There’s no question that a good chunk of our budgets are spent on groceries and gas. With the price of gasoline hovering above $1.30 per litre, and food costs rising, who isn’t looking for ways to save money on groceries and gas?
One way to combat food and fuel inflation is by using a rewards credit card. Depending on the card, you’ll earn cash back or travel rewards, or you can redeem your points for free groceries and gas discounts at your favourite retailers.
Related: Best Cash Back Credit Cards in Canada
But some credit cards can earn you more than others, especially when it comes to spending on groceries and gas. That’s because some credit cards use different point multipliers for each spending category.
Groceries and gas is one of the most competitive spending categories for earning rewards, so we took a look and compared the best credit cards to use for groceries and gas.
Best Credit Cards For Groceries And Gas
This chart compares the annual cash back rewards you can earn based on spending $600 a month on groceries and $200 a month on gas, versus spending $400 a month on groceries and $100 a month on gas.
| Credit Card | Groceries (per month) | Gas (per month) | Annual Rewards (cash value) |
| Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite | $600 | $200 | $384 |
| $400 | $100 | $240 | |
| Scotiabank Gold American Express | $600 | $200 | $384 |
| $400 | $100 | $240 | |
| MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard | $600 | $200 | $168 |
| $400 | $100 | $120 |
Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite
The Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite gives you 4% cash back on grocery and gas purchases, tops among cash back credit cards in Canada. You’ll earn 2% cash back on recurring bill payments and drug store purchases, and 1% cash back on all other spending.
This card comes with a $99 annual fee, so you’ll have to determine whether or not you spend enough on groceries and gas to offset the fee and still come out ahead. If you spend $800 a month on groceries and gas, you’ll beat the no-fee Smart Cash card, but at $500 a month it’s not worth the cost.
Scotiabank Gold American Express
New to the rewards card scene is the Scotiabank Gold American Express card. It stacks up well in a number of categories. You’ll earn four Scotia Rewards points for every $1 spent on groceries, gas, dining and entertainment. Afterwards, you’ll get one Scotia Rewards point for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
Related: Why Cash Back Beats Travel Rewards
You’ll also get 20,000 bonus points with your first purchase. This card also comes with a $99 annual fee, and like the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite, you’ll need to spend more than $500 a month on groceries and gas to beat the no-fee cash back credit cards.
MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard
That brings us to the MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard, widely known as the best no-fee cash back credit card on the market. With this card, you’ll get 5% back on your grocery and gas purchases for the first six months, and 2% back thereafter.
This category bonus is capped at $600 a month; afterwards you’ll get 1% back. So if you spend more than $600 a month on groceries and gas, consider an annual fee rewards card with no cap (or a higher cap) on spending.
Final Thoughts
Using a rewards credit card for your everyday purchases is a good way to fight off inflation, but it’s important to know your spending patterns so you can figure out which credit card is right for you.
Related: Choose Your Rewards Card Carefully
If you have trouble finding one credit card to meet all your needs, consider carrying two or three cards. That way, you can use the one that gives you the biggest return on each spending category.
For example, you can use the Smart Cash card for grocery and gas spending up to $600 a month, and then use the Capital One Aspire Travel card for all your other spending.
Or, use the Scotiabank Gold American Express card as your primary rewards credit card and then carry a no-fee back-up card like Capital One Aspire Cash to use at locations that don’t accept American Express.
The average Canadian belongs to more than a dozen rewards programs. It seems like every retailer – large or small – has its own loyalty program, along with incentives to save money if you join.
If you’re like me, you probably belong to a bunch of rewards programs, most of which have only been used once or twice. Most of these cards are nearly worthless by themselves – just another piece of plastic taking up room in your wallet.
So what should you do with all your rewards cards that don’t have enough points to get you a free coffee or a sandwich? Purging your wallet and tossing un-used cards in the garbage seems like a reasonable solution, but you might be throwing away free money.
Use points.com to swap rewards
A site like www.points.com can help you get more out of your loyalty programs, from your airline frequent flyer miles to your hotel points, from your credit card rewards to your gas and drugstore cards. Here’s how it works:
With Points.com, you can register all your loyalty programs in one place, and then exchange unwanted points from one rewards program to another program you really want to use. You can also trade points with other people on Points.com, which boasts over a million members.
There’s more than 100 loyalty programs listed on the site, although most of them are American. Still, you’ll find popular programs like Aeroplan, Air Miles, Esso Extra, Petro Points, Shoppers Optimum, Sears Club and Starbucks rewards.
Related: RBC Shoppers Optimum MasterCard Review
There’s no fee to move points or miles between your own loyalty programs within the site. However, if you want to swap points or miles with another Points.com member, you’ll pay a trading fee.
The loyalty programs participating in Points.com trades charge a fee when you transfer points or miles to another user. Fees vary from program to program: some charge a flat fee plus a cost-per-mile/point; others only charge a fee that’s based on a range of miles or points.
Each program determines the ‘exchange rate’ between reward programs. As a result, not all exchanges are equal on a one-to-one basis.
Exchanges across different industries (for example, swapping airline reward miles for retailer points) tend to be more favourable.
Related: Why Cash Back Beats Travel Rewards
The best way to use the site is to register all your loyalty programs and exchange points from the ones you don’t use to the programs you use more frequently.
Another option is to redeem your unwanted points and miles for gift cards or into your PayPal account. For example, you can redeem 2,000 Esso Extra points for a $10 Amazon.ca gift card.
Trading points between members can be costly, so be careful. Also, instead buying more point to top up your account through Points.com, it makes more sense to do this directly through your rewards program.