To the point
The American Express Cobalt® Card will soon have a $2,500 monthly purchase limit in the 5X category.
American Express Cobalt® Card - New monthly spending limit (5X Category).
Beginning August 15, 2023, according to Rewards Canada, American Express will apply a monthly cap of $2,500 for earning points in the 5x points category on the American Express Cobalt® Card. This is the “Eats & Drinks” category and includes:
- Grocery stores (and convenience stores like Couche-Tard/Circle K)
- Restaurants
- Bars
- Food delivery services (like Uber Eats)
This means that the $30,000 annual purchase limit for these categories of purchases will still be in place. But the change is that the cap will now be distributed monthly.
Details are still to come. The term “per month” would refer to each Cardholder’s monthly billing period. But one can imagine that at $2,501 of spending per month in this 5X category, the earning rate will be 1 or 2 points per dollar spent.
American Express Cobalt® Card - Other categories
There are no other changes for other earning rates, such as travel and transportation purchases (2X points) and streaming services (3X points).
The value of this wonderful credit card remains the same.
If an American Express Cobalt® Cardmember exceeds this future limit each month, spending strategically will be required from now on! For example, many use the gift card trick, so you will need to plan your monthly purchases accordingly.
In order to keep the highest earning rate, two people in the same household could alternate between two American Express Cobalt® Cards.
This does not change the fact that the American Express Cobalt® Card remains, in our opinion, one of the best credit cards to have in your wallet, if only for the flexibility of using Membership Rewards points and transfer options to other hotel and airline programs, for example!
Bottom Line
Thank you to Rewards Canada for this valuable information!
This change is somewhat reminiscent of the National Bank’s World Elite Mastercard®.
Since September 2022, the first $2,500 in gross monthly purchases (for all types of purchases) charged to the account also earns 5 points per dollar on grocery and restaurant spending. Then, at $2,501 in monthly purchases, the rate switches to 2 points per dollar of purchase on this high accumulation type.
Depending on your purpose and spending, another strategy would be to alternate between using the American Express Cobalt® Card and the National Bank’s World Elite Mastercard®.
Come to discuss that topic in our Facebook Group!
