Grocery payouts: the most useful card on the wall
Kroger, Safeway, Albertsons and Total Wine, from $5. Nobody's favourite reward, and the one that most reliably turns offer time into money you did not spend.
Nobody signs up to a rewards site dreaming of a supermarket card. It is still the most sensible thing on the wall, for one reason: it is the only category where the payout comes straight off a bill you were going to pay anyway.
What is on the wall
- Kroger — and, in practice, its family of regional banners
- Safeway
- Albertsons
- Total Wine — spirits, beer and wine rather than a weekly shop
All from $5, all spendable in store. Groceries are one of the few categories where the card is used at a till rather than a checkout page, which makes the redemption about as simple as it gets.
Check which banner is yours
Kroger, Safeway and Albertsons each own a long list of regional chains under different names. Whether a card works at your local shop depends on which family it belongs to rather than on the name above the door.
Why this is the best deal on the wall in real terms
Every other card converts your balance into something extra: a meal out, a game, a jumper. This one converts it into money. A $50 grocery card is $50 that stays in your account at the end of the month, which is the closest a rewards site gets to paying you cash.
It is also the least exciting sentence in this entire library, which is why hardly anybody does it.
Total Wine is the outlier
Not a grocery shop — a specialist drinks retailer, and it sits in this category because that is where its supplier files it. Worth knowing it exists if you were going to buy a bottle for something anyway. 21+ and in-store only in most states.
Four brands, from $5, spendable in store.
Cash out for groceries