By combining a credit card together with a few programs, you can reap a potential 22 points per dollar on dining through 2026.

If you’re lazy, these parts are additive/mutually exclusive; that is to say, you can use any one of the three parts and then decide if you want to add on other bits to combine together for maximal value.

How the rewards add up

This stack involves using the Chase Freedom Flex® plus combining Paze with a dining rewards program. Even if you don’t have a Flex yet, there’s a limited time bonus offer worth considering as well.

Here’s how to set everything up.

Step 1: Activate 7x dining on Freedom Flex

Activate your Q4 categories at chasebonus.com by December 14, 2026.

From October 1 through December 31, eligible dining earns 3x standard rewards plus 4x quarterly bonus. Chase counts the base 1x only once, which is why the total is 7x.

The quarterly bonus covers up to $1,500 combined across dining, eligible grocery stores, and American Red Cross donations. You can stop here if you want the simplest option.

If you don’t have a Chase Freedom Flex® yet, now is a fantastic time to get one. Not only are the quarterly categories for Q4 2026 and Q1 2027 excellent, the card also has a limited time bonus offer.

Chase Freedom Flex®

Learn More

Chase Freedom Flex®

Limited Time Offer! Earn a $250 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening!

Step 2: Pay through Paze to add another 10x points

Paze is an online wallet for your existing cards. As many have discovered, you can use Paze checkout at Clover restaurants that accept online orders.

Eligible Chase cards have this really nice bonus for Paze purchases: Get 10x additional points on top of your Ultimate Rewards® points when you check out with Paze at participating merchants through December 31, 2026.

You can see if you have it in your account by checking your card benefits:

Now, here’s how you combine this with the Freedom Flex’s dining bonus for the quarter:

1. Find a restaurant on the dedicated nextcard Paze Clover Map

2. Open its Clover ordering link in a web browser

3. Add your food, choose Paze, and pay with your Freedom Flex via Paze checkout

Assuming you haven’t hit your quarterly caps or limits, you’ll earn a total of 17x total Chase points.

Step 3: Find the Rakuten overlap

Ok if you’ve gotten this far, I assume you want to start triple stacking. As mentioned earlier, you can stop at Step 2 and still fare pretty well, but this is how you really start to maximize value…

On the dedicated Clover map, select Stack With → Rakuten Dining. This lists restaurants that use Clover as their point of sale and also participate in Rakuten’s Dining program.

Rakuten Dining offers 5% cash back on eligible purchases. You can receive that as:

• 5% cash back

• 5x Amex points with an eligible Membership Rewards account connected

• 5x Bilt points with Silver, Gold, or Platinum status at payout (the standard Blue rate works out to 2.5x)

The critical idea here is that you link your Chase Freedom Flex® to your Rakuten wallet and then earn bonused spend when checking out with Clover. It works because Clover is literally how the restaurant processes its payments, so it shows up as the restaurant charge.

(btw, if for some reason you don’t want to use Rakuten, it’s essentially interchangeable with Bilt Wallet )

Continue with Bilt Wallet setup

A quick example: 220C Banh Mi & Coffee

This Charlotte Vietnamese restaurant is part of all the programs we need for the super stack.

A $10 banh mi purchase could earn:

• 70 Chase points from Freedom Flex dining and Q4 rewards

• 100 additional Chase points from Paze

• 50 Amex points from Rakuten

That’s 170 Chase points plus 50 Amex points. If you value both currencies at 1.5 cents each, the rewards would be worth $3.30, or 33% of the purchase. Pretty crazy value, especially if you’re good at redeeming your points!

FAQs

Can I earn Amex points while paying with my Chase Freedom Flex?

Yes. Your linked Freedom Flex pays for the meal; Rakuten sends eligible rewards to your connected Membership Rewards account when you select that payout option. Just remember that you need to be paying the bill at a restaurant that participates in Rakuten Dining.

Can I also link my Freedom Flex to Bilt Dining and earn Rakuten cashback or MR points too?

No. Rakuten Dining and Bilt Neighborhood Dining use the same underlying dining program rails: Rewards network. Rakuten Dining can be the better program to use, but it really depends on how much cashback/points you’re earning.

If you try to enroll in the other program while enrolled in one, you’ll get kicked out.

What are the limits to this strategy?

There are two limits to keep in mind:

• Freedom Flex’s Q4 bonus only applies to $1,500 in combined purchases across dining, eligible grocery stores, and American Red Cross donations for the entire quarter

• Chase’s additional 10x Paze bonus applies to $1,500 in qualifying Paze purchases per month, per eligible card

Once you hit the quarterly cap, eligible dining can still earn 13x Chase points with Paze. If you hit only the monthly Paze cap, you can still earn 7x while your quarterly allowance remains. After both caps, dining earns the standard 3x.

Any qualifying Rakuten rewards are separate from these Chase limits.

Is the strategy worthwhile without Rakuten?

The qualifying Chase + Paze portion still earns an absurd 17x, worth 17% when redeemed for straight cash back. Given there are only about 400 restaurants in the US that would qualify for this super stack, even just the Chase + Paze portion is good.