Best Credit Cards for Grocery Shopping

For Chinese Americans, grocery spending is unavoidable. That’s why it makes sense to keep a credit card that offers strong rewards at supermarkets for the long term. Today, we’ll compare the best credit cards for grocery purchases. We mainly recommend cards that earn more than 2% back at supermarkets, since the baseline is Citi Double Cash, which earns 2% cash back on all purchases.

AMEX Gold (6.4%)

AMEX Gold is a charge card with a $325 annual fee. At supermarkets, you earn 4 Membership Rewards points (MR) per $1 spent. MR points cannot be redeemed directly for cash, but you can use them through AMEX Travel to book flights or hotels at a value of 1:1. The best use of MR is usually transferring to airline miles for domestic US flights or US-China international flights, especially business class, where you can often get outsized value. We generally value MR at around 100 points = $1.6. So 4x MR on grocery spending is equivalent to about 6.4% back. In addition, this card earns 4x on dining and 3x on airfare. It is a very good card to keep long term. Although the annual fee looks high, the card offers nearly $300 a year in dining-related and Uber credits, which can offset the fee if you use them. The built-in AMEX Offers can also save you quite a bit of money each year.

Compared with the other cards here, this card not only has an exceptionally high effective grocery return, but also a very high cap on grocery rewards. The first $25,000 in spending earns 4x MR, which means you could earn as much as 100,000 MR points per year if you max it out. This is especially suitable for larger households with high grocery spending. Beyond groceries, the card also has strong rewards on dining and airfare, which is a big plus. Most importantly, among grocery cards, this is the only metal card, and it comes in two color options (gold and rose gold). Pulling it out at the supermarket will definitely make the cashier take a second look.

AMEX Blue Cash Preferred (6%)

AMEX Blue Cash Preferred is a credit card with a $95 annual fee. It earns up to 6% cash back at supermarkets (on the first $6,000 in spending). We can do a simple calculation: if your annual grocery spending reaches $3,166 (about $263 per month), then the cash back from Blue Cash Preferred is exactly $95 more than Blue Cash EveryDay. In other words, if you spend more than $263 per month on groceries, the annual-fee Blue Cash Preferred comes out ahead; otherwise, Blue Cash EveryDay is the better choice. In addition to higher grocery rewards, this card earns 6% on streaming services and 3% on parking, tolls, trains, and rideshares. It is a great fit for people who spend a lot in those categories, since those categories have no reward cap. As for the welcome bonus, this card offers $50 more, effectively making the first-year annual fee only $49 more. Other perks and drawbacks are generally the same as other AMEX credit cards, so we won’t repeat them here.

Citi Custom Cash (5%)

Citi Custom Cash is a no-annual-fee credit card. If grocery spending is your top eligible category for the month, you can earn 5% back. However, only the first $500 in spending per month earns 5%. This card earns ThankYou Points, and if you value them at 1.2 cents each, that is equivalent to 6% back. To get higher value from ThankYou Points, you need to also hold a premium card such as Citi Premier, Prestige, or Strata Elite.

Citi Premier (4.5%)

Citi Premier is a $95 annual-fee credit card that earns 3x ThankYou Points (TYP) at supermarkets. Valuing TYP at 1.5 c/p, that works out to 4.5% back on grocery spending. It also earns 3x at restaurants, gas stations, airfare, and hotels; all other spending earns 1x. TYP can be transferred to programs such as AA, Singapore Airlines, and Avianca, which can be useful for redeeming Oneworld and Star Alliance flights.

AMEX Blue Cash Everyday (3%)

American Express Blue Cash Everyday is a no-annual-fee credit card whose standout feature is 3% cash back at supermarkets (Grocery) on up to $6,000 in spending per year, then 1%. In addition to grocery rewards, it also earns 3% back on online shopping and gas stations. After opening the card, you also get as long as 12 months of 0% intro APR on purchases, which can help in a financial pinch. In addition, AMEX frequently offers money-saving AMEX Offers, such as Amazon $75-$15 and Walmart $50-$10. AMEX also provides excellent customer service, handles fraud and purchase disputes promptly, and offers a free credit score every month.

One downside is that the AMEX supermarket category does not include Wholesale&Discount Store purchases such as Walmart, Target, and Costco. However, testing shows that Walmart Neighborhood Market does code as a supermarket. Also, some smaller Chinese supermarkets may not accept AMEX, but in general, supermarkets that do accept AMEX should correctly earn the 3% grocery cash back.

Capital One Savor Rewards (3%)

Capital One Savor is a no-annual-fee card that offers 3% cash back at grocery stores, excluding wholesale clubs. It is also a fairly hassle-free grocery card.

US Bank Shopper Cash Rewards (3-6%)

US Bank Shopper is a newer credit card with a $95 annual fee. Its 6% cash back category can be set to Walmart or Target, and its 3% category can be set to a wholesale club (such as Costco or Sam's Club). Each quarter, the 6% and 3% categories each have their own $1,500 spending cap. If you spend a lot in those specific grocery-related categories, this card is also a good option. The rewards come as straightforward cash back, so you do not need to worry about how to redeem points.

Other Credit Cards

• AMEX Everyday Preferred: Can earn up to 4.5x MR, but this card has been discontinued, so you can only keep an existing card or get it by upgrading from everyday.
• AMEX Everyday: Can earn up to 2.4x MR, but this card has also been discontinued, so you can only keep an existing card or downgrade from everyday preferred.
• BofA Customized Cash Rewards: A no-annual-fee credit card that earns 2% cash back at grocery stores. Its biggest feature is that its grocery category includes Whole Sale Store purchases, so spending at Costco, Sam's Club, and BJs can also earn 2% cash back. If you have elite status with BofA Checking, you can also get up to a 75% bonus.
• Chase Freedom: No annual fee. In the past two years, one quarter has included 5x back at grocery stores, and another quarter has included 5x back at whole sale Store. The UR points earned can be cashed out directly at 1: 1, or transferred to airline miles if you also have a premium card.
• AMEX Hilton: No annual fee, earns 5x Hilton points at grocery stores, for an effective return of 2.5%.
• AMEX Surpass: $95 annual fee, earns 6x Hilton points at grocery stores, for an effective return of 3%.
• US Bank Altitude Reserve: $450 annual fee. You can earn 3x points at supermarkets by using mobile payment, equivalent to 4.5% back. It also comes with $325 in annual airline reimbursement.
• Amazon Rewards: No annual fee, 5% back at Whole Foods.

Summary

Based on your annual grocery spending and whether you want to collect points for flight redemptions, you can decide which card is best to keep for the long term. Of course, the additional perks offered by each bank are also an important factor to consider. If your grocery spending is high, the new AMEX Gold is hard to beat.

Supermarkets

Credit Card	Cash Back	Annual Fee	Notes	Apply
AMEX Gold Card	6.4% (4xMR)	$325	4x on the first $25,000 in purchases	Link
AMEX Blue Cash Preferred	6%	$95	On the first $6,000	Link
Citi Custom Cash	5%	$0	$500 per month; supermarkets must be your top eligible spending category	Link
Citi Premier	4.5% (3x TYP)	$95	No limit	Link
AMEX Blue Cash EveryDay	3%	$0	On the first $6,000	Link
Capital One SavorOne	3%	$0	No limit	Link
US Bank Shopper	3-6%	$95	You must select the category; $1,500 quarterly limit	Link
Detailed analysis: Best Credit Cards for Grocery Shopping at U.S. Supermarkets

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