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 favorite grocery store’s loyalty card and pair it with your payment method to double dip !

Offers may include a member discount or give you extra points for a set minimum amount spent.

By carefully planning purchases at this low-price 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 thing to do is to wait for the Bonus Redemption Event 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 cards. 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 earned 4,775 points, a value of $4.77.

However, much more can be achieved by using :

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

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

The latter is particularly interesting because the redemption rate is 1,000 points for $10 off your 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. While $167 in spending at IGA earns 1,000 Scene+ points with the Scotiabank Gold American Express^® Card. Fewer expenses and the rewards accumulate faster!

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

The Moi from Metro loyalty card earns 1 point for every dollar spent. Each week, the customer must download our personalized offers on the mobile application 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 from the Metro program. 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 in Quebec
• One additional Moi point for every $1 spent at Jean Coutu stores in Quebec, 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.

However, there are other credit cards with much better accumulation rates, the choice is yours:

Here is an example of how to earn points for the American Express Cobalt^® Card. You’ll notice that the points are multiplied by 5, for purchases at Metro (and other supermarkets).

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

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

The only credit cards that offer something special at Costco are 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.

In addition, a 2% discounted Executive membership card provides additional benefits with the following credit cards:

When you are comfortable with this technique, take it to the next level by using the trick of using a Visa credit card at Costco, indirectly.

Rising grocery store prices can hurt our budget, but there are ways to lessen that impact.

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

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

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?