Earn 5x at Department Stores with Chase Freedom

I've written about the Chase Freedom card a number of times including post about the 5x category (restaurants) last quarter.  Freedom is one of the best "fee free" cards on the market.  While the card is marketed as a cash back card, if you have another Ultimate Rewards earning card (such as an Ink business card or a Chase Sapphire Preferred card) you can transfer the cash back points earned to your Ultimate Rewards earning card.  You can then use those points to transfer to a variety of travel partners (British Airways, United Airlines, Hyatt, etc..) which provide far more value then simply redeeming for cash back.

Chase Freedom provides a quarterly bonus where you can earn 5x cash back (and ultimately 5x Ultimate Rewards) on up to $1,500 in spend per quarter.  During Q3 the bonus categories included restaurants and warehouse clubs (i.e. Costco).  While the quarter isn't over, I've already maxed my 5x bonus and Emily is getting pretty close.  

Registration/activation is open for Q4 which offers 5x at department stores, warehouse clubs, and drug stores.  While I was hoping for a 5x (or a 10x) bonus at Amazon, these categories are pretty solid for holiday shopping.  Between warehouse clubs, department stores, and gift cards from drug stores, we should easily be able to do some of our holiday shopping at 5x.