Do you love eating out, getting take out or both? Maybe you don’t like to cook at all and rely wholly on what you can go out and get? If any of those are the case, this list is for you. A look at the top 10 credit cards in Canada for dining and eating out. These cards will earn you the biggest returns on purchases at your favourite restaurants, fast food joints, coffee shops and in most cases, dining delivery services like SkipTheDishes and DoorDash as well.
We list the cards in order of the best earn rates but also take into account flexibility and value when redeeming those hard earned points. That’s why you see a card like the Scotia Gold American Express Card ranked higher than the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard even though the latter can provide better returns but with it you have to book travel via MBNA Rewards program so it a little less flexible. Also look for our ? Rwrds reminders ? for links to related features and articles!
1. American Express Cobalt® Card
Canada’s #1 Overall Travel Rewards Card the American Express Cobalt Card is a must for every Canadian’s wallet. We could write a whole encyclopedia section on it but we won’t. Just trust us that with its 5x points earning on eats and drinks (restaurants, fast food, cafes, bars and even groceries) you won’t be disappointed with this card as you will come out with no less than a 5% return. You can earn those 5 points per dollar spent on up to $30,000 in spending in the eats & drinks category. That category alone could net you 150,000 points per year which translates to $1,500 in any travel anytime, $1,500 cash back, 150,000 Aeroplan Points or any one of numerous other options.
Value (return on spending) of the 5 points per dollar earned on dining:
- Any travel anytime redemption: 5%
- Fixed points for travel redemption: 7.5% to 10%
- Use points for purchases (cash back): 5%
- Conversion to Air Canada Aeroplan/British Airways Executive Club: 7.5% to 30%+
- Conversion to Marriott: 6% to 20+
Click here to learn more and/or apply for the American Express Cobalt Card.
? Rwrds reminder: American Express Cobalt™ Card Confirmed Multiplier Locations ?
2. Scotia Gold American Express Card
Canada’s #1 Travel Points Credit Card is a beast when it comes to earning points. It earns 5 Scene+ points per dollar spent on dining and entertainment with a hefty $50,000 annual cap across all its accelerated categories. Technically speaking you can earn more with the Scotia Gold American Express Card with that higher cap than the Cobalt Card but it only matches the Cobalt card on any travel anytime redemptions. Any other redemption avenues like cash back and this card loses value plus it has no conversion options. That being said if you only want to redeem for travel that you book your own way and want a card that also has no foreign transaction fees this is the card for you.
Value (return on spending) of the 5 points per dollar earned on dining:
- Any travel anytime redemption: 5%
- Grocery redemption at Scene+ grocery stores: 5%
- Cineplex redemptions: 5%
- Points for Credit (cash back): 3.33% to 3.49%
Click here to learn more and/or apply for the Scotia Gold American Express Card.
? Rwrds reminder: Scotiabank Gold American Express Card Review ?
3. MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard
Recently updated, the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard became the third ‘true’ 5x points earning card in Canada after the Cobalt Card and the Scotia Gold Amex. It earns 5 points per dollar spent on restaurant purchases and it also has a hefty $50,000 annual cap. One word of caution though – there appears to be some issues with some restaurants not coding as 5x points. You’ll want to check out the site bonuspoints.ca* which takes a page from our Cobalt Multipliers feature and lists the confirmed locations where you will earn your accelerators or not. Again with this card you could earn more points than the Cobalt Card but it only matches the Cobalt card if you choose to redeem via MBNA Rewards for travel. And the reviews are mixed about MBNA travel so you are giving up some flexibility here against the first cards. And like the Scotia card, any other redemption avenues like cash back and the card loses value plus it has no conversion options. This card also provides an annual birthday of 10% bonus points on the points you earned over the previous 12 months up to 15,000 bonus points in total.
Value (return on spending) of the 5 points per dollar earned on dining:
- Travel redemption via MBNA Rewards: 5% (with the annual birthday bonus 5.5%)
- Select eGift Card redemptions via MBNA Rewards: 5.4% (with the annual birthday bonus 5.94%)
- Use points for other purchases (cash back): 4.15% (with the annual birthday bonus ~4.57%)
Click here to learn more and/or apply for the MBNA Rewards World Elite Mastercard
? Rwrds reminder: MBNA Rewards World Elite® Mastercard® Review ?
* thanks to @Joshnet for letting us know about this site!
4. Platinum Card from American Express
Canada’s #1 Ultra Premium Card earns what would appear to be a middle of the road 3 points per dollar on dining but it has one big advantage for the big spenders. There is no cap on the dining spend. If you are a high roller and spend an immense amount of money on dining, and I mean those restaurants where you easily spend four figures for just one meal many times over during the course of a year this is the card to do it with. On top of the points earning Platinum Card members receive numerous exclusive dining offers throughout the year and the card is also part of Amex’s Global Dining Collection which provides special perks. On the redemption side the card has all the same redemption options as the Cobalt Card.
Value (return on spending) of the 3 points per dollar earned on dining:
- Any travel anytime redemption: 3%
- Fixed points for travel redemption: 4.5% to 6%
- Use points for purchases (cash back): 3%
- Conversion to Aeroplan: 4.5% to 18%+
- Conversion to Marriott: 3.6% to 12%
Click here to learn more and/or apply for The Platinum Card from American Express.
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5. National Bank of Canada World Elite Mastercard
The National Bank of Canada World Elite Mastercard finally gets some love here on Rewards Canada! If you read a lot of our articles and/or listen to our podcasts you’ll know I’ve been hard on this card. That’s because its 5x points on groceries and restaurants are capped at $2,500 per month but that’s $2,500 in total spending on your card. So if you make a non-grocery or restaurant purchase within that first $2,500 it will take away from being able to earn 5x points. That being said since we are only focusing on dining here and if that is all you use this card for then you are golden to use it on $2,500 of restaurant purchases each month and earn 5x points on them. Redemption is a little less flexible than say the Amex cards as just like the MBNA card you have to redeem for travel via National Bank’s A la Carte Rewards.
Value (return on spending) of the 5 points per dollar earned on dining:
- Travel redemption via A la Carte Rewards: 5%
- Any travel anytime redemption: 4.17% to 4.5%
- Pay your credit card with points (cash back): 2%
Click here to learn more and/or apply for the National Bank of Canada World Elite MasterCard.
? Rwrds reminder: Loyalty Lesson: The revamped National Bank World Elite Mastercard is good but… ?
6. BMO eclipse Visa Infinite* Card
BMO’s relatively new card offerings, the eclipse Visa cards take 6th and 7th spots in the list. These cards earn 5 points per dollar spent on dining however they aren’t true 5x points cards when you take their redemption options into account. See below for what we mean. For the Visa Infinite version the 5x points is capped at a nice $50,000 per year across all the 5x points categories which include groceries, dining, gas and transit. Redeeming for travel rewards with the card were made easier recently as now you can redeem for any travel at anytime and no longer have to book via BMO Rewards. The earn rates can be boosted by 10% if you add a supplementary card to your account.
Value (return on spending) of the 5 points per dollar earned on dining:
- Any travel anytime redemption: 3.34% (3.67% with the supp. card bonus)
- Cash back redemption for BMO investment products: 3.34% (3.67% with the supp. card bonus)
- Cask back redemption as a statement credit: 2.5% (2.75% with the supp. card bonus)
Click here to learn more and/or apply for the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite* Card
? Rwrds reminder: BMO eclipse Visa Infinite* Card Review ?
7. BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card
Just like it’s premium sibling, this Ultra Premium card earns 5 points per dollar spent on dining however just like the above in our eyes it isn’t a true 5x points cards since the redemption value isn’t worth 5%. With this version of the card the 5x points is capped at a big $100,000 per year across all the 5x points categories which include groceries, dining, drugstore purchases, gas and travel. Redeeming for travel rewards with the card were made easier recently as now you can redeem for any travel at anytime and no longer have to book via BMO Rewards. The earn rates can be boosted by 25% if you add a supplementary card to your account.
Value (return on spending) of the 5 points per dollar earned on dining:
- Any travel anytime redemption: 3.34% (4.17% with the supp. card bonus)
- Cash back redemption for BMO investment products: 3.34% (4.17% with the supp. card bonus)
- Cask back redemption as a statement credit: 2.5% (3.13% with the supp. card bonus)
Click here to learn more and/or apply for the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege* Card
8. Desjardins Cash Back World Elite®Mastercard®
A card that is not as well known outside of Quebec is the Desjardins’ Cash Back World Elite Mastercard. This card has the honour of being the only actual cash back credit card in the top 10. It earns 3% cash back on restaurant purchases with no annual cap. Once your cash back balance reaches $100 a credit is automatically applied to your account.
Value (return on spending) of the 3% cash back earned on dining:
- Cash back: 3%
Click here to learn more and/or apply for the Desjardins Cash Back World Elite®Mastercard
? Rwrds reminder: Clash of the Credit Cards! Desjardins Cash Back World Elite Mastercard vs. Scotia Momentum VISA Infinite card ?
9. CIBC Costco Mastercard
While other Mastercards may be better to use at Costco warehouses themselves, The CIBC Costco Mastercard rocks when it comes to dining as it earns 3% cash back at restaurants and this is with no annual fee ever. The cash back comes in the form of a Costco gift certificate that issued every January.
Value (return on spending) of the 3% cash back earned on dining:
- Cash back in the form of a Costco Gift Certificate: 3%
Click here to learn more about the CIBC Costco Mastercard
? Rwrds reminder: Top 5 Mastercard Cards to use at Costco ?
10. American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card
All of the Ultra Premium Aeroplan co-brands have dining spend accelerators but the highest of them is on Amex’s Aeroplan Reserve Card. The card earns 2 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on dining and we value Aeroplan points at a minimum of 1.5 cents each thus giving this card an equivalent return on spending of no less than 3%. That’s should be your minimum though as with the Aeroplan program you can easily redeem for much more value from 2 to 6 cents per point or even more.
Value (return on spending) of the 2 Aeroplan points per dollar earned on dining:
- Aeroplan flight reward redemption: 3% to 12%+
Click here to learn more and/or apply for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card
? Rwrds reminder: Which credit card earns the most Aeroplan Points? ?
Honourable Mention: Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card
This cash back Visa card from CIBC’s Simplii Financial offshoot earns a very respectable 4% cash back on dining purchases. So why isn’t it in the top 10? Well for one simple reason, that 4% is capped at $5,000 in spending per year. If you know you won’t spend more than that per year you’ll want to consider this card as it would shoot up to around 4th spot for you. However if you do eat out a lot it won’t take long to eat up (pun intended) that $5,000 annual cap.
Value (return on spending) of the 4% cash back earned on dining:
- Cash back: 4%
Click here to learn more and/or apply for the Simplii Financial Cash Back Visa Card.
Wrapping it up
There you have it, the Top 10 Credit Cards for dining in Canada. I do want to note this is just a snapshot of what these cards provide in regards to dining, in most cases you should also look at the rest of the earn rates that they offer, look at all the redemption options and also the insurance and other non-rewards benefits these cards have. However if you are focused on the dine only part of things and want to maximize your rewards on eating out you’ll definitely want one or more of these cards in your wallet.
This article was first posted on Dec 1, 2021 and is updated on a regular basis