TLDR: The quarterly bonus categories for the Chase Freedom Flex® and Discover it® Cash Back are out for Quarter 1 of 2026. The best categories (in our opinion) are 7% on dining purchases with the Freedom Flex and 5% on grocery with some Discover cards.
Quarter 1, 2026 = January 01, 2026 – March 31, 2026
The bonus categories on the Chase Freedom Flex® include dining, the Norwegian Cruise Line and the American Heart Association.
The American Heart Association is a super niche category to earn cash back on. The only minor benefit I see is earning cash back on donating to the American Heart Association if that’s one of your top charities you like to donate to. You can also earn cash back on purchases of CPR equipment and training materials.
With the Norwegian Cruise Line, you can book cruises via their website. For example, you could book a 5 day cruise in the Caribbean departing from Miami at $349 per person on February 2-7 of 2026. Let’s say you are booking for 2 people—that’d be $698. With 5% back on the Chase Freedom Flex®, you would earn $34.90 in cash back.
Dining is by far the best category of the three available as you’ll earn 7% back and it’s useful for almost everyone even if you dine out on occasion.
You will be able to spend up to $1,500 on these categories for the quarter and get 5% back with the American Heart Association and Norwegian Cruise Line while you will get 7% back on dining purchases. If you spend $1,500 or more in these categories, your cash back earned on these categories will revert back down to 1% back (the rate of all other purchases on the Chase Freedom Flex®).
So the Chase Freedom Flex® gets 3% on dining year round no matter what the quarterly bonus categories are. With the 5% back on dining in Q1, things get quite interesting. Here’s how it works:
1% base + 2% dining year round + 4% quarterly bonus category = 7% dining
The quarterly bonus category is technically supposed to be 5% back but that’s only ON TOP of the 1% base cash back. The same applies to the dining earn rate year round. I decoded the fine print so you don’t have to:)
Discover’s 5% back categories on Q1 of 2026 include grocery stores, wholesale clubs, and select streaming services for up to $1,500 purchases in the quarter. And you will have access to the 5% cash back opportunities if you are a cardholder of the Discover it Cash Back Credit Card, Discover it® Student Cash Back or NHL Discover it Credit Card.
The grocery store category is superb—there’s almost no way to not get a benefit out of this. Unless you prefer going to wholesale clubs like Sam’s Club or Costco. In that case, you can still earn 5% back!
Most people I know have converted from traditional cable services to streaming options so the 5% back on select streaming services can be useful as well. The select streaming services include Amazon Music, Amazon Prime Video, AMC+, Apple Music, Apple TV, Audible, DirecTV Stream, Fandango at Home, Google Play Music and Video, Max, iHeartRadio, MLB.TV, Netflix, Pandora, Paramount Plus, Peacock, SiriusXM, Sling TV, Spotify, Starz, YouTube Music, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV.
Discover says that “other popular streaming services may be included,” but I would be careful with that. I suggest sticking to the list of streaming services above. It’s quite an extensive list as it includes live TV, streaming for movies & shows and music streaming options like Apple Music and Spotify.
The limit in spending is the same as the Chase Freedom Flex®—you can spend up to $1,500 in Q1 of 2026 making for a possibility of up to $75 in cash back!
Frankly, I think Discover cards with 5% back and the Chase Freedom Flex® have their own unique benefits respectively.
The Chase Freedom Flex® is a card that earns cash back but this cash back can be converted to Chase points. These Chase points can then be used for travel on Chase Travel or transferred to Chase’s numerous travel partners with a premium card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®. You can get cash back but there is better value when you use Chase points for travel. The Chase Freedom Flex® is geared more to folks looking to accumulate Chase points for travel purposes.
The Discover it Cash Back Credit Card, Discover it® Student Cash Back and NHL Discover it Credit Card are all cards that have access to Discover’s 5% cash back calendar and primarily cash back focused cards. All three cards offer unlimited cash back match after your first year of having the card. For instance, let’s say you earned $500 in cash back in your first year of having one of these cards—you’ll get an additional $500!
The downside of the three Discover cards is that the cash back match benefit only lasts for the first year. After the first year, I would say that the Chase Freedom Flex® is equivalent in value if all you care about is cash back as you’ll earn at the same rates. And then you can always use cash back earned on the Chase Freedom Flex® for travel purposes when converted to Chase points.
The Citi Double Cash® Card, Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card, and Chase Freedom Unlimited® are all fantastic cash back cards.
I have the Chase Freedom Unlimited® and I love it as you get unlimited 1.5% back on all purchases. All while the cash back can be converted to Chase points (assuming you have the right partner card). With the card's current welcome offer, you can earn $200 in cash back after spending just $500 in the first three months from the account opening.
The Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards card allows you to earn 2% back on all purchases in the first year and then 1.5% back afterwards.
The Citi Double Cash card is another excellent choice as you earn 2% back total on all purchases—1% back when you buy and another 1% back when you pay off your card. The welcome offer isn’t bad either as you’ll earn $200 in cash back after spending $1,500 in the first 6 months from the account opening.
If you are looking for travel redemption opportunities in the future, it might be worth getting the Chase Freedom Flex®. The cash back you earn on the card can be converted to Chase points where you can redeem them directly on Chase Travel. You can also transfer them to a more premium Chase card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve® to transfer the points to Chase’s numerous airline & hotel partners. The Discover it Cash Back Credit Card, Discover it® Student Cash Back and NHL Discover it Credit Card are all great for cash back as you’ll get unlimited cash back match for the first year along with the 5% bonus categories.
Will you be getting one of the Discover cards with the 5% back calendar or the Chase Freedom Flex® for the new year?