Grocery Store Savings: Reward Program Comparison

Until March 22, 2023 in Quebec, these grocery stores offer the opportunity to collect and redeem AIR MILES miles for a rebate on your grocery bill:

• IGA/Sobeys
• Rachelle-Bery
• and Les Marchés Tradition

This means basic grocery shopping of 1 900 $ ( 95 miles X $20) to accumulate 95 miles and deduct $10 at the register.

When combined with the most optimal AIR MILES credit card, you earn even more:

• 3 miles per $12 purchase at IGA/Sobeys with the BMO^® AIR MILES^® World Elite^®* Mastercard^®*

So, for a $60 grocery store, we get:

For example, with the combination of the Collector Card and the AIR MILES credit card, you need to spend $317 in order to accumulate enough to deduct $10 from the bill. That’s 6 times less effort!

Unfortunately, all this will no longer be valid as of March 23 in Quebec. This will leave only Metro grocery stores in Ontario that accept the AIR MILES program in Canada.

The Metro&moi program will become MOI in May 2023. At this time, it is only available in Metro grocery stores in Quebec. Beginning in May 2023, point earning and redemption will be available at:

• Metro (in Quebec only)
• Jean Coutu
• Super C
• Brunet
• and Première Moisson

Even though the Metro&moi program is changing its name to MOI, earning and redemption will be similar.

With the Metro&Moi program, you have to wait until the end of the quarter to receive your reward check. It is redeemable only at Metro. With the MOI program, points can be redeemed at any time, as long as you have at least 500 points in the bank, at any of the stores included in the program.

Coupons with bonus points are also available on the Metro app and website.

A co-branded RBC and MOI card will be introduced: the future RBC Visa MOI card!

It will be available for subscription in the coming weeks. We don’t know the earnings yet, but we’ll talk about it when the details are revealed.

PC Optimum points can be earned at the following grocery stores:

• Maxi
• Provigo
• Loblaws
• No Frills
• Real Canadian Superstore
• Cliquez & Ramassez / Click & Go

1,000 PC Optimum points earn $10 off at checkout. It’s simply a 1% return ($10 divided by 1,000).

There is no base earning in grocery stores, but there is in Shoppers Drug Mart at the rate of 15 points per dollar spent.

So, points are accumulated through :

• Customized offers
• Special offers and events in store
• Product Promotions

They change weekly and can be found on the PC Optimum application and in the member profile on the PC Optimum website.

Special offers may be based on the amount spent at Maxi.

Or there will be an instant discount when you scan your PC Optimum membership card at checkout.

Points can also be earned through the purchase of specific products.

The PC Financial World Elite Mastercard earns 30 PC Optimum points for every dollar spent at Maxi. With this card, even if there were no bonus points earned at Maxi, a $100 grocery purchase would earn 3,000 PC Optimum points ($3 value). The return is therefore 3.33% ($100 divided by 3,000).

By the way, I had done an example of point accumulation in an article on the best combinations of rewards programs and credit cards. The promotions and bonus points for a grocery store at Maxi had brought me 26% in return !

If I had used the PC Financial World Elite Mastercard, it wouldn’t really have given me a better rebate on my purchase (only 3.33% more).

It was the National Bank’s World Elite Mastercard^® and the BMO^® CashBack^® World Elite^®* Mastercard^®*that gave me the most, with an additional 5%. Check out the best credit cards for grocery shopping.

The Scene+ program is not just for movies and popcorn! It is now on the supermarket scene across Canada and includes the following grocery stores:

• IGA/Sobeys (as of March 23, 2023 in Quebec)
• Voila by IGA (as of March 23, 2023 in Quebec) / Sobeys / Safeway
• Rachelle-Bery (as of March 23, 2023 in Quebec)
• Les Marchés Tradition (as of March 23, 2023 in Quebec)
• Sobeys and Safeway
• Foodland, FreshCo and Chalo! Freshco
• Co-op
• and Thrifty Foods

1,000 Scene+ points can be used to deduct $10 from your bill at checkout ( 1% return).

There is no basic accumulation. It is therefore difficult to assess the exact value of this program.

Scene+ points will be accumulated through :

• Customized offers
• Special offers or events in store
• Product Promotions

Offers change weekly and are available on the member’s profile on the app and on the Scene+ website. This is the same way Maxi and PC Optimum points work.

For example, there were special offers like this in this week’s flyer with Foodland and Sobeys in Canada.

$125 in purchases earns 1,000 bonus points ($10 value), or you can choose to take a $10 Sobeys gift card instead. Regardless of the choice, the discount is 8% ($10 divided by $125).

Then there are offers to purchase specific products.

Here, 500 Scene+ points ($5 value) on the purchase of 2 boxes of cereal costing $10 total. It’s like the second item is free.

Having a Scene+ membership card will also allow you to have a discount on products.

The best Scene+ credit card for the Scene+ program is the Scotiabank Gold American Express^® Card. It earns 6 points per dollar charged on the card ! It is the best accumulation in Canada in grocery stores.

So, a spend of only $167 (1,000 points divided by 6 points) on this credit card earns a $10 discount at checkout.

Let’s go back to this week’s Scene+ promotion at Sobeys, where a $125 grocery spend earns 1,000 points.

The Scotiabank Gold American Express^® Card would give an additional 750 Scene+ points (6 points X $125).
The grand total would be 1,750 points earned, worth $17.50 or 14% in value !

It is easier to predict the accumulation of points in the Metro&me program, with its fixed base accumulation.

Those of the PC Optimum and Scene+ programs are variable. They have the opportunity to give many more points. This will depend on the weekly promotions and the type of products purchased by the member.

But depending on the weekly offers, the member could earn an extremely advantageous return during a given week but be at zero the following week.

Still, depending on your area, habits and nearest grocery store, there are ways to get the most out of each reward program.