Amex Cobalt Review 2026: Is 5x on Food Still Worth the Monthly Fee?
This review sits under the best credit cards in Canada hub. The head-to-head with the main Aeroplan co-brand is Cobalt versus TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite. How to turn points into a dollar figure you trust is the points valuation guide.
- Fee: $15.99 per month for non-Quebec residents ($191.88 a year). Quebec: $191.88 a year. Supplementary cards: no annual fee, per Amex.
- 5 points per $1 at restaurants, coffee shops, bars, stand-alone grocery stores, and food or grocery delivery in Canada, combined cap $2,500 net purchases a month. Then 1 point. The counter resets on the 1st.
- 3 points per $1 on eligible streaming at providers on Amex's list. 2 points per $1 at stand-alone gas stations and on local transit, taxis, and ride-hail in Canada. 1 point on everything else.
- Travel purchases no longer earn 2 points. Amex says that change took effect 8 October 2024. Gas and transit stayed at 2 points.
- 1,000 Membership Rewards points transfer to 1,000 Aeroplan points. Minimum transfer is 1,000, in increments of 100.
What does Cobalt earn as of September 2026?
| Item | Published term |
|---|---|
| Monthly fee, outside Quebec | $15.99 ($191.88 a year) |
| Annual fee, Quebec | $191.88 a year |
| Eats, drinks, stand-alone grocery, food and grocery delivery in Canada | 5 points per $1, up to $2,500 net a month combined, then 1 point |
| Eligible streaming | 3 points per $1 at providers on americanexpress.ca/streaming. Bundled telecom or third-party billing does not qualify. |
| Stand-alone gas and local transit in Canada | 2 points per $1. General merchandise retailers do not qualify. |
| Other eligible purchases | 1 point per $1 |
| Purchase interest | 21.99 percent on the Cobalt-to-Gold comparison Amex publishes |
| Aeroplan transfer | 1,000 Membership Rewards = 1,000 Aeroplan. Minimum 1,000. |
As of September 2026, from American Express. Superstores, wholesale clubs, and merchants that are not stand-alone grocers are the usual miss on the 5x grocery rate. Interest, fees, and cash-equivalent transactions do not earn points. Amex does not publish Cobalt's foreign-currency markup as a single percentage on the benefits page reviewed here, so this review does not invent one. If you spend in another currency, read the cardmember agreement and compare it with a no-foreign-fee card.
Is 5x still worth $191.88?
The fee is the same number of dollars whether Amex bills it monthly or, in Quebec, once a year. The question is whether the points from spend you already make are worth more than $191.88 after you subtract what a no-fee card would have paid on the same taps. The fee test in general is the annual-fee guide. The grocery-only version is the grocery card guide.
Nadia spends $800 a month at a stand-alone grocer and restaurants that take American Express. That is $9,600 a year, and no month crosses the $2,500 cap, so all of it earns 5 points. She earns 48,000 Membership Rewards points. The fee is $191.88. At an illustrative 1 cent per point — a round number for the arithmetic, not a rate American Express quotes on the benefits page — those points are $480 against a charge, or $288 after the fee. A no-fee card at 1 percent on the same $9,600 returns $96 and costs $0, so Cobalt is ahead by about $192 in this illustration. If she redeems Aeroplan for a ticket she would have bought, the points can be worth more or less than 1 cent. If the grocer refuses Amex, the 48,000 points are zero. Plug your redemption into the valuation guide before you treat $288 as cash.
What happens if you cross the $2,500 cap?
The cap is monthly and combined across the 5x categories. It does not care that you returned something later in the month: Amex says once you hit the maximum you earn 1 point, regardless of later credits. A household that puts $3,000 of eligible food on Cobalt in a month earns 5 points on $2,500 (12,500 points) and 1 point on $500 (500 points), not 15,000 points. The counter resets on the first of the next month. Two cardholders on one account share the cap, because it is an account maximum.
Gift cards, cash equivalents, and interest do not earn. Buying groceries you will not eat to clear a mental target is the minimum-spend mistake. If a welcome bonus is why you applied, clear it with the minimum-spend playbook, not with extra food.
Who should skip Cobalt?
- Costco is the grocery shop. Warehouses do not take American Express. The Costco card guide is the replacement.
- Most of the bill is a Loblaw banner that declines Amex. A PC Financial Mastercard or a Visa grocery card earns there. Cobalt earns nothing.
- Food spend is under a few hundred dollars a month and you will not transfer to a redemption you can name. The illustrative break-even at 1 cent and 5 points per dollar is $191.88 divided by $0.05, about $3,838 a year, or roughly $320 a month. Less spend can still win if your redemption is richer. More spend can lose if you value a point at a fraction of a cent.
- You carry a balance. At 21.99 percent purchase interest, a month of interest on a grocery balance dwarfs 5x.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the Amex Cobalt annual fee in 2026?
As of September 2026, American Express lists $15.99 a month for non-Quebec residents, equal to $191.88 a year, and $191.88 a year for Quebec residents. Supplementary cards have no annual fee on the comparison page Amex publishes. Confirm the line on your statement. A first-year promotion, if one is offered, is not the ongoing fee.
Does Cobalt still earn 5x on groceries?
Yes, on stand-alone grocery stores in Canada, and on delivery of food and groceries in Canada as a primary business, inside the same $2,500 monthly cap as restaurants, coffee shops, and bars. Superstores and wholesale clubs are not that category. The earn rate after the cap is 1 point per dollar until the first of the next month.
Can I transfer Cobalt points to Aeroplan?
Yes. Amex's Membership Rewards travel-partner page lists Aeroplan at 1,000 Membership Rewards points to 1,000 Aeroplan points, with a 1,000-point minimum and 100-point increments. Transfers are not a cash-out. The value depends on the award you book, which is the point of the valuation guide.
Does Cobalt earn 2x on travel?
Not anymore. American Express's membership-benefits notice says that effective 8 October 2024, Cobalt stopped earning 2 points per dollar on travel purchases and kept 2 points on eligible gas stations and local transit. Booked flights are 1 point unless a separate offer says otherwise. Do not use an old blog's travel multiplier.
Is Cobalt a good no-foreign-fee card?
This review does not treat it as one. The benefits page reviewed in September 2026 does not state a waived foreign-currency markup. Scotiabank Passport and Scotiabank Gold American Express do state that waiver. Use those, or another card whose agreement you have read, for foreign-currency spend.
Does the 5x rate apply outside Canada?
Amex's Cobalt footnote limits the 5-point categories to restaurants, grocery, and food delivery in Canada. A meal in another country is not that sentence. Even if a foreign merchant coded in a way you hoped, the published 5x language is domestic. Read the footnote before you tap Cobalt abroad.
Sources
- Cobalt Card benefits, American Express Canada
- Cobalt and Gold fee comparison, American Express
- Membership benefits earn-rate notice (travel 2x ended 8 October 2024)
- Membership Rewards airline transfer ratios
A point is not a plan.
Cobalt is a spending tool. Registered accounts are where the larger compounding sits. The 2026 tax guide is the other half of the year.
Get the 2026 Tax Guide — $49 CAD
