I don't know of the exact timeline when I started feeling this way, but I do agree that the Freedom 5x categories have gotten a lot worse since 2020. Maybe I've just been paying more attention to them, but they definitely feel less relevant than before. This past quarter was especially bad - I don't shop on Amazon much so 5x there is wasted, and as a renter I don't have a reason to really shop at Lowe's, so the cards literally were sock drawered for the quarter. The Amazon quarter always feels a bit weird, though, as Chase also offers a 5% back credit card for Amazon purchases if someone's an Amazon Prime member - sure, 5x UR is better than 5% back, but most people either don't know or don't care about the distinction, and if someone's a regular Amazon user they likely have Prime already and likely have at least strongly considered getting the Amazon Prime credit card already.

Meanwhile Discover seems to be getting more creative at staying relevant. The 5% mobile wallet category is lovely, and while I won't maximize the 5% restaurants for Q2 due to various SUBs I've been pursuing, it's definitely a more relevant category than Lowe's. Arguably Discover has to be more competitive by nature - they don't have a larger travel ecosystem to sell people on for higher-end cards, and thus need to be more appealing to stay top-of-wallet for people. But at this point I'm tempted to close my Freedom Unlimited and either Freedom Flex or legacy Freedom, at least at the end of the year when there's no more free $10 each month for GoPuff on each card. Chase isn't my primary ecosystem and I don't see that changing anytime soon, and based on the current categories I don't see them getting to a point where having double the cap would be useful.