Amex Cobalt Devaluation Coming: Does It Really Matter?

creditcardGenius Team
updated on Aug 18, 2021
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The American Express Cobalt® Card has been one of our favourite cards since its launch 2 years ago.

And for good reason. With high earnings and points, no earning caps, and rewards that are flexible and easy to use, it’s no wonder it’s been our top rated credit card ever since.

However, a change is coming to this card on August 20, 2019.

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Amex Cobalt devaluation details

Starting August 20th, there will be a combined cap of $30,000 spent annually on earning 5 points per $1 spent on groceries and dining purchases. After the cap has been reached, you’ll only earn 1 point per $1 spent.

Does it matter?

Not if you’re spending less than $2.5k per month on food.

For most people, this cap won’t be a problem. Because most of us aren’t spending $2,500 per month on food. But for high spenders, there will be a drop in your total rewards.

Alternative cards

Another good card for grocery purchases, if you’re looking, is the Scotia Momentum® Visa Infinite* Card.

To earn flexible rewards, there’s the BMO eclipse Visa Infinite* Card, which earns 5x the points on groceries, gas, transit, and restaurants.

Or, you can browse through our best grocery credit card rankings here.

American Express Cobalt recap

Don’t have the Amex Cobalt card? Let’s recap why it ranks #1 overall for 2 years in a row.

To start, earn up to 45,000 welcome bonus points. For every month in the first year you spend $500 on the card, you’ll earn 2,500 points. You’ll earn another 15,000 points when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months.

Up to 5x points

You’ll also earn plenty of points on all of your purchases:

  • 5 points per $1 spent on groceries and dining (and of course, starting August 20, 2019, there will be a $30,000 annual spending cap),
  • 2 points per $1 spent on gas, travel and transit purchases, and
  • 1 point per $1 spent everywhere else.

Fly with points

What can you use your points for? Our guide will give you the full details. But the best ways are to book flights using the Fixed Points Travel Program, where you can get a value of up to:

1.75 cents per point.

Another good way is to redeem your points for any type of travel charged to the card, where each point is worth 1 cent.

You also have the option to transfer your points to Marriott Bonvoy at a 5:6 ratio.

Monthly $10 fee

It’s all for an annual fee of $120 that’s charged out as $10 per month.

For flexible rewards, and plenty of points, American Express has you covered.

Get the full details here:

5.0 Genius Rating
4.1 (80) User reviews
award seal ×8 Award winner

Transfer points to Aeroplan and 7 other travel partners with Canada's #1 credit card.*

Annual fee
See rates
Learn more
Welcome bonus
$300
15,000 points
Annual rewards
$1,080
Learn more
American Express Cobalt® Card
Instant approval: Yes
Credit estimate:
American Express Cobalt® Card
5.0 Genius Rating
4.1 (80) User reviews
award seal 8x Award winner

Transfer points to Aeroplan and 7 other travel partners with Canada's #1 credit card.*

Annual fee
See rates
Learn more
Welcome bonus
$300
15,000 points
Annual rewards
$1,080
Learn more
Credit estimate:
 (660 - 724)
Instant approval: Yes

Back to you

What do you think of the change? Will it change anything for you, or are you going to consider a new card?

Chime in the comments section below.

creditcardGenius is the only tool that compares 126+ features of 229 Canadian credit cards using math-based ratings and rankings that respond to your needs, instantly. Take our quiz and see which of Canada's 229 cards is for you.

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Editorial Disclaimer: The content here reflects the author's opinion alone. No bank, credit card issuer, rewards program, or other entity has reviewed, approved, or endorsed this content. For complete and updated product information please visit the product issuer's website. Our credit card scores and rankings are based on our Rating Methodology that takes into account 126+ features for each of 229 Canadian credit cards.

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Showing 2 comments

jack
jack
July 13, 2019
It matters big time, you could buy re-loadable credit cards at grocery stores, re-load them $500 dollars a pop, that's 2500 points a card and then take the money off of them at an ATM and then pay off your credit card, over and over. That equals a massive amount of points over the year far more than 30000.
creditcardGenius Team
creditcardGenius Team
July 16, 2019
It's an intriguing idea, but doesn't actually work. You can't use the funds to get a cash withdraw on prepaid Visas and Mastercards you can buy at the grocery stores. They also have purchase fees as well. A typical $100 card has a purchase cost of $5.95, which even at a high value of 1.75 cents per point would only net you $2.80 in rewards. Having said that, buying gift cards (assuming they don't have any activation fees) at grocery stores and using them for other purchases is a way to increase the rewards you get from the Amex Cobalt, but it's limited to how much you can actually spend. $2,500 per month is still a lot to spend on groceries, restaurants as well as various gift cards per month. For some it may be a devaluation, but for most it won't matter.
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