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 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 Amex.
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 or the Capital One Venture Rewards Card are not included. I also excluded co-branded airline and hotel cards that earn bonuses with only their particular brand.
Many credit cards earn bonus points at grocery stores. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
Groceries
American Express Blue Cash Preferred: 6x per $1 at standalone US supermarkets up to $6,000 in purchases annually.
Hilton Surpass Card from Amex: 6x per $1 at US supermarkets.
Hilton HHonors Amex: 5x per $1 at US supermarkets.
American Express Blue Cash Rewards: 3x per $1 at standalone US supermarkets up to $6,000 in purchases annually.
American Express EveryDay Preferred: 3x per $1 at US supermarkets on up to $6,000 in purchases annually.
Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature: 3x per $1 at US supermarkets.
American Express Premier Rewards Gold: 2x per $1 at US supermarkets.
American Express EveryDay: 2x per $1 at US supermarkets on up to $6,000 in purchases annually.
IHG Rewards Club Visa: 2x per $1.
Gas stations are another popular bonus category.
Gas
Hilton HHonors Surpass Card from Amex: 6x per $1 at US gas stations.
Hilton HHonors Amex: 5x per $1 at US gas stations.
American Express Blue Cash Preferred: 3x per $1 at standalone US gas stations.
American Express Simply Cash Business: 3x per $1 on standalone US gas stations.
Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature: 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.
American Express Blue Cash Rewards: 2x per $1 at standalone US gas stations.
American Express EveryDay Preferred: 2x per $1 at US gas stations.
Business Gold Rewards Card from Amex: 2x per $1 at US gas stations.
IHG Rewards Club Visa: 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 use.
Restaurants/Dining
Hilton Surpass Card from Amex: 6x per $1 at US restaurants.
Hilton HHonors Amex: 5x per $1 at US restaurants.
Citi ThankYou Premier: 3x per $1 on dining.
Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature: 3x per $1 at US restaurants.
Chase Sapphire Preferred: 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 Visa: 2x per $1.
IHG Rewards Club Visa: 2x per $1.
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa: 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: 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 ThankYou Premier: 3x per $1.
Citi Prestige: 2x per $1.
Citi ThankYou Preferred: 2x per $1.
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 Cash: 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.
CitiBusines 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.
Some cards earn up to 6 points per dollar on airfare.
Airfare
Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve: 5x per $1.
Citi Prestige: 3x per $1.
Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express: 3x per $1.
Business Gold Rewards Card from Amex: 3x per $1.
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa: 2x per $1.
Chase Hyatt Visa: 2x per $1.
Chase Fairmont Visa Signature: 2x per $1.
Citi ThankYou Premier: 2x 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 ThankYou Premier: 2x per $1.
Car rentals present some great bonus points options.
Car Rentals
Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve: 5x per $1.
Citi Prestige: 3x per $1.
Chase Hyatt Visa: 2x per $1.
Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa: 2x per $1.
Chase Fairmont Visa Signature: 2x per $1.
Citi ThankYou Premier: 2x per $1.
CitiBusiness AAdvantage World Mastercard: 2x per $1.
General Travel
Chase Sapphire Preferred: 2x per $1.
Barclaycard Arrival World Mastercard: 2x per $1.
Business Platinum Card from American Express: 2x 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.
Some cards like the Freedom offer rotating bonus categories.
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 DiscoverIt 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.