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Activate your Chase Freedom Flex to earn 7X points per dollar on dining for Q4 2026. Chase Freedom cards earn 5X on rotating quarterly categories (up to $1500 per card per quarter), which for Q4 2026 include dining, grocery stores, and donations to the American Red Cross.
5X points per dollar spent at grocery stores (excluding Walmart and Target) is good, but it will also be possible to front load grocery store spend in Q1 2027, when grocery stores are again a 5X category.
While all Chase Freedom cards earn 5X points per dollar on dining, Chase Freedom Flex cards already earn an additional 2 bonus points per dollar spent on restaurants, so those with a Chase Freedom Flex card earn 7 points per dollar on dining, whether they eat in at their favorite restaurant or take out.
Note that the merchant must be categorized as a restaurant, so for example bakeries, catering services, meal kit delivery services, and restaurants located in other facilities such as in sports stadiums, theme parks, grocery stores, department stores, hotels, casinos, etc. don't qualify.
All Chase Freedom cards are no annual fee cards. It used to be that all of them charged a 3% foreign transaction fee, such that most card holders would want to avoid using the card when dining abroad. But as of September 1, 2026, the Chase Freedom Flex cards have no foreign transaction fees, so the 7X on dining in Q4 2026 can also be used on restaurants abroad, without incurring forex fees.
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Best Uses of Chase Freedom Points
While Chase Freedom points can be converted to cash back as statement credits, at a rate of 1 cent per point, a much more valuable redemption is transferring them out to Ultimate Rewards airline frequent flyer partners. To do this, you'll need to also hold a Sapphire Reserve for Business, Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred. To get even greater value, watch for periodic transfer bonuses to frequent flyer programs, most often to British Airways/Iberia/Aer Lingus, Aeroplan, and Virgin Atlantic. We've used our points for ANA First Class Suites, SWISS Business Class, Iberia Business Class, Aer Lingus Business Class, Qatar First Class, and Qatar Qsuites Business Class, among others.
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