topic Re: Grocery Rewards in Credit Cards

Grocery Rewards

Amiblue — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 03:28:02 GMT

Hey Everyone! Hope the new year is going fabulously well for each of you so far.

What is the go to card for grocery rewards now? Last year I managed to max the AMEX 6% out by June 2...... yeah, great stuff..... So I need something with these high prices I can bounce over to for the rest of the yeat that isn't a random rotating catagory. Ideas?

Re: Grocery Rewards

Drifter73 — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 04:49:19 GMT

@Amiblue wrote:
Hey Everyone! Hope the new year is going fabulously well for each of you so far.

What is the go to card for grocery rewards now? Last year I managed to max the AMEX 6% out by June 2...... yeah, great stuff..... So I need something with these high prices I can bounce over to for the rest of the yeat that isn't a random rotating catagory. Ideas?

For groceries, That Amex 6% with $6k cap and $95 af you have isn't that far off from my Amex creditone x5 5% $5k cap with same $95 af. Not everyone likes creditone, but mine is a daily driver on groceries and gas.

I alternate with citi custom cash 5%, but that's Capped at $500 per month max, no af.

Re: Grocery Rewards

CreditCobra — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 04:56:03 GMT

The AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature Credit Card is a solid grocery option.

https://www.aaa.com/AAA/common/bread/breadfinancial.html

Re: Grocery Rewards

CYBERSAM — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 18:31:58 GMT

There are much better options than getting to bed with the devil(CreditOne).

If you really want to stick with BCP you can get the Morgan Stanley version too!

Re: Grocery Rewards

ptatohed — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 18:34:45 GMT

@Drifter73 wrote:
@Amiblue wrote:
Hey Everyone! Hope the new year is going fabulously well for each of you so far.

What is the go to card for grocery rewards now? Last year I managed to max the AMEX 6% out by June 2...... yeah, great stuff..... So I need something with these high prices I can bounce over to for the rest of the yeat that isn't a random rotating catagory. Ideas?

For groceries, That Amex 6% with $6k cap and $95 af you have isn't that far off from my Amex creditone x5 5% $5k cap with same $95 af. Not everyone likes creditone, but mine is a daily driver on groceries and gas.

I alternate with citi custom cash 5%, but that's Capped at $500 per month max, no af.

Not factoring in other card benefits, if one maxed out these two cards in groceries:

Amex BCP: 4.4% CB after AF

CredOne X5: 3.1% CB after AF

For me, I'd prefer to have a no AF 5% card(s).

Re: Grocery Rewards

CreditCobra — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 18:51:00 GMT

@ptatohed wrote:
For me, I'd prefer to have a no AF 5% card(s).

Same! My AAA card is 5% on groceries all year long. Oh sure, there's an annual cap, but I can offset that with my Langley and Nusenda, and Discover rotating grocery categories. I can see how rotating categories are a pain to deal with, but I've got the time and I don't mind playing the game.

Re: Grocery Rewards

ptatohed — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 19:15:15 GMT

@CreditCobra wrote:
@ptatohed wrote:
For me, I'd prefer to have a no AF 5% card(s).
Same! My AAA card is 5% on groceries all year long. Oh sure, there's an annual cap, but I can offset that with my Langley and Nusenda, and Discover rotating grocery categories. I can see how rotating categories are a pain to deal with, but I've got the time and I don't mind playing the game.

I knew I liked you CC!!

Re: Grocery Rewards

Aim_High — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 19:40:26 GMT

@Amibluewrote:
Hey Everyone! Hope the new year is going fabulously well for each of you so far.
What is the go to card for grocery rewards now? Last year I managed to max the AMEX 6% out by June 2...... yeah, great stuff..... So I need something with these high prices I can bounce over to for the rest of the yeat that isn't a random rotating catagory. Ideas?

Welcome to My FICO forums, @Amiblue, or at least out of the shadows. (I noted you joined in May.)

There are some good suggestions above. Keep in mind that, as @ptatohed pointed out, the grocery-only earning rate of the BCP isn't really a full 6% after accounting for the weight of the AF. On spending the full $6K (not a penny less or more) and after the $95 AF, the effective return is 4.41%. (6000 x .06 = 360 - 95 = 265 / 6000 = 0.044166 ...) If you're benefiting from streaming service rewards at 6%, you'll probably end up with a grand total of between 4.5 to 5%. So that's really your benchmark.

If (and only if) you are able to FULLY use the $6K on both cards, the second BCP/Morgan Stanley might be an easy option if you like BCP. But if you don't use all the $6K on both cards, it will skew your rewards downward. (The trick on the BCP is if you spend LESS than $6K, your rewards don't offset the $95 AF as well, so rewards drop. And if you spend MORE than $6K, your rewards drop from the 1% base rate over $6K.)

If you're full Team Cash Back, the AAA Daily Advantage card is probably a little better choice. Remember, though, that the 5%+3% categories (grocery + gas + warehouse) are capped at $500 annually. That means that if you use the card ONLY for groceries, you could spend $10K before exhausting that 5% cap. Subtract out any gas or warehouse purchases. But the 3% gas is the same as earned on your BCP with no caps, so I would use BCP for gas exclusively.

Another excellent choice that would give you the FULL 5% (instead of 4.41%) would be the CITI Custom Cash. The catch is it's limited to $500 spending on your highest spend category monthly, including grocery. So if grocery spend exceeds $500 monthly, I would consider splitting the way you charge. That gives you up to $6K spending annually at 5%.

Depending on the consumer, I still think that the AMEX Gold is potentially the MOST lucrative grocery and/or restaurant card, but it's not for cash-back purists. Gold earns 4x MRs per dollar spent at restaurants (uncapped) and grocery (capped at a large $25K annually.) The AF is $250 but there are credits available monthly including on GrubHub and UBER/UBER Eats which can lower the effective AF to $10. MRs are only worth about 6/10 cpp for Ca$h ... but if you're able/willing to use them for travel they can be worth between 1 to 2 cpp. That means you could be earning 4% to 8% value (in travel) on all grocery/dining spend. I had GOLD for awhile and decided the credits weren't working for me, but I still believe it's a great card for the right person.

I put my grocery and warehouse spend on my Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards. The base grocery/warehouse rate is 2%, but with assets I have with Merrill Lynch, I can qualify for Platinum Honors in their Preferred Rewards program. Among other things, that gives me a 75% bonus on card rewards, so 0.02 x 1.75 = 0.035 or 3.5% cash back. And the cap is $10K, not $6K. For me, that's good enough as my grocery bill is not that high since DW and I are empty-nesters and we eat out frequently anyway for dinner. Plus, I travel weekly. The Platinum Honors tier requires $100K in assets, but there are also multipliers for Platinum ($50K+) and Gold ($20K+) at 50% and 25%. For example on CCR for grocery, that equates to 0.02 x 1.50 = 0.03 or 3%; or 0.02 x 1.25 = 0.025 or 2.5%.) With CCR, I also earn 3.5% cash back at Costco, which is an outstanding return, especially since it increases to 5.5% when accounting for my 2% Executive membership bonus.

There are several great flat 3% grocery cards - no spending caps - that might be worthy of consideration also. One example is the Navy FCU MORE Rewards AMEX which earn 3% on grocery, restaurant, gas, and transit - all with no spending caps whatsoever. Another card is the UMB Simply Rewards. UMB is a geo-fenced regional bank, but if you qualify that card earns 3% on grocery, gas, restaurants, fast food, and discount stores with no spending caps and no AF. The nice thing about the 3% cards is they give you an above-average return (more than your baseline 2% card) while not giving you the restrictive hoops to jump through such as annual or monthly spending caps or annual fees to complicate your rewards calculation. So there is no need to pause and think about whether you're close-to or above your spending cap every time you go to the store.

Re: Grocery Rewards

Drifter73 — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 19:42:15 GMT

@ptatohed wrote:
@Drifter73 wrote:
@Amiblue wrote:
Hey Everyone! Hope the new year is going fabulously well for each of you so far.

What is the go to card for grocery rewards now? Last year I managed to max the AMEX 6% out by June 2...... yeah, great stuff..... So I need something with these high prices I can bounce over to for the rest of the yeat that isn't a random rotating catagory. Ideas?

For groceries, That Amex 6% with $6k cap and $95 af you have isn't that far off from my Amex creditone x5 5% $5k cap with same $95 af. Not everyone likes creditone, but mine is a daily driver on groceries and gas.

I alternate with citi custom cash 5%, but that's Capped at $500 per month max, no af.

Not factoring in other card benefits, if one maxed out these two cards in groceries:
Amex BCP: 4.4% CB after AF
CredOne X5: 3.1% CB after AF

For me, I'd prefer to have a no AF 5% card(s).

Agreed.. I like that you have x2 citi custom cash cards at 5% with no af in your sig. I just have 1, but in 6 months I may pc my citi diamond preferred to a second custom cash to leverage another 5% no af groceries ($500 per mo cap x 12mo = $6k per year spend x2 cc = $1k per mo and $12k per year spend for groceries). 😀

Re: Grocery Rewards

ptatohed — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 19:57:56 GMT

The Golden 1 CU Member CR+ Visa Sig card is also 3% uncapped on grocery (+ 4% gas capped at $5k annual spend, 3% uncapped dining).

Open to anyone in CA.

https://www.golden1.com/credit-cards-loans/credit-cards

Re: Grocery Rewards

pizzadude — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 20:13:48 GMT

@CYBERSAM wrote:
There are much better options than getting to bed with the devil(CreditOne).
If you really want to stick with BCP you can get the Morgan Stanley version too!

I wasn't aware of this and didn't read the fine print, but the Morgan Stanley BCP offers an annual $100 credit when hitting $15K in annual spend, which would effectively cancel out the AF for this version of the card:

$100 Annual Statement Credit

Exclusively with the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred Card, you can earn a $100 statement credit after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases per calendar year on the Card

Re: Grocery Rewards

Aim_High — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 20:18:03 GMT

@ptatohed wrote:
The Golden 1 CU Member CR+ Visa Sig card is also 3% uncapped on grocery (+ 4% gas capped at $5k annual spend, 3% uncapped dining).
Open to anyone in CA.
https://www.golden1.com/credit-cards-loans/credit-cards

Thanks for that, @ptatohed. Like I mentioned, there are probably dozens of 3% grocery cards if you beat the bushes. They are not nearly as rare as anything above that level.

Three other suggestions come to mind, since there are many ways to approach grocery rewards:

If you use Verizon for cellphone service, the Synchrony Verizon Visa earns an uncapped 4% on groceries and gas with no AF. Plus 3% on dining and take-out. The kicker is that rewards are earned in Verizon Dollars and must be used to offset your Verizon monthly bill or to purchase Verizon equipment. Still, it's a very solid deal and almost as high-earning as BCP without the annual spending cap or AF.
If you grocery shop mainly at Walmart and/or Target, supplementing the BCP with the US Bank Shopper's Visa gives you the same 4.41% back at those stores on $6K annual spend. ($95 AF; 6% back on up to $6k annually.) Other merchants are also available. Like I pointed out above, you'd want to make sure you use the full $6K (and not a penny more) to optimize the REAL annual rewards rate.
If you use mobile wallet, travel at least occasionally, and are willing to redeem for travel rewards, the US Bank Altitude Reserve earns 3% on all mobile wallet including supermarket, and can be redeemed for 1.5% added value or 4.5% in travel. This exceeds the BCP and may approach what you'd earn on the AMEX Gold. There is a $400 AF, partially offset by $325 in annual travel/dining credits; so effective AF of $75 which would have to be considered in actual earnings rate.

Re: Grocery Rewards

Aim_High — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 20:30:44 GMT

@pizzadude wrote:
@CYBERSAM wrote:
There are much better options than getting to bed with the devil(CreditOne).
If you really want to stick with BCP you can get the Morgan Stanley version too!
I wasn't aware of this and didn't read the fine print, but the Morgan Stanley BCP offers an annual $100 credit when hitting $15K in annual spend, which would effectively cancel out the AF for this version of the card:
$100 Annual Statement Credit
Exclusively with the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred Card, you can earn a $100 statement credit after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases per calendar year on the Card

This is true, @pizzadude, but here is the catch. BCP earns 6% on $6K in grocery and unlimited streaming. And 3% unlimited on gas-transit.

$15K - $6K = $9K additional spending required. Depending on the amount of streaming and the value-added of gas-transit, there may be some amount of 1% base-rate spending left-over to reach the $15K threshold, which might be better spent rewards-wise on a 2% or better card. For example, in my case, I can earn 4% on gas with my Costco card. I would have to consider that 1% lost-earnings if I were trying to reach $15K. And certainly for uncategorized spend, where you're losing 1% or more, it has an impact. Compared to my AOD FCU 3%-everything Visa, I would lose 2% on uncategorized spend which equates to $180, almost double the AF you're trying to recoup! ($9,000 x 0.02 = 180.)

So while this is a potential benefit, it could also be an incentive trap for some consumers to spend more on this card when they'd be better off parking it and putting spend elsewhere.

Re: Grocery Rewards

ptatohed — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 21:15:33 GMT

Also, not to be forgotten, if you shop groceries at Target or walmart.com (our family primarily shops at Target and walmart.com (WalMart+ delivery)), you get uncapped 5% with the RedCard and 5% uncapped with the Cap1 WM MC (delivery or pickup). No AF.

Also, not previously mentioned is the Ralph's World Elite MC and all its sister cards for 5% using mobile pay (not limited to only groceries). It's capped at a low $3,000/annual but you can hold multiple sister cards. No AF.

Re: Grocery Rewards

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 21:43:19 GMT

@ptatohed wrote:

Also, not previously mentioned is the Ralph's World Elite MC and all its sister cards for 5% using mobile pay (not limited to only groceries). It's capped at a low $3,000/annual but you can hold multiple sister cards. No AF.

That does look interesting, although needing multiples and tracking might be a pain! Reading the footnotes, is it the case that you can use Kruger Pay for $3000 a year, and then other mobile pay for another $3,000?

Kroger Pay non-fuel transactions earn 5% cash back on the first $3,000 in purchases each calendar year and 2% on amounts above that. Kroger Pay transactions at Fuel Centers, combined with any dining transactions, earn 3% on the first $6,000 spent each calendar year and 1% on amounts above that. Mobile wallet transactions (excluding Kroger Pay) earn 5% on the first $3,000 in purchases each calendar year and 1% on amounts above that, regardless of where the transaction was made, including Kroger Family of Companies locations.

Re: Grocery Rewards

ptatohed — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 21:54:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@ptatohed wrote:

Also, not previously mentioned is the Ralph's World Elite MC and all its sister cards for 5% using mobile pay (not limited to only groceries). It's capped at a low $3,000/annual but you can hold multiple sister cards. No AF.
That does look interesting, although needing multiples and tracking might be a pain! Reading the footnotes, is it the case that you can use Kruger Pay for $3000 a year, and then other mobile pay for another $3,000?

Kroger Pay non-fuel transactions earn 5% cash back on the first $3,000 in purchases each calendar year and 2% on amounts above that. Kroger Pay transactions at Fuel Centers, combined with any dining transactions, earn 3% on the first $6,000 spent each calendar year and 1% on amounts above that. Mobile wallet transactions (excluding Kroger Pay) earn 5% on the first $3,000 in purchases each calendar year and 1% on amounts above that, regardless of where the transaction was made, including Kroger Family of Companies locations.

I see what you are saying ltl and it can almost be read both ways. But it is my understanding that Kroger pay is another form of 'Mobile Wallet' and Mobile Wallet is limited to $3,000 annual spend for 5% CB. I think what they are saying is if you use Kroger Pay at gas stations, it will only earn 3% but if you use another Mobile Wallet to pay, you'll get 5%. I 'think'?

Re: Grocery Rewards

CreditCobra — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 04:43:01 GMT

@ptatohed wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@ptatohed wrote:

Also, not previously mentioned is the Ralph's World Elite MC and all its sister cards for 5% using mobile pay (not limited to only groceries). It's capped at a low $3,000/annual but you can hold multiple sister cards. No AF.
That does look interesting, although needing multiples and tracking might be a pain! Reading the footnotes, is it the case that you can use Kruger Pay for $3000 a year, and then other mobile pay for another $3,000?

Kroger Pay non-fuel transactions earn 5% cash back on the first $3,000 in purchases each calendar year and 2% on amounts above that. Kroger Pay transactions at Fuel Centers, combined with any dining transactions, earn 3% on the first $6,000 spent each calendar year and 1% on amounts above that. Mobile wallet transactions (excluding Kroger Pay) earn 5% on the first $3,000 in purchases each calendar year and 1% on amounts above that, regardless of where the transaction was made, including Kroger Family of Companies locations.
I see what you are saying ltl and it can almost be read both ways. But it is my understanding that Kroger pay is another form of 'Mobile Wallet' and Mobile Wallet is limited to $3,000 annual spend for 5% CB. I think what they are saying is if you use Kroger Pay at gas stations, it will only earn 3% but if you use another Mobile Wallet to pay, you'll get 5%. I 'think'?

I belive that's the case. I have the Ralph's Rewards Card (a variant of the Kroger card, there are several). I use it for a mobile wallet spend for my insurance (which I can pay with Apple Pay). Homeowner's, two cars, and another policy adds up to around $2,900/year, so this fits perfectly into my setup.

Re: Grocery Rewards

willmsbrg — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 00:02:56 GMT

I currently have the Wells Autograph at 3% along with the NFCU more rewards for 3%.

I'm looking at the BCP Amex for 6% as an option...

The thing I noticed about the NFCU card is convenience stores also count for 3% (coding as gas) as does vending machine products (coding as dining) that take cards... I was surprised when using it at Royal Farms/Rutters/Turkey Hill here in Pa they are counting cash back at 3% which the Wells Card doesn't do...

This isn't counting gas but any purchase in those stores and vending machines that take cards...