The American Express Cobalt: The Best Card for Food & Drink in Canada

The American Express Cobalt Card is in a league of its own with regards to earning travel points at restaurants & grocery stores. If you intend on having your everyday purchased lead towards free travel, then look no further than American Express’ Cobalt Card. Here is our review

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The Basics 

Monthly Fee: $12.99

Sign up Bonus: 15,000 Membership Rewards

First Year Free: No

GCR Rebate: $100

Referral Bonus: 5,000 Membership Rewards

Lounge Access: No

First Year Value: $400

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American Express Cobalt Card Sign up Bonus 

New cardholders will earn 1,250 Membership Rewards each month in which you spend $500 on the card. This can equate to 15,000 Membership Rewards if you spend $500 each month

If you’re currently an American Express Cobalt cardholder, You can earn 5,0000 Membership Rewards by referring a friend or family member to the Gold Card, or Cobalt Card.

Earning Rewards

The American Express Cobalt Card is the #1 credit card for everyday earning. The earn rates are as followed: 

5 Membership Rewards for every dollar spent on eligible food & drink

3 Membership Rewards per dollar spent on streaming services

2 Membership Rewards per dollar spent on travel purchases

1 Membership Reward for every dollar spent everywhere else.

The high earning rate on food & drink applies up until a combined maximum of $2,500 in purchases monthly. Any purchase made after that will have an earning rate of 1 MR per dollar spent. 

While other cards have higher earning rates for particular categories (the American Express Business Platinum offers 1.25 MR per dollar spent on everyday purchases), the Cobalt card is light years ahead of every card in the market regarding food & drink. No card in the Canadian market has an earning rate close to the 5 MR/dollar on food & beverage. 

If you are responsible for your household’s food budget, you should strongly consider this card. 

Redeeming Your Rewards

The American Express Cobalt Card allows you to earn Membership Rewards.

Read >>> Your Complete Guide to Membership Rewards

Membership Rewards is one of, if not the best travel currency for Canadians. One of, if not the best reason for you to start collecting American Express Membership Rewards (MR) is that you can transfer your MR to multiple transfer partners including: 

• Air Canada/Aeroplan
• British Airways Executive Club 
• Etihad Guest
• Asia Miles 
• Delta Airways Sky Miles
• Air France/Flying Blue
• Marriott Bonvoy Points
• Hilton Honours Points

You can view the transfer ratios below

The best value to Canadians is to transfer the points out to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio. 

Here’s the new award chart for travel within North America:

Here’s the new award chart for travel between North America and the Atlantic region:

Here’s the new award chart for travel between North America and the Pacific region:

Here’s the new award chart for travel between North America and South America:

If you choose not to transfer your Membership Rewards to one of the transfer partners listed above, you can alternatively use those points directly within American Express’ in house travel platform

You can apply your Membership Rewards to both domestic & international travel as outlined below

It should be noted that the value you receive by TRANSFERRING your Membership Rewards is greater than if you were to use it within the American Express travel portal 

American Express Cobalt Card Benefits

Entertainment Perks

Cobalt Cardmembers receive regular Perks, throughout the year including access to great events. 

Check out some of the perks that Cardmembers have enjoyed in the past

American Express Cobalt Card Insurance Coverage

The American Express Cobalt card is a lower tier credit card as far as travel perks are concern. The insurance is below average when compared to the American Express Gold & Platinum cards. 

• Emergency Medical Travel Insurance – up to $5,000,000 (15 days of coverage)
• Car rental damage insurance 
• Flight Delay Insurance – up to $500
• Hotel Burglary insurance – up to $500
• Baggage delay insurance – up to $500
• Lost or stolen baggage insurance – up to $500

Summary

The American Express Cobalt Card has a solid sign up bonus of 30,000 Membership Rewards, but the real value of the card lies in the fact that you can get 5 MR per dollar spent on food & drink. Every dollar you spend at the grocery store (even gift cards) can help you earn points towards free vacations.

This earning rate alone means you should keep this card in your wallet, not just in year one, but for years to come.