@Vin
Walmart is pretty easy to find out, despite the noise you see on AW. (I don’t shop there so I don’t know). But for even sleepy bars and small bakeries, the AwardWallet tool has proven accurate or informative wherever I’ve tried it in the US.
It seems like you’re putting a lot of thought into this, but it’s perfectly fine to miss a small percentage every now and then! It’s the overall spending pattern over time that really makes an impact. It’s not like I wouldn’t go to a restaurant I wanted to dine at just because they coded it wrong.
@Laine
But if there was a local restaurant or coffee shop I went to multiple times a week, wouldn’t it be useful to know how it coded if I assumed I was getting a multiplier for it? I’d rather find out before getting the card than wasting a hard pull.
US Bank and Elan show the MCC numbers for each merchant when you download the data to a spreadsheet format. I don’t know other banks that offer this detail.
I use this to steer purchases on other cards especially BOFA cash reward’s online shopping 3% category. If you search for older documents you can find a listing of the exact MCC numbers that count and don’t count for their bonus categories.
Keep in mind Amex MCC may be slightly different.
@collin
Most other banks (BOFA, Chase, and Citi come to mind) give you MCCs too, they just give you the description instead of the number, but it’s easy to cross-reference with the Citi PDF.
Not worried about pennies on the dollar. It’s so insignificant, it’s not worth my time.
My Savor One doesn’t cover restaurants covered under catering, but my Wells Fargo Autograph does. If I’m at a live game/theme park, I’ll use my Savor because it could possibly code as dining or entertainment. My Autograph will always be used at a hotel bar/restaurant just in case it triggers the travel category.
It’s definitely not worth micro-managing though. I just enjoy going through & seeing what codes as what sometimes!
Kind of nice to have a setup with multiple options just in case, but I don’t stress about it anymore.
I’m only using the CSP, Flex, & BBP right now for my personal setup. I don’t really alternate cards anymore. I just hope for the best & I love the simplicity. If something won’t code as dining/travel with the CSP/Flex I’ll just use the BBP.
I thought you were going to complain about the Wells Fargo Attune…
Restaurants in Hotels get extremely tricky. The BOFA Premium Rewards has been nice with elevated bonuses for both travel and dining.
Bakeries/coffeeshops/cards don’t typically count as Restaurants on Amex Gold. I have to take a risk on card selection for this category.
Walmart pay/Sam’s Club Scan and Go are hit or miss with BOFA Customized Cash Visa online shopping category (repeat visits to the same store produce different outcomes).