Chase Freedom used to give 5% rewards in your top three categories of spending (I think that's how it was set up.) So if your top three categories were gas, groceries, and cell phone bill, you'd get 5% back on those charges. If your top three were florists, veterinary care, and drugstores, you'd get your rewards on those. (I'm picking those out of the air.)
I'd say that they found themselves giving back way more in rewards than they wanted, so they switched to revolving categories, changing every quarter. Some quarters are great, others are pretty ehh, depending on usage. For instance, 5% back on gas is useless for people without cars.
I was stuck at the 1% for everything level after they switched out my cards, but finally they started giving me the revolving 5% last fall, and I'm getting lotsa cash back now.
5% cash back on Chase Freedom
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
