Maximizing Credit Card Bonus Categories to Earn More Points

Oct. 17, 2014

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9 min read

Maximizing Credit Card Bonus Categories to Earn More Points

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Many of the best points-earning credit cards offer cardholders the opportunity to earn bonus points or miles in certain merchant categories, whether they be grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, or others. With the diversity of credit cards out there and the sheer variety of purchases the average person makes over the course of a year (or even a month), you should be earning multiple points on nearly every dollar you spend.

Granted, even the most devoted points enthusiasts might not be able to earn bonus points on every single purchase. For cases where none of your cards earns a category bonus (or if you've hit the cap on a bonus like the Chase Freedom (No longer open to new applicants) rotating quarterly categories or Amex EveryDay Preferred grocery category), you can fall back on a card that earns valuable points, like the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express.

Still whenever possible, you should try to maximize your points on each and every purchase. To help you do so, I've compiled this list of cards that earn bonus points in the most popular merchant categories. Not every single card or category is represented here, so if any of your favorites are missing, please let me know in the comments so I can add them. Aside from this list, you can always consult the TPG Wallet Maximizer for help deciding which card to use for a given purchase.

Credit cards are listed in descending order of the points per dollar earned, and cards that earn multiple points per dollar on all purchases (like the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard or the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card are not included. I also excluded co-branded airline and hotel cards that earn bonuses with only their particular brand.

dsds — Many credit cards earn bonus points at grocery stores. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Groceries

Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express: 6% cash back at standalone US supermarkets up to $6,000 in purchases annually; then 1%. Terms apply.
Hilton Honors Surpass Card from American Express: 6x per $1 at US supermarkets. Terms apply.
Hilton Honors Card from American Express: 5x per $1 at US supermarkets. Terms apply.
Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express: 3% at standalone US supermarkets up to $6,000 in purchases annually; then 1%. Terms apply.
American Express EveryDay Preferred: 3x per $1 at US supermarkets on up to $6,000 in purchases annually.
Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature Card: 3x per $1 at US supermarkets.
American Express® Gold Card: 2x per $1 at US supermarkets.
The Amex EveryDay® Card from American Express: 2x per $1 at US supermarkets on up to $6,000 in purchases annually.
IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card: 2x per $1.

Gas stations are another popular bonus category.

Gas

Hilton Honors Surpass Card from Amex: 6x per $1 at US gas stations. Terms apply.
Hilton Honors Card from Amex: 5x per $1 at US gas stations. Terms apply.
Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express: 3% at standalone US gas stations. Terms apply.
American Express Simply Cash Business: 3x per $1 on standalone US gas stations.
Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature Card: 3x per $1 at US gas stations.
Chase Ink Bold: 2x per $1 up to $50,000 in purchases annually.
Chase Ink Plus: 2x per $1 up to $50,000 in purchases annually.
Chase Ink Cash: 2x per $1 up to $25,000 in purchases annually.
American Express True Earnings Costco: 2x per $1 on gasoline purchases at standalone US stations.
Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express: 2% at standalone US gas stations. Terms apply.
American Express EveryDay Preferred: 2x per $1 at US gas stations. Terms apply.
Business Gold Rewards Card from Amex: 2x per $1 at US gas stations.
IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card: 2x per $1.
Chase United Explorer Business Card: 2x per $1.

Dining out can mean tons of bonus points depending on which credit card you have. — Dining out can mean tons of bonus points depending on which credit card you use.

Restaurants/Dining

Hilton Honors Surpass Card from Amex: 6x per $1 at US restaurants. Terms apply.
Hilton Honors Card from Amex: 5x per $1 at US restaurants. Terms apply.
Citi Premier® Card: 2x per $1 on dining.
Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature Card: 3x per $1 at US restaurants.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: 2x per $1 at restaurants (3x on First Fridays each month).
Chase Sapphire: 2x per $ at restaurants.
Chase Ink Cash: 2x per $1 up to $25,000 in purchases annually.
Chase United Explorer Business Card: 2x per $1.
Chase Hyatt Credit Card: 2x per $1.
IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card: 2x per $1.
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card: 2x per $1.
American Express True Earnings Costco: 2x per $1 on dining out at US restaurants.
Citi Prestige: 2x per $1.
Citi ThankYou Preferred Card: 2x per $1.
Barclaycard Arrival No Fee: 2x per $1.

Note: Amex just offered targeted cardholders the opportunity to earn up to 3 points per $1 at US restaurants.

Entertainment: Movies, Music, Books, Etc.

Citi Premier® Card: 2x per $1.
Citi Prestige: 2x per $1.
Citi ThankYou Preferred Card: 2x per $1.

Earning 5X points at office supply stores is a great reason to carry these cards. — Office supply stores offer some of the highest category bonuses.

Office Supplies, Cable, Internet, Communications

Chase Ink Bold: 5x per $1 at office supply store and on telecommunications up to $50,000 in purchases annually.
Chase Ink Plus: 5x per $1 at office supplies store and on telecommunications up to $50,000 in purchases annually.
Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card: 5x per $1 at office supplies store and on telecommunications up to $25,000 in purchases annually.
American Express Simply Cash Business: 5x per $1 on up to $25,000 in purchases at US office supply stores and wireless telephone service providers.
Business Gold Rewards Card from Amex: 2x per $1 on select computer hardware, software and cloud computing providers, including Apple.
Chase United Explorer Business Card: 2x per $1.
CitiBusiness AAdvantage World Mastercard: 2x per $1 at office supply and telecommunications merchants.
US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature: 2x per $1 on merchant locations that classify themselves as having telecommunications services/products.

Round-the-World Award Tickets will not be issued on or after January 1, 2015 — Some cards earn up to 6 points per dollar on airfare.

Airfare

Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve: 5x per $1.
Citi Prestige: 3x per $1.
American Express® Gold Card: 3x per $1.
Business Gold Rewards Card from Amex: 3x per $1.
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card: 2x per $1.
Chase Hyatt Credit Card: 2x per $1.
Chase Fairmont Visa Signature: 2x per $1.
Citi Premier® Card: 3x per $1.

Hotels

Citi Prestige: 3x per $1.
Chase Ink Bold: 2x per $1 on up to $50,000 in purchases annually.
Chase Ink Plus: 2x per $1 on up to $50,000 in purchases annually.
Citi Premier® Card: 3x per $1.

Car Rentals

Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve: 5x per $1.
Citi Prestige: 3x per $1.
Chase Hyatt Credit Card: 2x per $1.
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card: 2x per $1.
Chase Fairmont Visa Signature: 2x per $1.
Citi Premier® Card: 3x per $1.
CitiBusiness AAdvantage World Mastercard: 2x per $1.

General Travel

Chase Sapphire Preferred: 2x per $1.
Barclaycard Arrival World Mastercard: 2x per $1.
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: 5x per $1 on eligible purchases made through Amex Travel.

Other

Simply Cash Business Card from Amex: 3x per $1 in your category of choice on up to $25,000 in purchases annually.
Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express: 2X per $1 on advertising with select media (graphic design, tradeshows and advertising services), and shipping (in the US for courier, postal, and freight services).
US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature: 3x per $1 on charitable donations. This card also earns 2x per $1 on your highest spending category among gas, airfare or groceries.

Rotating Categories

Several credit cards offer potentially lucrative spending bonuses of up to 5 points per $1 on categories that change each quarter.

Chase Freedom: This is a great, basic card from Chase that earns points that you can redeem as cash back, or use like Ultimate Rewards points if you also have a premium Chase card like the Sapphire Preferred or Ink Plus. Each quarter, this card offers a 5x bonus on certain merchant categories up to $1,500 in purchases. From October 1-December 31, those merchants are Amazon.com, Zappos, and select department stores. Past categories (that you can likely expect again in the future) include gas stations, movie theaters, Starbucks, restaurants, Lowe’s, Kohl’s and more. Find more info here.

The DiscoverIt also offers rotating bonus categories.

Discover It: Like Chase Freedom, the Discover it card offers quarterly rotating category spending bonuses of up to 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in purchases. This year’s bonus merchants have included restaurants and movie theaters, home improvement stores, gas stations, and online shopping and department stores. Find more info here.

With additional reporting by Eric Rosen.

Featured image by Many credit cards earn multiple points per dollar at grocery stores - and you should be taking advantage of them!

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.