Discover Reveals 5% Bonus Calendar for 2022, Adds New Categories
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Discover has announced its 5% bonus categories for 2022 and nearly every quarter looks different than in previous years.
Eligible Discover cards, like the popular Discover it® Cash Back and Discover it® Student Cash Back, earn 5% cash back in bonus categories that change quarterly, on up to $1,500 in combined quarterly spending (category activation required). All other spending earns 1% cash back. Cardholders earn elevated rewards only on purchases made after activation, but you can activate categories two months prior to the start of the quarter.
Bonus categories for 2022's third quarter — restaurants and PayPal — will remain the same as those featured in 2021. But for the other three quarters, there are notable changes.
Bonus categories for 2022:
Q1 (January – March): Grocery stores, fitness clubs and gym memberships.
Q2 (April – June): Gas stations and Target.
Q3 (July – September): Restaurants and PayPal.
Q4 (October – December): Amazon.com and digital wallets.
What's changed?
In the first quarter of 2022, the issuer will offer fitness clubs and gym memberships instead of CVS and Walgreens like it did the previous year. According to the issuer, this new category will apply to national fitness centers, local gyms, in-person gym memberships as well as in-person and virtual fitness classes. Grocery stores will again be a first-quarter bonus category as they were in 2021.
Gas stations are again a bonus category in the second quarter, as they were in 2021. But wholesale clubs and select streaming services have been swapped out in Q2 in favor of Target. Target was a bonus category in the last quarter of 2021, but only for online purchases at the retailer. The new Q2 category has been expanded to include in-store, online and in-app purchases..
Payment service PayPal has been a quarter three bonus category for the past three years and remains in Q3 2022. Additionally, a variety of digital wallets will be offered in Q4. Holders of eligible Discover cards will earn the quarterly bonus when they use their cards to make a purchase through Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay or Garmin Pay.
Discover bonus rewards categories for 2023 | |
|---|---|
Q1 (Jan. 1–March 31) |
|
Q2 (April 1–June 30) |
|
Q3 (July 1–Sept. 30) | TBD (In 2022: Restaurants; PayPal). |
Q4 (Oct. 1–Dec. 31) | TBD (In 2022: Amazon.com; digital wallets). |
*The grocery stores category does not include grocery purchases at Walmart or Target or at other superstores or wholesale clubs. | |
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