The coronavirus pandemic has re-prioritized everyone’s spending habits, so it’s important to evaluate which card to use for your purchases. Yes, the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card is technically free to own, but one of the caveats is that you have to be an Amazon Prime subscriber to qualify.

In 2018, Amazon increased the price of a Prime membership from $99 a year to $119.

It’s hard (and actually kind of foolhardy) to assess the value of the Prime membership based solely on the return you might get using the online retailer’s credit card — because membership includes so many other tangible benefits — but for argument’s sake, I’m going to try.

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First, let’s look at what the Prime Rewards card pays:
5% cash back at Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market
2% back at restaurants, gas stations and drugstores
1% back on all other purchases

There’s no cap on the cash back value you can earn, and you can redeem your rewards to pay for all or part of your Amazon purchases. In addition to cash back, you can also redeem for gift cards or travel. Currently, new cardmembers receive a $70 Amazon.com gift card instantly upon approval. With Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods Market and the millions of readily accessible items ready to be delivered to your home, let’s see if this card is still worth the cost.

How should you use the card?

In a normal situation without a global pandemic, the Prime Rewards card should be a secondary option in your wallet. This should not be your card for everyday spending, as you’ll find that many other travel credit cards offer better returns on both bonus and non-bonus category spending.

For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve gets you 3 points per dollar spent on travel and dining at restaurants, while the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi earns 4% cash back on eligible gas for the first $7,000 per year and 1% thereafter. You even can beat the 5% cash back at Whole Foods by using the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, which offers 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%). Terms apply.

With grocery and household spending levels much higher than usual because of restaurant and store closures, no card can top the Prime Rewards bonus on spending at Amazon.com and Prime Now for fast deliveries.

So let’s look at how much you’d have to spend annually with Amazon to justify the higher subscription price.