The Chase Freedom Flex℠ Credit Card (learn more) is a useful 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 being right around the corner, Chase has just opened registration for its Q4 2026 bonus categories, so this is a great time to register.
For Q4, you can earn 5x points on the first $1,500 spent on grocery stores, dining, and donations to Red Cross — be sure to register here between September 15 and December 14, 2026. Note that these same bonus categories are also valid for the Chase Freedom Card, which is no longer open to new applicants.
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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 (learn more), Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (learn more), or Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (learn more), 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 Q4 2026 bonus categories
For the fourth quarter of 2026, the Freedom Flex Card is offering 5x points on the first $1,500 spent on grocery stores (excluding Walmart and Target), dining, and American Red Cross.
It’s probably actually a bit better than that, though. The Freedom Flex Card ordinarily earns an extra 2x points per dollar spent on dining (for a total of 3x points), and that should stack with the 5x points here (which is really 4x bonus points). So in reality, you should be able to earn 7x points on dining during Q4.
As far as key dates go for the Chase Freedom 5x points categories:
- You need to register between September 15 and December 14, 2026
- If you register, you can earn 5x points between October 1 and December 31, 2026
Let me of course emphasize that it’s still Q3, so assuming you’ve already registered (since registration is closed), you can continue to earn 5x points on the current categories, which include gas stations, public transit, EV charging, select live entertainment, and United Way donations, up to the cap of $1,500.
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 Q4 2026 5x points categories
Everyone has different spending patterns, so will have different takes on the quarterly bonus categories. I’ll have absolutely no issues maxing out the Q4 2026 bonus categories. In particular, I’ll focus on having as much of the spending as possible be on dining (rather than groceries), since that should really earn 7x points rather than 5x points, which makes for the most incremental points earning compared to what I’d usually earn on that spending.
Lastly, while making a donation to Red Cross 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 a new quarter being around the corner, Chase has opened registration for its Q4 2026 bonus categories, so be sure to register.
Between October 1 and December 31, it’s possible to earn 5x points on grocery stores, dining, and donations to Red Cross (and really 7x points on dining, since the card ordinarily offers 3x points on those purchases). These are some pretty well rounded bonus categories, and personally I’ll have no issues maxing these out. The only “catch” is that groceries and dining are categories where I already earn bonus points on other cards, so the incremental rewards will be fairly limited.
What do you make of the Q4 2026 Chase Freedom Flex bonus categories?
My grocery stores carry variable load gift cards so these are an easy way to max out the $1,500 spend limit. Use them for all sorts of normal spend and get the 5x points "bonus"
I have to imagine the Flex will actually be 7x points per dollar on restaurants just as it has been every time this category has been offered previously.
@ Bgriff -- Ah, good point. Let me update the post to reflect that, thanks!
Does paying for my annual membership at a museum count?
Gas 5x is pretty good, especially in-time for summer roadtrips, thanks to the new forever war, which raised prices and strained supply, even though cost per barrel is ‘down,’ gas prices for consumers haven’t fallen yet. Rocket-and-feather pricing. We’re the suckers.
Oh, hell Guest 1990! Yes, gas is ever more expensive now, too. 5x Dining for Q4 is nice, unless it's after 6PM EST on a Friday or Saturday night... Citi Nights 6x with the Citi Strata Elite... bah!
One of the more frustrating categories. I spend plenty on "entertainment" but little of it qualifies since it's with non-profits: Glimmerglass Opera, Shakespeare and Company, various summer stock theater festivals. Want to see Ragtime? Forget about 5 points. It's a Broadway show but tickets at Lincoln Center don't get the Entertainment tag.
I wonder if purchasing Olympic tickets would count towards the Live Entertainment category. When I purchased some LA Olympics tickets back in April, I used my Citi Double Cash card and it was categorized as 'Entertainment - Commercial Sports, Pro Sports Clubs.'
I'll hopefully get another opportunity to purchase tickets in August for the 2nd drop, and would love to use my Freedom card if the bonus applies.
Actually a really good category, especially for summer road trips, or if you live in a city, like NYC, with relatively affordable, pretty reliable, nearly 24/7, (even if not always 'clean'), public transit system.
Does Costco gas typically count as "gas" for Chase? This is my first time having a costco membership during a gas category.
Costco gas does code as "gas" but Costco only takes Visa, not MC, and the current Freedom Flex card is MC. You'd need the old Freedom card which is Visa.
In my experience, yes. But you'll need the old Chase Freedom Visa (not the Freedom Flex) to be able to take advantage, since the latter is a Mastercard.