Chase Freedom's Q4 Bonus Is Dining, Grocery Stores and the Red Cross. Activate by December 14.
The Chase Freedom Flex and the original Chase Freedom earn 5% cash back on dining, grocery stores and American Red Cross donations from October 1 through December 31, 2026. The bonus covers the first $1,500 of combined spending, worth $75 in cash back or 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points. Activation opened September 15 and closes December 14, 2026.
The short version
Q4 2026 categories: dining, grocery stores (Walmart and Target excluded) and donations to the American Red Cross.
5% on up to $1,500 in combined purchases from October 1 to December 31, 2026. The most you earn is $75, or 7,500 points.
Activate at chasebonus.com by December 14, 2026. Purchases made before you activate still count as long as you activate by the deadline.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited has no rotating categories and gets nothing from this.
Paired with a Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve, the 7,500 points transfer to airlines and hotels at full value.
What are the Chase Freedom Q4 2026 categories?
The Chase Freedom Flex Q4 2026 bonus categories are dining, grocery stores and donations to the American Red Cross. Chase's activation page states the 5% applies "on up to $1,500 in combined purchases and donations in these categories from 10/1/26 through 12/31/26." Grocery stores exclude Walmart and Target by name. The original Chase Freedom, closed to new applicants, gets the same categories.
Dining on a Chase card means restaurants, takeout and eligible delivery services. Grocery stores means supermarkets. Wholesale clubs such as Costco and Sam's Club use a different merchant code and do not count, and Chase's own Freedom Flex terms say the merchant code decides, not what the store sells.
The Red Cross line is unusual for a rotating category. Doctor of Credit notes that starting with the 2026 tax year, the IRS allows a charitable deduction of up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for couples without itemizing, so a Q4 donation earns 5% back and a deduction at the same time.
How much is the Q4 bonus worth?
The Chase Freedom Flex pays 5% cash back on the first $1,500 of combined quarterly category spending, so the largest possible Q4 2026 bonus is $75, or 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points. After $1,500 the card drops back to 1% on those purchases. Dining already earns 3% on the Freedom Flex year-round, and Thrifty Traveler and Doctor of Credit both report 7% total on dining this quarter. Chase's own terms describe the quarterly rate as 5% total, so check an October statement before you count on the extra 2%.
$1,500 over three months is $500 a month. A family hits that on groceries alone by mid-November, which makes dining and the Red Cross irrelevant for them. A single person eating out twice a week uses all three.
The cash is the floor. If you also hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred, a Chase Sapphire Reserve or an Ink Business Preferred, you move the 7,500 points into that account and transfer them to a partner. AwardWallet values a World of Hyatt point at 2.19 cents, which turns the $75 into about $164 of hotel nights. Our points valuation guide walks through the math, and our Sapphire Reserve vs. Preferred comparison covers which card to pair with.
How do you activate, and what if you forget?
Chase Freedom Flex cardholders activate the Q4 2026 categories at chasebonus.com, in the Chase app, or by phone. Activation opened September 15, 2026 and closes December 14, 2026. Activating on December 14 still earns 5% on every category purchase made since October 1, so a late activation costs nothing. Missing December 14 costs the whole quarter.
Two smaller rules from the Chase terms trip people up. The merchant has to submit the charge by December 31, so a dinner on December 30 posted on January 2 earns 1%. And the category is decided by the merchant code, so a restaurant inside a hotel often codes as a hotel and earns 1%.
Frequent Miler keeps the activation links for every rotating-category card in one place if you hold more than one.
What are the other cards doing in Q4?
Discover it cardholders earn 5% on restaurants, entertainment and utilities in Q4 2026, on up to $1,500, per the Discover cashback calendar. Citi Dividend pays 5% on restaurants and Citi Travel, on up to $6,000 a year. U.S. Bank Cash+ lets you pick two categories from a list of 12, including utilities, TV, internet and streaming, and fast food, on up to $2,000.
Restaurants overlap between Chase and Discover. Put dining on the Freedom Flex if you hold a Sapphire card, since 5% in transferable points beats 5% in cash. Put it on Discover in your first year, when the cashback match doubles it to 10%. Groceries have no overlap, so the Freedom Flex is the only rotating card paying 5% at the supermarket this quarter.
What this means for you
Activate today, before you forget. Run groceries and restaurants through the Freedom Flex from October 1 until you hit $1,500, then switch back to whichever card earns more. If you have a Sapphire card, move the points across before you redeem them. Our best travel credit cards guide covers the pairing.
Subscribe to the TravelPointsPro newsletter and you will get the Q1 2027 categories, and the activation reminder, in December.
FAQ
Do you have to activate before October 1?
No. The Chase Freedom Flex Q4 2026 bonus applies to category purchases from October 1 as long as you activate by December 14, 2026. Activation opened September 15, 2026 at chasebonus.com.
Does the Chase Freedom Unlimited get the 5% categories?
No. The Chase Freedom Unlimited earns a flat 1.5% on everything, 3% on dining and drugstores, and 5% on Chase Travel. Only the Freedom Flex and the original Freedom have rotating quarterly categories.
Does Costco count as a grocery store for the Q4 bonus?
No. Chase Freedom Flex grocery store purchases are defined by merchant code, and wholesale clubs like Costco and Sam's Club code separately. Walmart and Target are excluded by name in the terms.
Do American Red Cross donations normally earn rewards?
Yes. Chase treats a donation charged to a Freedom Flex as a purchase, so it earns 1% in any other quarter and 5% in Q4 2026 up to the $1,500 combined cap.
Can you turn Freedom Flex cash back into travel points?
Yes. Chase Freedom Flex rewards are tracked as Ultimate Rewards points. If you also hold a Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve or Ink Business Preferred, you combine the points into that account and transfer them to partners like Hyatt, United or Air Canada at 1:1.
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