Chase Freedom’s Second Quarter Category Bonuses (April 1 – June 30, 2013) are restaurants, movie theaters, and Lowe’s.
Restaurants and movie theaters are easy to maximize and capitalize on, but realistically how much spending can one do at a home improvement store like Lowe’s if you’re not a contractor, don’t need any new appliances, and are not remodeling your house?
Quite a bit if you know how to work the system. Keep reading and learn 3 ways you can get the most of your second quarter category bonus from your Chase Freedom card.
How To Maximize Your Chase Freedom Second Quarter Category Bonuses
1. Green it up
Spring is the perfect time to start your garden or plant your perennials. You can shop for flower and vegetable seeds and all your gardening needs at your local Lowe’s.
2. Put it away
Got the fever? Spring cleaning fever? Just can’t bear to throw anything out? Lowe’s has cleaning and organization supplies to store all the stuff.
3. Put it on plastic
Stock up on gift cards. Lowe’s carries a variety of gift cards, everything from restaurants to travel.
By purchasing gift cards in advance for special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, teacher’s gifts, and other events, you’ll benefit twice as much:
- You’ll always have a gift for those last minute invites or when you forgot someone’s special day.
- You can max out your second quarter bonus quickly and efficiently.
A list, by category, of all the gift cards carried by Lowe’s:
Note: These were the gift cards available from my local Lowe’s, your local store may or may not offer the same selection.
Restaurant
Applebee’s: $25, $45 (3 pack of $15 gift cards), $50
Buffalo Wild Wings: $25, $50
California Pizza Kitchen: $25, $50
Cold Stone: $15, $25, $30 (3 pack of $10 gift cards)
I HOP: $25, $50
Little Caesar ‘s: $15
Macaroni Grill, On the Border, Maggiano’s: $ 25, $50
Mimi’s: $25
Olive Garden: $25, $50, $60 (3 pack of $20 gift cards)
Outback Steakhouse: $25, $50
Panera: $25, $50
PF Changs: $25, $50, $60 (3 pack of $20 gift cards)
Pizza Hut: $20
Red Lobster: $25, $50, $60 (3 pack of $20 gift cards)
Red Robin: $25, $30 (3 pack of $10 gift cards), $50
Starbucks: $15, $25, $50, $50 (10 pack of $5 gift cards)
Subway: $15, $25, $30 (3 pack of $10 gift cards)
TGIF: $25, $30 (3 pack of $10 gift cards), $50
Gas
Shell: $25, $50
Travel
Marriott: $50, $100
Southwest Airlines: $50, $100, $200, $15-500 variable load gift cards
Movie Theater
AMC: $25, $50
Fandango: $35
Regal: $25, $30 (3 pack of $10 gift cards), $50
Department Store
Babies R Us: $50
Bed Bath& Beyond: $25, $40, $50, $100
JC Penny: $25, $50, $100
Kohl’s: $25, $50
Macy’s: $25, $50, $100
Marshall’s: $25, $50
Nordstrom: $25, $50, $75, $100, $200
Tj Maxx: $25, $50
Clothing
Speciality Store
Sephora: $25, $50
Merchandise
Amazon: $25, $30 (3 pack of $10 gift cards), $50, $100
Amazon Kindle: $25, $50
App Store: $25, $50
Barnes and Noble: $25, $50
GameStop: $25, $50
Groupon: $25, $50, $15-200 variable load gift card
iTunes: $15, $25, $30 (3 pack of $10 gift cards), $50
Jiffy Lube: $25
Xbox: $19.95, $24.95
Office Max: $25
Staples: $25, $50
AT&T Go phone: $15, $25, $60
Boost: $20, $30, $50
Paylo: $10, $20, $30
Penny Talk: $10, $25
T-mobile: $10, $30, $50
Verizon: $15, $30, $50
I’ll be stocking up on gift cards from Lowe’s to maximize my Chase Freedom Second Quarter category bonus, how about you?
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an
Sunday 20th of April 2014
Why bother with stocking up gc when I can use my ink card to buy at OD, Staples, etc at any time?
Traveling Well For Less
Sunday 20th of April 2014
Hi An,
Good point. 5X all the time using the Ink cards at office supply stores are great.
But not everyone has an Ink card. They might only have the Freedom card.
Using your Freedom also lets you get an additional 7,500 points and don't impact your $50k office supply store yearly limit.
Steven
Friday 29th of March 2013
Probably bad idea to purchase restaurant gift cards since Freedom is giving 5X on restaurants anyway.
Traveling Well For Less
Sunday 31st of March 2013
I wouldn't say it's a bad idea. It may not be the most advantageous. But it depends on someone's spending habits. If someone isn't going to spend $500 a month eating out, then it makes more sense for them to buy the restaurant gift cards from Lowe's to use for future dining and/or gifts and still get the 5% cashback bonus.
You also want to keep in mind that sometimes some restaurants aren't coded correctly and the Chase won't recognize the charge as a restaurant.
Cassie
Monday 25th of March 2013
Great tips! So there is no exclusion on purchasing gift cards, like there sometimes is online? If not the gas cards and Amazon cards would be a great way to max it out. We've already been doing as little restaurant dining as possible, knowing that we dine out for 5x after April 1 :)
Traveling Well For Less
Monday 25th of March 2013
Nope, you can buy as many as you like up to $1,500 to receive the 5% cash back bonus.
I've updated the list (it got truncated along the way) so the entire list of gift cards to include clothing and department store is included.