mia

I think it further erodes the weak value proposition of Sapphire Reserve. This quarter we are using Barclays Aviator because we would rather have AA miles than UR points. Next quarter Freedom because 5X is better than 3X.

spencenaz

Anybody have any bright ideas on how to max out the Q3 bonus? Wondering if there are any stores that count as "restaurants" that also sell gift cards. If not, hopefully Q4 has something good for us.

shimps1

It only erodes $1,500 worth of spending out of the CSR though. If someone only spend $6k a year on dining I doubt they're getting your full value of the CSR to begin with, unless they have decent travel spend.

I did the math when signing up for the CSR.

Net $150 AF, assuming 1 quarter of the year will be Restaurants on the freedom, so you have 12 months of Travel and 9 months of dining to make that up.

Assuming your other option is the CFU, 1.5x UR, you need to spend a total of $7,500 in the above time frame to get your moneys worth from the CSR. Less once you consider it also adds 50% value to any other URs you earn from other cards, and other perks.

Critterlynn

5 + 3 is better. This is exactly what you would have if the 5x bonus was in another category. Basically what we have is overlapping benefits of two different cards, albeit a slightly better bonus with the Freedom card. But this comes at the expense of not having another category to earn additional points.

sdsearch

Go to restaurants you like to eat at regularly, and buy gift cards for those restaurants to use once the quarter is over. Ie, use restaurant gift cards to pay for 1 full year of dining at restaurants in one quarter.

Ie, many restaurants sell gift cards or gift certificates for themselves (if it's brand name restaurant, the gift card may be good at all locations or may only be good at certain locations; if you care, ask first). I've never seen restaurants selling MC/Visa gift cards, though (if that's what you meant by "gift cards" ).

Or offer to pay all dining with friends 3rd quarter in exchange for them paying for you in 4th quarter.

I don't know if you'll "max" it out, but that's one way of getting somewhat more than you would get "naturally".

And you could pull the same trick with movie theaters, buying movie theater gift cards which would last you through Q4, Q1, and Q2.

The trick is you have to estimate how much you'll use that restaurant or that movie theater in the following 3 quarters. If you overestimate, you won't able to do the same next year, because you'll be backlogged with unspent restaurant and movie theater gift cards. (While you can liquidate store gift cards, it's usually not nearly for their face value, so I'm not sure if that would be worth it or not for you. If you were able to liquidate for 80% of face value, that's as if you had only earned 4x. If you were only able to liquidate for 60% of face value, that's as if you had only earned 3x.)

Troopers

I suspect the Freedom quarterly bonuses shifts more than $1,500 from the CSR. I think every quarter shifts ~$1,500 from the CSR...look upthread to see posts where travel and dining spending in the form of gift cards, etc were spent on the Freedom in Q1 and Q2.

sedubby

Am I the only one who "hacks" points by volunteering to reimburse company events for my team? A happy hour and a dinner will easily max out 2 freedoms...

cameljockey

How about Starbucks coffee drinkers??? I am pretty sure Starbucks Coffee or (related coffee shops) qualify as restuarants

Too bad Discover Card has the same category this quarter

mohr2427

Does paying for gift cards using the united mileageplus x app deliver 5x points for restaurants if you pay with the freedom card?

krazykanuck

I only wish I could be the one to pay for stuff like that. In my most recent job, all got relegated to the corporate amex (if my office manager paid) or my director's CSP. Rule was highest ranking person in attendance pays, which is never me. I almost cried last year, when Costco switched from Amex to Visa, and my office manager switched from shopping at Costco to Sam's for our office drinks/snacks. This was easily a few hundred bucks a month and she was like "well I'm not using my card and getting reimbursed, so kept it on the amex". I so wanted to say, take my Visa and I'll expense it. Because of the 2 quarters of warehouse clubs last year on the Freedom.

The underlying merchant code passes through when using a Visa/MC, so you should get 5X

mikex163

Yes, Starbucks does indeed count as "restaurants". In fact the category it's not "restaurants", it's "dining".

cameljockey

So if Starbucks come us "dining" and not "restaurants", does that mean it technically doesn't qualify for this quarter?

Troopers

Starbucks qualifies; it is specifically listed.

https://creditcards.chase.com/freedom/merchants

sdsearch

For those that don't know, the way you get to that link is through this FAQ section:
So that is just a list of examples, so don't worry if a restaurant (or movie theater) you want to use isn't on that list.

Just beware the exclusions:

DeltaNeutral28

This is a dumb question but do the new quarterly categories start at 12 midnight on the 1st of each quarter or is their some type of reconciliation where it starts at like 2am?