I am in the Chase ecosystem and I want to try to find a way to get more points for gas and groceries. Here is a breakdown of my spending and the cards I have.
I currently have the Bilt blue card, Chase sapphire preferred, and Chase freedom unlimited.
I only really spend money on rent, gas, groceries, and maybe $200 a month in other random things. I prioritize spending my rewards on flights. Not really hotels or cash back or anything else.
I am thinking about getting the Chase freedom flex or the city strata premier but I do like being in the Chase ecosystem. What do you think I should do to get more points on gas and groceries which I now use the CFU for.
Which card should I get for gas and groceries
byu/Powerful-Coconut-680 inCreditCards
Posted by Powerful-Coconut-680
11 Comments
Citi Custom cash is well know for 5x in top spend. People use that for their gas card. CFF is a hit or Miss in their rotational categories tbh.
Be sure your Sapphire Preferred isn’t already a solution for groceries via Scan & Go, which several grocery chains support in their mobile app. Chase ecosystem is tough to get much out of on nothing but 3x dining and 1.5x everything else
Otherwise the AAA Daily Advantage does 5% groceries, 3% wholesale clubs, pharmacies, and gas.
Citi is the better ecosystem for points earnings. There are both 3x and 5x options for gas and/or groceries from Citi. if you’re not a churner and you want to settle into an ecosystem then Citi is better
Are you really getting value out of your CSP if you only spend on gas and groceries and little else?
Amex Blue Cash Preferred is good for gas (3%) and groceries (6%). It’s $0 annual fee for the first year then $95. It’s pure cash back, so you just redeem them for statement credit or use them to shop on Amazon.
There are a lot of anecdotes about people downgrading to Blue Cash Everyday *after* the annual fee hits, getting the annual fee refunded, and then soon after getting an offer to upgrade to the Preferred again for $0 annual fee for one year. It’s very important not to downgrade before the annual fee hits or else your welcome bonus may be clawed back and you may be blacklisted by Amex.
Amex Blue Cash (whichever one you wanna get they both work for those two categories.
There are no wholesale clubs within 40 minutes of me so this only applies to my gas situation:
Tier A: Citi Custom cash or any other 5% credit card + Upside claim + fuel rewards from which ever gas station you use. ie. Shell app
Tier B: Chase Business Ink Cash and buy gas station gift cards at Office Depot can get you 5x UR points
Tier C: Amex Gold and prepay for gas inside a grocery store (Publix, Safeway, some Kroger) which codes gas prepay through the grocery point of sale system for 4x MR points – can also buy gas gift card this way + use Fetch rewards for a little more cash back.
unfortunately tier B and C use gift cards so you cannot combine them with Upside, which uses credit card transaction tracking to reward cash back.
Also should note that you cannot buy gift cards using mobile grocery with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, but even if you could that would be a tier D since it’s only 3x UR. That’s from me trying at 3 different Harris Teeter locations and the QR code not working for the gift cards, even if mixing in with groceries. And an additional note that using gift cards absolutely blows, so Tier A is more like S tier. Custom cash op.
Cvs sells Walmart gift cards and shell gift cards. There’s 3 points. Rakuten routinely offers 1% back at CVS. Effectively 4% on both.
AAA daily advantage and CCC would get you 5%.
I was gonna say Amex Gold pairs with the Amex Blue Cash Everyday pretty nicely. I know nothing about Chase.
Better yet the Business Gold from Amex. Dynamic 4X points on your top two spending categories.
Robinhood gold
Amex Blue Cash Everyday is a no AF card that covers grocery, gas and online shopping for 6K per yr in each of these categories with 3% cashback.