Update: Chase has extended Freedom 5x through the end of the year, so now instead of 6,000 points, you have the potential for 18,000 points per Freedom, just from shopping at Costco, BJ’s Wholesale, and others!
Its mid-June, and if you are like me, your Chase Freedoms have gathered dust. I didn’t bother to do much with them this month, what with the other options available like Grocery Stores. In case you aren’t familiar with the Chase Freedom 5x, this is what I refer to the quarterly bonus. You earn 5x Ultimate Rewards points, per dollar spent, up to $1500 spend, per card, in the quarter. See below for the line-up:
Chase Freedom 5x Calendar 2016
I mean, you totally could have used your Freedom at a grocery store, to buy, you know, groceries, or, other less edible–cough; plastic–things that you can buy at a grocery store. Or, you could be the ultimate procrastinator and have gotten to mid-June and realized that you have let your Freedom(s) sit in your credit card drawer–since lets be honest; there are more credit cards than socks in there now–and now you’ve got to find a way to maximize, and quick!
The answer: Costco!
What to Buy?
First and foremost – if you normally go to Costco and fill up your Mini Cooper (like me), then that’s a great start. Of course, if you are spending $1500 at Costco just to feed a family, you either have these guys for a family:
New Zealand’s All Blacks Rugby Team, they clearly need a lot of protein, easy to maximize Freedom 5x with these guys!
Or maybe you are getting fully stocked up for the impending Hurricane Season.
But, I don’t have a Rugby Team to feed, what should I buy?
Ok, so you don’t want to fill your basement with water and toilet paper, or throw a barbecue for the whole town. So what else can you buy?
Gift Cards! Costco generally is very good at selling Gift Cards. They might not have the widest variety of gift cards, but they do have a bunch, here is a brief list:
- iTunes (not pictured, but trust me, they’re there)
- Ruth Chris
- McCormick and Schmick’s (note, this is DC regional – you’ll see different ones)
- Regal Cinema
- Other Movie Theaters
- United States Postal Service (USPS) Stamps
- Spafinder
- Costco Gift Cards
Costco Gift Cards
Chase Freedom 5x – Wrapping Up
I think there’s plenty of opportunity to spend $1500 at Costco in the final days of June. You’ve got plenty of options when it comes to great products, stocking up, or grabbing gift cards. I personally will be doing something slightly different, in line with my reselling business. What will I be buying? Well, I’ll know it when I see it. But you can be certain that I’ll be walking through Costco with my FBA Seller App (and Part 2) open. Either way. If you haven’t maximized your Chase Freedom 5x for 2nd quarter, Costco has you covered, assuming your a member. And if you’re not, and you have a wife, family, or rugby team, I think you’ll find great values there, so its worth checking it out.
FYI BJ’s has $200 VGCs and they’re eligible for 5X on Freedom. Haven’t tried buying them yet as I’ve had a bunch of other purchases so far, but worth a try.
@Nick – Awesome! Didn’t know about the $200 VGCs. May just knock it out doing that, although reselling seems easier (but slower than MS).
Not sure exactly how this would work and not necessarily condoning it, but if Costco doesn’t tighten policy after they make the switch to VISA, you can MS this even easier.
Purchase $1500 worth of anything on June 22nd, and then return it on July 22nd (or whenever the quarter ends).
This should show up as 5x on purchase, but only 1x on refund, because the transactions won’t be linked to one another.
So that is 6000UR (which is the maximum extra points) for gratis.
Of course, if you spend regularly at Costco, you could also just get a cash card after June 20th and then spend it over time.
Yeah – I have a policy of not pushing the limits at Costco, because I really enjoy shopping there. But definitely a great idea, I just wonder whether Chase would clawback the points.
I don’t like to push the limits at Costco either, after my home and church, it is where I spend the most money and find a great community of folks who have my back from corporate to cashier.
As an alternative, again if policy doesn’t change, you could have it refunded to a different Visa 1x cashback or miles card (although not Citi Costco at 2%).
I wouldn’t it put it past Chase to be smart about this, but I admit I don’t have previous experience with such a method of returning post-bonus period.
My wonderings are a no go, but potentially more lucrative news for the first parts of your post.
http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2016/06/14/chase-freedom-extends-5x-costco-wholesale-clubs-end-year/#_ga=1.117149574.1848756877.1446057140