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UPDATE: Due to Covid-19, card issuers have made extensive changes to rewards card bonus categories, including significant boosts to the number of bonus points earned on grocery and supermarket spending. We've added some of the highlights in the Best Rewards Credit Cards for Groceries section below, or you can catch all the details in our comprehensive guide to Covid-19 bonus category changes.
Swipe the right card at the supermarket and you can earn big rewards for grocery purchases.
Whether you’re shopping for one or feeding the whole family, most of us head to the shops every week to purchase groceries, and points and miles fans can earn a ton of extra rewards by swiping the right card at the checkout. Groceries are one of life’s essential expenses and provide an excellent opportunity to bag additional points or cashback.
Below, we’ve put together the best credit cards for grocery purchases to help boost your rewards earnings on one of life’s fundamental needs, Food. 
The Best Credit Card for Groceries
- 4X Membership Rewards® points when you dine at restaurants worldwide.
- 4X Membership Rewards® points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
- 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
- 1X on other purchases
- Earn up to a total of $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the Gold Card at Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Boxed, and participating Shake Shack locations. This can be an annual savings of up to $120. Enrollment required.
Following its 2018 refresh, the Amex Gold cruises confidently into first place for grocery purchases. The card earns 4X Membership Rewards for every dollar spent in U.S. supermarkets, up to $25,000 per year, a huge increase over its Amex stablemates. Unlike The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express, which requires you to make 30+ transactions each billing period to receive the 50% bonus Membership Rewards (taking the tally to 4.5X MR per $1 spent), the Amex Gold earns 4x on all US supermarket purchases up to $25K each year, even if you only make a single purchase.
So while the Amex EveryDay Preferred potentially earns 0.5 points per dollar more at U.S. supermarkets, earnings are capped at $6K per year and you must make a minimum 30 transactions per month to score the top rewards rate. The Amex Gold earns 4x points on up to $25K per year, making it a clear winner for the supermarket and groceries spending category.
Best Rewards Credit Cards for Groceries
Before we get into the cards with a permanent bonus on grocery spending, we want to highlight some of the temporarily increased offers on grocery spending announced as part of the Covid-19 response from credit card issuers. These offers provide a temporary boost to the number of points, miles, or cashback earned on your grocery spending that could result in thousands of extra points hitting your account if you hold one or more of these cards. Highlights include:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® – 5x Ultimate Rewards points on up to $1,500 per month between May 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020.
- United Club℠ Infinite Card – 5x Ultimate Rewards points on up to $1,500 per month between May 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020.
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card – 3x Ultimate Rewards points on up to $1,500 per month between May 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020.
- The World Of Hyatt Credit Card – 3x World of Hyatt points on up to $1,500 per month between May 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020.
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card – 12X Hilton Honors points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets (uncapped) between May 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020.
- Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card – 12X Hilton Honors points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets (uncapped) between May 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020.
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card – 4X Delta SkyMiles per dollar at U.S. supermarkets (uncapped) between May 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020 (includes all Delta personal co-branded cards).
We dig into more detail in these posts:
- A Comprehensive Guide to All Credit Card Benefits, Changes Due to COVID-19
- Earn up to 6x Points From Grocery Spending on Chase, Marriott Credit Cards
- American Express Adds a Slew of New Perks For Travelers Stuck at Home
It's also worth pointing out that the Chase Freedom® card is offering 5% cashback at Grocery Stores (along with Home Improvement Stores) from April to June 2019.
| Credit Card | Points Earned on Groceries | Other Bonus Categories | Return on $6,000 Grocery Spend | Annual Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Express® Gold Card | 4X Membership Rewards® points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year in purchases, then 1X). | 4X points at restaurants worldwide 3X points on airfare on a scheduled flight charged directly with the airline or amextravel.com (charter flights/private jet flights excluded) | $408 (based on 1.7¢ per MR point) - A potential annual return of $1,700 if you max out the $25K spending cap on groceries | $250 |
| The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express | 3X points at U.S. supermarkets up to $6,000 per year + make 30 or more purchases in a billing period and earn 50% extra points | 2X at U.S. gas stations | $459 (based on 1.7¢ per MR point) | $95 |
| Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express | 6% at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%) | 6% back on select US streaming services 3% back on transit, including trains, taxi cabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways 3% at U.S. gas stations | $360 | $95 |
| The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express | 2X points at U.S. supermarkets up to $6,000 per year + make 20 or more purchases in a billing period and earn 20% extra points | N/A | $244.80 (based on 1.7¢ per MR point) | $0 |
| Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express | 3% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%). | 2% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations | $180 | $0 |
| Alliant Cashback Visa® Signature Credit Card | 3% cash back in year one & 2.5% cash back after | N/A | $180 in year one & $150 thereafter | $59 annual fee, waived the first year |
| Chase Freedom Unlimited® | Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases. | N/A | $153 (based on 1.7¢ per UR point) | $0 |
| Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card | 6X at U.S. supermarkets | 12X at Hilton properties 6X at U.S. gas stations 3X for all other eligible purchases | $144 (based on 0.4¢ per HH point) | $95 |
| Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card | 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day. | N/A | $120 (minimum if redeemed at fixed-rate of 1¢ per point, potentially much higher if transferred to airline partners) | $0 intro for first year; $95 after that |
| Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business | 2 Miles per $1 on every purchase, everywhere. | 5X miles on hotel and rental car bookings through Capital One Travel℠ | $120 (minimum if redeemed at fixed-rate of 1¢ per point, potentially much higher if transferred to airline partners) | $0 intro for first year; $95 after that |
| Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card | 2% cash back on every purchases | N/A | $120 | $0 |
| Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card | 2% at grocery stores | 4% cash back on dining and entertainment | $120 | $0 intro for first year; $95 after that |
Amex has the supermarket and groceries category covered, landing the top five spots on the list, and collecting six of the top ten across a full spectrum of cards. You can choose an annual fee or no annual fee, Membership Rewards or cashback, and still select a card that offers top returns on grocery spending.
With so many great cards offering bonus rewards on supermarket purchases, we set our benchmark as the Fidelity Rewards Visa, which earns 2% cashback on all purchases. Cards had to provide better than 2% returns to make the cut. To help potential cardholders decide which card best suits their spending habits, we also dusted off the calculator to run some concrete numbers, based on the $6,000 spending cap on most of the Amex cards.
The Membership Rewards earning cards outperform their cash back counterparts by a fair margin, provided you can redeem Membership Rewards for more than 1.35¢ per point when transferred to travel partners. Any less than that, or for any use outside of travel, and you’re better off earning cashback with the Blue Cash cards. Not sure if you want the annual fee version of the card?
The magic spending threshold for the Amex cards is:
- EveryDay cards – If you spend more than $2,484 a year on groceries (provided you reach the 20% and 50% spending thresholds each month), you’ll come out ahead paying the $95 annual fee on the Amex EveryDay Preferred over the Amex EveryDay.
- BlueCash cards – If you spend more than $3,176 a year on groceries, you’ll come out ahead paying the $95 annual fee on the Blue Cash Preferred over the Blue Cash Everyday.
While the Freedom Unlimited, Hilton Surpass, and Fidelity Rewards Visa don’t perform as well on paper, they do have an advantage in the respect that bonus points and cash back aren't capped for big spenders.
What Purchases are Included/Excluded in the Groceries Category?
Alliant, Chase, and Fidelity don’t clarify what’s accepted in the groceries category, as the bonus points or cash back is on every purchase rather than specific purchases. Both American Express and U.S. Bank specify that the purchase must come under the correct merchant category code for supermarkets or groceries to earn bonus points or cash back, with Amex the only provider to label specific exclusions:
“… superstores and warehouse clubs are not considered supermarkets…”
Final Thoughts
Any of the top five Amex cards will return a handy sum of points or cash back on grocery spending, but you’ll be hard-pressed to swipe any card other than the Amex Gold at the checkout.
Have a favorite credit card for grocery purchases we’ve missed off the list. Let us know in the comments below.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
I normally use the Amex Everday card with no annual fee. Although for this quarter, I am using the Chase Freedom Android Pay for the 5% points.
I usually use Chase Freedom card without annual fee in Q2 of each year to get 5% points with grocery shopping.
Correct: I usually use Chase Freedom card without annual fee in Q2 of each year to get 5X points with grocery shopping.
Reply
Right now using Chase Freedom. Plan to get Amex Everyday Preferred soon.
I know that Amex is accepted in more places. I still see them not accepted in more places that I frequent though. I have considered the Everyday card. Even tho you don’t get as much with the Chase Freedom/unlimited, I’ll stick with those for now. I think I would spread myself too thin with another card.
I believe I’ve heard others talking about rotating cards, depending on what trip, etc they are going for. If a person has several benefit cards is that what you recommend?
My recommendation: Know what each card you have does. Figure out which makes sense to use when renting a car, when staying in a hotel, paying for a train/dinner/etc. Once you know the best cards for each use, you’ll know what card to use at all times.
Thanks for the rundown. To keep it easy for my wife and me, we use our Chase Freedom Unlimited as our “default” credit card because it earns 1.5 points on any purchase, and then use other cards for specific things such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred for restaurants for more points per dollar in that category.
We may have to look more into some of the cards that have higher overall returns per yer as we spend a decent amount on groceries. Question: Does the “Return on $6000 Grocery Spend” column take the “Annual Fee” column in consideration? i.e. if I were to get the Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express to use only for $6000 of groceries and nothing else, would my net actually be $364 ($459 from chart – $95 annual fee)?
You’d need to subtract the fee, so yes, your net is $364.
I love the everyday preferred for groceries. I used to have an AmEx cash back that paid 5% for gas and groceries all year long, but this is the best I could do now
The fee free Bank of America Cash Rewards card ($150 sign up bonus) has 2% back on groceries, but if you have any Bank of America or Merrill Lynch accounts, if you redeem your cash back for a deposit into a Bank of America checking account, you get at least a 10% bonus, equaling 2.2% on groceries, and up to an additional 75% bonus, equaling a 3.5% grocery cash back rate depending on your total balances (25$ for 25,000 balance, up to 75% for total $100,000 balances). Merrill Lynch has a discount brokerage, Merrill Edge. If you have an IRA, you can move it or part of ot there to meet the minimum, get a free safe deposit box, trades and an account opening bonus.
I use the EveryDay card for grocery spend but it looks like there are more options for me to consider.
I use my Amex as much as possible, however its not accepted everywhere. I am a newbie to this travel, trying to get all the bonus points possible programs but Im hopeful that they will be flexible points to use overall.
I also use AMEX whenever possible. Yes, not accepted everywhere. Ok in most cases. They really have those groceries covered
Any thoughts on the new AA Mileup card/
2 AA miles/dollar is solid. We’re looking into it, to see if it makes sense. As a no-fee card we like it and earning 2x miles we also like it.
….
Examples of merchants where you will NOT earn additional rewards include:
Specialty stores (e.g., fish markets, cheese shops, wine shops, and other specialty food stores )
Superstores (e.g. Amazon, Target and Wal-Mart)
Warehouse clubs (e.g. BJ’s Club)
……
from https://www.americanexpress.com/us/rewards-info/retail.html
Yes the terms did state that. Since I can’t add this to the DP on award wallet. WholeFood grocery order via amazon for delivery is coded as merchandise and supplies-internet purchase- but was given 4x at us supermarket. The tip I added to the delivery was not given 4x but only 1x
I am not sure if all 7/11 will be the same but the one I went into is listed as groceries and 4x.
I forgot to get and used the Gold in a bar and I received 1x.
This is a bit off. With the Amex green I was in a deli that it was merchandise/supplies- groceries. Amex green gave me 3x on it for Global dining.
Still a lot of DP needed to be collected on the Amex coding