American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card Review 2024

The American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card review has boosted cashback rewards for grocery shopping, gas, and transit. However, you can also earn even more cashback on popular streaming services like Netflix.

American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card Review

American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card

The Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express is a cash-back rewards card that offers rewards on a variety of everyday purchases.

The Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express has an annual fee of $95, and it offers a 0% introductory APR for the first 12 months on purchases and any balance transfers made within 60 days of opening the account.

New cardholders can earn a bonus of $250 cash-back after making $1,000 in purchases on their new card in their first three months.

Pros and Cons of American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card

Pros

  • Outstanding cash-back rewards at U.S. supermarkets
  • Generous welcome offer for new cardholders
  • 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers

Cons

  • $95 annual fee, where many cards in this category have none
  • 2.7% fee on foreign transactions
  • Cashback rewards on groceries are capped
  • American Express isn’t as widely accepted as Visa or Mastercard

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Smart Features of American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card

American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card Review

These smart features are the reason why people love their service.

You should take note of the American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card review for these reasons too.

1. 6% cash-back rate – A 6% cash-back rate is the highest I’ve seen, and what’s even better is that it’s for one of the bigger expense categories consumers have.

Most cards with 5% cash-back offer it for bonus categories that change every quarter, so there could be quarters where you can’t take full advantage.

2. $250 welcome bonus – The spending minimum for this bonus statement credit is $1,000 within the first three months.

As far as cash-back cards are concerned, this is one of the biggest bonuses available.

3. 0% intro APR – You’ll have a 0% APR for the first 12 months on purchases and balance transfers.

There are cards out there with longer intro periods if you’ll need more time to pay everything off.

However, the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express still does well here, given that cards with high cash-back rates and bonuses often don’t even have 0% intro APRs.

4. Travel and purchase protections – American Express has put together a nice list of protections, including rental car insurance, accidental damage and theft coverage, return protection, and extended warranty coverage.

Drawback of American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card

Even with its high rewards rates and welcome offer for fresh cardholders, the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express isn’t for everybody. Here is a notable drawback.

High Annual Fee

As with any card with an annual fee, you begin the year in a hole. You have to earn enough rewards to pay the annual fee before you bag any value.

Considering the rewards at U.S. supermarkets alone, you would have to spend about $31 per week in that category to break even on the annual fee.

That’s an excessive amount for most people, and it doesn’t even consider elevated rewards on select U.S. streaming services or purchases at U.S. gas stations and other forms of transit.

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How AmEx Blue Cash Preferred Compare to Other Cash-Back Cards

American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card Review

Locating a card to compete with the Blue Cash Preferred comes down to accepting lower rewards rates in exchange for no annual fee, which may be more lucrative for modest spenders.

Blue Cash Preferred Card vs. Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express

Overall, the battle of the Blue Cash cards isn’t much of a tussle.

The Blue Cash Preferred Card delivers the most long-term value, which can more than make up for the $95 annual fee ($0 intro annual fee for the first year).

You obtain not only a bigger welcome offer but also twice as much cash back on your U.S. supermarket spending and unlimited 3 percent cash back at U.S. gas stations and on transit.

However, the Blue Cash Everyday Card may be a more suitable fit for people who don’t like paying annual fees and who would like 3 percent cash back on U.S. online retail purchases up to $6,000 per year.

Blue Cash Preferred Card vs. Citi Custom Cash Card

Unfortunately, the Citi Custom Cash Card is just good for spending in one category.

You acquire a 5 percent cash back rate on one of its 10 fixed categories you spend the most in (up to $500 per billing cycle and 1 percent on everything else).

This is a stellar year-round rate for no annual fee, and the rewards spending limit basically adds up to the same $6,000 per year as the Blue Cash Preferred’s U.S. supermarket category.

However, groceries are typically more cost-intensive than the other possible categories.

Thus, using Custom Cash as your primary rewards card will often imply earning boosted cash back only on groceries.

At its best, the Citi Custom Cash Card is a wonderful partner card if you utilize it for a designated category each month.

Who this Card is Good For

The Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express could be particularly fruitful for three types of people:

1. People who like to cook at home

2. People who subscribe to certain streaming services

3. Commuters who drive to work or take public transportation

If you spend a lot of money on groceries, streaming, and commuting, the cash-back could add up quickly. But if that’s not where you spend your money, other cash-back credit cards could benefit you more.

To round up, the high rewards rate in this card’s main categories, groceries, streaming services, transit, and gas, makes it a stand-out card for day-to-day spending, as opposed to cards whose main rewards are in travel or entertainment categories.

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