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Why American Express Gold is the Best Credit Card for Buying Groceries
By Jason Steele MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
It’s getting easier to earn credit card points at the supermarket.
As a credit card expert, I have a lot of cards, but I always use my American Express® Gold card for groceries. That’s important because American consumer’s average grocery spending has been up by 17% during the pandemic, and it seems like someone in my household is buying groceries almost every day. So while supermarkets haven’t been a huge category in the past, recent spending trends have made it more important then ever to have the right grocery card. In fact, you could earn more travel rewards points through grocery shopping than you might through travel itself.
Key features
- Earn 4x points on up to $25,000 spent each year at U.S. supermarkets.
- Earn 4x points on all qualifying dining purchases.
- Receive $120 in Uber Cash annually ($10 per month) that you can use for Uber Eats or Uber Rides in the U.S., plus 12 complimentary months of Uber Eats Pass (auto-bill begins after 12 months from enrollment).
- Enjoy $120 in dining credit at Grubhub and other participating partners.
- Earn 75,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases with your card within six months of account opening.
- $250 annual fee.
- See Rates & Fees.
- Terms apply*
Why AmEx Gold is the best for groceries
Since I began writing about credit cards in 2008, I’ve seen hundreds of products come and go. But when American Express endowed their long standing Gold card with 4x points at U.S. supermarkets in the fall of 2018, that got my attention. As a married father of three, visiting the grocery store is almost a daily occurrence for our household, and the ability to earn a huge amount of bonus points on these purchases made this card a must-have. And when I factor in the 4x points that’s also offered at restaurants worldwide, I knew that I would be earning serious bonus points nearly every time I bought food.
As with other American Express cards, the points you earn from the Gold Card are in their Membership Rewards program. These points are worth about one cent each towards things like gift cards, merchandise and travel reservations. But I’ve found that I can realize even greater value when I transfer these points to frequent flyer miles in one of their 19 airline transfer partners including Delta, jetBlue, Hawaiian, Air Canada and British Airways.
Even now when I’m not traveling much, I’m saving these points for future travel when I might realize as much as 3 to 5 cents per point redeemed for business class international tickets. And thankfully, the points you earn from the Gold card are automatically added to your balance of Membership Rewards points that you’ve earned from other consumer and small business cards from American Express.
But what about the $250 annual fee?
Is it worth paying $250 a year to earn lots of bonus points from this card? Possibly, but there’s a better reason to justify spending this much for an American Express® Gold Card. This card comes with several credits that when combined, can approach or exceed the price of its annual fee. New to this card, you now receive $10 in Uber Cash each month ($120 annually) towards purchases from Uber Eats or Uber Rides in the U.S., plus 12 complimentary months of the Uber Eats Pass (must enroll by 12/31/21), which is normally $9.99 a month. You’ll also get $10 a month ($120 annually) of statement credits towards dining at Grubhub, Seamless, Boxed, and other participating partners. This card also offers a $100 Airline Fee Credit, but that credit will be discontinued after 2021.
See Rates & Fees. Terms apply*
Some other cards worth considering for groceries
While I really love my American Express Gold card, I realize that it might not be the best choice for everyone. Here’s two more cards that are very highly rated for grocery store purchases.
Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express. The Blue Cash Preferred card offers 6% cash back on up to $6,000 spent each year at U.S. supermarkets, which may be worth more to you than 4x points. You also earn 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming services, and 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations and on transit (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains and buses). New applicants can earn 20% back on Amazon.com purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership (up to $200 back), plus $150 back after you spend $3,000 in purchases within first 6 months of Card Membership (received in the form of statement credits). There’s a $95 annual fee for this card that’s waived the first year. See Rates & Fees. Terms apply*
Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express. The Blue Cash Everyday card has no annual fee, but still offers you 3% cash back on up to $6,000 in purchases from U.S. supermarkets. You also earn 2% cash back at U.S. gas stations and at select U.S. department stores, and 1% cash back on other purchases. See Rates & Fees. Terms apply*
Amex EveryDay® Preferred. This card offers you 3x Membership Rewards points on up to $6,000 spent each year at U.S. supermarkets, but you can earn a 50% points bonus when you use the card to make 30 or more purchases within a billing statement period. So you could potentially use it earn 4.5x points on groceries. You’ll also earn 2x at U.S. gas stations, 1x on all other purchases, and there is a $95 annual fee.
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Jason Steele is a nationally recognized credit card expert, with more than a decade of experience covering the credit card space. His work has been published in The Points Guy, Business Insider, Nerdwallet, Forbes, Yahoo! Finance, and many more. He's also the founder of CardCon, an annual conference for the credit card industry and its influencers.