When it comes to choosing a credit card, there are a lot of factors to consider. However, one of the most important is your spending habits and how your cards can get you the most value for your spending. If you know which categories you tend to spend your money on, it becomes much easier to choose a card that will give you the most rewards for your purchases.

In this article, we are going to break down the best credit cards for each of the major categories of spending. One important note: the “best” card is defined as the card that gives the greatest points/cash-back per category. For considering if the card makes sense for you, it’s important to also consider how valuable different points and cash-back systems are to you based on what banks you use!

With the background out of the way, let’s jump into the list:

The best credit cards for every category of spending

Groceries

American Express Gold Card

For $250 a year, the American Express Gold gives you 4x points on ALL grocery stores in the USA. Given how valuable AmEx points can be for redeeming travel, this is one of the best returns you will get on groceries, which is often one of the highest areas of spending for the majority of people! While you should avoid this card if you live outside the USA (as you don’t get the bonus rewards and because AmEx isn’t accepted super widely outside the country), it is one of the best cards for groceries out there for earning on groceries in the US.

Gas

American Express Business Gold Card:

The business version of the Gold card gives you 4x points on your top 2 business categories. One of the most useful of these categories is US gas stations—while you again should not get this card if you live outside the USA, it gives an incredible return if you have high spending on gas (either for your business or personal life). If you are a driver or have a business centered around driving, and you spend $20k on gas a year, this card will net you 80,000 AmEx Points!

Pharmacy/Drug Store

Citi Custom Cash

This answer is slightly cheating, as the Custom Cash card from Citi gives you 5% back on your top eligible spend category; however, one of these categories is pharmacy/drugstore spending. If you spend a lot at drug stores or on prescription co-pays, using this card for those purchases can give you an easy 5% back!

Chase Freedom Unlimited & Flex

To give a more pharmacy-specific card that doesn’t depend on your spending, the Freedom Unlimited and the Freedom Flex both give a flat 3% back on purchases at drug stores. This is an easy way to get a flat spend benefit from your shopping at pharmacies and drug stores like CVS, Duane Reade, Walgreens, Rite Aid, and any local pharmacies.

Flights

American Express Platinum

The platinum is one of the most expensive cards out there ($695 annual fee), but it’s for good reason: 5x points back on flights booked through EITHER the airline itself or the American Express travel portal, a $200 airline fee credit, and many travel benefits (Clear, lounge access, etc.). If you can afford the annual fee and you are a very frequent flier, the platinum can return incredible value for your flight spending, as well as improve your whole air travel experience. American Express points also transfer to a large variety of airline partners (such as Delta and JetBlue) which can further boost the value of the points you redeem!

Hotels

World of Hyatt Credit Card

The World of Hyatt credit card gives a whopping 9x points back on stays at Hyatt properties, which is one of the highest returns of any card across spending areas! However, the obvious caveat here is that you can only take advantage of this if you are staying at Hyatt properties somewhat frequently, so make sure to check out their locations to see if you can take advantage of this redemption. However, the World of Hyatt card offers a free hotel stay every year you hold the card after your first anniversary which can easily offset the $95 annual fee!

Rideshare (Uber & Lyft)

Capital One Savor/SavorOne Cash Rewards

The Savor and SavorOne credit cards both give amazing value for ride-share: an UNLIMITED 10% back on all Uber purchases (Uber and UberEats), plus a free membership to UberOne, Uber’s premium program. If you use Uber a lot, the Savor/SavorOne only being $95 a year can be a no-brainer with how much you’ll save.

Dining

American Express Gold Card

We’ve mentioned this card already due to its 4x points on groceries in the US, but this card ALSO gives 4x points back on ALL dining worldwide. While it may not be accepted everywhere outside the USA, this card gives you incredible value on dining everywhere it is accepted. If you’re going to dine anywhere even remotely touristy, there is a good chance that your AmEx Gold card will be accepted, especially in countries like Canada and the UK.

Streaming Services

American Express Platinum

The platinum has an amazing bonus for streaming which gives cardholders a $240 annual digital entertainment credit ($20 a month) on a range of streaming services, including Audible, Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, Peacock, and more! Therefore, your streaming service is essentially free if you have this card (or free under the annual fee), which also helps offset the high annual fee.

Rent, Bills, & Utility

BILT Mastercard

The BILT Mastercard from Wells Fargo is well known for its ability to be used in places where you normally can’t use a credit card (or where there would be a hefty fee) such as rent payments. While you only get 1x points on rent (and many other unique items), you would normally get no points from these purchases, so your net return is positive! The Bilt card rivals many of the most popular cards out there, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Capital One Venture X, so make sure to consider it if you pay a large portion of your income on rent. Even though it only offers 1x points, it becomes more than pretty much any other card out there when you take fees into consideration.

Clothing & Other Misc.

Wells Fargo Active Cash

The Active Cash card from Wells Fargo gives you a flat 2% back on everything you spend, regardless of what the category is. While there are several cards that give a flat 2% back (such as the Capital One Venture and Venture X), the Active Cash card has the same benefits but with no annual fee!

Summary

The cards we have listed here are some of the best cards to get rewards back on specific spending categories! While we would recommend these cards if you spend a lot on any of these specific areas, as always, make sure that each of these cards fits your overall set-up to get the most out of your spending. If you have any questions about how we selected the cards we listed here, make sure to leave a comment below!