Chase has revealed its fourth-quarter rotating bonus categories for the Freedom and Freedom Flex cards, and they land right in the middle of the most expensive spending season of the year. From October 1 through December 31, 2026, cardholders earn 5% cash back on dining, grocery stores and donations to the American Red Cross, on up to $1,500 in combined spending per quarter. Freedom Flex holders get an extra boost: 7% back on dining, including takeout and delivery — one of the highest dining rewards rates around.
There's a catch, and it trips people up every quarter: you have to activate the categories manually. The deadline is December 14, and activation only takes a minute through the Chase website or app using your last name, the last four digits of your card and your ZIP code. Miss it and you'll earn the standard 1% instead. If you hold more than one Freedom card, each one needs to be registered separately.
A few details worth knowing. Grocery purchases qualify, but Walmart, Target, wholesale clubs, discount stores and some drugstores don't code as grocery stores and won't earn the bonus. On the charity front, the Red Cross category is a first for the Freedom cards — donations must be made directly through the Red Cross to code correctly. Hitting the $1,500 cap in all three categories returns $75 in cash back for the quarter, and maximising every quarter across a full year gets you $300.
The bigger travel play: pair the Freedom with a transferable-points card. If you also hold something like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you can pool the Freedom's rewards, converting that $300 into 30,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points. At The Points Guy's September 2026 valuation of 2.05 cents per point, that's roughly $615 in travel value — for a card with no annual fee.
One more change matters for anyone heading abroad this winter. The Freedom Flex drops its foreign transaction fees from September 20, so the 7% dining rate works at restaurants overseas too, not just at home. Legacy Freedom cardholders (the card is closed to new applicants) should check their benefits guide after that date to see whether the same applies to them.
Dining appeared as a bonus category earlier in 2026, so it's a welcome repeat; groceries are a perennial favourite. For holiday travellers and hosts, the timing is hard to beat — festive meals, stocking-up supermarket runs and end-of-year gatherings all count. Set a calendar reminder now, activate before the December 14 cutoff, and route your seasonal spending through the right card.