Update 6/1/20: Home Depot has been added as a 5% category on the Discover It card. Home Depot stores have gift card racks, although they’re not as extensive as the ones you’ll find in Lowe’s. (h/t Doctor of Credit)
Update 4/1/20: These categories have all gone live today. Chase has added select streaming services as an eligible category (h/t Doctor of Credit). From a gift card perspective, you’re better off buying gift cards at a grocery store and then buying discounted gift cards for streaming services elsewhere when available.
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There are several credit cards that offer 5% cashback in rotating categories each quarter. All of them can now be activated for Q2 2020 (April 1 to June 30), so here are their links and how to maximize them for gift card purchases in case you wouldn’t meet their respective spending limits through organic spend.
Cards, Categories, Limits & Activation Links
Chase Freedom
- Grocery Stores (excludes Target & Walmart)
- Fitness Club & Gym Memberships
- Select Streaming Services
- Disney+
- Netflix
- Hulu
- Sling
- Vudu
- Fubo TV
- Apple Music
- SiriusXM
- Pandora
- Spotify
- YouTube
- ESPN+
- Google Play
- 5% cashback on up to $1,500 spend in combined purchases of this quarter’s categories
- Eligible retailers & exclusions
- Activation link
Needless to say, it should be easy to max out your 7,500 Ultimate Rewards earning potential by spending $1,500 on gift cards at grocery stores if you wouldn’t max it out on regular grocery spend.
Discover It
- Gas Stations
- Uber
- Lyft
- Wholesale Clubs
- Home Depot (added on June 1, 2020)
- 5% cashback on up to $1,500 in purchases
- Activation link
This is another nice set of categories for being able to max it out fairly easily. On the wholesale clubs front, Sam’s Club, Costco and BJ’s frequently run gift card sales, while Visa and Mastercard gift cards are also an option.
If you don’t currently have a membership to a wholesale club, there are some options for cut-price memberships. Groupon currently has a deal for a Sam’s Club membership which you can make a profit on, while BJ’s offers an online-only option for $10.
Alternatively, many gas stations sell gift cards, although it’s YMMV as to whether they’ll accept payment by credit card for gift cards – some do, but some don’t. Speedway often runs deals, while at 7-Eleven you can often buy Visa gift cards; just be sure to do a test purchase first to make sure it codes as a gas station.
Citi Dividend
- Drugstores
- Amazon
- Total annual (calendar year) cash back is limited to $300 and includes additional cash back earned in connection with this offer (i.e. $6,000 total spend).
- Activation link
If you haven’t maxed out your $6,000 spending limit at supermarkets during Q1, Q2 makes it easy to do that seeing as drugstores and Amazon sell third party gift cards, as well as Visa and Mastercard gift cards. Both drugstores and Amazon also frequently run deals on gift cards, so it might be worth waiting until those come around to make those deals even more profitable.
US Bank Cash+
- Choose two of the following:
- Home Utilities
- Electronics Stores
- Sporting Goods Stores
- Ground Transportation
- TV, Internet & Streaming
- Department Stores
- Select Clothing Stores
- Gyms/Fitness Centers
- Furniture Stores
- Cell Phones
- Fast Food
- Movie Theaters
- 5% cashback on your first $2,000 in combined net purchases in your chosen 5% categories
- Activation link
The US Bank Cash+ categories don’t rotate each quarter, although you do get to change/maintain your selection of two categories. It’s a shame that grocery stores, drugstores, etc. aren’t eligible categories, but there are a few gift card options.
The electronics stores category presumably includes Best Buy. That means you can buy gift cards for Best Buy, Amazon and many other third party brands, plus Best Buy sometimes offers discounted gift card deals. Some department stores and clothing stores also have third party gift card racks.
ABOC Platinum Rewards
- Grocery Stores
- Restaurants
- Ride Share
- Gas Stations
- Tolls
- Mass Transit
- Earn 5% cashback on your first $1,500 in combined purchases each quarter.
- Activation link
The ABOC Platinum Rewards card has one of the most extensive lists of eligible retailers this quarter. Here’s the full list of MCC codes and their corresponding descriptions:
- 5411 Groceries
- 5451 Dairy Product Stores
- 5462 Bakeries
- 5499 Misc. Food/Convenience
- 5441 Candy/Nut
- 5422 Freezer/Locker Meat
- 5812 Restaurants
- 5813 Restaurants
- 5814 Fast Food
- 4121 Ride Share
- 5541 Gas
- 5542 Gas
- 4784 Tolls
- 5599 Gas
- 4111 Mass Transit
- 4112 Mass Transit
It’s funny that they’re offering 5% in so many categories considering the headline description is “Dining & Transportation”. It’ll be easy to max out your $1,500 spending on gift cards seeing as you can buy them at grocery stores and gas stations.
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