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American Express Upgrade to Blue Cash Preferred Waive Annual Fee

Written By Friday, July 8, 2022 Add Comment Edit

If you are looking to get cashback rewards on common household categories like purchases at U.S. supermarkets and U.S. gas stations, consider the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express. Amex created the Preferred card as an upgrade to the Blue Cash Everyday.

Blue Cash Preferred
Apply Now

Overall Score

 3.9

Rewards

 4.5

Interest Rates

 3.0

Fees

 4.0

Benefits

 4.0
5-point scale (the higher, the better)

Pros and Cons

  • 6% at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6k/year in purchases, then 1%)
  • 3% at U.S. gas stations
  • Bonus cash back promotional offer
  • Annual fee
  • Not a Visa/MasterCard

Bottom Line

Excellent cash back credit card for families

Attention Shoppers

American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card earns 1% Cash Back on most categories and has a $95 annual fee (See Rates & Fees). Nothing to get excited too about, right?

But here's the kicker: for certain purchases, you have the potential to earn a lot more...

  • 6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%)
  • 6% Cash Back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions.
  • 3% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations.
  • 3% Cash Back on transit (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, and buses).

Note: Cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed for statement credits.

(See more benefits)

For practical families, this is one of our favorite credit cards for groceries and gas.

Who This Card Is Good For

  • Weekly grocery shoppers: Do you always find yourself spending too much on groceries?

    If you have many mouths to feed, you'll enjoy the boost you'll get with this card's 6% cash back on items you're probably already buying at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 worth of purchases, then 1%).

  • Commuters: Do you drive to work?

    Some cards give you extra rewards on gas but only for 3 months out of the year. With this card, you get 3% back for what you pay at the pump at U.S. gas stations year-round.

Earn a $350 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.

What credit score do you need?
Typically, AMEX has higher credit score requirements. Most Blue Cash Preferred cardholders have good to excellent credit scores over 700.

Why This Card

  • Consistent Rewards: With Blue Cash Preferred card, there's no need to memorize special categories that change every 3 months like other popular cash back credit cards.
  • Nice bonus offer: Earn a $350 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.

    To take advantage of this promotion, visit American Express' secure website.

  • Low intro APR: 0% intro APR for 12 months on purchases from the date of account opening, then a variable rate, currently 15.49% - 25.49% Variable (See Rates & Fees).

Is the annual fee worth it? Families who spend a lot on groceries and gas find that the rewards more than make up for the annual fee. Even if you spend just $100 a week at U.S. supermarkets, that will give you $312 in cash back per year. Generally, we say this card is worth it if you spend more than $264 per month at U.S. supermarkets.

Supermarket List

You might be wondering what exactly qualifies as a "U.S. supermarket".

American Express considers a supermarket to be a store that offers a variety of food and household products, including produce, meat, and dairy as well as cleaners and pet food.

Chances are if a store sells clothes and electronics in addition to groceries, it is not - in Amex's view - a supermarket. So-called "big-box stores" (like Wal-Mart and Target), online superstores (like Amazon), and warehouses (like Costco) are NOT considered supermarkets. Your mom-and-pop corner convenience store or specialty shop that only sells cheese or meat are also NOT considered supermarkets. Retailers that qualify include Whole Foods, Meijer, Shoprite, Winn-Dixie, Stop and Shop, Vons, Pathmark, and online supermarket FreshDirect, among others.

Foreign transaction fee: Blue Cash Preferred has a foreign transaction fee of 2.7% of each transaction after conversion to US dollars (See Rates & Fees). So it's not the best choice to take abroad. If you're a frequent traveler, check out these credit cards with no foreign transaction fee.

Gas Station List

The good news about this card's cash back for gas station purchases is it goes beyond just gas. If the gas station you frequent also has a convenience store, consider using your Amex both at the pump and inside the store to get your milk or other last-minute items.

Amex views qualifying gas stations as those in the United States that primarily sell gasoline, so supermarkets (like Safeway) and warehouse clubs (like Costco) do NOT fall under this category even if they have their own pumps. Shell, Mobil, Hess, Exxon, Gulf, and Murphy are some examples of gas stations where you can get 3% back with this card.

Streaming Subscriptions List

Earn 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions. You can earn cash rewards for purchase made from these specific providers:

  • Amazon Music
  • Apple Music
  • Audible
  • Paramount Plus
  • Direct TV Now
  • ESPN+
  • Fubo TV
  • HBO Now
  • Hulu
  • iHeartRadio
  • Kindle Unlimited
  • MLB.TV
  • NBA League Pass
  • Netflix
  • NHL.TV
  • Pandora
  • Prime Video Unlimited
  • Showtime
  • Sling TV
  • SiriusXM Streaming and Satellite
  • Spotify
  • YouTube Music Premium
  • YouTube Premium
  • YouTube TV

Note: If your subscription is bundled with another product or service or billed by a third party (such as a digital platform, a cable, telecommunications, or internet provider, or a car manufacturer), your purchase may not be eligible.

Pros:

  • Earns bonus cash back on specific categories: 6% U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000/year in purchases (then 1%), 3% U.S. gas stations
  • Earn a $350 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.

Cons:

  • $95 annual fee
  • Not as widely accepted as Visa/Mastercard
  • 2.7% foreign transaction fee

How it Compares

With the Blue Cash Preferred, you have the potential to earn at least $360 a year in rewards just for doing your regular grocery shopping (if you spend at least $500 per month at U.S. supermarkets).

If you want a no annual fee credit card:
For a side-by-side comparison, here is how the Blue Cash Preferred stacks up against the Blue Cash Everyday, it's no annual fee sibling (See Rates & Fees).

Blue Cash Preferred vs Blue Cash Everyday: Blue Cash Everyday has no annual fee, but earns less rewards. It gives 3% cash back at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 per year in purchases), instead of 6%. And 2% cash back at U.S. gas stations, instead of 3%. If you spend less than $264/month at U.S. supermarkets, then consider the no-annual-fee Blue Cash Everyday.

If you want to earn Membership Reward points (instead of cash back):
American Express Gold
Apply for American Express Gold Card You may want to consider the American Express Gold Card (review), which earns Membership Rewards points.

Why would you want Membership Rewards points instead of cash back? Well if you like to travel, you can transfer Membership Reward points to a number of airline transfer partners and hotel partners. To learn more, read our beginner's guide to airline miles.

Compared to the Blue Cash Preferred card, the American Express Gold Card has the edge in terms of how rewards can be used (see Blue Cash Preferred vs American Express Gold for an in-depth comparison).

Bottom Line:

In our opinion, families who spend a lot on purchases at U.S. supermarkets and U.S. gas stations should consider the American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card. Since this card charges an annual fee, you need to use your card often to justify this cost.

If you do not pay by credit card often, you are better off with the no annual fee American Express Blue Cash Everyday Card. Remember, as with all credit card offers, terms and limitations apply.

Next Step: View the issuer's official application, terms, and details

David R is a contributing writer at CreditDonkey, a credit card comparison and reviews website. Write to David R at davidr@creditdonkey.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for our latest posts.

Note: This website is made possible through financial relationships with some of the products and services mentioned on this site. We may receive compensation if you shop through links in our content. You do not have to use our links, but you help support CreditDonkey if you do.

Editorial Note: This content is not provided by American Express. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through the Advertiser's affiliate programs.

Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. This site may be compensated through the Advertiser's affiliate programs.

For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday card, please click here.
For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred card, please click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express Gold card, please click here.

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Source: https://www.creditdonkey.com/blue-preferred-review.html

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