly with the same return on the Amazon Prime credit card, but that card you can...
This card has been increasingly useless. The catagories used to be much more general so it was easier to use and therefore more valuable. They used to have general categories such as mobile phone or supermarkets. Now, they have specific retailers or even companies for donations. Furthermore, Amazon and Chase Travel is nothing to get excited about as conflicts directly with the same return on the Amazon Prime credit card, but that card you can get the cash back rather than the points for the same return. The Amazon Prime credit card is not a card that I have seen covered on this blog.
Does Amazon category include shopping at Whole Foods?
It *always* has in the past, but you may want to contact Chase about this before ordering from Whole Foods.
One workaround if you want to be sure would be to purchase $1,500 in Amazon gift cards (or Whole Foods gift cards, if that's a thing) and then just use those for your Whole Foods purchases.
I'd expect Chase to confirm this publicly prior to the quarter starting as they have done so in the past.
Can one purchase gift certificates from Amazon with this offer? I don't recall...
@ TravelinWilly -- In my experience yes!
This is correct. What you can't do is buy gift cards on Amazon using a gift card balance.
Suckers...
If I'm not misunderstanding, the Flex should earn 9x on Chase Travel for Q2, since it ordinarily gets 5x on Chase Travel.
@ Nyalan -- Ah, great catch, thank you! Post updated to reflect that.