Last week we had our reader TitaniumTux let us know that Instacart is finally coding properly as a eats and drinks merchant with American Express. And do you know what that means? That means you can now earn your American Express Cobalt Card category multiplier for shopping at Loblaw”s family of stores: Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore and T&T stores. Loblaw Companies Ltd. launched with Instacart in late 2017 in the Toronto region and expanded Canada wide after that. This provided a workaround for those wanting to use an American Express card at their stores. Since all Loblaw Companies stores do not accept Amex this method of getting your groceries delivered via Instacart was the way you could use your Amex as you actually bought the groceries from Instacart and not Loblaws.There was an issue however – Instacart didn’t code as a eats & drinks merchant with Amex Canada so this meant you would not earn any category bonuses on the cards – you’d simply earn 1 point per dollar spent.
Fast forward to this month and that seems to have changed. As TitaniumTux pointed out he received 5x points on his latest Instacart order when he used his American Express Cobalt Card for the purchase. We did some searching on Google and other than his posts on Red Flag Deals and our post there really isn’t any news around when this change with American Express happened.
So whether is just happened in the past few weeks or a few months ago we wanted to pass this along again to our readers who shop at Loblaw’s family of stores and even more so now that people are opting for delivery instead of going in to the store. Now is the time to rack up those points and miles with the American Express Cobalt Card as it has an excellent eats & drinks multiplier. If you don’t have one of the cards I would recommend getting one of them as it provides a very liquid point redemption options which is so needed right now – that is, you can easily use the points for a statement credit without spending a ton of money.
The American Express Cobalt™ Card earns 5x points with Instacart which translates to a 3.5% cash back return on those purchases. The 5x points for eats & drinks is limited to $30,000 annually. Once you are at 1,000 points you can start redeeming and those 1,000 points will net you a $7 statement credit. You may ask though, what about a card that earn 4% cash back on groceries like the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite card and why should I give up that extra 0.5% in cash back? It’s about access to that cash back. The Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card only pays out your cash back reward once per year. So you have to ask yourself – can I wait to get that cash back in 3 months, 6 months, or even 12 months? Or would I prefer to have access to the cash when I need it or as Jesus Jones sand Right here, Right now? That’s where the Cobalt Card has pretty much every other card in the market beat. No other card will give you instant access to a $7 statement credit that is potentially earned as a 3.5% return.
UPDATE:
Limited Time Offer: Increased value in American Express Use Points for Purchases (1,000 points = up to $20!)
Do note that when you shop via Instacart you will earn 10 PC Optimum points per dollar spent however you will not earn any bonuses that may be advertised directly from the stores. Also of note is that some sale prices that may be available in store may not be available via Instacart. This really is the trade off – if you are truly self isolating go the delivery route (and earn your 5x points) but if the savings are too big and you are willing to go shop in store or do grocery pick up do so but you won’t be able to use your Amex.
I normally don’t shop via Real Canadian Superstore (Loblaw’s flagship store out west) but now have my first order with them set for delivery this Thursday via Instacart. and used my Cobalt card for it. I have also been ordering groceries via Save-On-Foods and using services like DoorDash both of whom also code as 5x points with the Cobalt Card.