Save at the Grocery Store: The Best Combinations of Reward Programs and Credit Cards

Mixing the use of grocery rewards programs WITH credit card rewards is a great way to save money.

The trick is to use your favourite grocery store’s loyalty card and pair it with your payment method to double dip!

Offers may give the member a discount or earn additional points for the purchase of a certain minimum spend.

By carefully planning purchases at this low-cost grocery store, their flyer specials and the app’s weekly offers, rewards accumulate faster.

Here, I got 42,800 points (or $42.80) on a bill of $159.18, including taxes. The next time I go to the checkout counter at Maxi, I will be able to get $42 off from my grocery bill.

But the best trick is to wait for the Bonus Redemption Event days at Shoppers Drug Mart. On these days, the exchange value is much greater, and points are worth even more!

The best move is to pay with a credit card that has a high multiplier for grocery store purchases.

Maxi only accepts Visa and Mastercard. So, the best credit cards to use at Maxi are:

The World Elite Mastercard PC card gives you 30 points for every dollar you spend at Maxi. I would have had 4,775 points, for a value of $4.77.

However, much more can be achieved using :

As of March 23, 2023, the loyalty card linked to IGA is Scene+.

It should be noted that IGA grocery stores are increasingly accepting American Express cards thanks to the Scene+ program. Even the Voilà by IGA online grocery store accepts them!

The latter is particularly attractive, as the redemption rate is 1,000 points for $10 off the bill. It’s the same as the Cobalt, but the Scotiabank Gold American Express^® Card earns 1 extra point per dollar spent.

For example, it takes $200 in spending at IGA to earn 1,000 Membership Rewards points with the Cobalt card. At IGA, it takes $167 in spending to get 1,000 Scene+ points with the Scotiabank American Express^® Card Gold. Fewer expenses and the rewards accumulate faster!

For other credit cards that earn more points than the average, there are :

:

The Moi from Metro loyalty card earns 1 point for every dollar spent. Each week, customers download their personalized offers on the mobile application, at a special terminal at Metro or in the member profile on the Metro website.

As of May 25, 2023, the metro&moi program has changed to the MOI program. The rate of accumulation and the rate of exchange are the same.

Note that Super C does not accumulate any basic MOI points. To earn MOI points at Super C, you need to buy a product specially marked with bonus points.

Metro supermarkets accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

The Moi RBC Visa Credit Card is linked to the Moi program at Metro. The basic accumulation is one Moi point for every $1. By paying with this card AND scanning the Moi card at the checkout of participating stores you’ll get:

• One additional Moi point for every $1 spent at Metro, Première Moisson and Brunet at Quebec
• One additional Moi point for every $1 spent at Jean Coutu stores at Quebec, in Ontario and New Brunswick.

Then, for other expenses charged to the account :

• 2 Moi points per $1 restaurant purchase, gas and electric vehicle charging

Moi points can be used to reduce your bill at Metro, Jean Coutu, Première Moisson, Super C and Brunet. The trick is to spend them and trade them in at a low-cost place, like Super C.

But there’s much better accumulation with other credit cards, so the choice is yours:

Plus, link your RBC debit or credit card to your Moi membership card to earn Moi points faster.

Here is an example of how to earn points for the American Express Cobalt^® Card. Points are multiplied by 5 for spending at Metro (and other supermarkets).

Costco has an annual cash-back program, through the Executive membership card only.

Costco is in an entirely different category. It is classified as a “Warehouse” by all credit cards, not as a “Grocery Store”. So it has no additional multiplier and will be considered as an expense in the Other category.

Among the few credit cards that offer something special at Costco are the BMO credit cards linked to AIR MILES. For all spending in the “Warehouse” category, there’s an additional multiplier of 2X miles:

• BMO AIR MILES World Elite Mastercard
• BMO AIR MILES^®† Mastercard^®*

Costco warehouses only accept Mastercard. Their CIBC Costco Mastercard offers 1% cash back on in-store purchases and 2% cash back on costco.ca purchases.

What’s more, an Executive membership card with a 2% discount means you can get a little more with the following credit cards:

When you’re comfortable with this technique, take it to the next level by usinga Visa credit card at Costco, indirectly.

Rising grocery prices can be hard on the budget, but there are ways to lessen the impact.

Above all, it is very important to pay your credit card balances in full every month! Otherwise, all your savings will be destroyed by interest charges.

Once you’ve used this double dip trick, take it to the next level with the trick of buying grocery store gift cards for your other expenses.

Check out food waste apps like Too Good to Go and FoodHero. Credit cards treat them like a grocery store or restaurant, with an extra multiplier.

To find out which grocery store is the least expensive, check out our grocery store comparison. Is Super C, Maxi, IGA, Metro or Walmart the best?