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The American Express Cobalt® Card is worth it and is a favourite among points enthusiasts because it earns 5 Membership Rewards points per dollar on restaurant and grocery purchases. It’s very important to remember the phrase “categorized purchases” because it doesn’t just apply to groceries but to anything you can buy at these stores, including gift cards.
In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at why the American Express Cobalt® Card is worth it and whether it deserves a place in your wallet for the long term.
From November 5, 2025, American Express Cobalt® Card fees will increase from:
For existing cardholders, these changes will take effect from the first statement following their card anniversary. For new cardholders, the current fees will remain in effect if the subscription is completed before October 7, 2025.
Nothing beats a generous welcome bonus, and the American Express Cobalt® Card is worth it for that reason alone.
During the first year, you can earn 1,250 Membership Rewards for every month (statement) where you reach $750 in spending. It doesn’t matter if you hit that amount in the 1X, 2X, 3X or 5X categories; you must get to $750.
Indeed, the rewards are divided as such:
Therefore, if you spend $750 only in the 1X category, you will get a return of 750 points on your purchase in addition to the bonus of 1,250 points.
If you put the same amount in 5X coded stores such as groceries, you will have 3,750 points for your food and the 1,250 points as bonus points.
Here’s how to maximize your purchases in the 5X the points spending categories, earning 60,000 points in your first year:
Earning 60,000 points for $9,000 in purchases over 12 months gives you a minimum return of 6.67% if you redeem your points for cash back (a value of $600), or even more if you transfer your points to other loyalty programs and maximize their value. After deducting the fees over the same period, you get a minimum net gain of $408.12 in the first year, or a 4.5% return.
After the first year, the flow of points will start to dwindle; you’ll still earn more by unlocking a generous welcome bonus compared to organic spending.
However, the American Express Cobalt® Card is worth it since it’s the best credit card for organic spending, with its capacity to generate 5 Membership Rewards per dollar in restaurants and grocery-coded purchases.
There is no other credit card that can match that, and you need credit cards for organic spending in your wallet; even if you have enough expenses to unlock a new bonus every week, you cannot possibly subscribe to a new credit card every week.
In fact, it’s advisable to treat this as a marathon, and to space out your credit applications between 6 and 9 months at least (veterans of this game will talk about 3 months, but it’s all relative depending on your personal situation).
Consequently, you have to rely on a card such as the American Express Cobalt® Card to maximize rewards during those ‘’in between’’ periods.
Sure, other cards earn 5% cashback or 5X the points for groceries. Actually, the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card even gives 6 Scene+ points per dollar at IGA, which translates to a 6% cashback return.
However, not all points are created equal. Membership Rewards points have a minimum fixed value when redeemed for cash back, which is already a solid 5%.
Still, they can be worth a lot more when you transfer them to an airline or hotel loyalty program and make good use of your newly acquired type of points (Aeroplan, Avios, Flying Blue, Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, etc.) Therefore, it all depends on what you mean to do with your points; more on that later in this article.
Whenever I am focusing on unlocking a bonus, when possible, I try to exploit exclusively purchase categories that do not benefit from strong accelerators, such as those infamous ‘’other’’ purchases.
For example, paying a dentist bill typically earns no more than 1 to 1.5% in organic rewards, no matter which credit card you use. Therefore, I would prioritize making this purchase on cards where I am working toward meeting a minimum spend requirement, rather than using my everyday cards. I would keep my regular grocery spending on my American Express Cobalt Card even when working on a new card, and only use it for minimum spend if I am short on expenses or running out of time to earn a bonus.
When considering the monthly fees, is the American Express Cobalt® Card still worth it after the first year?
To offset the monthly fee of $15.99 (or annual fee of $191.88), you must spend a minimum of:
When you mix and match the categories, you can offset fees for amounts between $320 and $1599. As we mentioned earlier, the Cobalt’s strong point is that it is deployed in 5X categories and certainly not in the 1X sector, where any welcome bonus will beat it.
Given the current cost of living, it’s entirely realistic to spend $320 per month on groceries and restaurants; in our household, we usually reach that amount by the second week of our statement cycle.
When you pair that with the famous gift card strategy and generate 5X on a wide variety of purchases that would normally only earn 1X, such as Amazon or Ikea, to name just two, when there’s over hundreds of stores, the points flow will start to come in faster than any other card.
Since we are only offsetting the fees with $320 or more in groceries, we will truly only start to make a profitable return after that amount. Then, after the first year, wouldn’t it be more advantageous to begin earning 3% rewards for those first $260 in groceries with a card no fees like the BMO CashBack® Mastercard®* or the PC Financial World Elite Mastercard instead?
That is called the cost of opportunity by using a card instead of another. To answer if the American Express Cobalt® Card is worth it or not when we consider that, we must do some math.
Let’s see what happens when we put $320 on each card for a month:
Since both the BMO CashBack® Mastercard®* and the PC Financial World Elite Mastercard allow you to earn the equivalent of 3% cashback (30 PC Optimum points per dollar equals 3%), we used the former in our calculations, but you can come to the same conclusion.
We can clearly see that the BMO CashBack® Mastercard®* has a positive net gain, while we only just offset the monthly fees with the American Express Cobalt® Card after charging $320 for groceries on the respective cards.
Where the difference is noted when you take into consideration the following:
Let’s see how the same comparison looks when you spend $800 per month on groceries after the first year, when there are no more welcome bonuses.
While you only start to get a higher net gain after offsetting the fees, the total amount you spend will mainly answer whether the American Express Cobalt® Card is worth it for you or not.
An important amount in that category is easy for a large family, but what if you are alone?
You must take the time to analyze your habits and identify all the purchases that can be maximized with the gift card strategy.
In fact, when we talk about $800 in groceries, we mean “grocery category” purchases, with $150-$200 in gas here and there, $100 on Amazon, $100 for your wine at the SAQ, $100 for those new summer shorts at Simons, a dinner out with someone special, and so on. You can quickly rack up points when you optimize every cent you spend, even on your own!
Then, there are plenty of promotional offers from American Express. Even if they don’t all apply to you, these offers can usually help you significantly reduce your fees, or even eliminate them entirely over time. In my experience with Amex offers, this has always been the case year after year.
I don’t benefit from offers each month, but sometimes, one will cover two months, such as the $25 credit after $75 at Voilà IGA or the recurrent Shop Small Event.
When you tally up everything, it’s not hard to come out positive; more often than not, it would look like Amex is paying me to use their cards, and the American Express Cobalt® Card is worth it!
Finally, we compared the value of Membership Rewards points as cash back in the examples above; 4,000 points are worth at least $40.00, but if you transfer them to Aeroplan (among other programs), they can be worth between $80 and $300 depending on how you use them.
Redeeming Aeroplan points for 2¢ is easy.
For example, for a family of four on vacation in San Diego, you can easily achieve this value by flying in economy class.
($2,766 – $546.68) ÷ 98,400 × 100 = 2.26¢
After the first year, you’ll need to spend around $20,000 in 5X categories to earn 100,000 Membership Rewards points or 100,000 Aeroplan points, as they transfer at a 1:1 ratio.
That means you can choose between a $1,000$ cashback or enough points to cover over $2,000 worth of airfare for the whole family when you factor in the monthly fees and taxes you must pay on a reward ticket.
If you were to use your BMO CashBack® World Elite® Mastercard® for the same amount spent, you’d only earn $600 cash back, which isn’t enough to cover one plane ticket to San Diego for the same flight with Air Canada.
A free (or almost free) family trip every year or two sounds much better than a mere $600 cash-back return for the same household expenses!
If you prefer to fly in business or first class, we will talk about a 5–10 ¢ valuation for the same Membership Rewards points.
You can see that the American Express Cobalt® Card is worth it and can be much more rewarding if you use your points for travel, even though it has already proven to be a great cash back credit card.
Some will opt to do their groceries exclusively at stores that do not accept Amex, such as Maxi or Costco, to save money at the source.
The same questions apply when it comes to maximizing what you can purchase at grocery-coded locations with the American Express Cobalt® Card. Even if you do most of your grocery shopping at Maxi and Costco, how much do you spend on Amazon? Or Walmart? Or the SAQ?
Also, fuel is cheaper at Costco, so is the 5X gift card strategy worth it? It depends on the amount and if there is a pump at your Costco! In my case, my closest warehouse doesn’t have fuel, so it doesn’t apply to me. Do yours? Do you go there often? The answer will come after some math, according to your situation.
You could be surprised! I compared the price of diapers at Costco and on Amazon; while the price was cheaper at Costco, the value of the points I would earn with my American Express Cobalt® Card + gift card strategy + points usage combination was greater with Amazon.
Of course, I still make plenty of purchases at Costco and Maxi if it makes more financial sense. Nevertheless, I carefully choose what I buy and use another credit card to maximize my return (usually a card where I’m working towards meeting the minimum spend for a welcome bonus).
Another thing to consider is switching from Maxi to Super C, which has similar pricing.
People often consider changing jobs for a better return on their time; why not change your spending habits for the same reason? Is earning $1,000 worth (or more) better than $600 to you?
Super C is too far? Well, people usually don’t mind spending a bit more time commuting for a better-paid job, too, don’t they?
While moderate purchasing of store gift cards is considered acceptable, buying prepaid Visa and Mastercard gift cards is not. Recently, a wave of warnings has been issued about this, along with the introduction of a $2,500 monthly cap for the 5X multiplier; there’s a fine line between using your benefits as intended and abusing them.
For the first year, it’s a no-brainer with its welcome bonus. Afterwards, the points flow will come in slower for obvious reasons.
Whether the American Express Cobalt® Card is worth it for you in the long run will depend on your own calculations and financial situation. However, in most cases, this is a card you should have and keep in your wallet to benefit from a steady and generous stream of cash back or travel points.
If you are considering cancelling your card, you should carefully consider it. Amex does not like people who reapply for products they already held; it’s best to be certain you won’t change your mind about it.
The value of Amex Cobalt Card points varies depending on how you use them, especially for travel, cash back, or transfers to other loyalty programs. In general, they are especially valued for their flexibility and the opportunity to quickly earn points through high-earning spending categories.
The Amex Cobalt Card stands out for its generous rewards program, high earning rates on select purchases, and flexibility in how you can use your points. It is often recognized as one of the best credit cards in Canada and Quebec.
To maximize your rewards, it’s recommended to focus on spending categories that earn the most points, such as restaurants and groceries, and to take advantage of special promotions and bonuses offered by American Express.
Yes, the Amex Cobalt Card has an annual fee, but its benefits and strong points-earning potential can offset this cost. It is often favourably compared to other cards because of its attractive features.
Yes, Amex Cobalt points can be transferred to several programs, including airline loyalty programs, which allows for flexible and potentially more valuable redemption options. This option enhances the card’s appeal for frequent travellers.
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