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Current Credit Card Bonus Categories: Discover, Chase Freedom, Citi Dividend
Several popular cards feature bonus categories that rotate every quarter. Here are their rewards calendars.
Gregory Karp is a former NerdWallet writer and an expert in personal finance and credit cards. A journalist for more than 30 years, he has been a newspaper reporter and editor, authored two personal finance books and created the "Spending Smart" syndicated newspaper column. His awards include national recognition several times from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.
Paul Soucy Lead Assigning Editor | Credit cards, credit scoring, personal finance
Paul Soucy has led the Credit Cards content team at NerdWallet since 2015. He was an editor with USA Today, The Des Moines Register and the Meredith/Better Homes and Gardens family of magazines for more than 20 years. He also built a successful freelance writing and editing practice with a focus on business and personal finance. He was editor of the USA Today Weekly International Edition for six years and received the highest award from ACES: The Society for Editing. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism and a Master of Business Administration. He lives in Des Moines, Iowa, with his fiancée, his two sons and a dog named Sam.
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Both Chase and Discover offer credit cards with 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in spending per quarter in bonus categories that change each quarter and 1% back on all other purchases. To get the bonus cash back, you have to opt in, or "activate," the category each quarter.
A Citi credit card with similar terms — the Citi Dividend Card — is no longer available to new applicants. It pays 5% in rotating bonus categories that you activate and 1% on other purchases. There's no quarterly spending limit, but the total cash amount of cash back you can earn in a year is capped at $300.
Previous years are listed below the current categories, so you can see what's been offered in the past ... and what might be again?
Q2: Dining; groceries; gas, rideshare and transit.
Q3: Dining; entertainment; travel (airfare, cruises, car rentals, hotels, travel agencies); gas, rideshare and transit.
Q4: Holiday shopping (including superstores, department stores, electronics stores, Costco.com and Amazon.com).
2019 credit card bonus categories
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Discover cards 2019 bonus categories
Q1: Grocery stores.
Q2: Gas stations; Uber and Lyft.
Q3: Restaurants; PayPal.
Q4: Amazon.com; Target (in-store and online); Walmart.com.
Chase Freedom® 2019 bonus categories
Q1: Gas stations; tolls; drugstores.
Q2: Home improvement stores; grocery stores.
Q3: Gas stations; select streaming services.
Q4: Department stores; PayPal and Chase Pay.
Citi® Dividend Card 2019 bonus categories
Q1: Gas stations; Home Depot.
Q2: Drugstores; fitness clubs.
Q3: Airlines and car rentals.
Q4: Best Buy and department stores.
ABOC cards 2019 bonus categories
Q1: Dining; groceries; pharmacy.
Q2: Home improvement (including warehouse and wholesale clubs).
Q3: Travel purchases (airfare, cruises, car rentals, hotels, travel agencies).
Q4: Automotive purchases (including services, repairs and parts).
2018 credit card bonus categories
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Discover cards 2018 bonus categories
Q1: Gas stations and wholesale clubs.
Q2: Grocery stores.
Q3: Restaurants.
Q4: Amazon.com and wholesale clubs.
Chase Freedom® 2018 bonus categories
Q1: Gas stations; internet, cable and phone service; and purchases via Chase Pay, Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay.
Q2: Grocery stores, PayPal, Chase Pay.
Q3: Gas stations, Lyft, Walgreens.
Q4: Department stores, wholesale clubs, Chase Pay.
Citi® Dividend Card 2018 bonus categories
Q1: Gas stations, car rentals.
Q2: Home Depot, home furniture stores.
Q3: Airlines, movies.
Q4: Best Buy, department stores.
2017 credit card bonus categories
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Discover cards 2017 bonus categories
Q1: Gas stations, ground transportation, wholesale clubs.
Q2: Home improvement stores, wholesale clubs.
Q3: Restaurants.
Q4: Amazon.com, Target.
Chase Freedom® 2017 bonus categories
Q1: Gas stations, local commuter transportation.
Q2: Grocery stores, drugstores.
Q3: Restaurants, movie theaters.
Q4: Walmart, department stores.
Citi® Dividend Card 2017 bonus categories
Q1: Home Depot, home furniture stores.
Q2: Drugstores, fitness clubs.
Q3: Airlines, Hilton hotels.
Q4: Best Buy, department stores.
2016 credit card bonus categories
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Discover cards 2016 bonus categories
Q1: Gas, ground transportation.
Q2: Restaurants, movies.
Q3: Home improvement stores, Amazon.com.
Q4: Amazon.com, department stores, Sam's Club.
Chase Freedom® 2016 bonus categories
Q1: Gas stations, local commuter transportation.
Q2: Grocery stores, wholesale clubs.
Q3: Restaurants, wholesale clubs.
Q4: Department stores, wholesale clubs.
Citi® Dividend Card 2016 bonus categories
Q1: Home Depot, home furniture stores.
Q2: Drugstores, fitness clubs.
Q3: Car rentals, Hilton hotels.
Q4: Best Buy, department stores.
2015 credit card bonus categories
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Discover cards 2015 bonus categories
Q1: Gas, ground transportation.
Q2: Restaurants, movies.
Q3: Home improvement stores, department stores, Amazon.com.
Q4: Amazon.com, department stores, clothing stores.
Chase Freedom® 2015 bonus categories
Q1: Grocery stores, movie theaters, Starbucks.
Q2: Restaurants, Bed Bath & Beyond, H&M, Overstock.com.
Q3: Gas stations, Kohl's.
Q4: Amazon.com, Audible.com, Diapers.com, Zappos.com.
(Note: In a special promotion offered in 2015 only, the $1,500 quarterly limit on spending eligible for bonus rewards was reset on Nov. 23, meaning that Chase Freedom® cardholders got a "fresh" $1,500 to spend for bonus cash back. Further, from Nov. 23 to Dec. 31 of that year, Amazon.com spending earned 10% cash back, rather than 5%.)
Citi® Dividend Card 2015 bonus categories
Q1: Macy's, home furniture stores.
Q2: Home Depot, home and garden stores.
Q3: Airlines, Hilton hotels.
Q4: Best Buy, department stores.
2014 credit card bonus categories
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Discover cards 2014 bonus categories
Q1: Restaurants, movies.
Q2: Home improvement stores, furniture stores, Bed Bath & Beyond.
Q3: Gas stations.
Q4: Online shopping, department stores.
Chase Freedom® 2014 bonus categories
Q1: Grocery stores, movie theaters, Starbucks.
Q2: Restaurants, Lowe's.
Q3: Gas stations, Kohl's.
Q4: Amazon.com, Zappos.com, select department stores.
Citi® Dividend Card 2014 bonus categories
Q1: Macy's, drugstores, fitness clubs.
Q2: Home Depot, home furniture stores, home and garden.
Q3: Car rentals, Hilton hotels, theme parks, movie theaters.
Whether you want to pay less interest or earn more rewards, the right card's out there. Just answer a few questions and we'll narrow the search for you.