This is a quick reminder to activate the Q4 (October, November, and December) 5x point categories at hotels, airlines, Best Buy, and Kohl’s. Although you have until the end of the month to get your 5x points up to $1,500, you only have until TODAY (December 14th) to activate. You will get the points for all prior purchases as well, not to worry. If you have not maxed out the $1,500 maximum yet and do not believe you will do so by the end of the year, think about purchasing Best Buy or Kohl’s gift cards (assuming you shop there often and will use those gift cards) prior to the year ending. You can also purchase hotel and airline gift cards as well. Remember though, it is only up to $1,500 on these categories total and after that you will go back to earning the typical 1 point per dollar. This means for those $1,500 in purchases you will receive a total of 7,500 Chase Ultimate Reward points (or at a bare minimum $75 cash back).

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Chase has announced the 2013 schedule for the 5x category bonuses and they are slightly different than what we saw in 2012 – some quarters better and some worse. Make sure to check them out to see if this card with the 5x bonuses is beneficial for you next year.

If you are new to the Chase Freedom credit card and the quarterly 5x point bonus points, make sure to take a look at this prior post. Also, here are some of the key perks with this card: 1) there is never an annual fee, and 2) through this great roundabout method described in the prior blog post you can actually transfer your Chase Freedom points to partner loyalty programs!

DO NOT FORGET TO ACTIVATE!!!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I will only list the best credit card offers as my goal is for you to travel on a deal!