Rotating Quarterly Bonus Calendar 2016
Chase Freedom, Discover it and Citi Dividend have recently released the details of their rotating 5% bonus categories for 2016. If you have one of these cards, you can now sign up for your first quarter bonus program. To help you plan out your spending, we’ve compiled the bonus categories across each of these cards into a single chart for ease of reference.
Cash Back Bonus Calendar 2016
As of Dec 16, only Citi Dividend has published its bonus categories for the entire year. Chase Freedom has released its categories through Q3 2016, while the Discover it card has only released its Q1 2016 categories.
Note: If you don’t already have a Citi Dividend card, it’s no longer available to new customers. It is, however, currently possible to convert an existing Citi card to a Citi Dividend card.
Unless otherwise noted below, if a card appears in the table, it indicates that purchases made in the corresponding category will earn a 5% rebate, subject to a bonus cap. Chase Freedom and Discover it will earn 5% on up to $1,500 in bonus category purchases each quarter. Citi Dividend cardholders will also earn 5% in their bonus categories, but are limited to a maximum of a $300 cash rebate per year, unless they received an offer indicating otherwise.
| Category | Jan-Mar | Apr-June | July-Sept | Oct-Dec |
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| Gas |  
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| Ground Transportation |
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| Local Commuter Transportation |
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| Home Depot | 
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| Home Furnishing Stores |
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| Drug Stores |
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| Fitness Clubs |
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| Grocery Stores |
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| Hilton Hotels |
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| Car Rentals |
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| Restaurants |
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| Best Buy |
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| Department Stores |
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In addition to publishing its bonus categories for Q4 2016, Chase Freedom promises to add additional bonus categories for Q2 and Q3, which will be announced at a later date.
How and When to Sign Up
Chase Freedom cardholders can sign up for these bonuses each quarter by visiting creditcards.chase.com/freedom/activate.aspx or by calling the number on the back of their card. Chase cardholders can also sign up for reminders to activate their 5% cash back. For 2013, cardholders must activate their 5% according to the following schedule:
| January – March | April – June | July – September | October – December |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activate between Dec. 15, 2015 and March 14, 2016 | Activate between March 15, 2016 and June 14, 2016 | Activate between June 15, 2016 and September 14, 2016 | Activate starting September 15, 2016 |
Chase Freedom is the most lenient of the 3 cards when it comes to sign up deadlines. As long as you activate your bonus by each quarter’s deadline, you’ll earn your 5% bonus cash back for all category purchases (up to $1,500) you’ve made for the whole quarter.
Discover it cardholders can sign up online or call 1-800-DISCOVER (1-800-347-2683) to participate in the 5% Cashback bonus program. Unlike Chase’s program, you must have signed up for the program before you can begin earning the 5% bonus cashback. Discover cardmembers can begin signing up anytime the month prior to the start of a quarter. For instance, for the quarter of April to June, cardmembers can begin signing up March 1.
Citi Dividend cardholders also can sign up online at dividend.quarterlyoffer.citi.com, by logging into their account online and clicking on the 5% cash back offer or by calling 1-800-231-0891. Like Discover, you’ll need to sign up for the bonus program each quarter before your bonus category purchases will be eligible to earn 5%.