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Email this12:50 am
October 21, 2013
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Thinking of maybe getting a new CC.
Covid changed us from restaurant-goers and grocery store shoppers to home delivery fans.
Does anyone know if the restaurant delivery companies (such as Skip the Dishes, UberEats, Door Dash etc) and/or the grocery delivery services (such as Voila, Instacart etc) put their charges into restaurant and grocery categories, or are they just considered "Other" for billing purposes?
Also, do these companies tend to accept AmEx?
TIA
7:16 am
May 15, 2007
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All of the restaurant delivery companies accept Amex. SkipTheDishes and Uber Eats are categorized as restaurants. I cannot confirm DoorDash's categorization.
8:32 am
November 8, 2018
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Speaking about grocery delivery. When pandemics happened, I realized one of cars in my household is now only used to do grocery shopping, so I researched if I can replace it with grocery delivery and save on car insurance.
I recommend starting with grocery delivery services ran by grocery chains themselves. Those accept all credit cards as their grocery stores, give you same bonus points (such as miles).
I used Voila (by Sobeys) and Metro recently, both got me standard 3% grocery shopping cashback on my cashback credit card.
I also know Longo's and Walmart provide their own grocery delivery.
I would not use Instacart or similar independent services, too many horror stories.
At the end, I decided against grocery delivery. While I liked it in general, and will switch to it when I can no longer drive safely, there are few things I found inconvenient about it.
I solved problem with my "extra" car by signing it to CAA MyPace insurance, which costs me less than $35/mo fully insured.
8:59 pm
October 21, 2013
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thanks for the info. I'm surprised that the restaurant delivery companies count as "restaurants" but that's good to know.
I think i've now decided against AmEx for other reasons.
I'm moving along now to reconsider the CIBC CostCo MasterCard...
7:10 am
November 18, 2017
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I stick with the AmEx "Simply Cash" card. No bonus categories but an initial period of six months at 4%; no fees and no need to collect minimums, etc. (Interest charges 19.99%, which don't bother me as I've never paid them a penny of interest since joining in 1978.) Then it's simply 1.25% for as long as one wants. They pay into my account once a year.
RetirEd
RetirEd
12:17 pm
April 6, 2013
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Loonie said
thanks for the info. I'm surprised that the restaurant delivery companies count as "restaurants" but that's good to know.
The delivery company can be. But, not always. It depends on the company.
I called one restaurant and placed an order for delivery. Next month, the Tangerine MasterCard statement came and I only got ½% back for the charge instead of 2% for a restaurant charge.
The charge also was also not in the name of the restaurant but in the name of a liquor delivery service! So, the restaurant contracted out their food deliveries to a liquor delivery company. When one pays at the front door, the charge is run through the delivery company's merchant account and not the restaurant's.
12:41 pm
December 12, 2009
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Peter said
All of the restaurant delivery companies accept Amex. SkipTheDishes and Uber Eats are categorized as restaurants. I cannot confirm DoorDash's categorization.
It's worth noting this could also vary between Visa and MasterCard.
As well, Loonie did ask about prepared ingredients grocery delivery services, such as HelloFresh, Chef's Plate, etc.. Anyone have any insight on how those are categorized? My initial thought would be either as restaurants, as grocery stores, or as similar to how Amazon.ca is categorized.
Cheers,
Doug
12:44 pm
December 12, 2009
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Loonie said
thanks for the info. I'm surprised that the restaurant delivery companies count as "restaurants" but that's good to know.I think i've now decided against AmEx for other reasons.
I'm moving along now to reconsider the CIBC CostCo MasterCard...
What's the reason against American Express?
Cheers,
Doug
1:44 pm
April 20, 2019
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Likely high annual cardholder fees for airport/travel perks or not accepted widely are my pet peeves with Amex.
2:00 pm
October 21, 2013
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It's a combination of reasons, the sum total of which is that Amex just doesn't meet my needs. I'm looking for something that pays at least 2% in restaurants and groceries. gives cashback either promptly or in a way that I know I will get them without having to pay a fee for another year when I decide to quit the card.
Other desirable features would be: valid at CostCo, 2% on all purchases. I don't care so much about whether there is fee as long as it is justified by cashback as my spend is fairly high.
I don't care much about gas, recurring bills etc. Some travel perqs might help but not interested in travel medical insurance.
If I don't find anything that suits me, that will be OK. Not interested in having a fistful of cards for various purposes; max 2 for everyday use.
2:09 pm
September 24, 2019
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Loonie said
It's a combination of reasons, the sum total of which is that Amex just doesn't meet my needs. I'm looking for something that pays at least 2% in restaurants and groceries. gives cashback either promptly or in a way that I know I will get them without having to pay a fee for another year when I decide to quit the card.
Other desirable features would be: valid at CostCo, 2% on all purchases. I don't care so much about whether there is fee as long as it is justified by cashback as my spend is fairly high.
I don't care much about gas, recurring bills etc. Some travel perqs might help but not interested in travel medical insurance.If I don't find anything that suits me, that will be OK. Not interested in having a fistful of cards for various purposes; max 2 for everyday use.
Loonie: I get 2% on restaurants & groceries including Superstore & Walmart but not with Costco using my Tangerine M/C. Also, they pay the cashback into my HISA each month. Kind of neat too is I buy my two favourite wines at Superstore as well......and that is included with the 2% grocery cashback. 
2:49 pm
March 30, 2017
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Loonie said
It's a combination of reasons, the sum total of which is that Amex just doesn't meet my needs. I'm looking for something that pays at least 2% in restaurants and groceries. gives cashback either promptly or in a way that I know I will get them without having to pay a fee for another year when I decide to quit the card.
Other desirable features would be: valid at CostCo, 2% on all purchases. I don't care so much about whether there is fee as long as it is justified by cashback as my spend is fairly high.
I don't care much about gas, recurring bills etc. Some travel perqs might help but not interested in travel medical insurance.If I don't find anything that suits me, that will be OK. Not interested in having a fistful of cards for various purposes; max 2 for everyday use.
Take a look at the CT and PC Mastercard. Both are free and each may have groceries rebates / gas rebate that may suit ur purchase if u shop at one of those names.
There r also a few card offer by big banks that offer high kickback specifically on gas and groceries purchase, but at least $99 a year in fee.
3:34 pm
January 12, 2019
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Alexandra said
Loonie: I get 2% on restaurants & groceries including Superstore & Walmart but not with Costco using my Tangerine M/C. Also, they pay the cashback into my HISA each month. Kind of neat too is I buy my two favourite wines at Superstore as well......and that is included with the 2% grocery cashback.
'Ditto' on the Tangerine Master Card ⬆
We chose different 2.0% cashbacks though. Our Tangerine MC 2.0% cashbacks are for groceries, gas (at service stations), and recurring bills.
For all 'other' purchases, the Tangerine card only pays 0.5% cashback, so for those purchases we use our Capital One Master Card, that pays 1% cashback on everything.
- Dean
" Live Long, Healthy ... And Prosper! "
4:33 pm
December 12, 2009
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Loonie said
It's a combination of reasons, the sum total of which is that Amex just doesn't meet my needs. I'm looking for something that pays at least 2% in restaurants and groceries. gives cashback either promptly or in a way that I know I will get them without having to pay a fee for another year when I decide to quit the card.
Other desirable features would be: valid at CostCo, 2% on all purchases. I don't care so much about whether there is fee as long as it is justified by cashback as my spend is fairly high.
I don't care much about gas, recurring bills etc. Some travel perqs might help but not interested in travel medical insurance.If I don't find anything that suits me, that will be OK. Not interested in having a fistful of cards for various purposes; max 2 for everyday use.
Ah, thanks. Essentially, it's mainly wanting 2% rewards on your most common purchases, without an annual fee. What about all other purchases, are you looking for a minimum 1% (like me), or are you fine with 0.5%? If the former, your options will be very limited, likely to the PC Financial MasterCard, Amazon.ca Rewards MasterCard, and possibly with either the Simplii Financial Visa or CIBC Costco MasterCard. If the latter, you have a few other options, including the Tangerine and Collabria credit cards.
Cheers,
Doug
8:06 pm
October 21, 2013
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Neither 0.5 nor 1.00% interest me for "other". I just mostly want to bump up the restaurant and grocery categories without too much extra effort - and I only want one new card.
I'm OK with paying a fee if it becomes my primary card because it would likely be justified because of our spending but I would be looking for at least 1.25% on "other' plus insurances in order to switch. Might be hard to find that.
The CostCo card looks like a strong contender at the moment, and will be a winner if their instacart delivery counts for "costco.ca" but I suspect it doesn't.
Simplii came with limits if I remember correctly, so not acceptable; I don't want to have to think that hard!
Haven't looked at PC yet. To be honest, I forgot they exist.
Tangerine is a contender, particularly if costco.ca by instacart counts as "grocery".
The Collabria cards got a lot of negative reviews as I recall so I haven't considered them at all.
3:14 am
March 30, 2017
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Loonie said
Neither 0.5 nor 1.00% interest me for "other". I just mostly want to bump up the restaurant and grocery categories without too much extra effort - and I only want one new card.I'm OK with paying a fee if it becomes my primary card because it would likely be justified because of our spending but I would be looking for at least 1.25% on "other' plus insurances in order to switch. Might be hard to find that.
The CostCo card looks like a strong contender at the moment, and will be a winner if their instacart delivery counts for "costco.ca" but I suspect it doesn't.
Simplii came with limits if I remember correctly, so not acceptable; I don't want to have to think that hard!
Haven't looked at PC yet. To be honest, I forgot they exist.
Tangerine is a contender, particularly if costco.ca by instacart counts as "grocery".
The Collabria cards got a lot of negative reviews as I recall so I haven't considered them at all.
Cibc visa infinite gets 4% for gas and groceries, 2% restaurants and recurring bills, 1% on the rest. Not sure how they categorize instacart.
Annual fee applies but if u bank with Cibc and meet their criteria, u get it for free.
4:07 am
November 18, 2017
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When they switched alliances a few years back - I think it was with Costco? - Amex killed my old cash-back card and replaced it with a travel-points card, which I have no use for as I don't travel by plane or stay at hotels. (Sorry, not good for BC Ferries!) I was able to recover the points once I noticed that most hotel restaurants appear as hotel charges. (Not restaurants co-located in hotels, but the ones run by the hotels.) Of course, hotel restaurants are usually too expensive, but sometimes one has to meet someone in one.
Then, a few years later, they brought in a new cash back card with better bonus rates.
RetirEd
RetirEd
6:44 am
November 8, 2018
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I wonder why nobody mentioned BMO CashBack Mastercard. If you spend under $500/mo on groceries, you'll get 3% cash back. No annual fee. Can redeem cash back any time, with minimum of $1.
For a single person, even with inflation, $500 for groceries should be more than enough.
I do grocery shopping for larger household, $500 is too little for my budget, so I am with TD CasBack Visa Infinite. 3% cash back on up to $15,000 in grocery spending annually.
It does have annual fee.
8:57 am
October 21, 2013
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I've run into that hotel restaurant phenomenon occasionally too, where the restaurant bill counts as "hotel", and thus a reimbursable travel expense. They were actually two good restaurants that I had chosen to go to, but I think both are closed now. They were both Chinese restaurants, not the usual hotel fare.
I've also run into the opposite situation. I stayed in a small independent hotel a few years ago and intended to use travel points for it but couldn't because it was classified as a restaurant!
If you have travel points that you are having trouble using up, my suggestion is to phone the issuer every six months and ask them to check if anything you have spent recently would count. Sometimes there are surprises. A few years ago, I discovered that a certain parking lot, not associated with a hotel as far as I could tell, counted as a travel expense!
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