Difference between revisions of "Best credit cards for restaurant spending"
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{DISPLAYTITLE:{{Title|restaurant spending}} (2021)}} | {{DISPLAYTITLE:{{Title|restaurant spending}} (2021)}} | ||
{{seo|description=Our recommendations and a ranked list of all the credit cards that offer the best reward rates for the restaurant bonus category.}} | {{seo|description=Our recommendations and a ranked list of all the credit cards that offer the best reward rates for the restaurant bonus category.}} | ||
| − | {{Page|article|Card Strategies}} | + | {{Page|article|Earn Points|Card Strategies}} |
{{Optimize Warning}} | {{Optimize Warning}} | ||
Revision as of 15:15, 12 February 2021
Easily Earn Points for Free Travel, Credit Card Reference
Make sure to read the tips and general advice in our Optimize Rewards by Using Different Cards for Different Purchases guide.
Jump to
Jump to:
Card suggestions
- If you want to keep it simple, stick with the Chase combo. It earns 3x easy-to-use Ultimate Rewards points on restaurants, valued at 5.1 cents per dollar. You can earn 3x points in dining with the Freedom Unlimited, Freedom Flex, or Sapphire Reserve card. If you don't have the Sapphire Reserve, you'll need either the Sapphire Preferred or Ink Preferred to get maximum value for your points by transferring them to Hyatt or other travel partners.
- You can get even more value from the Citi Prestige Card. It earns 5x Thank You points on restaurants (and airfare), worth at least 7.5 cents per dollar. To get the most value from ThankYou points, you'll need to transfer them to frequent flyer programs and use them for award tickets. But, even if you just use them to purchase travel through Citi, 5 points are worth 5 cents per dollar (5.55 cents if you also have the Reward+ Card), about the same as the Chase cards. The drawback is the effective $245 annual fee, which is a lot to pay for higher reward rates on restaurant and online travel agency spending. But, if you spend at least $10,000 per year on restaurants, can take good advantage of the Prestige Card's unique 4th night free benefit, want a Priority Pass membership that includes unlimited guests, or have access to a lower annual fee as a Citigold customer, it can make sense to use this card, instead of the Sapphire Reserve, for restaurant and online travel agency purchases.
- If you are planning to get the Amex Gold Card for purchasing supermarket gift cards, it is probably your best option for most restaurant spending. You'll earn 4x Membership Reward points on restaurants and the annual fee can be justified by the 4x points on grocery spend. Keep in mind that many restaurants, especially outside of the United States, won't accept Amex cards.
- If you can deal with some extra complexity, the Wells Fargo "Combo" is your next best option. It earns 4.5% on dining, without any annual fees. The trick is that you need to have two different Wells Fargo cards. And because you can only get one Wells Fargo card every 15 months, it will take some time to put this plan into action. The Wells Fargo Propel Card earns 3x points on Restaurant (and Travel, Gas, and Streaming Services). Normally these points are only worth 1 cent each. But, if you also have the Wells Fargo Visa Signature Card, you can redeem points at 1.5 cents each, for airfare purchases through the Wells Fargo portal. That works out to 4.5 cents per dollar.
- If you don't spend a bunch on restaurants and don't already have a better card, you can earn 4% on restaurants with the Altitude Go card and pay no annual fees. Unfortunately, the points don't combine with points from the Altitude Reserve card, so you can't redeem your points for more than 1 cent each. The Altitude Go also comes with a potentially useful $15 annual streaming credit and a small signup bonus.
If you want to concentrate on Membership Reward points and don't plan on spending a bunch on groceries, the Amex Green Card is an interesting option. It earns the same 3x points on Travel and Restaurants as the Sapphire Reserve Card but earns Membership Rewards points rather than Ultimate Rewards points. The effective annual fee is a little lower than Sapphire Reserve's as well. But unless you are sure you going to use your points for frequent flyer tickets, it is probably better to get the extra benefits and points flexibility from the Sapphire Reserve.
Quick comparison
The point values used in the table below are estimates based on a typical traveler. They may need to be adjusted for your individual preferences and travel patterns. For example, if you highly value premium cabin award tickets and are willing and able to build up large point balances, Ultimate Rewards, Membership Rewards, and ThankYou points are much more valuable and you should earn as many of those types of points as you can. If you have trouble finding good frequent flyer redemptions, you might want to focus on cards that earn points that can be used more like cash. Deciding What Type of Points to Earn
The annual costs in the table below reflect the annual fee minus any travel credits. For travel credits that are harder to redeem, we value the credit at 50% of the maximum credit amount. We value the Amex Airlines Incidental Credit at only 25% of the maximum credit amount. If you are willing to do the work or are otherwise able to get full value from these credits, the effective annual fee can be considerably lower.
Some cards waive the annual fee for the first year. But the table focuses on what you would pay in the longer term.
| Card | Value | Earns | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citi Prestige | 7.5% | 5x TY | $245‡ |
| Amex Gold | 6% | 4x MR | $30-250 |
| Amex Business Gold Rewards Card (if it is one of your two bonus categories) |
6% | 4x MR | $295 |
| Sapphire Reserve Card | 5.1% | 3x UR | $190-250 |
| Freedom Unlimited Card (with a card that enables UR transfers) |
5.1% | 3x UR | $95 |
| Freedom Flex Card (with a card that enables UR transfers) |
5.1% | 3x UR | $95 |
| Wells Fargo Propel Card (with Wells Fargo Visa Signature) |
4.5% | 3x GoFar | $0 |
| US Bank Altitude Reserve (on mobile wallet purchases only) |
4.5% | 3x | $75 |
| US Bank Flexperks Gold | 4.5% | 3x FP | $85 |
| Amex Green Card | 4.5% | 3x MR | $150 |
| Fairwinds Visa Signature | 4.5% | 3x | $249 |
| Citi Premier | 4.5% | 3x TY | $95 |
| Altitude Go | 4x | 4% | $0 |
| Capital One Savor Card | 4% | 4% | $95 |
| BOA Premium Rewards | 2-3.5%† | 2-3.5x | $45 |
| Ink Cash (business card) | 3.4% | 2x UR | $0 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | 3.4% | 2x UR | $95 |
| Hyatt Card | 3.4% | 2x | $75 |
| CNB Crystal Infinite* | 3.3% | 3x | $150 |
| Hilton Aspire | 3.15% | 7x Hilton | $<0-450 |
| Morgan Stanley* (for Morgan Stanley customers only) |
3% | 2x MR | $0 |
| Capital One SaverOne Card | 3% | 3% | $0 |
| Costco / Sam's Club Credit Card | 3% | 3% | $0 |
| Hilton Surpass | 2.7% | 6x | $75 |
* Cardholders with more than $20,000 in combined balances at BOA / Merrill Lynch earn bonus rewards, maxing out at 3.5 points, or 5.25 cents on travel purchases.
† Bonus rewards on US Restaurants only.
‡ Citigold customers get an effective annual fee of $100.
Supercharge your dining rewards with a credit card dining program
By taking advantage of dining programs, you can earn even more points from using your credit card at some restaurants. You simply register your card with the dining program, and you’ll earn extra points each time you use it at a participating restaurant. Earn Extra Rewards by Enrolling in Credit Card Dining Programs
