Chase bests Apple Card's 3% cash back on Apple Watch Series 3 or 5

Heads up! We share savvy shopping and personal finance tips to put extra cash in your wallet. iMore may receive a commission from The Points Guy Affiliate Network. Please note that the offers mentioned below are subject to change at any time and some may no longer be available.
What you need to know
- Chase Freedom rolls out a new 5% back offer every quarter
- From October 1st through December 31st, earn 5% back on Chase Pay and Paypal purchases
- This beats Apple's cash back offer on Apple Watch by 2%
Every 3 months, Chase Freedom runs a new 5% back offer on specific categories. For the next three months, two of those categories could help you earn 5% back on your new Apple Watch Series 5 or Apple Watch Series 3. From October 1, 2019 through December 30, 2019, cardholders will be able to earn 5% cash back (or points) when making a purchase using PayPal or Chase Pay. The offer is good for up to $1,500 in purchases.
Unlike shopping for the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, or iPhone 11 Pro Max, the Apple Watch is easy to find at third party retailers that accept Paypal and Chase Pay. It is also much easier to buy an Apple Watch outright, as opposed to having to finance it over time, so you can get the most out of the 5% back. One of those retailers is Best Buy. The retailer allows customers to use both Chase Pay or Paypal when buying Apple Watch online, or Chase Pay in stores. Both will earn you 5% back in cash or points when purchasing your next Apple Watch, whether that be a Series 5 or Series 3. Walmart also works with Chase Pay and Chase Freedom's 5% back offer.
You can also use Paypal to shop for your new Apple Watch at eBay. While this tends to be more of the wild west of Apple Watch shopping, if you find an authorized or reliable seller, you can pay with Paypal and still earn 5% back on your Apple Watch. You do have to connect Chase Pay with Paypal, but once you do, you can use your Chase Freedom card through Paypal at any retailer that accepts the payment method. Ebay, unlike Best Buy or Walmart, offers more than just the Series 3 or Series 5. You can also find a great deal on a Series 4, which is a fantastic model but no longer available from Apple or most third party retailers.
While Apple Card will earn you 3% cash back on your Apple Watch through the Apple Store, Apple Store app, or Apple's website, Chase Freedom almost doubles that offer. You just have to be willing to wait until the promotion kicks in on October 1st and shop at select retailers to take advantage of it.
Grab a $150 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. Also, get 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate. Outside of that, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases. Enjoy 0% Intro APR for 15 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers (then a variable APR of 16.99-25.74%). No annual fee.
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Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.
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