Best Credit Card for Gas and Groceries

This comment on my recent post about the Hiltom American Express points to a Fatwallet post about the Citi Drivers Edge Mastercard.

And… ding, ding, ding, ding. This was exactly the card I was referring to when I said

certain Citibank Thank You Network-linked cards have specific advantages on certain kinds of spend that win me over

The person who first turned me on to this option asked me not to post about it, and I’ve honored that.  But since a commenter brought up the card and even linked to a relevant FatWallet discussion here on my blog I think it’s a bit more fair game. 

During the first year of cardmembership the Citi Drivers Edge Mastercard offers a 6% rebate on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations. (And it’s churnable, so after the first year or after hitting the earnings cap you can sign up for the card again.)

That 6% is matched by the miles you drive on a vehicle registered with the card, so you can earn up to 12% on these purchases. And the points will transfer to a Citi Thank You Points account.

The commenter asks,

as far as spending them, i’d also like to hear what the big G uses them for

Quite simple, really. Convert to Thank You Points and used with the fixed points redemption chart where you can get up to 3 cents a point in value… thus yielding up to 36% back on gas and groceries.

Not all Thank You Points accounts are eligible for fixed point redemption any longer, but accounts through Expedia are so anyone can still get in that part of the deal.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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