Chase’s 5% Bonus Categories for Q2 2024: Dining, Amazon, Select Hotel Bookings

Whether you’re going on a far-flung adventure this spring or plan on sticking closer to home, the new bonus categories on the Chase Freedom Flex℠ and the original Chase Freedom® give you plenty of opportunities to earn elevated rewards on everyday purchases and maybe some splurges, too.

From April 1 through June 30, 2024, Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom® cardholders can earn 5% back on up to $1,500 in combined spending (1% after that) in several valuable categories:

To receive these elevated rewards, you’ll need to activate the bonus categories online by June 14. Rewards will apply retroactively, so as long as you activate, you’ll earn extra points on all eligible purchases made throughout the quarter.

Amazon is a mainstay bonus category for quarterly rewards, and the sheer breadth of items you can buy through the online marketplace makes it an easy way to earn extra rewards. But the other two categories — dining and select hotel bookings — have the potential to be much more valuable for Chase Freedom Flex℠ cardholders, thanks to the card’s ongoing rewards. Here’s how.

In addition to the bonus cash back cardholders can earn in rotating categories, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ also has the following “fixed” bonus categories that don’t change:

• 3% back on dining and drugstore purchases.

• 5% back on qualifying Lyft services purchased through the Lyft app (through March 31, 2025). 

• 1% back on all other purchases.

So hotels booked through Chase already earn elevated rewards throughout the year (5% back), as do dining purchases (3% back). And that doesn’t stop when those categories are also added to the bonus calendar above. Instead, those rewards rates will “stack,” meaning you can earn up to 9% back on hotels booked through Chase, and up to 7% back on dining purchases.

(Chase breaks down its 5% rotating categories as 4% back, on top of the fixed 1% rewards rate that you would normally earn on other purchases. So for dining, the stacked bonus would be 4% as a rotating bonus category, plus 3% from the card’s fixed rate on dining. And with hotels booked through Chase, the stacked bonus would be 4%, plus the fixed 5% rate on travel booked via Chase.)

These elevated rewards on dining and hotels booked through Chase make the Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom® ideal travel companions for spring and early summer trips. But if you’re traveling internationally, you might want to think twice before you whip out either card to pay for a meal or a hotel reservation.

Chase generally charges a 3% foreign transaction fee on its nontravel credit cards, which will cut into the value of any rewards you earn. The reward rates are high enough that you can still come out ahead, but you may need to do a little math first.