yugi

Hi,
Right now I'm using Amex Gold for groceries, but I want to cancel it. I'm tired going to Cheesecake Factory and buying $10 GC every month. I hate Uber Eats. Airline credit is gone, it was easy to use. So I want to replace it for groceries spend. Here is what I have right now:
1. Amex Old Blue Cash, which is 5% for groceries after you spend $6500 per cardmember year. I can MS this amount at a grocery or drugstore, which will cost me $83.07, but I will receive 1% cashback for it, and the final cost will be $17.30. This card is not used right now.
2. Citi Premier, this will give unlimited 3x TYP with $95 AF. I already have this card, and have no plans to cancel.
3. US Bank Altitude Reserve. I can use it at a grocery stores with mobile wallet, and get 4.5%, effective AF is $75. No plans to cancel this card.
4. Dedicate one of my Citi Custom Cashes (5x TYP) for grocery spend. I have a few of those, but I MS them every month.
5. Hilton Surpass. 6x Hilton points, AF is $95. Hilton points are low value (0.5cpp), so I think it's not worth it.
I can get the following:
1. Amex EveryDay Preferred. The limit is $6k per year for groceries, this is sufficient to us for a year, since I spent less than that on Amex Gold. The hassle is to monitor for 30 purchases every month, and with such a small limit I'll tend to MS it in one month and be done. I had this card before, and cancelled it on order to get Amex Gold. I will not be eligible for bonus. AF is $95
2. Amex Blue Cash Preferred. This is same as #1 above, but gives 6% cashback. I had this card before. but cancelled it in order to get #1. I'm not eligible for bonus, my P2 is eligible, but she is in Amex popup jail.
3. Cap1 SavorOne. Unlimited 3x, same as Citi Premier, but with no AF. I don't have any Cap1 cards, but I'd like to get Venture X. This card can complement it, if I can get it.

mia

Is there a reason that you do not want to use this card? It offers the highest grocery reward of any that you already hold and use, and it doesn't seem worthwhile opening a new card for a slightly higher reward on less than $6,000/year spend. If you have a Chase Freedom card you could use it for the first quarter of 2022.

yugi

Dunno, I tended to prefer points over cashback, but I'm swimming in TYPs right now. Also Amex OBC is 5%, slightly more than 4.5%. And my P2 won't use mobile wallet, though I make most of grocery purchases.
As for Freedom, I MS them every quarter. Have 7 of them.

snowmt

You are already well covered with Citi Premier and Altitude Reserve, plus rotating categories from Freedom or Discover.

mia

%5 versus 4.5% is $30/year if spending $6,000.

The Blue Cash $6,500 threshold is a hidden annual fee. You are earning 1% rather than the minimum you would earn with another card. In the best case you have an opportunity cost of $65 to earn an extra $30/year. This card makes no sense at your spending level.

yugi

Will Amex EDP make more sense? Based on TPG's valuations of 2cpp for MR, I will get $6000*4.5*0.02-95=$445?

invisible

How about these 5% cashback US Bank Grocery branded cards?

yugi

Do you mean first $3k per year with mobile wallet?

jags86

No reason to use TPG's point valuation. Use your own point valuation. If anything, 2cpp is an awful value for MR. You usually get crappy in the 1-1.3cpp range when flying domestic economy, and very good 3cpp+ if you fly international business/first class. If you're MSing 7 Freedoms to the tune of 52,500 UR/quarter and 4 Custom Cash cards to the tune of 10k TYP per month, are you really getting any incremental value out of MR?

yugi

I usually don't MS Amex cards, I tried few times and they clawed back or didn't pay the points. It's too unreliable, and is one of the reasons I want to cancel Gold and Green cards. The only MR cards which I'll keep will be BBP and Rakuten cards.

jags86

then I don’t know why you’re considering the EDP.

invisible

Yes. And there are multiple of them, right?

EasternTraveler

And... how long before he gets shut down by Chase doing MR?

yugi

It works without MS, but it has that annoying 30 transactions per month requirement...

ptatohed

Ouch, all those AFs hurt! lol. I think Citi Custom Cash is the perfect answer. You spend more than $1,000 on groceries each month??

This current Q1 '22, Nusenda, Flex, and Disco-it each have Groceries.