How your credit card rewards can help you pay for groceries, food delivery and essentials during coronavirus

Credit card issuers are temporarily offering waived late fees or the ability to skip payments for cardholders affected by the coronavirus pandemic. But if you have the ability to keep using your credit card at this time, it may help you afford essential purchases.

If you haven't already, take a look into whether your credit card's rewards or benefits will help you save on groceries, food delivery or household items. Chances are, there are some benefits you may not know about.

For instance, redeeming rewards or using dining statement credits can help lower the cost of a grocery run or take-out from your favorite restaurant. This makes essential expenses more affordable and can help you prioritize bill payments for other necessities, like your mortgage or auto loan.

Below, Select reviews how you can use your credit card to offset the cost of essential purchases during the coronavirus pandemic.

If you have a rewards card, now may be a good time to cash in any cash back, points or miles you've earned. The best way to redeem rewards depends on the card you have and can include statement credits, gift cards or paying with points online at checkout. Keep in mind, you may have to earn a minimum amount of rewards (often $25 worth) before you can redeem them.

Here's how each redemption option can help you, depending on the type of rewards card you have.

Statement credit

Statement credit redemptions are a good choice if you have a cash-back card, such as the Citi Double Cash® Card (see rates and fees) or the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express. I recently redeemed a combined $110 in cash back from both cards as statement credits to offset grocery delivery orders and other essentials.

If you have a points or miles card, statement credit options are typically worth less than redeeming rewards for gift cards, but can still save you money, which might be important to you right now.

Gift cards

Redeeming rewards for gift cards is a great option for a points or miles card and often provides a 1:1 value, meaning one point is worth a penny. I recently used 2,500 points from my Citi Rewards+® Card to get a $25 Target gift card, which helped offset a $50 purchase, see rates and fees. And I also received an instant 5% discount on my order (plus free shipping) by paying for the remainder of my order with the Target RedCard™.

Keep in mind, the amount of points or miles required for a gift card varies based on the card you have and the type of gift card. Another thing to note is that card issuers may change the reward requirements for certain gift cards at any time. For example, I noticed that a Target gift card with my American Express® Gold Card had a lower redemption value compared to other gift card options.

Pay with points

Most major credit card issuers offer "pay with points" options that allow you to use credit card rewards during online checkout at popular retailers, such as Amazon. This feature lets you easily apply your points or miles to your order total and offset purchases.

However, pay with points redemptions often devalue your rewards, particularly if you are redeeming travel miles for cash value at the checkout. Even so, if trimming costs are more important than travel to you right now, this may be a worthwhile option. If not, you can always store up your miles, especially ones that don't expire, and redeem them for travel later on.

Many of the best dining and travel cards offer annual statement credits worth up to $200 that can help offset the cost of food delivery from your favorite local restaurant. Here are three of the most generous offers.

The offer: Annual $120 dining credit ($10 in statement credits a month), at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar and select Shake Shack locations. Terms apply. Enrollment required.

The enrollment requirement: Complete a one-time activation online or by calling the number on the back of your Amex Gold card.

The offer: You can receive a complimentary DashPass membership through December 2024. DashPass provides free delivery and lower service fees from hundreds of restaurants on orders of $12 or more.

The enrollment requirement: To activate the DashPass benefit, add your Sapphire Reserve card as the default payment in the DoorDash app or online by December 31^st, 2024.

The offer: Uber VIP status and up to $200 annual Uber credit, which breaks down to $15 each month, plus a bonus of $20 in December. You'll receive the credit as Uber Cash each month, which can be used toward Uber rides or UberEats orders.

The enrollment requirement: While you don't need to enroll, you need to add your Amex Platinum Card to your Uber account and it takes up to 24 hours for the Uber Cash credit to be available after your card has been added. Benefit renews annually. Uber Cash and Uber VIP status is available to Basic Card Member only.

Many of the top card issuers, such as American Express, Chase and Bank of America, provide exclusive discounts at dining, retail and travel merchants. Now can be a great time to review your available offers and see if any meet your spending habits.

These offers typically give you either a percentage or set dollar amount of cash back, credited to your account within a few weeks from purchase. You can usually find them advertised near your rewards portal or along the side of your account summary page once you log in.

For example, I have a current offer for a $10 statement credit when I spend $100 in store at Stew Leonard's (up to 2X), on top of the points I earn. That means I can earn up to $20 back, after spending $200.

Take note, activation is required before you make a purchase and you must pay with your card. There may also be limitations, such as the offer is only valid on in-store purchases or only online.

These offers also vary based on location and are usually only available for a limited period of time. Plus, you may need to meet minimum spending requirements, and there are maximum earning benefits.

For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, click here.

For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.

For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.

Information about the Target RedCard™ has been collected independently by CNBC and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.