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A growing number of people are finding that their spending on eating out, takeouts, and food delivery services (like GrubHub and DoorDash) is increasing year on year, so it’s more important than ever to make sure that you’re using the right credit card when it comes time to pay.
A wide variety of cards offer bonuses or cashback for spending on dining, takeouts, and food delivery services, so I’ve pulled together a selection of five cards that I believe offer some of the best returns available on dining expenditure. With no-annual-fee cards sharing this list with ultra-Premium cards, there should be a card that fits most people’s wallets in this selection.
The cards
- Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- American Express® Gold Card
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- US Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Chase Freedom Flex® credit card
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® card
Annual Fee: $0
Standard earnings:
- 5% cash back (or 5 points/dollar) on travel purchased through the Chase Travel℠ portal
- 3% cash back (or 3 points/dollar) on dining (includes takeout and delivery)
- 3% cash back (or 3 points/dollar) on spending at drugstores
- 1.5% cash back (or 1.5 points/dollar) on spending in all other categories
Why it’s great for dining, takeout & food delivery services
The 3% cashback
that the Chase Freedom Unlimited® earns on dining is a great return to be given by a $0 annual fee credit card and for holders of one of the Chase Sapphire cards or the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, it gets better.
The cashback that the Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers can be taken in the form of Ultimate Rewards Points if a cardholders also holds a Sapphire card or the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card and these points can be transferred to a variety of airline and hotel loyalty programs where, given a bit of effort, they can offer a lot more value than just the 3% cash back on offer.
I value Ultimate Rewards Points at 1.5 cents each (based on the value I know I can get out of each point without too much trouble) and that means that as a holder of the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, I could earn an effective rebate of 4.5% on dining and takeout spending.
Good to know
One of the more interesting selling points of the Chase Freedom Unlimited® is the 3% cash back (3 points/dollar) that it offers on spending at drugstores as drugstore spending is a category that rarely appears as a credit card bonus category.
Considering the fact that drugstores generally sell a lot more than just pharmacy items, this is an incredibly useful bonus category to have.
Also, it’s worth keeping in mind that this is a card that offers the best level of return of any Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card for spending in categories in which other cards don’t offer category bonuses and as part of an overall miles and points strategy, that’s an important benefit for a card to offer.
The American Express® Gold Card
Annual fee: $325
Earnings (terms apply):
- 4 points/dollar on dining at restaurants (up to $50,000 of spending/year*)
- 4 points/dollar on takeout and delivery in the U.S
- 4 points/dollar at U.S Supermarkets (up to $25,000 of spending/year*)
- 3 points/dollar on spending made directly with airlines or through Amex travel
- 1 point/dollar on all other eligible spending
*Any spending made above the cap will only earn 1 point/dollar
Why it’s great for dining, takeout & food delivery services
With earnings as high as 4 points/dollar, the American Express® Gold Card offers one of the best returns on dining/takeout/food delivery services that you’ll find, and if you value Membership Rewards points at 1.5 cents each (as I do), that would translate to an effective rebate of 6% on the first $50,000 of spending at restaurants and on takeout and delivery in the U.S.
As of July 2024, the card gives holders up to $100 in statement credits per year for spending made with U.S. restaurants in the Resy ecosystem (offered as a $50 credit to be used between January and June and $50 credit to be used between July and December).
The American Express® Gold Card offers a $10/month statement credit for eligible purchases with Five Guys, the Cheesecake Factory, Grubhub, Seamless, Goldbelly, and Wine.com (enrollment required).
The card also offers holders a $10/month Uber Cash Credit (when they add their American Express® Gold Card to the Uber app) which can be used towards Uber Eats and Uber rides spending made in the US (enrollment required).
Good to know
The American Express® Gold Card offers cardholders a $100 hotel credit on qualifying charges as well as a room upgrade upon check-in (when available) when they book a stay of at least two consecutive nights at a hotel in the Amex Hotel Collection (enrollment required).
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Annual Fee: $95
Earnings:
- 5 points/dollar on Lyft rides through March 2025
- 5 points/dollar on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠*
- 3 points/dollar on dining worldwide
- 2 points/dollar on all travel that isn’t booked through Chase Travel℠^
- 1 point/dollar for spending in all other categories
*Hotel purchases that qualify for the card’s $50 Anniversary Hotel Credit will not earn 5 points/dollar
^Chase’s “travel” category is very broad so you’ll earn 2 points per dollar on everything from airfare, rental cars, and hotel bookings through to car parking, tolls, and ride-sharing services.
Why it’s great for dining, takeout & food delivery services
As Chase Ultimate Rewards points earned by the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card are easily redeemable for 1.25 cents each, the 3 points/dollar that the card earns on dining worldwide will see a cardholder effectively earn a 3.75% rebate on all dining, takeout, and food delivery spending.
Personally, I value Ultimate Rewards points at 1.5 cents each (a value that’s based on what I know I can get out of each point with relative ease), so for me, the effective rebate is 4.5%.
The card offers a minimum of 12 months of DoorDash DashPlus subscription (worth $9.99/month) as one of its benefits as long as the membership is activated by 31 December 2026. On all eligible orders that meet the subtotal minimum as shown in the app, DashPass members do not pay a delivery fee.
Good to know
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers an annual $50 rebate on any hotel booking made through the Chase Travel℠ portal which, when used, effectively reduces the annual fee to just $45.
In addition, the Ultimate Rewards points that this card earns can be transferred to numerous airline and hotel loyalty programs, cardholders receive primary auto rental cover when they pay for a rental using their card, and the trip protections/insurances that come with the card are the best insurances offered by any card costing just $95/year.
US Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card
Annual Fee: $0 (zero)
Earnings:
- 4 points/dollar on dining, takeout, and restaurant delivery
- 2 points/dollar on spending at grocery stores (excludes discount stores and wholesale clubs effective September 9, 2024)
- 2 points/dollar on spending at gas stations & EV charging stations
- 2 points/dollar on streaming services
- 1 point/dollar on spending in all other categories
Why it’s great for dining, takeout & food delivery services
As the points earned by the US Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card are worth $0.01 each when used with Real-Time Mobile Rewards to offset qualifying purchases, the 4 points/dollar that the card earns for spending on eating out, takeout, and food delivery equates to a 4% rebate. That’s an excellent rate of return from a card that doesn’t charge an annual fee – all earnings are pure savings.
Good to know
There’s no limit to the number of points that can be earned and the US Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card offers cardholders an annual $15 credit to be used on streaming service purchases.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® card
Annual Fee: $550
Earnings:
- 10 points/dollar on hotels and car rentals booked through Chase Travel℠*
- 10 points/dollar on Chase Dining purchases with Ultimate Rewards
- 5 points/dollar on flights booked through Chase Travel℠*
- 3 points/dollar for spending on travel that isn’t made through Chase Travel℠*^
- 3 points/dollar for spending on dining worldwide
- 1 point/dollar for spending in all other categories
*After the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually
^Chase’s “travel” category is very broad so you’ll earn 3 points per dollar on everything from airfare, rental cars, and hotel bookings through to car parking, tolls, and ride-sharing services.
Why it’s great for dining, takeout & food delivery services
As the Chase Ultimate Rewards points earned by the Chase Sapphire Reserve® are easily redeemable for 1.5 cents each, the 3 points/dollar that the card earns on dining will see a cardholder effectively earn a 4.5% rebate on all dining, takeout, and food delivery spending.
In addition, the card also earns cardholders 10 points for each dollar spent on Chase Dining purchases booked using your card through the Ultimate Rewards program – that’s an effective rebate of 15%.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® also offers DoorDash DashPlus membership (worth $9.99/month) as one of its benefits and on all eligible orders that meet the subtotal minimum as shown in the app, DashPass members do not pay a delivery fee.
Good to know
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers a $300 rebate on all travel spending every year (which, when used, effectively reduces the annual fee to just $150), the Ultimate Rewards points that it earns can be transferred to numerous airline and hotel loyalty programs, cardholders receive complimentary Priority Pass membership, and are given some of the better trip delay/cancellation/interruption protections offered by any card.
The Chase Freedom Flex® credit card
Annual fee: $0 (zero)
Earnings:
- 5% cash back (or 5 points/dollar) on up to $1,500 of spending in quarterly revolving categories in each quarter you activate.
- 5% cash back (or 5 points/dollar) on travel purchased through Chase’s travel portal.
- 3% cash back (or 3 points/dollar) on dining (includes takeout and delivery).
- 3% cash back (or 3 points/dollar) on spending at drugstores.
The Chase Freedom Flex® credit card earns 1% cash back (or 1 point/dollar) on spending in all other categories.
Why it’s great for dining, takeout & food delivery services
The 3% cashback that the Chase Freedom Flex® credit card earns on dining is a great return to be given by a no-annual-fee credit card, but for holders of one of the Chase Sapphire cards or the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, it gets better.
If you hold one of the cards mentioned above, the cashback that the Chase Freedom Flex® credit card offers can be taken in the form of Ultimate Rewards Points which, in turn, can be transferred to a variety of airline and hotel loyalty programs where they can be used to extract considerably more value than the basic cashback that the card offers.
I value Ultimate Rewards Points at 1.5 cents each (based on the value I know I can easily get out of each point) and that means that as a holder of the Chase Freedom Flex® credit card, I could earn an effective rebate of 4.5% on dining and takeout spending…and that’s from a card that costs nothing to hold.
Good to know
The Chase Freedom Flex® credit card may be a $0 annual fee card, but it comes with a few fantastic benefits like Cell phone protection (of up to $800 per claim and $1,000 per year – max 2 claims per year), trip cancellation/interruption insurance, 120-day purchase protection and extended warranty protection.
Bottom line
When putting together a list of “best cards” it’s important to include a variety of options for people to choose from and I think that this list manages that.
Some of these cards come with high annual fees but also offer very good earning rates, valuable loyalty currencies, and a whole host of additional benefits and rebates to help offset those fees. The other cards come with no annual fees, good returns, and straight-up cashback which makes them very simple and economical to use.
Hopefully, this list holds something for everyone.
Which is your favorite?
