Wednesday, August 7, 2013

What Credit Card Earns the Most Rewards? Part 3: Most Rewards for Different Shopping Categories

Some cards earn different amounts depending on what type of item or service you purchase with it. Note that your ability to earn these bonus rewards relies on the card company coding the transaction under the appropriate category, so be sure to read fine print (for example some cards say only some Department stores apply for the bonus reward amount) and check your rewards statement to see that the purchases are going under the category you expect them to. Check the below table for a collection of some of the best of these cards.

Today's Best Gas, Groceries, Drug Stores, Department Stores Reward Cards (Last Edited 8/7/2013)
Card
Card Type
Grocery
Gas
Drugstore
Department Store
Books
Other Purchases
Rewards Type
Annual Fee
Other Info
American Express
6%
3%
1%
3%
1%
1%
Cash Back
$75
6% on groceries only on $6,000 of groceries/year. List of eligible stores. $150 Sign up Bonus. Can redeem reward dollars for statement credit, merchandise and gift cards anytime over $25 in rewards.
MasterCard
5%
5%
1%
1%
5%
1%
Points
$0
5% on Groceries and Gas up to $250/month, 5% on books up to $750/month. 1% on everything over the limit and all other purchases. Can redeem 2,500 points for $25 statement credit and so on. Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com don’t consistently code as book purchases.. Look at Citi Forward Card for 5 points/dollar on those purchases. $25 Cash Back with first use.
Visa
3%
5%
1%
1%
1%
1%
Points
$0
Redeemable for Visa Prepaid Cards starting at $50 rewards and above.
Visa
2%
3%
1%
1%
1%
1%
Cash Back
$0
2% and 3% only earned on up to $1,500/quarter. Redeemable above $25. 10% Cash Back bonus if deposited to Bank of America account ($25 cash back=$27.50). $100 Bonus if you spend $500 in first 90 days.
American Express
3%
2%
1%
2%
1%
1%
Cash Back
$0
3% on groceries only on $6,000 of groceries/year. List of eligible stores. $100 Bonus if you spend $1000 in first 90 days. Rewards redeemed with cash back of $25 or more.

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