Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express Review

Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express Review

In this article, we review the American Express Blue Cash Preferred Credit Card, an excellent cashback card for people who want to earn rewards on a variety of purchases.

The American Express Blue Cash Preferred offers generous cashback rewards for a wide range of categories. You get 6% cashback at U.S. Supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%) and U.S. streaming subscriptions, 3% on gas (at U.S. gas stations) and transit payments, and 1% on all other eligible purchases. Cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit.

The $95 annual fee may look a bit high for a cashback credit card, but the card's rewards more than make up for the downsides. So read on to see if the Blue Cash Preferred Card is the card for you.

American Express Blue Cash Preferred: Pros and cons

Rewards System in a Nutshell

The Blue Cash Preferred Card offers cashback at excellent rates:

• 6% cashback on US supermarket purchases (to a maximum of $6,000 per year in purchases, after which it drops to 1%)
• 6% cashback on US streaming subscriptions
• 3% cashback on transit fees
• 3% cashback on gas (at U.S. gas stations)
• 1% on all other eligible purchases

Who can benefit from getting the American Express Blue Cash Preferred Credit Card?

The Blue Cash Preferred Card is a solid choice for anyone who needs a card for everyday use. The cashback for transit and gas is quite substantial, and for home use, the even larger benefits for groceries and streaming services are an excellent draw. So, if you frequently spend your money on these four categories, you’ll benefit significantly from the Blue Cash Preferred Card.

As long as you’re regularly using the American Express Blue Cash Preferred credit card at supermarkets and gas stations, you should be making enough cashback that you won’t feel the annual fee.

Are there any other benefits?

Beyond the cashback rewards, Amex also offers a few other features.

The Blue Cash Preferred Card comes with the Pay It Plan It® feature accessible via the AmEx mobile app.

Pay It lets you select a purchase made with your card that costs less than $100 and immediately pay it off. Essentially, Pay It turns your card into a debit card, and the selected purchase doesn’t count against your credit limit.

Plan It is the reverse, letting you choose a purchase of $100 or more and split it up to make monthly payments towards it for a fixed monthly fee. This allows you to sidestep your typical interest payments, but it’ll increase your minimum monthly balance payments.

The other benefits are American Express’s excellent suite of features:

• Fraud protection
• Extended warranty
• Purchase protection
• Return protection
• Car rental loss and damage insurance
• Global assist hotline
• Terms Apply

“Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by Amex Assurance Company.”

Conclusion

If you buy a lot of groceries and use streaming services, the Blue Cash Preferred Card is an excellent choice. AmEx’s Pay It Plan It® features also give you some flexibility to go along with the generous rewards program.

Use caution with Pay It and Plan It, however. Both have their uses, but they may entice you into spending more. The annual fee can be a drag, but as long as you’re regularly buying groceries with the Blue Cash Preferred, you won’t notice it.

For those who regularly go to the grocery store, who need something to cover their transport, and don’t want to think too hard about their credit card rewards, the American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card is the card for you.