Question about US Bank Cash+ Fast Food

[Beast26]

Does this category give 5x for places like:

Bojangles

Firehouse Subs

Smithfield's Chicken and Barbecue

Or does it only include the places listed on the us bank website?  Trying to find out before I get the card because I eat at these places sometimes.  

[Anonymous]

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@Beast26 wrote:

Does this category give 5x for places like:

Bojangles

Firehouse Subs

Smithfield's Chicken and Barbecue

Or does it only include the places listed on the us bank website?  Trying to find out before I get the card because I eat at these places sometimes.  

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Depends on the MCC of these places. Restaurants and fast food are separate categories on Cash+ with restaurants only being 2% if chosen. 

[Kforce]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Depends on the MCC of these places   Restaurants and fast food are separate categories on Cash+ with restaurants only being 2% if chosen. 

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+ 1,  You will only know after trial and error.

I have found with all category specific cards than it requires testing at each location or on-line portal.  Some obvious places code as something else.  Have had a Gym code as real estate office and a propane delivery as welding supply.   Sporting Goods as something else, and the list is long. Making it worse, all my utility providers have a fee for taking a CC and won't allow paying more than current months bill.  This now makes Utilty's an almost worthless CC category for me.

I am closing my category specific cards.

Have one I closed this month, another next and then the Cash+.

Simplifying my line up with two 3% everywhere cards.

[FormerCollegeDJ]

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@Beast26 wrote:

Does this category give 5x for places like:

Bojangles

Firehouse Subs

Smithfield's Chicken and Barbecue

Or does it only include the places listed on the us bank website?  Trying to find out before I get the card because I eat at these places sometimes.  

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I don't know the answer to your question, but how do similar restaurants code?  With Bojangles, how do places like Popeyes, KFC, Church's, or possibly Chick-Fil-A code?  With Firehouse Subs, how do places like Subway, Jimmy John's, and Jersey Mike's code?

OT comment: I absolutely love Bojangles; it is part of my holy trinity of fast food (or at least what I would call fast food) fried chicken along with Popeyes and Church's.  Late last spring, I actually bought logo T-shirts for Popeyes, Church's, Bojangles, and Gus's Fried Chicken (the last being a more expensive but higher quality Cajun spicy fried chicken restaurant that has about 30 locations around the U.S.; it is most popular/common in the Memphis area).  The pandemic unfortunately has prevented me from getting to either Bojangles or Church's; while there are a small number of restaurants for both chains in the DC area, none of their locations are close enough for me to buy food there and bring it home to eat.

[K-in-Boston]

The easy answer to this is that it can vary by location depending on how the location's merchant account was set up.  Incorrect MCCs happen sometimes, but ones that are only kind of wrong are fairly commonplace (like a 7-Eleven with no gas being set up as a gas station instead of a convenience store).

You want 5814 for fast food, but many fast food and quick serve restaurants will be set up as 5812 just as you may run into the occasional Applebee's or Chili's or similar casual dining that is set up as 5814.  Look up the exact location you are going to visit beforehand on the Visa Supplier Locator to see what their merchant account is set up for on the Visa network.

[Anonymous]

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@Beast26 wrote:

Does this category give 5x for places like:

Bojangles

Firehouse Subs

Smithfield's Chicken and Barbecue

Or does it only include the places listed on the us bank website?  Trying to find out before I get the card because I eat at these places sometimes.  

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Others have given the more useful answer of depending on the MCC.   But as a general point, the lists are usually just examples.   The fast food section says:

Below is a list of popular merchants in this category.  While the list can be a helpful guide, U.S. Bank does not control how individual merchants or purchases are categorized.

I can see at first glance that might suggest only those work, but popular is an indication otherwise.

In contrast, one of the exceptions, Select Clothing Stores (and the category name is a clue!) adds:

Keep In Mind

This category includes only the merchants listed below.

But in general, lists are just examples unless clearly otherwise stated, such as the above, and Amex OBC list of drug stores (only 4 chains count).   The other variation is exclusions of a few stores, such as Target and Walmart being excluded from some Chase Freedom (Flex) categories, even if the MCC "works".

[Beast26]

Thanks guys this was very helpful.  I will use the visa/mc locator It seems to be fairly simple and I have looked up all the places I eat at.

[SunriseEarth]

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@Beast26 wrote:

Does this category give 5x for places like:

Bojangles

Firehouse Subs

Smithfield's Chicken and Barbecue

Or does it only include the places listed on the us bank website?  Trying to find out before I get the card because I eat at these places sometimes.  

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I have absolutely none of those places in my immediate area, although I'm fairly certain they would all categorize as Fast Food.   As has been mentioned, it all depends on how the locations code.   Fast food chains tend to reliabily be "fast food" MCC, but local places can vary.  Generally, counter service eateries tend to be Fast Food, but not always.    Fast food apps also tend to count as fast food on Cash+, whereas the delivery apps tend to be Restaurants.  

In both Disneyland and Disney World, quick service food locations always came up as "Fast Food" for me, but table service was solidly "Restaurants".  

[Anonymous]

I can confirm I've gotten 5% on the Cash+ at Bojangles and Firehouse Subs. No intel on Smithfield.