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American Express Blue Cash

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In general, the Blue Cash Everyday is a nice improvement over the old Amex Blue Cash card.

Big spenders who often run up large gas and grocery bills beyond the $6,500 spending threshold will lament the smaller rewards rates on the new Everyday card, but many cardholders will probably be better off now that the threshold has been eliminated (yes, these new cards pay maximum rewards from the first dollar spent). The addition of bonus rewards on department stores in lieue of drugstores will probably also better suit the average household, since I know I spend a lot more money at Target than I do at CVS.

American Express also offers another version, called the Blue Cash Preferred, which offers higher bonus rewards rates in exchange for a $75 annual fee. This version pays 3% on gas and department store purchases, rather than 2%, and a huge 6% on groceries instead of 3%. So for those households that spend more than $50 a week on groceries, this will be an even better option.

Another welcome change for the new cards is that the old Blue Cash only paid out the cash back rewards once annually, as a statement credit at year-end, while most other cards pay rewards that are redeemable for cash and giftcards throughout the year. Now, the new Everyday version offers this same sort of flexibility, so that users can redeem their rewards whenever they want, in increments of $25 or more.

As a holder of the Blue Cash card, I can attest that the card has had a high degree of accuracy categorizing Gas & Groceries. I’ve effectively gotten over 2% rewards using this card for the last 5 years, and I anticipate the new cards to have the same sort of value for most cardholders.

The only hiccup is that gas and grocery purchases, as with most credit cards, don’t earn the higher bonus reward rates at Wholesalers. So if you do most of your gas pumping and grocery shopping at Costco, you won’t earn the full 2-3% offered by this card. If that’s a big portion of your spending, you may want to consider the Costco American Express Card, where you will earn 3% on Costco gas instead of 1% with Blue Cash, and you’ll earn the same 1% base rate on all other Costco purchases.

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  • Dave Conrad

    Says cash rebate is limited to $65/year. Is this correct? What form are the rest of the rewards in?

  • http://www.nerdwallet.com Tim

    Great catch Dave, that’s clearly wrong. The cash rewards are unlimited!

    We appreciate your help finding errors, let us know if you spot any others!

  • Garrett

    If this card is used at Costo for groceries is it given the higher or lower rebate? Is there a list somewhere where you can check what stores are in each category?

    • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/nerdwallet nerdwallet

      At Costco and other warehouse stores, you only earn the lower rebate. According to their terms, Amex doesn't consider purchases at warehouses to be "elgibile purchases" for the higher bonus rates.

      • Steph

        And what about online grocery stores i.e. FreshDirect? Do purchases there qualify for the higher grocery rebate?

  • Bryan

    I've seen other sites indicate that the 5%/1.25% "upper tier" will apply to all purchases if you reach $6,500 for the year (not just purchases made after that benchmark). Is that correct?

    • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/nerdwallet nerdwallet

      Hey Brian, that's not the case. You only get the "upper tier" after $6,500. So if you spent $10,000 this year and it's all on gas (a lot of gas!), then you would earn 1% x $6,500 + 5% x $3,500 = $240

  • Kevin

    Say I don't spend the full statement credit amount in the effective month. Does that mean I lose the credit, or will it carry over?

    • nerdwallet

      It carries over. So for example if your monthly bill is only $50 and you have a $100 statement credit, you'll go into the next month with a balance of -$50. It'll keep carrying over until you spend that $50.

  • Steve

    Is the $6,500 mark recycle every year or do you only have to hit that benchmark once per the life of the card?

    • nerdwallet

      It's an annual mark. The rewards reset every year, so you have to spend $6,500 to start earning the max rewards each year.

  • Dan

    When does the reset occur; on the anniversary of obtaining the card or based on some other date (i.e. year end)? My thought is that during November/December, I could reach the $6,500 with the extra spending I do for the holidays, giving me 10 months to enjoy 5% on groceries and gas which is spent steadily throughout the year. But, if I obtained the card in January, I might not reach the upper tier until late spring/early summer, which would only give me 6 months at the higher rate.

    • http://www.nerdwallet.com NerdWallet

      It’s based on your anniversary date, so if you open an account in November or December, your plan will work!

  • Mark

    Are there any transaction fees when using internationally? Where do I find this info?

    • http://www.nerdwallet.com NerdWallet

      Yes there are, Mark. For the Amex Blue Cash (and most other Amex cards), the fee is 2.7%.

      For a list of cards that don’t charge these fees, check out our post on no foreign transaction fee credit cards.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tina-Wong/2405318 Tina Wong

    I’ve had this card for 4 years, and have managed to get over 2% back on average! I just make sure to always use it on gas and grocery purchases, and to prepay my car insurance for the year every Feb with the card to get to $6,500 faster.

  • http://twitter.com/craig_m3 Craig Berger

    5% back on gas and groceries really helps out, especially with premium gas at $4.40 per gallon here in San Francisco! I spend about $2,500 per month, so I’m getting 5% back on gas, groceries & drugstores for over 9 months of the year.

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