Activate every quarter
The categories change each quarter and you activate each quarter separately. If you don't, you earn the card's normal rate instead.
Reports of the activation deadline have differed between sources, so don't wait for the last day. Activate early and check your issuer's page.
The spending cap
The bonus usually applies to a limited amount of spending per quarter, shared across the quarter's categories. After that, purchases earn the normal rate.
When bonuses stack
Some cards have an everyday bonus in a category and a quarterly bonus in the same one. When they add up, the total can be higher than either alone. For example, reporting for Q4 2026 describes a card's everyday 3x dining rate plus the 4x quarterly bonus as 7x in total.
Whether bonuses stack depends on the card, so check the issuer's terms. A legacy version of the same card family may not get the stacked rate.
How Rune helps
Rune reminds you to activate at the start of the quarter and halfway through, shows what a card earns without activation, and counts stacked bonuses in its recommendation.
Never miss a quarterly bonus
Based on public reporting as of 2026-10. Categories, caps and deadlines change; confirm with your issuer.