Best Travel Cards for Dining and Groceries

Food is a major daily expense. If you want to book free flights or hotel stays, earning travel rewards on your daily meals and grocery runs is the smartest strategy. Let us look at the best travel credit cards that maximize your point earnings on everyday dining and food.

Why Focus on Food and Grocery Rewards?

The average family spends a massive portion of their monthly budget on groceries, takeout, and restaurant dining. By matching your highest expense categories with a credit card that offers multiplier bonuses, you can rack up airline miles and hotel points incredibly fast. A card offering one point per dollar will take years to earn a free flight. A card offering three or four points per dollar on food can get you a vacation every single year.

Top Premium Choice: American Express Gold Card

When it comes to earning travel points on food, the American Express Gold Card is widely considered the king of the market. This card is built specifically for people who spend heavily at restaurants and supermarkets.

Earning Rates: You earn 4x Membership Rewards points at restaurants worldwide. You also earn 4x points at US supermarkets on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year (then 1x).
Annual Fee: The card comes with a $250 annual fee.
Statement Credits: The high fee is offset by up to $120 in annual Uber Cash (issued as $10 monthly) and up to $120 in annual dining credits (issued as $10 monthly) at partners like Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, and Shake Shack.

The Membership Rewards points you earn can be transferred to airline partners like Delta SkyMiles, Air Canada Aeroplan, or British Airways Executive Club to book luxury travel.

Best Mid-Tier Card: Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

If you want a travel card with a lower annual fee, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is one of the most popular options available. It balances a reasonable cost with excellent earning rates and highly valuable transfer partners.

Earning Rates: You earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points on dining, including eligible delivery services and takeout. You also earn 3x points on online grocery purchases.
Important Caveat: The 3x grocery bonus only applies to online grocery orders (like Kroger pickup or Instacart delivery) and excludes Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs. In-store grocery shopping only earns 1x.
Annual Fee: This card has a $95 annual fee.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are incredibly valuable because you can transfer them at a 1 to 1 ratio to the World of Hyatt program. This allows you to book expensive hotel rooms for a fraction of the normal cost. You can also transfer points to United Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

Best for Everyday Categories: Citi Strata Premier Card

The recently rebranded Citi Strata Premier Card is a powerhouse for everyday spending categories. For families who do their grocery shopping in person rather than online, this card is a brilliant alternative to the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Earning Rates: You earn 3x ThankYou points at restaurants and 3x points at supermarkets. You also earn 3x points at gas stations, on EV charging, on air travel, and on hotels.
Annual Fee: The annual fee is $95.

Citi ThankYou points transfer to a wide variety of international airline programs like Avianca LifeMiles, Air France KLM Flying Blue, and Qatar Airways Privilege Club. This makes it an excellent card for people looking to book business class flights overseas.

Best No-Annual-Fee Options

You do not need to pay a premium fee to earn great travel rewards on food. There are excellent options that cost absolutely nothing to hold year after year.

Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One SavorOne card technically earns cash back, but it holds a secret superpower for travelers.

Earning Rates: It earns 3 percent cash back on dining, grocery stores, entertainment, and popular streaming services.
Annual Fee: $0.
The Travel Hack: If you also hold a Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card or a Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, you can convert the cash back from your SavorOne card into Capital One miles. This allows you to earn 3x miles on food without paying an annual fee for the earning privilege.

Bilt World Elite Mastercard

The Bilt Mastercard is famous for allowing you to earn points on rent without transaction fees, but it is also a fantastic travel card for dining.

Earning Rates: You earn 3x Bilt points on dining. On the first day of every month (Rent Day), this doubles to 6x points on dining.
Annual Fee: $0.
Important Rule: You must make at least five transactions per statement period to earn any points.

Bilt points are highly valuable because they share many transfer partners with Chase, including World of Hyatt and United Airlines, while also partnering with American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

How to Choose the Right Card for Your Habits

Selecting the best card requires looking honestly at your monthly spending habits.

Evaluate your grocery shopping style. If you buy groceries in the store, the Chase Sapphire Preferred will not reward you well. You should look at the Citi Strata Premier or the American Express Gold Card.
Check the math on annual fees. The American Express Gold Card charges $250 upfront. If you do not naturally use Uber or eat at the specific dining credit partners, you might lose money on that fee.
Look at transfer partners. Pick a card that partners with airlines that fly out of your home airport. If you live near a Delta hub, American Express is a great choice. If you love staying at Hyatt properties, Chase or Bilt are your best options.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do grocery stores like Walmart and Target count for credit card points? Most major credit card networks exclude superstores like Walmart and Target, as well as wholesale clubs like Costco and Sam’s Club, from the “supermarket” or “grocery” category. Purchases at these stores will usually only earn the base rate of 1 point per dollar.

What counts as dining for credit card points? The dining category is usually very broad. It typically includes sit-down restaurants, fast food chains, coffee shops, bars, bakeries, and food delivery services like DoorDash or UberEats. However, food bought inside a larger merchant (like a cafe inside a bookstore) might not trigger the dining bonus.

Can cash-back cards work as travel cards? Yes, but only in specific ecosystems. Cards like the Chase Freedom Flex or Capital One SavorOne earn cash back on their own. However, if you pair them with a premium travel card from the same bank (like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Capital One Venture), you can pool your rewards and convert that cash back into transferable travel miles.