You can now use Instacart to circumvent Costco's non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card

Back in March we had our reader TitaniumTux let us know that Instacart was finally coding properly as an eats and drinks merchant with American Express.  At that time we wrote about how you could Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card. Now the same rule applies to Costco as last week they announced a new same day delivery option powered by Instacart. That means you can now earn your American Express Cobalt Card category multiplier for shopping at Costco and here's the really good news. When you do shop via Instacart YOU DON"T HAVE TO BE A COSTCO MEMBER.  Now the trade off is that the pricing via Instacart won't be the same as in store at Costco or even if you shop for the regular Costco.ca items for delivery in 2 days or longer. So in reality this option is best for the grocery items that you cannot order regularly through Costco and of course for those who are not members and don't want to pay for a membership. Even with the higher pricing via Instacart I'm sure there are savings to be had utilizing this method over shopping at other stores and then on top of that you'll earn your rewards from whicheve.r card you use to pay for the transaction.

You have two options for the delivery service in terms of ordering, you can do so via Instacart or via Costco's website:

Customers can begin shopping from Costco via Instacart today by going to https://www.instacart.ca/store/costco, opening the Instacart app on their mobile device, or visiting Costco's member-only ecommerce site at http://sameday.costco.ca. From there, customers select their city and Costco warehouse, and can begin adding items to their Instacart grocery cart. An Instacart shopper will pick and deliver the order within the customer's designated timeframe.

I went through the process of setting up the same day shopping on Costco's website and rather than completing a new profile I simply imported data from Instacart:

The only credit card I have saved on Instacart is the American Express Cobalt™ Card  as it earns 5x points with Instacart which translates to a 5% cash back return on those purchases until the end of September.  The 5x points for eats & drinks is limited to $30,000 annually. Once you are at 1,000 points you can start redeeming and those 1,000 points will net you a $10 statement credit until September 30 (it drops to 1,000 points = $7 after that or a 3.5% return)  Of course for travel it is always a minimum 5% but can get as high as 10% with Amex's Fixed Points for Travel option.

Do note that when you shop at Costco via Instacart you will not earn your Costco Executive Membership 2% return. Also of note is that some sale prices that may be available in store may not be available via Instacart. This really is the trade off - if you are willing to go shop in store you'll enjoy more savings however if you are not a member or don't want to set foot in a physical store just yet this is a great new option

Learn more about this new partnership here: https://www.instacart.ca/store/costco or  http://sameday.costco.ca.

Awesome new Amex Offers offer - Spend $80 with Instacart and get a $20 statement credit

American Express has yet another awesome promotion in their Amex Offers program that was released today. Select cardmembers will receive a $20 statement credit when they spend $80 or more with Instacart - and it can be cumulative! If you recall, we had a big feature a couple months ago about how you can use Instacart to bypass Loblaw's group of grocery stores non-acceptance of American Express cards so this offer is extremely handy if this is something you have been doing. I know in our household we have now been ordering from Real Canadian Superstore via Instacart since March thanks to Instacart now coding properly with Cobalt cards at 5x points!

In our household we received this offer on our Platinum Card from American Express and American Express Cobalt Card. Both cards have been registered and I will be adding the Platinum Card to our Instacart account so that we can receive a total of $40 in statement credits. This offer is only open to the first 20,000 cardmembers who register for the offer and is valid until July 31.

It has now been added to our Guide to American Express Canada 'Amex Offers'

Use Instacart to circumvent Loblaw stores non-acceptance of Amex and to earn 5x points with the Cobalt Card

Last week we had our reader TitaniumTux let us know that Instacart is finally coding properly as a eats and drinks merchant with American Express. And do you know what that means? That means you can now earn your American Express Cobalt Card category multiplier for shopping at Loblaw''s family of stores:  Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore and T&T stores. Loblaw Companies Ltd. launched with Instacart in late 2017 in the Toronto region and expanded Canada wide after that. This provided a workaround for those wanting to use an American Express card at their stores. Since all Loblaw Companies stores do not accept Amex this method of getting your groceries delivered via Instacart was the way you could use your Amex as you actually bought the groceries from Instacart and not Loblaws.There was an issue however - Instacart didn't code as a eats & drinks merchant with Amex Canada so this meant you would not earn any category bonuses on the cards - you'd simply earn 1 point per dollar spent.

Fast forward to this month and that seems to have changed. As TitaniumTux pointed out he received 5x points on his latest Instacart order when he used his American Express Cobalt Card for the purchase. We did some searching on Google and other than his posts on Red Flag Deals and our post there really isn't any news around when this change with American Express happened. 

So whether is just happened in the past few weeks or a few months ago we wanted to pass this along again to our readers who shop at Loblaw's family of stores and even more so now that people are opting for delivery instead of going in to the store. Now is the time to rack up those points and miles with the American Express Cobalt Card as it has an excellent eats & drinks multiplier. If you don't have one of the cards I would recommend getting one of them as it provides a very liquid point redemption options which is so needed right now - that is, you can easily use the points for a statement credit without spending a ton of money.

The American Express Cobalt™ Card  earns 5x points with Instacart which translates to a 3.5% cash back return on those purchases.  The 5x points for eats & drinks is limited to $30,000 annually. Once you are at 1,000 points you can start redeeming and those 1,000 points will net you a $7 statement credit. You may ask though, what about a card that earn 4% cash back on groceries like the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite card and why should I give up that extra 0.5% in cash back? It's about access to that cash back. The Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite Card only pays out your cash back reward once per year. So you have to ask yourself - can I wait to get that cash back in 3 months, 6 months, or even 12 months? Or would I prefer to have access to the cash when I need it or as Jesus Jones sand Right here, Right now? That's where the Cobalt Card has pretty much every other card in the market beat. No other card will give you instant access to a $7 statement credit that is potentially earned as a 3.5% return.

UPDATE:

Limited Time Offer: Increased value in American Express Use Points for Purchases (1,000 points = up to $20!)

Do note that when you shop via Instacart you will earn 10 PC Optimum points per dollar spent however you will not earn any bonuses that may be advertised directly from the stores. Also of note is that some sale prices that may be available in store may not be available via Instacart. This really is the trade off - if you are truly self isolating go the delivery route (and earn your 5x points) but if the savings are too big and you are willing to go shop in store or do grocery pick up do so but you won't be able to use your Amex.

I normally don't shop via Real Canadian Superstore (Loblaw's flagship store out west) but now have my first order with them set for delivery this Thursday via Instacart. and used my Cobalt card for it. I have also been ordering groceries via Save-On-Foods and using services like DoorDash both of whom also code as 5x points with the Cobalt Card.

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