Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express review: Solid grocery run rewards for no annual fee

As far as no-annual-fee cards go, the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express is one of your best options for earning rewards on everyday spending. The card not only offers strong, year-round cash back in practical bonus categories like groceries and gas stations but also earns cash back on spending with U.S. online retailers.

The Blue Cash Everyday is one of few cards to offer more than 2 percent back on U.S. supermarket purchases and U.S. online retail purchases without requiring you to juggle rotating categories. These categories and the $0 annual fee collectively make the Blue Cash Everyday one of the better no-annual-fee grocery rewards cards on the market.

If having a variety of rewards categories is appealing to you, there are a few no-annual-fee options that may offer slightly more cash back. Your total earnings will depend on your monthly expenses, but cards like the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card could have more cash back potential for cardholders who don’t weigh their spending toward a single category. Alternatively, if most of your spending goes toward U.S. supermarket purchases and you’re willing to pay an annual fee, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express could offer even more value than the Blue Cash Everyday.

Quick highlights

• Rewards rate: 3 percent cash back at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations and U.S. online retail purchases of up to $6,000 per calendar year in purchases in each category (then 1 percent), and 1 percent cash back on other purchases.
• Welcome offer: $200 statement credit after you spend $2,000 in purchases on your new card within the first six months
• Purchase intro APR: 0 percent for 15 months
• Balance transfer intro APR: 0 percent for 15 months
• Regular APR: 18.99 percent to 29.99 percent (variable APR)

Current welcome offer

Depending on how you spend, the Blue Cash Everyday Card’s latest welcome offer could be relatively accessible. The card offers a $200 statement credit after you spend $2,000 in purchases on your new card within the first six months.

A total bonus value of up to $200 is quite impressive for a no-annual-fee cash back card. Both the Capital One SavorOne and the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card — two other terrific, no-annual-fee cash back cards that earn rewards on groceries — have welcome offers of equal value, but have different spending requirements. The Blue Cash Everyday has the highest spending requirement among these options, while the Capital One SavorOne has the lowest, requiring cardholders to spend just $1,000 in the first three months.

The best card for you will come down to credits, benefits, rewards rates and whether you’ll meet the spending requirement for its welcome offer.

Rewards rate

The Amex Blue Cash Everyday earns cash back at the same 3 percent cash back rate in multiple bonus categories, making it easy to track your earnings and build a solid cash back strategy.

And while, like many issuers, Amex puts spending caps on the Blue Cash Everyday Card’s highest-earning categories, its limits offer more wiggle room than other cards. While many cards limit your top rates to your first $1,500 in spending per quarter before dropping them back to 1 percent, the Blue Cash Everyday Card’s bonus categories each have an annual $6,000 spending limit before the rate drops to 1 percent cash back.

This can make for interesting strategies to save money on groceries if you’re waiting for seasonal sales or bulk delivery orders.

How you earn

Amex markets them as cash back cards, but American Express Blue Cash cards earn “Blue Cash Reward Dollars,” which you can redeem for equivalent cash back in the form of a statement credit.

The Amex Blue Cash Everyday Card earns 3 percent cash back on your first $6,000 in spending per year in each of the following categories:

• U.S. supermarket purchases
• U.S. gas station purchases
• U.S. online retail purchases

The card also earns 1 percent back on all other purchases.

To maximize your rewards with this card, you may need to pay attention to merchant category codes to see whether a purchase is considered a U.S. supermarket or online retail purchase. For instance, Kroger and Albertsons stores will earn 3 percent cash back, but Walmart won’t since it isn’t categorized as a supermarket. Similarly, the card’s terms and conditions state that online retail purchases include purchases made online from a U.S. retail merchant and categorized as an internet transaction by the merchant. While typical shopping at an online store like Amazon should qualify, certain online purchases like travel may not be eligible.

How you redeem

You can redeem Blue Cash Reward Dollars for a statement credit or a gift card. Alternatively, you can shop for merchandise with your rewards, but cash back via statement credit is your most versatile option.

The Blue Cash Everyday doesn’t offer much variety when it comes to redemption options, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary as a cash back card.

On the bright side, its simple earning and redemption model means you won’t have to change your routine to maximize rewards. In fact, you won’t even have to connect to a bank account because you can’t redeem for a direct deposit or a check like some issuers allow. Although this can be a downside comparatively, it shouldn’t be an issue for cardholders using the Blue Cash Everyday for most of their month-to-month purchases.

The Blue Cash Everyday Card's Reward Dollar system works like direct cash back. Whether you redeem your rewards for gift cards, statement credits or merchandise, each option keeps the same 1 cent per point value.

Every Rewards Dollar is worth $1. That means for every dollar you spend, you’ll earn 3 cents back from purchases in your 3 percent categories and 1 cent back from all other purchases.

Compared to no annual fee cards on the larger Visa and Mastercard networks (travel cards especially), the Blue Cash Everyday doesn’t come with a host of network perks that add a ton of value to the card. No-annual-fee cards with Visa or Mastercard benefits may come with features like stronger travel and purchase protections or partner merchant credits, but Amex cash back cards’ purchase-oriented features don’t go above and beyond like Chase cards in its class do.

The Disney Bundle credit

The Blue Cash Everyday Card now has one of the best streaming perks offered by a rewards credit card. When you spend $12.99 or more each month on an eligible subscription to The Disney Bundle, you’ll get $7 back each month (enrollment required) a roughly 54 percent discount. Since the Disney Bundle includes popular streaming services Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, this gives the card an impressive amount of additional value, especially for households with kids, sports fans and binge watchers.

Pay It Plan It

After American Express expanded Pay It Plan It to more cards, these alternative payment programs have become a staple for Amex cardholders. Rather than add new purchases directly to your balance and accumulate interest, Pay It allows you to pay upfront for small qualifying purchases below $100, and Plan It lets you put up to 10 purchases over $100 each into extended payment plans for a fixed fee.

Of the two Pay It Plan It features, Plan It is a bit more useful if you’re in a pinch. Just make sure to calculate your Plan It fees ahead of time if the initial cost of interest is the cheaper route. Fortunately, you can enjoy $0 intro plan fees on Plan It monthly installment plans for your first 15 months. After that, you’ll have the normal monthly plan fee of up to 1.33 percent of each purchase amount moved into the plan based on its plan duration, the APR that would otherwise apply to the purchase and other factors.

Complimentary ShopRunner membership

All U.S. consumer and small business American Express cards offer a complimentary ShopRunner membership to cardholders (enrollment required) for as long as it’s active. By paying with your card, you receive free two-day shipping and free returns with participating retailers. Your Blue Cash Everyday Card’s cash back on U.S. online retail purchases makes this benefit an even sweeter deal.

Purchase and car rental protections

Unless you have one of American Express’s co-branded cards, the only shopping and travel protections offered on Amex no-annual-fee cards are these basic perks:

• Purchase protection: If your purchase needs to be repaired or replaced, you will be reimbursed for up to $1,000 per eligible incident (up to $50,000 per card).
• Car rental loss and damage insurance: By paying with your card and declining the rental agency’s coverage, your eligible rental vehicle receives secondary insurance in case of damage or theft.

These are standard protections for a cash back card with no annual fee. While some cardholders might shrug these off because they’re generally available on other cards — and although similar benefits like extended warranty coverage and return protection would be welcome — these features add to the Blue Cash Everyday’s value as a shopping card.

The Blue Cash Everyday Card doesn’t charge an annual fee. Once you start spending, you won’t have to worry about whether or not you’ll offset an annual fee with the rewards.

You’ll also get to keep interest at bay for 15 months with the card’s introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers. After the intro APR expires, the ongoing APR is 18.74 percent to 29.74 percent (variable APR). There is also a 2.7 percent foreign transaction fee if you make international purchases with this card.

Former Bankrate editor Mariah Ackary found that the Blue Cash Everyday Card can be a rewarding option for household shopping — especially with multiple users on the account:

“My boyfriend and I have been living together for a few years, so we have a lot of shared expenses. After a while, we got sick of constantly requesting each other on Venmo for things like groceries and restaurant bills. He applied for the Blue Cash Everyday and made me an authorized user. That is the card we use for all of those joint purchases, and we split the bill evenly each month. The rewards at U.S. supermarkets add up quickly when you’re shopping for two!”

— Mariah Ackary, Former Editor at Bankrate

The Blue Cash Everyday Card has held its own against many of the best rewards cards since it launched. But if you typically make purchases not covered by the Everyday card’s bonus categories or spend a lot on groceries, you could get better value with another cash back rewards card.

Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express vs. Citi® Double Cash Card

Both the Blue Cash Everyday card and the Citi Double Cash Card are top rewards cards, but each will appeal to a different type of cardholder. The Everyday card’s rewards and additional features like the Disney Bundle credit will standout for rewards maximizers who enjoy taking advantage of as many credit card perks as possible. But if you want an easier way to earn rewards and tend to spend a lot in areas that fall outside the Everyday card’s multiple bonus categories, the Citi Double Cash Card could be a better fit.

The Double Cash card’s unlimited 1 percent cash back when you make a purchase and 1 percent as you pay it back add up to an impressive amount of earnings and one of the highest flat rates on the market. While the Blue Cash Everyday Card offers great bonus rewards in many areas, it only offers 1 percent cash back on all other eligible purchases. Some people should have no trouble bringing in more cash back with a flat-rate card that covers all their purchases compared to the Everyday card’s higher rate in select bonus categories.

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

The Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express has a lot going for it, including one of the highest cash back rates on U.S. supermarket purchases and select U.S. streaming services. Paired with perks like the Disney+ bundle credit, the Blue Cash Preferred can give cardholders a great chance at earning plenty of cash back for their streaming subscriptions. But the battle between the Blue Cash Preferred and the Blue Cash Everyday may come down to your spending habits and budget.

Both cards are great options, especially for popular household categories like groceries, gas stations and streaming services. But if you don’t spend a enough on groceries to justify an annual fee and, instead, spend a lot on online purchases, the Blue Cash Everyday Card could be the clear winner.

Best cards to pair with this card

Naturally, pairing the Blue Cash Preferred card with the Blue Cash Everyday could make a great combination. 

This pair would boost your U.S. supermarket rewards earning potential, plus add unlimited cash back on  U.S. streaming subscriptions and transit bonus categories to your arsenal.

A flat-rate rewards card like the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card (earns cash rewards) could also be useful for non-bonus category purchases.

The Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express is worth it if you’re looking for cash back in common categories such as groceries, gas and online shopping. However, if you don’t do much online shopping, spend heavily in bonus categories the card doesn’t cover or want a card for travel, this card can lack value you might find with a flat-rate card.

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.

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.

All information about the Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The issuer did not provide the content, nor is it responsible for its accuracy.