Both the Discover It and Chase Freedom Flex rotating categories are in for Q4 2024.
Below is my plan for Q4 2024 using my custom cashback strategy as described in my recent article: Introducing My 5%+ Custom Cashback Strategy.
Rotating Categories for Q4 2024.
Discover It is Amazon & Target.
Chase Freedom Flex is Paypal, McDonald’s, Pet Shops, Vet Services & Select Charities.
My plan with my six custom cashback cards:
| Chase Freedom Flex | Paypal which includes Drugstores (7% CB at CVS) McDonald’s (7% CB) Won’t spend in pet shops, vet services nor charities |
| Discover It | Amazon — backup to Pepper I’ve been getting 12-14% CB at Amazon w/ Pepper lately I don’t shop at Target, but good for buying GC’s at 5% off (This card won’t get much use this quarter if at all.) |
| Citi Custom Cash | Groceries |
| Kroger Rewards | Mobile Wallet Purchases, including: Gas & Fast Food — not including McDonald’s |
| US Bank Cash+ | Utilities & Dept. Stores — eBay also codes as Dept. Stores |
| Chase Ink Cash | Internet & Phone |
| Pepper App | For 12-14%+ back on Amazon, Walmart, Sam’s, etc. |
| Catchall / SUB | Amex Business Gold (SUB) & Citi Double Cash (Catchall) |
I previously mentioned in my above linked article — which describes my cashback strategy in detail — that on rare occasions the Dining category might only be 3% cashback (i.e. via Chase Freedom Flex). This is one of those quarters as the two rotating category cards — Discover It & Chase Freedom Flex — only cover one of the four essential categories: gas, groceries, dining & drugstores — namely drugstores via Paypal Pay. This is where the Kroger Rewards card comes in to gap fill. It is filling in for gas and fast food. However Apple Pay can’t be used inside many restaurants when dining. Normally I would use the Chase Freedom Flex in this case for 3% cashback, but since I now have an Amex Business Gold (ABG) for the time being — working on a SUB — I’ll use it for dining in at 4x cashback.
Again, as mentioned in my linked article above, this cashback strategy has been backtested for many years and works well on getting 5% cashback on almost anything. For this quarter 4x cashback from Dining is good enough. To be honest I rarely dine in since we are frugal and enjoy home cooked meals — so it really doesn’t matter much — we do eat fast food from time to time though which the Kroger Rewards card covers.
My iPhone Wallpaper for Q4 2024:
AP = Apple Pay. WP = Walmart Pay.
Pepper. Pepper often has 10x discount boosts on Amazon, Walmart, Sam’s Club, etc. eGift cards. For added boost purchase the eGift card with a 2-4% CB card — e.g. Citi Double Cash, Synchrony Premier, BofA Unlimited Cash Preferred Rewards, Robinhood Gold, US Bank Smartly VISA, etc. If interested my Pepper referral code is 602899.
