The Best Restaurant Credit Cards Offering Cash Back and Rewards
Updated List Of The Best Restaurant Credit Card Offers For Eating And Dining Out
I wish I could be like a green garden plant and photosynthesize my food instead of having to buy it. I spend so much money eating out it’s sad. I eat lunch at work and usually spend up to $8 for a sandwich. Dinner usually involves whatever I pick up on the way home and it’s frequently $10 or more. Food in downtown Washington D.C. where I work can definitely get very expensive.
Luckily there are certain credit cards I can use to soften the financial blow by getting cash back or reward points for eating out. Most reward cards only give a measly 1% cash back, and many of the ones that offer a higher percentage back only offer it for purchases at fast food/takeout places. But there are a select few reward cards that offer a very impressive 3%-5% back for all restaurants, including fast food and even coffee shops! If you’re a student who eats out often, a young professional who dines out most of the time, or even a family minded foodie who enjoys fancy restaurants, you might benefit from having a utility credit card in your pocket that will allow you to earn rebate rewards and cash back discounts for such meal expenses.
Here Are The Best Reward Credit Cards For Eating and Dining Out:
1) Citi mtvU Visa Card for Students - Earn 5% back at restaurants and anytime you eat out including fast food and coffee shops, bookstores (includes Amazon.com), movie theaters, with 1% back for everything else. With the Citi mtvU, you earn Citi Thank You Network rewards, which can be redeemed for rewards including gift cards and cash. If you’re a student, this is must have card since the reward benefits are truly one of a kind. It’s one of my favorite reward credit cards and my most frequently used one since I eat out so often.
To qualify for the card you have to be a student - either full time, part time, in community, college, or graduate school. Citibank may ask you to verify your student status but that’s not always the case. Back when I applied, they required me to send them my tuition bill receipt and a copy of my student ID with the current semester sticker attached.
2) Citi Professional Card - With this card you can earn 3% cash back at restaurants. You can also get 3% back for purchases made at gas stations and office supply stores. Although it’s technically a business card, anybody can apply and you don’t necessarily have to be a business owner. It’s an excellent alternative card if you can’t qualify for the Citi mtvU.
The sister card to the Citi Professional Cash Card is the Citi Professional Card With ThankYou Network, and currently they are running a promotion where new card applicants can earn bonus sign up ThankYou points for a free $100 gift card after their first purchase. Unlike the cash card, this one earns ThankYou reward points. You do lose a small bit in the reward conversion, but it has a higher cap on the amount you can earn per year. The Citi Professional Cash Card limit on earned cash back is $500 per calendar year, compared to 100,000 ThankYou points (worth $1000) for the Citi Professional Thank You Network Card.
3) Chase BP Visa Rewards Card - Earn 4% rebates on all eligible dining and travel, including airline, car rental, and lodging. Restaurants are considered dining for rebate purchases, but fast food establishments are not. There is currently a 2 month promotional offer of 10% rebates at all BP gas locations and 5% thereafter, and 2% rebates for all other purchases for the first 60 days, and 1% thereafter.
4) Chase Business Rebate Card - Earn 3% cash back at restaurants, gas stations, office supply stores, and home improvement stores. You earn 1% for everything else and there is currently a promotional offer of 0% APR interest for all purchases and balance transfers for 12 months.
5) American Express True Earnings Card From Costco - This card is brought to you by Costco and is meant for Costco warehouse club members. This card offers you 3% cash back for restaurant dining and eating out, 3% for gas, 2% for traveling, and 1% for everything else including Costco purchases. The card comes with no annual fee if you have a paid Costco membership. Rebates are awarded in the form of an in-store coupon redeemable for cash or merchandise at any U.S. Costco warehouse.
6) Amex TrueEarnings Business Card From Costco - The TrueEarnings Business Card from American Express offers everything the Costco consumer version offers, like 3% cash back for restaurants, 2% for traveling, and 1% for everything else including Costco, except it has a higher cash back rewards percentage for gas at 5%.
