The AmEx Blue Cash: 5 Reasons it’s Worth Your While
American Express recently replaced the old AmEx Blue Cash On April 26, American Express announced that they would be replacing the existing AmEx Blue Cash with two new cards. And good thing, too: we soured on the old Blue Cash, but now we’re back on the bandwagon. For an in-depth analysis of the newbies, check out our review of the spanking new Blue Cash Everyday and Preferred cards. Or just watch Stephen, our resident card maven, give his take on the cards:
The two new cards are the AmEx Blue Cash Everyday and Blue Cash Preferred. Those who have the vintage Blue Cash will have a choice of keeping their current cards and rewards programs, or migrating over to the new system. Like the old one, the new cards pay out in cash or gift cards and have easy-to-redeem rewards.
We disliked the old Blue Cash for a number of reasons, not least because of the spending threshold and awkward rewards redemption options (for a negative review bordering on diatribe, see below). But now that AmEx kicked up its rewards rate while simplifying its rewards program, break out the pom-poms, ’cause we’re Blue Cash cheerleaders. Here are our five reasons to love the new AmEx Blue Cash:
1. No spending threshold or rewards cap
The old Blue Cash asked you to spend $6,500 before getting the full rewards rate. The new Blue Cash cards don’t have a spending threshold: from day one, you earn maximum rewards. Neither do they have overall rewards caps (like the Citi Forward, which maxes out at 75k points a year) or bonus category caps (here’s looking at you, Discover More). Nope, the Blue Cashes earn the same rewards whether you spend $2 or $20,000.
2. Easy-to-redeem rewards
With a cash back credit card, you’d assume that a simple redemption program is a given. Not so. The old Blue Cash paid out rewards in a once-a-year statement credit, so if you close your account, you’re forgoing a bit of money. Then AmEx pulled a will-he-or-won’t-he with allowing multiple redemptions per year, and in the end decided to keep the (slightly annoying) status quo. The new Blue Cashes let you redeem as many times a year as you’d like, starting at $25, for cash or gift cards.
3. Simple, clear rewards program
The Blue Cash rewards are simple. The rewards rate you see is the rewards rate you get: 6%, 3% and 1% for the Preferred and 3%, 2% and 1% for the Everyday. Bonuses are year-round, unlimited, and static. That means you don’t need to sign up for quarterly rotating bonus categories like the Chase Freedom. You get your rewards easily with no opt-in.
Overall, we think that the new Blue Cash Preferred almost always outweighs the Everyday. Let’s say that, like the average American, you spend $3,700 on groceries, $2,000 on gas and about $1,500 at department stores each year. Even ignoring the Preferred’s $100 signup bonus, after factoring in the annual fee, you’d earn $252 in bonus categories with the Preferred compared to $181 with the Everyday. Heck, if all you put on the card was $2501 in groceries, you’d be better off with the Preferred.
4. Fringe benefits
AmEx is pretty generous with its network benefits, extending them to most of their cards and stepping them up for the high-end charge cards like the AmEx Platinum. Among the many perks: purchase protection, extended warranty, car rental insurance, and guaranteed room reservations. Not too shabby. Check out the full list of benefits on AmEx’s website.
5. $100 signup bonus
Finally, the AmEx Blue Cash Preferred gives a $100 cash back bonus on signing. Also, if you refer a friend who’s then approved for a Blue Cash card, you’ll receive $75 with the Preferred or $25 from the Everyday. Keep in mind that in order to get the bonus, the friend needs to sign up for the exact same card as you: a Preferred if you hold the Preferred, an Everyday if you hold the Everyday.
Thanks to the newest iterations of the Blue Cash program, we’re actually happy with the new Blue Cash Preferred. The one downside is that the old card gave 5% back on gas (once you hit the threshold), so if you spend way more on gas than groceries, you may prefer to find a new gas credit card. Otherwise, the new cards should be a welcome well-rounded improvement for large families and suburban road warriors. It’s also a good complement to a rotating 5% bonus category card, which will generally come with rewards caps. Once you’ve maxed out on the other card, you can return to the tried-and-true Blue Cash.
| American Express Blue Cash Preferred | Blue Cash Everyday℠ from American Express | ||||||||
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| Signing Promo | |||||||||
| 100 Cash Bonus after spending $500 - in the first 60 days | 100 Cash Bonus after spending $1,000 - in the first 3 months | ||||||||
| Intro APR Promo | |||||||||
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| Annual fee | |||||||||
| $75 | $0 | ||||||||
| Details | |||||||||
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