When the Credit Card Act was passed years ago, many thought it would be the end of credit card rewards programs. Despite increased costs of operations, credit card issuers continue to beef up their attempts to attract new customers, with bonuses for signing up and growing perks. The best cards you’ll find today seem to include the same 1% cash back on most purchases with 5% cash back for select spending categories that change every three months. The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express is a nice surprise, offering a welcome bonus and up to 6% cash back on everyday purchases. It’s simple and straightforward with no rotating reward categories and no enrollment required.
American Express offers new cardholders of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express a welcome bonus. They’ll give you 200 Reward Dollars after you use your card to make $1,000 in eligible purchases in the first 3 months of card membership. The welcome bonus offer is not available to applicants who have had this product within the last 12 months, or any other consumer Blue Cash® Card account within the last 90 days.
Learn More: Compare this and other rewards cards, and apply online HERE.
Also included with this offer is a 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months. Once that introductory period has expired, the purchase APR will vary with the market based on the prime rate. It is currently at 14.24% to 25.24% variable, based on your creditworthiness.
The best feature of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express is its cash back rewards program. This is truly unmatched right now, and every eligible purchase earns cash back in the following amounts:
- 6 percent cash back at US supermarkets up to $6,000 per year in purchases
- 3 percent cash back on gasoline at US gas stations
- 3 percent cash back at select US department stores
- 1 percent cash back on other purchases
- Terms and limitations apply.
Your cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit and is earned only on eligible purchases. Unlike previous versions of the Blue Cash Card, where rewards could be redeemed only once a year, cardholders can redeem rewards as soon as they’ve accumulated $25 or more.
Unfortunately, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express is not free. It comes with a $95 annual fee. However, considering the savings at the grocery store and gas pump, this card can potentially save you hundreds of dollars every year, even with the annual fee.
The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express — when you add up the 150 Reward Dollars and the cash back program — might be one of the most rewarding credit cards offered by American Express. Be sure to review the terms and conditions for restrictions that apply to this offer. Terms and restrictions apply.
Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.
Important Note! The information in this article is believed to be accurate as of the date it was written. Please keep in mind that credit card offers change frequently. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information in this article. Please verify all terms and conditions of any credit card prior to applying.
Updated December 19, 2017 and originally published March 17, 2017.
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Looks like they changed the program so you don’t need to spend a certain amount to reach the full rewards amounts. May be worth it.
is it me or is this just the new way to add new cardholders? maybe i was just totally oblivious, but i never remember these spend X in Y time frame and get Z dollars promos before recently. now it seems every card offers these intro deals.
For those not wanting to do the math.
12 months at $105 in supermarket spending equals $75 in rewards. If you spend less than $105 on your grocery bill each month then we need to talk.
My big hesitation is i do a lot of my grocery shopping at Fred Meyer. Fred Meyer does not qualify as grocery on my other cards. The same likely goes for those who do a lot of shopping at Target or Walmart.
How Can You Tell Before You Apply For A Card Weather Or Not The Specific % Back On Grocery’s & Other Category’s Will Apply To Specific Places Like Walmart/ Target vs. Acme/ Kroger ?
I’ve got this credit card, it’s actually pretty good. In addition to 6% at the grocery store you get 3% on gas purchases and 1% on everything else. For those that spend a bit on groceries and gas and want just one main card – I think this is the best choice that is out there today.
Best,
Selling Theta
thanks for the lead. I had the BAC card and we racked up great rewards for 6 months… Plus they had a 30% kicker if you had $300 or more in rewards when redeeming. We got $600 out of it but now that we are past introductory period I think this is a better deal.
I work for Amex, how you know if the 6% applies on groceries is if it’s a true grocery store, not a superstore. Eg, Walmart doesn’t qualify because it sells much more than just groceries, (Electronics, clothes, etc). Places like Krogers, Smiths, Harmons, etc qualify because they are mainly selling groceries.
fred meyer is not covered. They consider it to be a department store.
So, If Fred Meyer is consider a department store, shouldn’t you get a 3% benefit??
I was interested in the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card but was concerned with the limitations on stand alone supermarkets and eligible purchases. However, Amex convinced me it was a bad deal. First, even though they could tell me what qualified, they did not have a list online so I wouldn’t have to call them every time I wanted to use the card. Second, I asked if Giant, my local supermarket (which by all standards is stand alone), is a stand alone supermarket and they did not know. That got me thinking about what is acceptable to Amex and the few I inquired about are either more expensive than my Giant, e.g., Trader Joe’s, or you end up spending significantly more at each visit, e.g., Costco where people go crazy and end up buying much more than they need and pay an annual to shop there. So if you spend 5-10% more on the food and only get 6% in rewards, who is the fool for getting the card? This is not rocket science. Amex knows exactly what it is doing and most consumers do not. Be careful on what you apply for.
Looks like they changed the program so you don’t need to spend a certain amount to reach the full rewards amounts. May be worth it.