Reminder: Today Is Your Last Chance to Register for 5X Categories on Chase Freedom Cards

This is a quick reminder that today (December 14th) is the deadline for registering towards 5X categories on your Chase Freedom cards. This quarter you can get 5 points per dollar on purchases made at Walmart and via PayPal. Click to register

If you regularly shop at Walmart, it could make sense to buy some gift cards online, in order to lock in the savings. Walmart.com also sells various third-party gift cards, like iTunes. However, keep in mind that you can often find those on Amazon.com and  get a bonus $10 card. It looks like the largest denomination Visa or Mastercard gift card sold on Walmart.com is now only $100, and the fee of $5.44 basically kills the deal. Personally, I wouldn’t bother. The $200 American Express gift cards, on the other hand, could be worth considering.

The PayPal category to me is more interesting. Many vendors accept PayPal these days. I was actually surprised to find out that I could pay my auto insurance via PayPal. I was about to use my recently approved Bank of America Premium credit card in order to meet minimum spending requirements. But now I will definitely use my Chase Freedom Flex instead and generate almost 6k points. Even though  I currently don’t have a premium Chase card that will allow me to transfer these points to travel partners, I can always upgrade in the future (after accumulating a sizable stash first).

In the past, you could safely send money via PayPal to a friend and pay a 3% fee. The 5X points windfall made this scheme worthwhile. However, Chase has added language indicating that it may be treated as a cash advance and incur relevafees as a result. Personally, I wouldn’t risk it. Plus, it could draw attention and scrutiny. I wouldn’t want to risk my relationship with Chase over a few points.