American Express’ Blue Cash Preferred Card provides many families with substantial rewards in categories they regularly spend money on, while also offering travel benefits like secondary car rental loss and damage insurance as well as a global assist hotline.
You must possess good to excellent credit in order to qualify for this card and its rewards rate. Learn more, then apply now!
1. 6% Cash Back at U.S. Supermarkets
The Amex Blue Cash Preferred offers high rewards rates in key categories that many families spend money on, yet a few factors should be taken into consideration before determining whether this card fits your family.
To maximize the benefit from Amex cards, it’s essential that you understand their definition of supermarkets. According to them, supermarkets include grocery stores, convenience stores and warehouse clubs that sell groceries – although this definition doesn’t include Walmart and Costco which typically qualify as wholesale clubs rather than grocery stores; any purchases at those types of locations would only earn 6% cash back if their store qualifies.
Other spending categories you can earn cash back with the Blue Cash Preferred include select streaming services, gas stations and transit (taxi/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains and buses). American Express also offers a simplified version without an annual fee known as Blue Cash Everyday card that features similar earning rates as well as an early spend bonus of $250 statement credit when spending $3,000 within 6 months of opening an account.
On both cards, your cash back will come in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed for gift cards, travel, dining and entertainment experiences, merchandise goods or merchandise products – or simply used as statement credits against purchases when due.
As with other Amex cards, Blue Cash Preferred provides you with additional benefits and protections that provide both financial benefits as well as peace of mind in terms of its lowest hotel rates guarantee policy and global assist hotline services.
Before applying for the Blue Cash Preferred, perform some calculations to ensure its rewards on spending categories important to you will surpass its $0 intro annual fee and then $95. If this doesn’t hold true for you, other cash back cards such as Capital One SavorOne and Discover It Cash Back may be better options.
2. 3% Cash Back at U.S. Gas Stations
Blue Cash Preferred provides an above-average rewards rate for families that rely on groceries and gas purchases, earning 3% back at select U.S. supermarkets, gas stations and transit spending (such as ride shares, parking tolls subway trains or buses). Though not an exhaustive list of features and benefits it makes an ideal fit for many households.
One disadvantage of this card is its exclusion of superstores, wholesale clubs and warehouse stores from its grocery category. As such, if you regularly frequent these types of stores for groceries purchases, other cards with higher grocery rewards rates such as Chase Freedom Unlimited’s no annual fee option or Blue Cash Everyday from American Express could provide better rewards rates with no annual fee requirements imposed.
Blue Cash Preferred is one of the best cards for rewards on utilities and service charges such as cable or satellite subscriptions and streaming services such as Netflix. Unfortunately, however, its rewards on travel purchases don’t offer as high of returns; to maximize these categories’ potential earnings.
This card provides a flat 1% cash back on all other purchases made, including restaurants and U.S. online retail sites. In addition, travel protections and access to Amex Global Assist hotline – helpful when lost/stolen cards occur or when someone unauthorized uses your card – will also be provided.
These bonus categories may not be sufficient to offset the $0 intro annual fee and then $95 annual fee that comes with this rewards card, although its rewards rates can still make this worthwhile for travel or dining rewards. If this is your preferred approach to earning rewards in these areas, however, consider other cards such as Chase Sapphire Reserve and Citi Prestige with generous reward rates such as these two cards that offer secondary cards with similar options for those categories.
Blue Cash Preferred can be an ideal card choice for families that spend heavily in its bonus categories of groceries, streaming, gas and transit. It could also be ideal for consumers switching from cable or satellite TV to streaming alternatives such as DirecTV Stream. Unfortunately, its Rewards Dollars do not qualify for airline or hotel loyalty programs and could therefore not provide much in terms of travel rewards.
3. 1% Cash Back on All Other Purchases
Blue Cash Preferred offers a competitive 1% cash back rate on all non-bonus categories purchases, making this card particularly valuable to families and commuters who spend heavily in groceries, streaming services, transit fares and gas. Reward dollars earned can easily outstrip its $95 annual fee (see rates and fees for more info).
Blue Cash Preferred card stands out among cash-back cards with its generous earnings in bonus categories and unique benefits that set it apart, such as secondary car rental loss and damage insurance, an automatic hotel rate lock feature, global assist hotline support and various travel-related amenities. Furthermore, this card provides purchase protection and return guarantee programs as additional safeguards against unexpected purchases and unexpected returns.
The Blue Cash Preferred card also offers an attractive sign-up bonus and 0% APR on new purchases and balance transfers for 12 months, though many competing cards also provide this promotion (and some even waive annual fees altogether).
However, unlike some American Express cards, the Blue Cash Preferred does not earn Membership Rewards points which can be redeemed for travel perks. Travel rewards may be an important factor when selecting a credit card; thus if this is important to you consider alternatives such as Amex Gold or Blue Sky Cards from American Express which do not charge annual fees and can offer up to 3% back on grocery spend annually.
Due to the non-rotating bonus categories of the Blue Cash Preferred card and its higher earning rate on certain everyday expenses, it may make sense for some individuals to combine it with another flat-rate card like Citi Double Cash Card for general spending that does not fall into one of its categories – this can help maximize both cards while limiting interest charges. Be wary though; Blue Cash Preferred does carry a 2.7% foreign transaction fee that may prove prohibitive when traveling internationally.
4. Amex Offers
American Express provides numerous benefits designed to assist large families save money and earn extra points and rewards, including travel assistance benefits, car rental coverage and shopping perks that could save hundreds (even thousands!) each year.
Are You Shopping for a Mattress or Fitness Trackers? Amex Offers Can Save You Up to $300 If so, Take Advantage Of An Amex Offer That Gives $100 In Statement Credit When Spending at Least $500 OR Or, When Spend $250+ On Fitness Gear and Receive Statement Credit of up To $600 Per Billed Balance!
Check your Amex app or the online Amex Offers portal to see what offers are available to your card. Keep in mind that Amex Offers are limited-time deals that will vanish once enough card members claim them; additionally, some Amex Offers may have fine print terms that restrict availability such as minimum spending requirements or geographic limitations.
Some Amex Offers may be used across multiple cards; just be careful not to overspend or exceed your credit limit! To keep within budget and stay out of trouble, your wallet or mobile app can help organize Amex Offers into categories like “Featured”, “Dining”, or “Services”.
Blue Cash Preferred card provides not only 6% cash back for supermarket and gas station purchases and 3% for transit purchases, but also offers unlimited 2% cash back at U.S. restaurants as well as free ShopRunner membership that provides two-day shipping and returns at over 100 online retailers.
Last but not least, the card’s 1% cash back on everything else can help families of all sizes maximize savings. To maximize rewards with every card purchase made using it as the primary payment method for streaming accounts, transit apps, automatic toll reload services, parking apps or adding authorized users without incurring rates & fees fees (rates & fees).
Introducing Amex Blue Cash Preferred: the ideal cash-back rewards card! Its generous bonus earning categories cover most household spending and come equipped with additional features and benefits that add even greater value. Plus, this card comes packed with other valuable features!