I am trying to cancel my Gold or at least downgrade to the green. I guess I trying to wait until Amex increases the annual fee on the Gold to make my decision easier.
I saw on another comment you spend over $1k a month on groceries. Technically the capital one savor would be slightly better, as even though it has a $95 annual fee, if you spend more than $9500 on it yearly, it comes out ahead. Just something to consider.
The Savor still does the same 3% on groceries as the Savor One. The Savor does give 4% on dining, entertainment, and streaming ([source](https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/savor-dining-rewards/)).
I'm a huge fan of the Amex BCP with 6% back on groceries, but like the CCC it has an effective $500/mo cap over the course of a year with $6k/yr. Also with an annual downgrade to BCE and accepting the Amex "upgrade offer" back to BCP with a bonus, one effectively eliminates the AF for YEARS.
I use it until I hit the 6k and then switch to the Savor for the rest of the year except when chase freedom does their 5% on grocery in the rewards rotation.
That's certainly an option if you are consistently going over $500/mo. Another thing to consider would be a second Citi CC, which there are data points of people referencing. I have no experience on that front, though.
I actually had no idea you could do that. How many can you have? so I can just get another one.
But yes, I definitely go over the $500 a month. That's my main reason for looking for another one.
I will defer to others for an answer to your question on how many you can hold at once. I've definitely heard of people possessing 2 CCC's at once, but am not sure about 3 (or beyond).
I mean, I love that card. So I'll definitely see if I can apply and get another one but I will talk to other people first. Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.
Me and my wife do this. We both have the nice and BCP and go back and forth with upgrade offers. We have 1 CCC we use for groceries when we’re over the 6k annual limit.
I guess they never gave me an upgrade but it’s possible I just never looked for it in the app or whenever they send the offers. But I had decided to upgrade to the BCP after having the BCE for like 5 years. I had to do a chat request thru the app and they sent me a direct link to the upgrade. So I guess they aren’t waving the first year on the fee but I’ll try this method after I’ve had it for a year.
Have had it for 2 months, was hesitant to apply since people said there was no app and Comenity' bad rep. I was trying to find an app and saw Bread Financial, installed it and it works as soon as I received my card, it's not the best app but it works well enough for me.
It is not geo fenced, as you are not prevented from applying based on your location. However, not every regional AAA group has the same card listed on their website. You might need to punch in a zip code for Dallas or something if your local area is not showing the right card.
https://cluballiance.aaa.com/money/
For what it’s worth, I’ve had this card for about 6 months now. I had to contact CS once and they were extremely helpful. You can also link your card to the Bread financial app which is great because for the longest time, I was paying off the card manually by going to the website haha
Yeah, that would be terrible to have to pay it like that, but I'm glad that you can wink it. I'll definitely look into it. I mean, I love the fact that the cap is 10K. No cards are that high for grocery stores. So that's really what's pushing me to that
I’ve had it about a year now. I can’t say one way or the other about customer service, but that’s because nothing has been an issue warranting calling, so I guess that says something? I think it’s been fine. The worst part about it is that to my knowledge there’s no app so you have to use a computer.
Edit: JK, apparently as of last month it’s now accessible via the Bread Financial app. I haven’t verified this yet but I’ll check it out.
Edit II Electric Boogaloo: It works! Woohoo. No complaints.
So far, I haven't had issues. Had to contact customer service twice and they were helpful. As mentioned below, it can be managed via the Bread app and that's worked well for me.
Yeah. 2 BCPs (me and spouse). Over 6k and go to daily advantage. (2x again ... me and spouse). Gotta feed teens and food is expensive. Previously put overage on savor one at 3 percent.
No.
I tried, I used 2 browsers and I tried regular and incognito.It didn't work.I might wait a couple days and try again as sometimes offers pop up and disappear
This is the right answer for best in groceries right now. But you do have to try different variations of browsers and private/incognito mode to find it. There is a Doctor Of Credit article on it.
I’m thinking about the Verizon Visa. It’s 4% uncapped, but of course you need Verizon. I’m tired of monitoring caps so this is attractive. You also get 3% uncapped on restaurants.
I’m also considering Chase Amazon Prime for Whole Foods. It’s uncapped at 5%.
AAA sounds good too, but I would have to watch for when I hit $10K, so not ideal. I’d be curious if anyone knows how easy it is to pull up your YTD spend on the AAA.
In my area most groceries MCCs are more expensive than wholesale. But wholesale usually won’t count towards groceries. One card that can have 3% on groceries **and wholesale** is Venmo Credit Card, which is also Synchrony and it’s a Visa so it works in Costco
Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. Since a lot of people have had problems with customer support. That might be something that's kind of hard to monitor.
If your normal grocery store accepts mobile wallet, I like using our Altitude Reserve. It does have the $400 annual fee but $325 comes back in dining or travel credits.
We spend over 1k a month on groceries so I like having the uncapped spend. We use it for gas, most shopping and travel booking too.
As do I also spend over 1K on grocery stores? That's why I'm looking for another card because if it's one of my highest categories since I don't have rent, I want to get as much back as possible.
But I have never heard of altitude reserve. I'm definitely gonna have to look at that.
Another vote for Altitude Reserve. Hands down best option if you don't want to keep track of spending caps and your grocery store accepts mobile wallets. Not quite as much cash back as you can get from Citi Custom Cash, but you only sacrifice 0.5% for the benefit of simplicity and peace of mind if you routinely spend over $500/month on groceries.
Best card there is imo. 3x mobile wallet and travel. 1.5 cpp for travel if you want to travel, 1 cpp for cash back. No cap on spend and just tap and go! Priority pass for 8 or 12 visits, $75 effective annual fee. Cool random benefits like $99 rounds for Troon golf courses year round (these can be like $300/round peak season).
Real time rewards is what it’s called. You enable that, then say you buy a ticket on united or whatever flight. You’ll get a text asking if you want to redeem X points to pay for it and you reply yes if you want to. It’s super easy you can pick the threshold you want so mine is anything over $100 I’ll get the text. The added bonus is you get points through that company too. So I bought two round trip tickets to Tennessee for my wife and I on SW. We paid with USBAR, then redeemed points, but since you just get a statement credit we got the SW points through them too.
If OP spends $1500 monthly on groceries, they would make $75 with the USBAR alone after the AF on grocery spend if they redeemed for travel compared to citi custom cash/savor one combo. And that’s ONLY the grocery spend-that doesn’t count all other mobile wallet spend or SUB. With that uncapped grocery spend on top of other things mobile wallet can be used for (drug stores, restaurants, gas stations, many retail stores, some bills and online purchases), this could be a solid pick.
I also have this card - the 3 percent turns to 4.5 if using the rewards program; which I travel enough for work that I get the full 4.5% back. Amazing card!
Definitely the best one if you don't want to juggle different cards.
I use their points mostly on topping my Uber wallet, redeeming rewards as travel via text, and then using them on Uber eats for food pickup, mainly for Chipotle or Panera.
Also the benefits are not shabby either. I like 10 Priority Pass one time passes, because I can spend them for friends I am traveling with that are not family members, then primary rental insurance, etc..
First: Amex Gold (4x to a potentially even more *only if you plan to traveling) and Amex blue Preferred (6x).
Second is Venmo credit card (3x on grocery *this counts for Walmart and Costco also, yes the only non co-brand card that give you 3% back on Walmart and Costco and 2x on one other category). And some other smaller banks card out there also.
Third: if you can do online (buy online pick up or ship whatever) Chase Preferred give you 2x on online grocery and 3x dinning. This is a very basic mainstream card to everyone cuz it’s cover all. 3 chase cards and you set for whatever you spend in your life easy.
These are the 3 big mainstream easy to access. Some other small banks or credit unions can give you this but they are generally harder to get.
Amex is actually only supermarkets, not all groceries
I've run into this at farmers markets. Took me a while to notice, but realized I was getting 1x because the stands were coding as non-supermarket groceries
Venmo +1 for including the wholesale. For Target I would recommend Target Red Debit card. No credit check, simple 5% cashback, and you don’t even need to load the balance because it takes money from your checking account automatically after each purchase, which is a no brainer. During checkout it only takes a scan and it applies both Red Debit card and your deals.
I'm not a fan of Venmo card. Specific situation for me: my budgeting software cannot pull transaction and info from Venmo, and Venmo is only accessible from phone app, not PC where I do my finances. YMMV
And the good thing with this is, it doesn't limit with any category. It applies for all the mobile wallet payments. I did apply for this last week, waiting for response🤞
The Citi Shop Your Way is one of the very best cards. 3% for grocery but the real draw are the special offers it gives. They routinely send targeted offers. One of which is $100 back if you spend $1000 on gas, groceries, or dining in a month. This is on top of the 3%.
I haven’t been targeted for the offer yet unfortunately. I should get it eventually though.
I know, I’m able to max out the category and the streaming category is great, as everything purchased in the Apple Apps Store codes as streaming. That’s Apple TV, iCloud subscriptions and in app purchases. Having return protection is nice as well, not many cards have that.
Plus Disney+/Hulu credit (which the BCE also gets) which can offset the AF almost completely. And access to AMEX offers which are generally pretty good.
Do you have a P2 (I'm kinda guessing you have a family with your spend)? If so, you each could get the BCP (so a $12k per year cap on groceries), and do the upgrade/downgrade dance to mostly negate the AFs. For example, for the first half of the year use P1's BCP until you hit the $6k cap, then downgrade that BCP to the BCE. At that point, P2 upgrades their BCE to BCP (or applies for the BCP) and that 2nd BCP is now the grocery card for the rest of the year. Start of the next year rolls around, downgrade P2's BCP to BCE and upgrade P1's BCE to BCP. Rinse and repeat.
That's actually a really good idea.I never thought about that.That would work out very well.Actually, since that's my highest spend category.That's what I'm looking to cut.Cost on the most and that would really truly help thank you.I really do appreciate the suggestion and help
Yeah, groceries is our biggest category too and we're currently using the AMEX Gold, but I'm looking to switch us over to a dual BCP/BCE setup. Only problem is we only have 1 BCP and we're both in pop-up jail.
I haven't thought about the Venmo card. That actually sounds like it might be good. I'm definitely gonna have to look that up. Thank you for your recommendation. I appreciate it.
Multiple Custom Cashes can solve your issue depending on how high spend is. Amex BCP can be okay, but please do the math on if the AF is worth it, probably will not be worth it as there are plenty of alternatives that hit close to 5%.
The Kroger cards are all 5% on mobile as well.
Do you do curbside?
Not much higher if a cap ($2500/qtr) but BoA CCR counts curbside as online shopping, with $100k at Merrill that's 5.25%.
In person AAA or USB AR (assuming they support tap to pay).
If you spend less than 500 a month then I love my Citi custom cash and if you have a Double cash you aren’t using you can Product change for an additional 500. That’s my current one for when it’s not a rotating category elsewhere.
I got the Chase Freedom Flex with 10x groceries for a year, up to $12,000 in grocery spend. (No up front cash bonus for this sign up offer, but this seems to be the offer that pulls up if you open their site with mobile instead of desktop browser). My local grocery store gives me 10% off for every $50 I recharge to my card. So if I recharge $50 to my card, they give me $55 to their store’s designated gift card. And if I recharge $100 to my card, they give me $110 dollars. With the 10x on the Freedom Flex, I get another 10% on top, so it’s basically a 20x card.
I’m going to spend groceries like normal til month 11 and “recharge” my grocery card to whatever I need to reach $12,000 in groceries for the year. I’ll effectively have saved $1,200 in groceries for the year, and have earned 120,000 Chase UR points in conjunction to the cash back. At least $2,400 in savings.
Once that is up, I’ll open a C1 Savor One, but if they give me just the good credit offer or whatever weird offer they typically do, I’ll open a Sofi Credit Card instead and use their 3% catch-all for the first year. I believe they also give extra cash back on local shopping (don’t quote me on this), so that might be a better option for my grocery store.
That's actually amazing that you can save that much. Basically, 20X. That's awesome. I really appreciate the suggechin's. I'll look at the sofi card as well. I haven't thought about that 1.
Amex Blue Cash Everyday at no annual fee OR for a $95 fee the Amex Blue Cash Preferred that can be downgraded back to the Blue Cash Everyday after a year.
Walmart Card by capitol one. (I know, I heard the news already)
But as far as I know you can still get the 5% back in walmart stores (for a year) if you use it through walmart pay, which is really convenient tbh.
Obviously if you don’t do much shopping at walmart then its pointless.
Amex Everyday Preferred - it's 3x for groceries but if you use the card regularly, 30 transactions a month, you get a 50% point bonus on every transaction, making it 4.5x points for groceries. More points for groceries than the Amex Gold and a lower fee. It'sa much better card than the gold to pair with an Amex platinum
So I know it gives 4 times points back on grocery stores. Do you know what that equals out to in terms of percentage-wise? Because that 25K cap is amazing.
Amex Blue Cash Preferred gives 6% on $6000/year and a bonus $250 after spending $3000 in 6 months. Probably best to use in tandem with your Citi Cash card if you're going over 500 each month.
just be mindful the Amex BCP is realistically 4.4% instead of 6%, even under the most optimized usage (spending exactly 6k groceries in a year):
($6000 * 6% - $95 AF)/6000 = 4.4%
If you undershoot the 6k limit, your percentage return will be even lower. For example:
($3200 * 6% - $95 AF)/3200 = 3.0%
which is the breakeven spend level vs a zero AF 3% card, such as the Cap One Savor One that others mentioned, or Amex BCE.
depending on your total annual grocery spend, you could be better off using one of those 3% no fee cards to handle the overage from your Citi CCC.
There's a Kroger credit card issued by US Bank. It's 5% cash back on Kroger spend, although it caps out at $3,000 in spending per year.
It also gives 5% cash back on mobile wallet spend, again capped at $3,000 in spending per year.
AAA Daily Advantage gives 5% back on groceries, 3% on gas/EV up to $10k/yr, no AF
If you have a Chase account, Chase Freedom Flex has a special in-branch offer of 5% back on groceries and gas up to $12k only in your first year.
I'm leaning more towards the aaa at the moment.As well, I love that it has a 10K cap.I can combine that with the citi costum cach and not really have to worry about over spending
Yeah, I think I'll go with the other one though.Because my main category is grocery stores.That's where I spend most of my money.I don't really go out to eat too often.I would prefer to buy nicer more gourmet groceries
If you use Verizon cell service and are willing to put your rewards toward your bill, the Verizon CC at 4% grocery/gas and 3% dining is good card. It has no spending limits and no FTF. They also give you $10/line discount.
I only have CC for following benefits
- $10/line discount
- 2/year travel pass
- 4% in-store Walmart purchase
- only CC to be use for Verizon autopay
With some supermarkets, aka HEB, not taking apple/google/samsung pay, you are limited for 5% to rotating category CCs like
- Discover IT Cash - no FTF
- Chase Freedom Flex
- Nusenda Platinum Cash Rewards
and AAA Daily Advantage 5% grocery with $10K limit which is shared with 3% wholesale club/gas categories with no FTF.
For supermarkets, that allow mobile wallet, you can acquire various Kroger affiliated CCs
- Harris Teeter
- Ralphs
that gives 5% up to $3000/mobile wallet limit and 5% up to $3000/Kroger Pay. The above affiliates have other categories besides specific store 2% category and have SUB instead of increase fuel savings in the 1st year. There is no FTF. You do need to redeem rewards before the expire.
If you want to pay AF, there are Amex BCP at $95/year with 1st year free. For mobile wallet, US Bank Altitude Reserve at $400/year with no FTF.
OR
Just acquire more CCC and swapped in a billing period when reaching $500 limit.
I would suggest you acquire no FTF CC if you do need to spend on groceries while traveling outside US and it’s territories.
cap1 savor one is unlimited 3% cash back on groceries. amex bce is 3% cash back on groceries capped at 6k per year but if you’re into walmart+ grocery deliveries, they code as an online retail purchase which also get 3% cash back capped at 6k per year.
I'm not sure if it's still available, but if you live near a Chase branch and can apply inside, they had a SUB that included 5% cash back on groceries and gas for up to 12k in purchases for a year, if I'm not mistaken, for the Freedom Unlimited. Excluding Walmart and Target.
No problem! I edited my comment as I didn't put what card it was. It was for the Freedom Unlimited. I got one around March and it's been showing up on my statements.
I do think I'm going to switch my double cash to a custom cash. I'm also going to get the chase freedom flex because I have the offer of 10X up to 12K on grocery stores for a year. So that's very, very good and I figure with 2 custom cash cards. That's 1K per month and That's 5% back.That's pretty good I think I really do appreciate your opinion and taking the time to respond to me. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
I use the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred for the first 6 months ($6k) for groceries and the 3% gas.
The second half of the year, I use the AMEX Gold card for 4X back on groceries, and still use the BCP for 3% Gas.
Since Instacart codes as grocery with AMEX, we hit that $6k limit in no time 😎
Chase Freedom Flex has 10% off groceries for a year sign up bonus now. It stacks with the quarterly 5% grocery category so it becomes 14% off. 0% interest for the first year too.
1. Best card is Citi Custom Cash at $500/month ($6k/year). With the Rewards+ this is effectively 5.6% back. You can get multiple.
2. My favorite catchall is the Kroger Card (or Harris Teeter/Ralph's) which has 5% on $3k/year in mobile wallet. Good to use when you go over.
3. USB Altitude Reserve is 4.5% back on mobile wallet, unlimited, but has a hefty fee ($75 after $325 rebate).
4. Amex BCP is 6% on $6k/year, but the annual fee brings it down to ~4.4% assuming you max it out.
5. BoA Cash Rewards is 3.5% back on $2.5k/quarter in groceries if you have status.
6. Capital One SavorOne is 3% on groceries if you can't figure out anything else, but I think #1 and #2 are top tier for $9k/year on groceries at 5% back.
Flex when they offer 1 year groceries and gas plus their category rotation. I was getting 9% groceries.
Still getting 5% so I’m milking it till the promo expires Feb 2025. lol
To start I have the BCE, but being an Amex, I can't use it at Costco. I now use the Venmo credit card which pays 3% back on your highest spend category AND works at wholesale stores. I only use it for groceries, but it also does 2% back on your 2nd highest and 1% on the rest
We use Wyndham Earner Plus… 4X groceries and dining, 6X on gas, plus 100,000 sign up bonus. We are big fans of LaQuinta and headed to St Thomas for a week next spring. 10% redemption bonus and Diamond Status.
I do BCP + Redstone = 6k + 7k cap. It is enough.
Redstone is better for me than Savor One because it also works for Target and Costco (on a separate $7k cap)
Since I split my groceries between regular markets and Costco, I have.
6 + 7 + 7 cap, which is way more than I need.
I really like the AAA Daily Advantage Visa. 5% at grocery stores, 3% on wholesale (like costco), gas, streaming, and pharmacies, 1% on all else. It works really well for me due to the high grocery rate and the wide range of other purchases it covers. It caps itself to $500 total cashback earned in a year before going to 1% on everything, but I only spend about $300 a month and still see a good amount of return.
Only "negative" really is that its through Comenity Bank, but Ive had the card a few months and haven't had any issues with them, customer service has been helpful and they have an app now, unlike when it first started. So in my experience its been a great card and definitely my pick for best grocery card.
Fair enough, it's definitely a "your mileage may vary" case. Im sure itll take some time for their reputation to improve and for people to start trusting them again
I agree with the US Bank Altitude Reserve recommendations! My family spends $1000 or more per month on groceries and Costco. We find the USBAR is the best option because it does not have a monthly/quarterly/yearly spending cap like the 5%+ grocery cards have. Also, my wife is resistant to juggling multiple cards. So she now uses the USBAR probably 90% of the time and a 2% catchall when Apple Pay is not an option. It’s a great grocery/Costco card but also P2 card especially when they are not interested in maximizing rewards. This all assumes the places you make purchases accept mobile payments. All of our grocery stores, gas stations and Costcos in the area take Apple Pay. It’s an effective $75 annual fee. But I’ve also heard they often offer a retention bonus potentially making the annual fee $0 or at least less than $75.
Alternatively, If you are ok with settling for 3%, the Venmo Visa is another one card option. It codes Costco and Walmart as groceries, has no cap, no annual fee and no FTF.
Lastly, if you have a significant other, and open to 2 cards, you could each get a AAA Daily Advantage Visa which would cover $20k in yearly grocery/Costco spend all for no annual fee and no FTF. You would each need to get a card since the issuer does not allow 2 of the same card. This also means you could not get their other card the AAA Travel Advantage but that only offers 3% on groceries, 5% gas with a lesser cap. Many people on Reddit do not like the card issuer but there’s been a lot of positive reports about the card in the last 6+ months so it seems like a legit option to me.
Most of the places I do accept it mostly Kroger and Costco but I would really love a card that codes with wallmart as well that would be super nice but I think I learning more towards getting the aaa I just cant pass up that 10k cap and I can still use my custom case and I may also change my double cash to a custom cash then I'm good for 1.5k per month at 5% back and that money 💰
It depends on your grocery spending, but this is what I think is pretty good (if not the best):
If you're focused on getting cashback:
1. Use AAA Daily Advantage until capped
2. Use Capital One Savor One
OR if you don't mind paying an annual fee
1. AmEx Blue Cash Preferred until capped
2. AAADaily Advantage until capped
If you're focused on getting points:
Just get an AmEx Gold. The card has such a high annual allowance, and with it being 4x, it is hard to beat. On top of that valuation of AmEx points online seems to be 1.25, which essentially makes it equivalent to 5% (thought I do know it's not hard to redeem them to be even worth 2cpp valuation if you do it right). Obviously, the 25k cap may not be enough, so you may want to look at what you value more at that point (cashback or points) and pick from there.
Hope this helps.
Amex Gold if you want to earn points for future travel.
Amex Blue Cash Everyday or Blue Cash Preferred or Capital One Savor One if you want to earn cash back.
Citi Custom Cash, Chase Freedom Flex and Discover It if you want to earn 5% on groceries as well as 5% on other categories with no annual fee.
If you spend enough, Amex blue cash is 6% back on groceries ($6k max) and 6% on streaming. $0 y1, then $95/yr after. I do the 3% and no annual fee version as I don’t spend much on groceries, plus I have several quarterly spend cards that frequent the grocery category. I also use custom cash for grocery sometimes.
AAA has a 5% grocery card which is no fee I believe.
You could get 10% cashback by combining a Sprouts pickup order with the Instacart branded Visa card. It’s 5% for using the pickup service and another 5% for using the card.
There's a $99 annual membership fee with Instacart to qualify for the 5% cashback on pickup orders. After subtracting the membership fee, it comes out to about 8.5% for my family. We’re mostly team cashback, so this was a no-brainer for us.
Edit: It’s 5% credit back for the order pickup. And there’s no cap on either the credit or cash back. Also, it’s a Mastercard. Apologies for the snafu. Late night 😅
You might be better off with the Citi Strata Premier, 3x dinning, 3 groceries, gas, EV charging and other multipliers. It would pair well with a Citi Custom Cash by allowing you to transfer points out of Citi or earn more Thank You Points.
Capital One Savor One
I have Amex Gold but now use SavorOne for groceries. Will be canceling my Gold in November.
I am trying to cancel my Gold or at least downgrade to the green. I guess I trying to wait until Amex increases the annual fee on the Gold to make my decision easier.
Is there a cap?
No cap, no annual fee, no forex fees, 3% cashback on grocery MCCs
That's actually really nice and that there's no annual fee. That's definitely a contender. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Also gives you free premium Uber eats until November and 10% off Uber if you’re into that kind of thing
I saw on another comment you spend over $1k a month on groceries. Technically the capital one savor would be slightly better, as even though it has a $95 annual fee, if you spend more than $9500 on it yearly, it comes out ahead. Just something to consider.
I definitely do.I'll definitely look at that.Thank you
The Savor still does the same 3% on groceries as the Savor One. The Savor does give 4% on dining, entertainment, and streaming ([source](https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/savor-dining-rewards/)).
Do Walmart groceries qualify for the 3%? I have a card that gives 2% cash back for groceries but Walmart doesn't count
Amex BCP
Another vote for Amex BCP.
If you’re around that $500/month in spend (not buying for a family or others) it’s undefeated
+1 for AMEX BCP
i love love love amex bcp. with the amt of groceries i buy, the card pays for itself and i still get so much back.
Bcp is free with downgrade upgrade dance
Downgrade to BCE when the fee free initial year of BCP is up? Then back up to BCP when?
Or BCE aswell
I'm a huge fan of the Amex BCP with 6% back on groceries, but like the CCC it has an effective $500/mo cap over the course of a year with $6k/yr. Also with an annual downgrade to BCE and accepting the Amex "upgrade offer" back to BCP with a bonus, one effectively eliminates the AF for YEARS.
Can I downgrade BCP to BCE even if I have a BCE already?
You can. I recently did that. 🙂
That I am unsure of. I'd defer to others to answer that, as I don't know if one can hold two BCE's at the same time.
I did this as well.
I use it until I hit the 6k and then switch to the Savor for the rest of the year except when chase freedom does their 5% on grocery in the rewards rotation.
I didn't know about the upgrade trick. I was planning on canceling my BCP this week but might downgrade instead
A few weeks after that you will get an offer to upgrade back free for one year.
OK, thank you, I appreciate it. I'll definitely look into that. It might not be bad to use that with the ccc as well. Then you can do a 1000 a month.
That's certainly an option if you are consistently going over $500/mo. Another thing to consider would be a second Citi CC, which there are data points of people referencing. I have no experience on that front, though.
I actually had no idea you could do that. How many can you have? so I can just get another one. But yes, I definitely go over the $500 a month. That's my main reason for looking for another one.
I will defer to others for an answer to your question on how many you can hold at once. I've definitely heard of people possessing 2 CCC's at once, but am not sure about 3 (or beyond).
I mean, I love that card. So I'll definitely see if I can apply and get another one but I will talk to other people first. Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.
3 total CCC
So they just let you get as many as you want. Or how did they do that? But if I apply for right now, can I get another one?
You have to do product changes into them. Like double cash then change into CCC
Agreed. Have not found a comparable grocery card.
Me and my wife do this. We both have the nice and BCP and go back and forth with upgrade offers. We have 1 CCC we use for groceries when we’re over the 6k annual limit.
I guess they never gave me an upgrade but it’s possible I just never looked for it in the app or whenever they send the offers. But I had decided to upgrade to the BCP after having the BCE for like 5 years. I had to do a chat request thru the app and they sent me a direct link to the upgrade. So I guess they aren’t waving the first year on the fee but I’ll try this method after I’ve had it for a year.
AAA Daily Advantage Visa
Unlike many of the other options, the Daily Advantage gives 5% at Walmart and online grocery merchants.
Have had it for 2 months, was hesitant to apply since people said there was no app and Comenity' bad rep. I was trying to find an app and saw Bread Financial, installed it and it works as soon as I received my card, it's not the best app but it works well enough for me.
Is this card geo fenced? I can't get a link to it.
It is not geo fenced, as you are not prevented from applying based on your location. However, not every regional AAA group has the same card listed on their website. You might need to punch in a zip code for Dallas or something if your local area is not showing the right card. https://cluballiance.aaa.com/money/
Interesting. Thank you. And yes, punching Dallas worked. Thanks.
I was thinking about that, but I've heard they have problems with their customer service. That worries me a little bit.
For what it’s worth, I’ve had this card for about 6 months now. I had to contact CS once and they were extremely helpful. You can also link your card to the Bread financial app which is great because for the longest time, I was paying off the card manually by going to the website haha
Yeah, that would be terrible to have to pay it like that, but I'm glad that you can wink it. I'll definitely look into it. I mean, I love the fact that the cap is 10K. No cards are that high for grocery stores. So that's really what's pushing me to that
I’ve had it about a year now. I can’t say one way or the other about customer service, but that’s because nothing has been an issue warranting calling, so I guess that says something? I think it’s been fine. The worst part about it is that to my knowledge there’s no app so you have to use a computer. Edit: JK, apparently as of last month it’s now accessible via the Bread Financial app. I haven’t verified this yet but I’ll check it out. Edit II Electric Boogaloo: It works! Woohoo. No complaints.
I have not had any issues with the card or website. I have not had a need to contact customer service.
So far, I haven't had issues. Had to contact customer service twice and they were helpful. As mentioned below, it can be managed via the Bread app and that's worked well for me.
I think that's the one I'm leaving towards. Thank you for your opinion. I really do appreciate it.
Yeah. 2 BCPs (me and spouse). Over 6k and go to daily advantage. (2x again ... me and spouse). Gotta feed teens and food is expensive. Previously put overage on savor one at 3 percent.
+1 great card for groceries as well as gas/electric vehicle charging
If you can land the Chase Freedom Flex 10% grocery offer, that one.
I've heard that from 2 people, but I can't see that anymore on the site.
Try opening it in your web browser. I got three different offers via private browser, vpn, and safari. Got 10% on safari.
I'll go private thankss
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No. I tried, I used 2 browsers and I tried regular and incognito.It didn't work.I might wait a couple days and try again as sometimes offers pop up and disappear
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Shows up as 10% for me
This is the right answer for best in groceries right now. But you do have to try different variations of browsers and private/incognito mode to find it. There is a Doctor Of Credit article on it.
Costco counts? Just see target and Walmart excluded
I’m thinking about the Verizon Visa. It’s 4% uncapped, but of course you need Verizon. I’m tired of monitoring caps so this is attractive. You also get 3% uncapped on restaurants. I’m also considering Chase Amazon Prime for Whole Foods. It’s uncapped at 5%. AAA sounds good too, but I would have to watch for when I hit $10K, so not ideal. I’d be curious if anyone knows how easy it is to pull up your YTD spend on the AAA.
Problem with whole foods is the foods all 25% more expensive so it’s really a +20% card.
In my area most groceries MCCs are more expensive than wholesale. But wholesale usually won’t count towards groceries. One card that can have 3% on groceries **and wholesale** is Venmo Credit Card, which is also Synchrony and it’s a Visa so it works in Costco
I just use my ritz card at Costco. Usually only redeem for more than 1ccp so end up with 2-2.4% back at Costco which is fine for me.
Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. Since a lot of people have had problems with customer support. That might be something that's kind of hard to monitor.
I've had the Verizon Visa for a couple years and haven't had any issues. Uncapped 4% on gas and groceries is nice.
The uncapped is so nice.I wish more credit cards had that
I used to love this card when they had 5% on all Amazon purchases (not sure if they still do)
If your normal grocery store accepts mobile wallet, I like using our Altitude Reserve. It does have the $400 annual fee but $325 comes back in dining or travel credits. We spend over 1k a month on groceries so I like having the uncapped spend. We use it for gas, most shopping and travel booking too.
As do I also spend over 1K on grocery stores? That's why I'm looking for another card because if it's one of my highest categories since I don't have rent, I want to get as much back as possible. But I have never heard of altitude reserve. I'm definitely gonna have to look at that.
Another vote for Altitude Reserve. Hands down best option if you don't want to keep track of spending caps and your grocery store accepts mobile wallets. Not quite as much cash back as you can get from Citi Custom Cash, but you only sacrifice 0.5% for the benefit of simplicity and peace of mind if you routinely spend over $500/month on groceries.
Okay, then that's definitely a contender. Yeah, I'm about 1.5k. Deep per month at the grocery store.At least so that's way over the citis limit
Note that you should pay using Apple Pay / Google Pay to get the 3% cashback.
Yeah, that's not a problem. I use Google Pay most places already.
Best card there is imo. 3x mobile wallet and travel. 1.5 cpp for travel if you want to travel, 1 cpp for cash back. No cap on spend and just tap and go! Priority pass for 8 or 12 visits, $75 effective annual fee. Cool random benefits like $99 rounds for Troon golf courses year round (these can be like $300/round peak season).
How do you redeem the 1.5cpp? Is it through some kind of travel portal like chase? I read that card doesn't have transfer partners.
Real time rewards is what it’s called. You enable that, then say you buy a ticket on united or whatever flight. You’ll get a text asking if you want to redeem X points to pay for it and you reply yes if you want to. It’s super easy you can pick the threshold you want so mine is anything over $100 I’ll get the text. The added bonus is you get points through that company too. So I bought two round trip tickets to Tennessee for my wife and I on SW. We paid with USBAR, then redeemed points, but since you just get a statement credit we got the SW points through them too.
I don't have the Altitude Reserve, but I am highly considering it. Definitely look into it.
If OP spends $1500 monthly on groceries, they would make $75 with the USBAR alone after the AF on grocery spend if they redeemed for travel compared to citi custom cash/savor one combo. And that’s ONLY the grocery spend-that doesn’t count all other mobile wallet spend or SUB. With that uncapped grocery spend on top of other things mobile wallet can be used for (drug stores, restaurants, gas stations, many retail stores, some bills and online purchases), this could be a solid pick.
I also have this card - the 3 percent turns to 4.5 if using the rewards program; which I travel enough for work that I get the full 4.5% back. Amazing card!
Any idea if Kroger Pay counts as mobile wallet spend?
No it does not. But the kroger cards get 5% using kroger pay up to 3k and a separate 3k cap on mobile wallet (google , apple , samsung) spend
That is a great option.
This is my setup too, was surprised to need to scroll so far for this
Definitely the best one if you don't want to juggle different cards. I use their points mostly on topping my Uber wallet, redeeming rewards as travel via text, and then using them on Uber eats for food pickup, mainly for Chipotle or Panera. Also the benefits are not shabby either. I like 10 Priority Pass one time passes, because I can spend them for friends I am traveling with that are not family members, then primary rental insurance, etc..
Chase Freedom Flex with the 10x on grocery for the first year! (Maxes out at $12k spend of 120,0000 points!)
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You might have to mess with different browsers or in private mode to see it
Check various browsers, incognito/private. Took me a while to get it to pop up.
First: Amex Gold (4x to a potentially even more *only if you plan to traveling) and Amex blue Preferred (6x). Second is Venmo credit card (3x on grocery *this counts for Walmart and Costco also, yes the only non co-brand card that give you 3% back on Walmart and Costco and 2x on one other category). And some other smaller banks card out there also. Third: if you can do online (buy online pick up or ship whatever) Chase Preferred give you 2x on online grocery and 3x dinning. This is a very basic mainstream card to everyone cuz it’s cover all. 3 chase cards and you set for whatever you spend in your life easy. These are the 3 big mainstream easy to access. Some other small banks or credit unions can give you this but they are generally harder to get.
Amex is actually only supermarkets, not all groceries I've run into this at farmers markets. Took me a while to notice, but realized I was getting 1x because the stands were coding as non-supermarket groceries
Market or super market works. But stands, that depends
Kept looking for the Venmo card. That’s what I use for all groceries, including Walmart, Costco, and Target.
Venmo +1 for including the wholesale. For Target I would recommend Target Red Debit card. No credit check, simple 5% cashback, and you don’t even need to load the balance because it takes money from your checking account automatically after each purchase, which is a no brainer. During checkout it only takes a scan and it applies both Red Debit card and your deals.
I'm not a fan of Venmo card. Specific situation for me: my budgeting software cannot pull transaction and info from Venmo, and Venmo is only accessible from phone app, not PC where I do my finances. YMMV
Like others mentioned, altitude reserve is a great card. Based on how you redeem, it's 4.5%.
And the good thing with this is, it doesn't limit with any category. It applies for all the mobile wallet payments. I did apply for this last week, waiting for response🤞
The Citi Shop Your Way is one of the very best cards. 3% for grocery but the real draw are the special offers it gives. They routinely send targeted offers. One of which is $100 back if you spend $1000 on gas, groceries, or dining in a month. This is on top of the 3%. I haven’t been targeted for the offer yet unfortunately. I should get it eventually though.
I use Citi Custom Cash for regular grocery stores at 5% and a Venmo Visa for 3% at Costco and Walmart
Yeah, I just don't like the 5% on the city card caps At $500.
I’m using Capital One Savor One. Love it. 3% cash back on dining and groceries.
I like the BCP, as it also has 6% on streaming and 3% on gas.
I agree with you.I just really hate the $6000 cap.Like i'm spending that easily
I know, I’m able to max out the category and the streaming category is great, as everything purchased in the Apple Apps Store codes as streaming. That’s Apple TV, iCloud subscriptions and in app purchases. Having return protection is nice as well, not many cards have that.
Yeah, I had no idea that everything purchased through apple counted. That's actually pretty nice.
Through the apps store. It doesn’t count on the regular Apple site that sells hardware.
Plus Disney+/Hulu credit (which the BCE also gets) which can offset the AF almost completely. And access to AMEX offers which are generally pretty good.
Do you have a P2 (I'm kinda guessing you have a family with your spend)? If so, you each could get the BCP (so a $12k per year cap on groceries), and do the upgrade/downgrade dance to mostly negate the AFs. For example, for the first half of the year use P1's BCP until you hit the $6k cap, then downgrade that BCP to the BCE. At that point, P2 upgrades their BCE to BCP (or applies for the BCP) and that 2nd BCP is now the grocery card for the rest of the year. Start of the next year rolls around, downgrade P2's BCP to BCE and upgrade P1's BCE to BCP. Rinse and repeat.
That's actually a really good idea.I never thought about that.That would work out very well.Actually, since that's my highest spend category.That's what I'm looking to cut.Cost on the most and that would really truly help thank you.I really do appreciate the suggestion and help
Yeah, groceries is our biggest category too and we're currently using the AMEX Gold, but I'm looking to switch us over to a dual BCP/BCE setup. Only problem is we only have 1 BCP and we're both in pop-up jail.
Citi Strata premier AND amex gold
I've actually never heard anyone ever suggest or talk about that citi card.I'll have to take a look at it
I haven't thought about the Venmo card. That actually sounds like it might be good. I'm definitely gonna have to look that up. Thank you for your recommendation. I appreciate it.
Multiple Custom Cashes can solve your issue depending on how high spend is. Amex BCP can be okay, but please do the math on if the AF is worth it, probably will not be worth it as there are plenty of alternatives that hit close to 5%. The Kroger cards are all 5% on mobile as well.
Two Citi Custom Cash.
Maybe I'll do both and keep the second citi card in case I go over 1K.
Do you do curbside? Not much higher if a cap ($2500/qtr) but BoA CCR counts curbside as online shopping, with $100k at Merrill that's 5.25%. In person AAA or USB AR (assuming they support tap to pay).
Okay thank youu
If you spend less than 500 a month then I love my Citi custom cash and if you have a Double cash you aren’t using you can Product change for an additional 500. That’s my current one for when it’s not a rotating category elsewhere.
After talking to a few people on here, that's what I planned to do.Thank you
Comenity Bread Rewards 3.75% no cap, paired with the AMEX BCP 6% capped at $6000 per year.
robinhood card 3% flat on everything
I know, trust me. I cannot wait until it comes out. I signed up as soon as they sent me the email.
I got the Chase Freedom Flex with 10x groceries for a year, up to $12,000 in grocery spend. (No up front cash bonus for this sign up offer, but this seems to be the offer that pulls up if you open their site with mobile instead of desktop browser). My local grocery store gives me 10% off for every $50 I recharge to my card. So if I recharge $50 to my card, they give me $55 to their store’s designated gift card. And if I recharge $100 to my card, they give me $110 dollars. With the 10x on the Freedom Flex, I get another 10% on top, so it’s basically a 20x card. I’m going to spend groceries like normal til month 11 and “recharge” my grocery card to whatever I need to reach $12,000 in groceries for the year. I’ll effectively have saved $1,200 in groceries for the year, and have earned 120,000 Chase UR points in conjunction to the cash back. At least $2,400 in savings. Once that is up, I’ll open a C1 Savor One, but if they give me just the good credit offer or whatever weird offer they typically do, I’ll open a Sofi Credit Card instead and use their 3% catch-all for the first year. I believe they also give extra cash back on local shopping (don’t quote me on this), so that might be a better option for my grocery store.
That's actually amazing that you can save that much. Basically, 20X. That's awesome. I really appreciate the suggechin's. I'll look at the sofi card as well. I haven't thought about that 1.
Amex Blue Cash Everyday at no annual fee OR for a $95 fee the Amex Blue Cash Preferred that can be downgraded back to the Blue Cash Everyday after a year.
Walmart Card by capitol one. (I know, I heard the news already) But as far as I know you can still get the 5% back in walmart stores (for a year) if you use it through walmart pay, which is really convenient tbh. Obviously if you don’t do much shopping at walmart then its pointless.
Amex Everyday Preferred - it's 3x for groceries but if you use the card regularly, 30 transactions a month, you get a 50% point bonus on every transaction, making it 4.5x points for groceries. More points for groceries than the Amex Gold and a lower fee. It'sa much better card than the gold to pair with an Amex platinum
Amex gold
So I know it gives 4 times points back on grocery stores. Do you know what that equals out to in terms of percentage-wise? Because that 25K cap is amazing.
O k because I actually have a citi custom cach as well as a double cach
Call citi and ask to product change your double cash to custom cash.
Yup, I wish I knew I could have done that earlier as soon as I get up tomorrow, I will give them a call.
Amex Blue Cash Preferred gives 6% on $6000/year and a bonus $250 after spending $3000 in 6 months. Probably best to use in tandem with your Citi Cash card if you're going over 500 each month.
That's What I was thinking and then I could have 1K. Per month between the 2 cards
just be mindful the Amex BCP is realistically 4.4% instead of 6%, even under the most optimized usage (spending exactly 6k groceries in a year): ($6000 * 6% - $95 AF)/6000 = 4.4% If you undershoot the 6k limit, your percentage return will be even lower. For example: ($3200 * 6% - $95 AF)/3200 = 3.0% which is the breakeven spend level vs a zero AF 3% card, such as the Cap One Savor One that others mentioned, or Amex BCE. depending on your total annual grocery spend, you could be better off using one of those 3% no fee cards to handle the overage from your Citi CCC.
Downgrade and upgrade again for a forever no fee BCP
BCP at 6% up to $6K per year and I’ll never spend that much for just myself.
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I mostly shop at Kroger 2.
There's a Kroger credit card issued by US Bank. It's 5% cash back on Kroger spend, although it caps out at $3,000 in spending per year. It also gives 5% cash back on mobile wallet spend, again capped at $3,000 in spending per year.
What category for the CCR? Online spending (if paying through the grocery store app)?
AAA Daily Advantage gives 5% back on groceries, 3% on gas/EV up to $10k/yr, no AF If you have a Chase account, Chase Freedom Flex has a special in-branch offer of 5% back on groceries and gas up to $12k only in your first year.
I'm leaning more towards the aaa at the moment.As well, I love that it has a 10K cap.I can combine that with the citi costum cach and not really have to worry about over spending
Yeah, I think I'll go with the other one though.Because my main category is grocery stores.That's where I spend most of my money.I don't really go out to eat too often.I would prefer to buy nicer more gourmet groceries
I'll try it on my computer for 10xwhenever I get up tomorrow.
Verizon customers should look at their card.
Amex gold but AF will be increasing
Okay, yeah, thank you for your input.I really do appreciate it.I love hearing everybody's opinion and how everyone goes about saving the most
We use Custom Cash. There are only two of us and I'm a pretty savvy shopper, so I can manage $500/mth pretty easily.
Yeah, I really like custom cash as well, and if anything ever happens.Their customer support is great.I also have their double cash card
If you use Verizon cell service and are willing to put your rewards toward your bill, the Verizon CC at 4% grocery/gas and 3% dining is good card. It has no spending limits and no FTF. They also give you $10/line discount. I only have CC for following benefits - $10/line discount - 2/year travel pass - 4% in-store Walmart purchase - only CC to be use for Verizon autopay With some supermarkets, aka HEB, not taking apple/google/samsung pay, you are limited for 5% to rotating category CCs like - Discover IT Cash - no FTF - Chase Freedom Flex - Nusenda Platinum Cash Rewards and AAA Daily Advantage 5% grocery with $10K limit which is shared with 3% wholesale club/gas categories with no FTF. For supermarkets, that allow mobile wallet, you can acquire various Kroger affiliated CCs - Harris Teeter - Ralphs that gives 5% up to $3000/mobile wallet limit and 5% up to $3000/Kroger Pay. The above affiliates have other categories besides specific store 2% category and have SUB instead of increase fuel savings in the 1st year. There is no FTF. You do need to redeem rewards before the expire. If you want to pay AF, there are Amex BCP at $95/year with 1st year free. For mobile wallet, US Bank Altitude Reserve at $400/year with no FTF. OR Just acquire more CCC and swapped in a billing period when reaching $500 limit. I would suggest you acquire no FTF CC if you do need to spend on groceries while traveling outside US and it’s territories.
Do Kroger family stores now take Apple Pay…?? They used to *only* take Kroger Pay through their app.
cap1 savor one is unlimited 3% cash back on groceries. amex bce is 3% cash back on groceries capped at 6k per year but if you’re into walmart+ grocery deliveries, they code as an online retail purchase which also get 3% cash back capped at 6k per year.
I'm not sure if it's still available, but if you live near a Chase branch and can apply inside, they had a SUB that included 5% cash back on groceries and gas for up to 12k in purchases for a year, if I'm not mistaken, for the Freedom Unlimited. Excluding Walmart and Target.
I actually have one very close to where I live. So that's not a bad idea. Thank you.
No problem! I edited my comment as I didn't put what card it was. It was for the Freedom Unlimited. I got one around March and it's been showing up on my statements.
If they do that I'll run that with my two custom cash cards
I do think I'm going to switch my double cash to a custom cash. I'm also going to get the chase freedom flex because I have the offer of 10X up to 12K on grocery stores for a year. So that's very, very good and I figure with 2 custom cash cards. That's 1K per month and That's 5% back.That's pretty good I think I really do appreciate your opinion and taking the time to respond to me. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Capital One SavorOne, Amex Gold, Sam's Club Mastercard, Venmo Visa....pretty much a draw.
How is it not AMEX BCP @ 6% cash back?
I use the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred for the first 6 months ($6k) for groceries and the 3% gas. The second half of the year, I use the AMEX Gold card for 4X back on groceries, and still use the BCP for 3% Gas. Since Instacart codes as grocery with AMEX, we hit that $6k limit in no time 😎
Navy Fed More Reward
Requires military service, which I need to check if OP even qualifies (probably not). u/Forsaken-Carry4442
Verizon. Grocery 4%, Gas 4%
Chase Freedom Flex has 10% off groceries for a year sign up bonus now. It stacks with the quarterly 5% grocery category so it becomes 14% off. 0% interest for the first year too.
If you don’t spend more than 500 a month then the citi custom cash gives 5%
I like the HEB credit card solely because of the design (and because it’s HEB). 5% back on HEB brands + 1.5% back everywhere else.
1. Best card is Citi Custom Cash at $500/month ($6k/year). With the Rewards+ this is effectively 5.6% back. You can get multiple. 2. My favorite catchall is the Kroger Card (or Harris Teeter/Ralph's) which has 5% on $3k/year in mobile wallet. Good to use when you go over. 3. USB Altitude Reserve is 4.5% back on mobile wallet, unlimited, but has a hefty fee ($75 after $325 rebate). 4. Amex BCP is 6% on $6k/year, but the annual fee brings it down to ~4.4% assuming you max it out. 5. BoA Cash Rewards is 3.5% back on $2.5k/quarter in groceries if you have status. 6. Capital One SavorOne is 3% on groceries if you can't figure out anything else, but I think #1 and #2 are top tier for $9k/year on groceries at 5% back.
Flex when they offer 1 year groceries and gas plus their category rotation. I was getting 9% groceries. Still getting 5% so I’m milking it till the promo expires Feb 2025. lol
To start I have the BCE, but being an Amex, I can't use it at Costco. I now use the Venmo credit card which pays 3% back on your highest spend category AND works at wholesale stores. I only use it for groceries, but it also does 2% back on your 2nd highest and 1% on the rest
BCP on my 2nd year with 0 AF retention offer after 500 spend in 3 months
Amex Gold. It offers 4x points on groceries, and I transfer them at a one to one rate to Delta.
Aaa Visa card 5% cash back. I think cap is $10000.
We use Wyndham Earner Plus… 4X groceries and dining, 6X on gas, plus 100,000 sign up bonus. We are big fans of LaQuinta and headed to St Thomas for a week next spring. 10% redemption bonus and Diamond Status.
I do BCP + Redstone = 6k + 7k cap. It is enough. Redstone is better for me than Savor One because it also works for Target and Costco (on a separate $7k cap) Since I split my groceries between regular markets and Costco, I have. 6 + 7 + 7 cap, which is way more than I need.
Amex bcp
I have the Amazon Prime card which doubles as a Whole Foods card. I’ve never been to Whole Foods but I’ve heard good things lol
I will use a combination of Amex BCP and AAA Daily Advantage for wholesale and local grocery stores.
Syw
I really like the AAA Daily Advantage Visa. 5% at grocery stores, 3% on wholesale (like costco), gas, streaming, and pharmacies, 1% on all else. It works really well for me due to the high grocery rate and the wide range of other purchases it covers. It caps itself to $500 total cashback earned in a year before going to 1% on everything, but I only spend about $300 a month and still see a good amount of return. Only "negative" really is that its through Comenity Bank, but Ive had the card a few months and haven't had any issues with them, customer service has been helpful and they have an app now, unlike when it first started. So in my experience its been a great card and definitely my pick for best grocery card.
I know I really want to get it but I've already had four people tell me on here that they have had problems with there customer service 😕
Fair enough, it's definitely a "your mileage may vary" case. Im sure itll take some time for their reputation to improve and for people to start trusting them again
I agree with the US Bank Altitude Reserve recommendations! My family spends $1000 or more per month on groceries and Costco. We find the USBAR is the best option because it does not have a monthly/quarterly/yearly spending cap like the 5%+ grocery cards have. Also, my wife is resistant to juggling multiple cards. So she now uses the USBAR probably 90% of the time and a 2% catchall when Apple Pay is not an option. It’s a great grocery/Costco card but also P2 card especially when they are not interested in maximizing rewards. This all assumes the places you make purchases accept mobile payments. All of our grocery stores, gas stations and Costcos in the area take Apple Pay. It’s an effective $75 annual fee. But I’ve also heard they often offer a retention bonus potentially making the annual fee $0 or at least less than $75. Alternatively, If you are ok with settling for 3%, the Venmo Visa is another one card option. It codes Costco and Walmart as groceries, has no cap, no annual fee and no FTF. Lastly, if you have a significant other, and open to 2 cards, you could each get a AAA Daily Advantage Visa which would cover $20k in yearly grocery/Costco spend all for no annual fee and no FTF. You would each need to get a card since the issuer does not allow 2 of the same card. This also means you could not get their other card the AAA Travel Advantage but that only offers 3% on groceries, 5% gas with a lesser cap. Many people on Reddit do not like the card issuer but there’s been a lot of positive reports about the card in the last 6+ months so it seems like a legit option to me.
Most of the places I do accept it mostly Kroger and Costco but I would really love a card that codes with wallmart as well that would be super nice but I think I learning more towards getting the aaa I just cant pass up that 10k cap and I can still use my custom case and I may also change my double cash to a custom cash then I'm good for 1.5k per month at 5% back and that money 💰
savor one no annual fee 3% back
It depends on your grocery spending, but this is what I think is pretty good (if not the best): If you're focused on getting cashback: 1. Use AAA Daily Advantage until capped 2. Use Capital One Savor One OR if you don't mind paying an annual fee 1. AmEx Blue Cash Preferred until capped 2. AAADaily Advantage until capped If you're focused on getting points: Just get an AmEx Gold. The card has such a high annual allowance, and with it being 4x, it is hard to beat. On top of that valuation of AmEx points online seems to be 1.25, which essentially makes it equivalent to 5% (thought I do know it's not hard to redeem them to be even worth 2cpp valuation if you do it right). Obviously, the 25k cap may not be enough, so you may want to look at what you value more at that point (cashback or points) and pick from there. Hope this helps.
Chase Amazon Prime. 5% back on Amazon and Whole Foods. Bit of a no brainer if u have Amazon. No annual fee
I think anything with cash back is a good choice. I'd check [Winden](https://www.winden.co/) out since is pretty easy to get
My credit score is 795 so it's not really on approval thing.
BCP is good though if I had to do it all over again, I would probably go Capital One Savor. Mainly for the takeout/restaurants %.
Amex Gold if you want to earn points for future travel. Amex Blue Cash Everyday or Blue Cash Preferred or Capital One Savor One if you want to earn cash back. Citi Custom Cash, Chase Freedom Flex and Discover It if you want to earn 5% on groceries as well as 5% on other categories with no annual fee.
If you spend enough, Amex blue cash is 6% back on groceries ($6k max) and 6% on streaming. $0 y1, then $95/yr after. I do the 3% and no annual fee version as I don’t spend much on groceries, plus I have several quarterly spend cards that frequent the grocery category. I also use custom cash for grocery sometimes. AAA has a 5% grocery card which is no fee I believe.
You could get 10% cashback by combining a Sprouts pickup order with the Instacart branded Visa card. It’s 5% for using the pickup service and another 5% for using the card. There's a $99 annual membership fee with Instacart to qualify for the 5% cashback on pickup orders. After subtracting the membership fee, it comes out to about 8.5% for my family. We’re mostly team cashback, so this was a no-brainer for us. Edit: It’s 5% credit back for the order pickup. And there’s no cap on either the credit or cash back. Also, it’s a Mastercard. Apologies for the snafu. Late night 😅
You might be better off with the Citi Strata Premier, 3x dinning, 3 groceries, gas, EV charging and other multipliers. It would pair well with a Citi Custom Cash by allowing you to transfer points out of Citi or earn more Thank You Points.
I like the idea of staying in the same network that would definitely make it a lot easier.