Chase Freedom's October to December 2026 5% categories are grocery stores (not Walmart or Target), dining and Red Cross donations. Activate by December 14; 5% on $1,500 combined.
The Chase app has posted the Freedom 5% categories for the last quarter of 2026, and they are the ones people wait for all year: grocery stores, dining, and donations to the American Red Cross. Activation opened on September 15. The bonus runs from October 1 through December 31, and the activation deadline is December 14.
The 5% Categories screen for October 1 to December 31, 2026 lists three categories:
| Grocery Stores | excluding Walmart and Target, in Chase's own words |
| Dining | |
| American Red Cross | donations |
Below the list, the terms in full: "Activate by December 14th and earn a total of 5% cash back from October 1st through December 31st, 2026 on up to $1,500 in combined purchases on Grocery Stores, Dining, and donations to American Red Cross then earn 1% cash back in these categories. Activate 5% cash back every 3 months when categories change."
Chase's public Freedom Flex page, read the same day, still shows the quarter as "Coming Soon, activate starting September 15, 2026," so the app is ahead of the website. The rest of the rules are on that page: "You'll earn 5% Cash Back rewards total for each $1 spent until $1,500 is spent on combined purchases in the quarterly bonus categories each quarter that you activate the bonus," and "After $1,500 is spent on combined purchases in the quarterly bonus categories each quarter, you go back to earning 1% Cash Back rewards for each $1 spent, with no maximum."
The cap is $1,500 of combined spending across the three categories, so the most the quarter can pay is $75 in cash back above what the card would have earned anyway. Chase tracks it as points: "Cash Back rewards are tracked as points and each $1 in Cash Back rewards earned is equal to 100 points," which makes the quarter worth up to 7,500 points. Points redeem for cash "through an account statement credit or an electronic deposit into an eligible Chase account," and the page lists gift cards, travel and Amazon checkout as the other options.
The order you use the card in matters, because the two big categories do not start from the same place. The Freedom Flex already earns 3% on dining all year ("dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services," per Chase's page), so the quarter adds two points on a restaurant bill. Grocery stores earn the base 1% the rest of the year, so the quarter adds four points there. Both count against the same $1,500 cap.
If a household's grocery and restaurant spending for October through December is under $1,500, none of this matters and everything earns 5%. If it is more, put the grocery run on the Flex first and let dining fill whatever is left. Thanksgiving and December do the rest.
Walmart and Target are excluded, and the app says so on the category line itself. Beyond that, Chase decides which stores count by merchant category, not by what the store sells, and the app links to a FAQ and merchant list for the quarter. Check a store there before assuming it counts, especially warehouse clubs, delivery apps and stores that sell groceries as one department among many. We do not list stores here that Chase has not listed.
July to September is not over. The public page lists this quarter's categories as gas stations, public transit, EV charging, select live entertainment and United Way, with activation that opened June 15. If you have not activated the current quarter, do that first; the two quarters have separate activation buttons in the same screen.
The Freedom Flex has no annual fee. The public offer on Chase's page is 20,000 bonus points, which Chase describes as "$200 cash back," after $500 in purchases in the first 3 months. Outside the rotating categories it earns 5% on travel booked through Chase Travel, 3% on dining and drugstores, and 1% on everything else. Our card page has the verified details: Chase Freedom Flex.
Read on 2026-09-15: the Chase app's 5% Categories screen for October 1 to December 31, 2026, and chase.com's Chase Freedom Flex page (5% categories, rewards program terms, offer details). Figures quoted as shown; check the app before you spend, because Chase can change the merchant list.