Chase Cash Back Calendar: What Purchases Qualify and What To Expect

Chase Bank maintains a cash back calendar for their Chase Freedom® cardholders. The purpose of the calendar is to inform users when and where they can earn 5% cash back using their card. The list of merchants changes every quarter, and isn't always the same every year. However, by studying the calendars from the last three years, it's possible to see certain patterns emerge. In this guide, we'll go over the cash back categories in greater detail, going over what is and isn't included. We'll also analyze Chase's past calendars, to see what types merchants we can expect to show up in the future.

• Current Calendar
• What Types of Stores and Retailers Are Included?
• What Types of Stores and Retailers Are Excluded?
• Predicting Future Chase Cash Back Calendar Categories

2017 Chase Cash Back Calendar

These are the categories where Chase Freedom® cardholders can earn 5% this year. Typically, you earn an unlimited 1% cash back on all purchases with the card. However, when shopping in the the bonus categories during their corresponding time of the year, you'll earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in combined purchases. Therefore, the maximum bonus cash back you can earn within a single quarter is $60 -- you'll also receive $15 from the regular 1% cash back you're earning, for a grand total of $75.

What Types Of Merchants Are Included In The Chase Cash Back Calendar?

Retailers who accept Visa and Mastercard credit cards are assigned a merchant category code (MCC), and these in turn dictate how Chase views the merchants for assinging approporate levels of cash back. The MCC is determined by either the merchant or its processor, though the whole procedure is regulated by Visa and Mastercard based on the kinds of products and services they primarily sell or provide.

Chase groups merchants with similar MCCs together under the umbrella of broad categories you see reflected in their calendar -- restaurants, gas stations, etc. The bank stipulates that they have full discretion as to how these codes are grouped. Therefore, it's entirely possible for some merchants that sell some of the items that fit one particular category, to not be awarded the full 5%. This can work for and against cardholders. For example, if you buy groceries at a gas station, when grocery stores are a 5% category, you shouldn't expect to get 5% back. The merchant is likely categorized as a gas station, and will therefore the purchase will be registered as such in the Chase's eyes.

Please note we make every effort to include all relevant merchant codes in its rewards categories. However, even though a merchant or some of the items that it sells may appear to fit within a rewards category, the merchant may not have a merchant code in that category. When this occurs, purchases with that merchant won't qualify for reward offers on purchases in that category. However, the opposite can also work in your favor. If you buy groceries at a gas station when the quarterly category is Gas Stations, you will still receive the full 5% -- you don't actually have to buy gas. For example, many 7/11 stores are categorized as a gas station under their MCC, even if they don't actually sell gas.

What Is Not Covered Under The Chase Cash Back Calendar

Since some of the merchant categories on the cash back calendar can be a bit vague, Chase explicitly lists out the types of merchants that will not earn you 5%. While some of these merchants may seem like they fit a particular category, at the end of the day stores that qualify for bonus cash back are left up to Chase's discretion. For example, while Walmart is technically sells groceries and one might consider it a grocery store, it is consistently excluded from the Grocery Stores category.

Here is a full list of exclusions, for the most common categories:

• Grocery Stores and Drugstores do not include: Walmart, Target
• Restaurants do not include: Merchants that sell food and drinks located within larger merchants such as sports stadiums, hotels, casinos, theme parks, and department stores
• Movie Theaters do not include: movie rentals, online movie downloads, pay per view, live theaters, establishments that sell and rent movies, movie subscription and streaming services. Purchases that are not processed by the merchant in the movie theaters category, for example food, beverage, or merchandise purchases that do not register to Chase as movie theater purchases.
• Gas Station related exclusions: airline fuel companies, car repair shops, convenience stores where gas is not sold, grocery stores, dairies/farm stores, home heating companies, oil and propane distributors, Marinas Superstores, warehouse stores, discount stores, truck stops.
• Local commuter transportation exclusions: all transportation outside the U.S., national and international trains (such as Amtrak), tourist/tour buses, trains and trolleys, airport shuttles/limousines, parking lots and garages, park and ride facilities, tolls/bridges, restaurants/dining services/gift shops, school/university buses and transit, bike taxis and pedicabs, bike sharing services, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, airlines.
• Wholesale club exclusions: gas and fuel, wholesale clubs specialty services such as travel, insurance, cell phone and home improvement.

You can always get examples of the types of merchants that are and aren't included under the current bonus on Chase's website.

Note: If you don't receive 5% cash back at a merchant not explicitly excluded, that you feel should have earned you the bonus cash back, call customer service. If you carefully explain why you believe a particular purchase should belong to a 5% category, you may be retroactively awarded the extra points.

What Categories Have Been Included In Past Cash Back Calendars

Chase does not provide details about the exact merchants that will appear during a specific time period, until a couple of months in advance. This can make it difficult to arrive at a decision about the card, especially if you are trying to forecast how useful it will be for your specific budget. One way around this issue is to look at what categories were offered by Chase in previous years. Many of the merchants on the cash back calendar tend to repeat year-to-year, with only slight variation.

The types of merchants included in the 5% bonus calendar change every year. However, certain groups -- like restaurants and grocery stores -- are included every single year, during similar time periods. Likewise, certain themes follow specific seasons. Every year, Chase has made the 4th quarter a "holiday" theme.