Scenario
Updated September 1, 2026 · Written by Tim · Calculator-driven, not editor-picked · Methodology v2026.09.1
Feeding a big family costs about $1,500 a month at the supermarket — $18,000 a year. At that level the grocery-card conversation most articles have simply stops applying, because the famous grocery rates are capped, and this family blows through every cap before Memorial Day.
Blue Cash Preferred's 6% ends at $6,000 a year — month four for this family — then pays 1% on the remaining $12,000. The cards that matter here are the ones whose grocery rate never runs out, and among those, the fee decides it.
Who this fits
Key insight
Citi Strata Premier wins at ~$1,158/yr: 3x on groceries with NO cap — all $18,000 earns the bonus — plus the same 3x on this family's dining, gas, and travel, for a $95 fee. Amex Gold's 4x (capped at $25,000/yr, so also uncapped in practice here) earns more raw points, but its full $325 fee holds it to ~$1,117/yr — a $41 gap that's pure fee. Chase Aeroplan (2x on groceries and dining since its September 2026 refresh, 3x through year-end) comes in at ~$698/yr. And the card every "best grocery card" article leads with? Blue Cash Preferred nets ~$632/yr — barely half the winner — because $12,000 of this family's groceries earn 1% after its cap dies in April. The cap chart below shows the exact month the 6% stops.
At this spend level, some cards stop earning their headline rate before year-end. The bar shows the share of the year you earn the bonus rate vs. the base rate.
Blue Cash Preferred
$6,000 cap on us supermarket bonus
$1,500/mo on us supermarket bonus fills the cap around month 4.0.
Ranked by net annual value — rewards minus the full annual fee, counting only credits that arrive automatically — for good-credit applicants.Run your own numbers in the calculator.
$1,158/yr
net rewards
3x on groceries with no cap — the single most important fact at $1,500/mo — plus 3x on dining, gas, and travel, for $95. (The $100 hotel credit only applies to Citi Travel bookings, so we count the full fee.) Nets ~$1,158/yr, the top of the board.
$1,117/yr
net rewards
4x at US supermarkets up to $25,000/yr — this family's $18,000 fits entirely under the cap, so every grocery dollar earns 4x, the highest rate here. Its full $325 fee still costs it the lead: ~$1,117/yr. Its $424/yr of Uber, dining-partner, Resy, and Dunkin' credits are opt-in upside — if those fit your routine, mark them in the calculator and Gold takes first.
$899/yr
net rewards
2x flat on everything nets ~$899/yr — no cap to track, no category to miss, $95 fee. What it concedes to the 3x cards (~$899/yr) is the price of never thinking about it.
$796/yr
net rewards
The no-fee version of the winner: 3x on groceries (uncapped), gas, and streaming, 2x dining. Nets ~$796/yr — the best fee-free answer, and remarkably close given it costs nothing.
$766/yr
net rewards
3% on groceries, dining, entertainment, and streaming at no fee nets ~$766/yr. A whisker behind Citi Strata among the no-fee picks — choose on whether your family's non-grocery spend leans entertainment (Savor) or gas (Strata).
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Want the whole field, not just this household? See every grocery card ranked by the same math →
This ranking is fixed against the spending profile above. Drop your own monthly numbers into the calculator and we'll re-rank against your actual spend — same algorithm, different inputs.
Run my own numbersCard data verified against issuer terms. Rates and fees may change — verify on the issuer's site before applying. Rewards values use the point valuations published on our methodology page.
