Credit Cards

[rtw]

Does anyone know if Trader Joe's counts as a free standing grocery store for Amex BCP cash back purposes?

[bs6054]

Definitely yes.  Used my card at several Trader Joes and got the 6%.

[rtw]

Thanks bs6054. Starting to strategize on how to recoup the annual fee.

[bs6054]

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rtw wrote:

Thanks bs6054. Starting to strategize on how to recoup the annual fee.

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What is your usual grocery bill?  If you normally spend 6K or more a year, no problem, just spend it there and get $360 back (+ whatever on gas etc if you don't have a better card for that).  Otherwise go to chain supermarkets and buy gift cards for stuff you buy elsewhere, many big supermarkets have a wide range of cards for stuff like clothing (Gap, REI etc), restuarants, Amazon, gas, phone etc.  It should be easy to spend 6K!

[rtw]

Thanks for the info. I find myself doing a lot of grocery shopping at Target and Walmart for the convenience but I am realizing that they probably would not count as a free standing grocery store.

[SnackTrader]

Break even point on BCP vs BCE is $210 in groceries per month. Approximately $52 a week. 

Any spending on gas or department stores lowers the grocery break even point. So depending on what rewards your other cards have, you should be able to recover the annual fee with your normal grocery spending at standalone supermarkets, and with gift cards to supplement if your spending doesn't support the $210 per month. 

[Open123]

Since the 6% is capped at 6K now, it should be pretty easy to maximize.

Just go to a supermarket, and buy gift cards for Starbucks, Amzn, restaurants, or any dept stores you frequent.  This way, you get 6% on virtually all spending up to $6K.  For intance, if you were buying something from Best Buy, just buy the gift cards from the Supermket, then use the gift cards at Best Buy.

This is why Amex capped it $6K, otherwise one could get 6% on all spend.

[bs6054]

Right, and to truly maximize, get gift cards (that you can use of course!) that aren't covered by other cards.  So if you have say CitiForward, which already gives 5% (ok, nominally!) on restaurants/fast food, not worth using part of the 6K for that.

As a last resort, people have suggested buying Visa/MC gift cards, you can get $500 for a fee of around $6.  BCP gives you $30 off on these so you are making $24.

But with spend capped at 6K, many will be able to get all the gift cards needed without paying fees.

Edit: And of course, if this is too much spend, you can always downgrade to BCE and not have a fee.

[rtw]

Thanks folks! Looks like I have some numbers crunching to do. I need to look at my various cards and their benefits. It's a good problem to have!

[tdoger]

I have a new BCE and am waiting to see how it treats the WalMart and Target i frequent for points.  My Barclays treats both as grocery, so double points.  If both are grocery for Amex, I would think of PC to the BCP.  If not, I will continue to use the Barclays at those stores.  Gas is double on both BCE and Barclays, but Barclays doubles "utilities" (cable tv, cell phone, water).