Chase Freedom Bonus Categories for Fall 2012

EDITORS NOTE: THIS OFFER IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

This is just a quick reminder that it’s time for Chase Freedom cardholders to sign up for the fall 2012 bonus categories. As you may recall, this card offers 1% cash back on all purchases with an additional 4% (5% total) in rotating categories.

The categories for October-December are hotels and airlines, plus you’ll get the same bonus for purchases at Best Buy and Kohl’s. If you’ve signed up for auto-enrollment, there’s nothing more to do. But if you weren’t eligible for that offer, you’ll need to visit the Chase website to enroll. And while you’re at it, mark your calendar for December 15th, which is when the winter enrollment period opens up.

As always, you should keep in mind that you can redeem your rewards for an extra 10-20% if you’re willing to choose gift cards from select stores. The best deal going that last time we talked about this was Land’s End, which offers a 20% bonus and can be redeemed at Sears or K-Mart. You can get a similar deal from the Gap, though you’ll have to actually use it at the Gap. Kohl’s, Office Depot, and a few others are available at a 10% discount.

Or you can just choose cash — either as a check or as a statement credit. Speaking of which, I just redeemed 17k points for a $170 statement credit, to be applied to my next bill. Not too shabby.

Don’t forget the $100 bonus…

If you don’t already have the Chase Freedom card, you can get a $100 cash bonus by applying for one, getting approved, and spending $500 within the first three months, and there’s no annual fee. Technically, you’ll get 10, 000 points, but you can easily redeem these for a $100 check or statement credit.

For what it’s worth, we’ve had this card for years and have never had any problems getting Chase to hold up their end of the bargain. You just login, request the check or credit, and it shows up as promised.