The Chase Freedom 5X Categories for Q4 2018 are Chase Pay, Wholesale Clubs and Department Stores. I can't say I'm any more excited by these categories than I was about the Q3 2018 categories of Gas Stations, Lyft and Walgreens, none of which I use.
At first, before I realized the differences between Chase Pay and Apple Pay, I figured Chase Pay would be an excellent way to pay individuals, if willing to pay the credit card fee. Unfortunately, no. Chase Pay is strictly for merchants, so there's no way to pay a credit card fee so as to pay individuals with it. Chase QuickPay is what you can use to pay friends, but it's using your Chase bank account; there's no option to use a credit card, and in any case, it's Chase Pay that earns the Chase Freedom 5X bonus in Q4 2018, not Chase QuickPay.
Note that the Chase Pay Merchants page does NOT list all merchants that accept Chase Pay, only some of the larger partners:
- 1-800-baskets.com
- 1-800-flowers.com
- Argo Tea
- Atom Tickets
- Best Buy
- Cheryl's
- Chopt
- Cinemark
- Cowboy Chicken
- Dearborn Market
- eBags
- Five Guys
- The Fresh Grocer
- Fruit Bouquets
- Harry & David
- La Madeleine
- mpix
- Parkmobile
- The Popcorn Factory
- Potbelly Sandwich Shop
- Price Rite Marketplace
- Shell
- ShopRite
- Stock Yards
- Walmart
- Wolferman's
For other local merchants, you'll have to download the Chase Pay app via the App Store or Google Play, turn on location services, and see what comes up. You can also search by putting in a zip code. Unfortunately, none of the merchants I actually shop regularly at, such as Trader Joe's, are part of Chase Pay.
For example, I was able to pull up Num Pang sandwich shop, which also has a couple of Chase Pay offers:
And I also pulled up the Doughnut Plant, also with a couple of Chase Pay offers:
Still, we're unlikely to spend more than $100-$150 total on Num Pang and Doughnut Plant for Q4 2018, and they aren't stores I'd be trying to buy $500 in gift cards to either.
Living in NYC, we don't shop at any of the Wholesale Clubs, and I can't remember the last time I was in a department store, much less bought anything at one.
Overall, extremely disappointing Chase Freedom 5X categories for Q3 and Q4 2018.
What are your thoughts on the Chase Freedom Q4 2018 5X categories?
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