Americans spend more on pharmaceuticals than any other country. More people could also benefit heavily from consistently going to the gym. As such, let’s explore some credit cards to maximize rewards in these health-related categories. What’s best?
1. Chase Freedom Unlimited Visa or Chase Freedom Flex Mastercard
Both cards earn 3% cash back at drug stores, pharmacies, and restaurants. Unfortunately, gyms and fitness clubs aren’t included here.
They have the potential to earn more through The Chase Trifecta. This can easily become 4.5% cash back (or more) when combined with a Chase Sapphire Reserve. The Sapphire Reserve is also one of the only known cards to include some health/medical insurance when traveling (100+ miles from home). It’s not much, but it’s something, in case insurance doesn’t cover all your expenses. (Or if you have zero insurance.) The Chase Sapphire Preferred can also increase the value of points, but it’s inferior to the Sapphire Reserve in this case. The downside is that annual fees become involved with this strategy, so you’ll have to do the math and see if it makes sense beyond a year or so.
2. American Heritage Credit Union Cash Reward Mastercard
AHCU Cash Reward gets an unlimited 3% back at pharmacies, home improvement stores, gas, and groceries. Earning cash back in four categories is always a good deal. Anyone can join this credit union with a $5 donation during the member application process. Gyms and fitness clubs don’t seem to be under the 3% umbrella here.
3. Venmo Visa
Venmo earns 3% cash back in your top spending category each billing period. One of the valid categories is “Health and Beauty” which includes “Drug stores and pharmacies… and cosmetic stores that sell beauty products. This category also includes sports and recreation facilities that require membership such as health clubs, tennis, golf and swimming clubs.” This may not cover all gym memberships. It’s still a fairly flexible category.
4. Walgreens Mastercard
The Walgreens card earns 5-10% cash back at Walgreens or Duane Reade, then 3% back for select grocery/health purchases. This includes grocery stores, spas, salons, pet stores, medical bills and counseling services, sporting goods stores, and gym memberships.
The downside is that rewards can only be used toward Walgreen purchases. If you don’t use Walgreens, this card becomes useless. And if your credit score is poor, you may be approved for a lesser card that has fewer benefits. If you do like Walgreens though, this is an extremely valuable card for most people.
5. Ally Everyday Cash Back Mastercard
This yet-to-be-released card will earn unlimited 3% cash back at gas stations, grocery stores, and drugstores. It probably doesn’t have an annual fee, but we don’t have the full details of the card at this time. TBD. We’ll revise this post as needed.
6. Elan Max Cash Preferred Visa
This card is found at many credit unions. You choose your own categories to earn 5% cash back. Each quarter, you pick 2 out of 12 eligible categories. One is “recreation” which includes sporting goods stores and gyms. “Gyms and fitness centers” includes 24 Hour Fitness, Equinox, Weight Watchers, etc. You’re limited to $2,000 in combined quarterly spending (otherwise the 5% back temporarily becomes 1% back) which shouldn’t be a problem for most people.
Unfortunately, this card doesn’t earn any cash back at pharmacies or drug stores. Neither does the U.S Bank Cash+, which is a similar alternative.
7. Citi Custom Cash Mastercard
This card automatically calculates your top spending category each month. Eligible categories include drugstores/pharmacies OR fitness clubs. This could be nicely paired with the Max Cash Preferred or Cash+ cards, since they all work for just one health category. The other CCCC downside is a $500 monthly spending limit. If you have expensive pharmacy trips, you’ll want a card that earns unlimited points.
8. Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Visa
This card can get 3% back at drugstores, with a $2,500 quarterly spending limit. You have to manually choose your category each quarter, or else you’ll get 1% cash back instead.
If you’re in the Preferred Rewards program, you’ll earn more than 3% cash back for your chosen category:
- 3.75% with Gold status
- 4.5% with Platinum status
- 5.25% with Platinum Honors status or higher
9. Upgrade Triple Cash Rewards Visa
This earns 3% cash back in 3 categories, then 1% back on everything else. One of the 3 categories is “Health” – Health and Beauty Spas, Gym membership, Exercise equipment, and more. Upgrade’s examples of valid merchants include Walgreens, CVS, Academy Sports, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Midway USA. It’s a pretty versatile option and doesn’t have any fees. A potential downside, however, is we’ve heard that Upgrade’s cards aren’t real credit cards, they’re instead some weird combination that doesn’t exist with any other company. TBD.
10+. Various region-specific or everyday cards
The Vantage West Connect Rewards earns 5% cash back in a category of your choice, up to $1,500 per quarter. One of the 9 eligible categories is “Pharmacies & Drug Stores.” The biggest problem is the regional restrictions for this card; it’s limited to certain areas of southern Arizona.
Another highly restrictive card is the PCMCU Platinum Rewards Mastercard. It earns a massive 5% cash back on all purchases, and isn’t limited to specific categories. The downside is a $1,000 monthly spending limit, and a $49 annual fee (waived the first year) if you don’t use multiple PCMCU services. And, unfortunately, it’s limited to Wisconsin residents only, in Marinette or Green Bay.
If all else fails, any “everyday” card will be the go-to. The highest no-fee earner is the Alliant Cashback Visa, which gets 2.5% cash back on all purchases, up to a $10,000 monthly spending limit. The Ollo Optimum Mastercard is similar (2.5% back) but the card is invitation-only, so it’s not a feasible option.
Honorable mentions
- Abound Credit Union – sometimes gets 5% cash back for one quarter each year in health categories
- Capital One Venture X – can potentially get more than 2% cash back with savvy use of their transfer partners
- Discover It – sometimes gets 5% cash back for one quarter each year in health categories
- Kroger Family of Cards – earns 5% back on all purchases made using a mobile wallet ($3,000 annual spending limit) and some cards get 3% back on dining/gas too
- M1 Finance Owner’s Rewards – can earn 2.5% cash back (or more) at select places (Peloton, Costco, Target, Walmart, Walgreens, Duane Reade, etc.) if you have their premium membership
- U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve – earns up to 4.5% back on all purchases made using a mobile wallet, and travel expenses, with a $400 annual fee (effectively $75)
Note: This page was last updated in early November 2022. Details may have changed since then. Please do your own research where applicable, to ensure you’re getting the best deal. Or contact us directly to take advantage of our personalized consulting services!