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Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express review: The everyday card for households

Top-tier rewards at U.S. supermarkets make this card well worth the annual fee

 /  11 min
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Snapshot

4.4

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Rating: 4.4 stars out of 5

Bottom line

Whether you’re spending on everyday essentials like groceries and gas station purchases or treating your family to a night in with streaming movies, this versatile card has you covered.

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Rewards rate

1% - 6%
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Annual fee

Intro offer

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Good to Excellent (670 – 850)
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Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express review: The everyday card for households

Boasting one of the highest rewards rates available at U.S. supermarkets, the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express remains one of the best cards for groceries. It’s supported by a generous welcome offer and unlimited cash back in essential categories like U.S. gas station purchases, transit and select U.S. streaming subscriptions. Nearly everyone can find a way to maximize their cash back on everyday spending with this highly competitive card.

Despite its value as a cash back leader, you’ll need to spend quite a bit to offset the card’s yearly cost. It has a $95 annual fee – which can put a stick in the spokes of modest spenders.  However, the annual fee is waived the first year, meaning your first two years with the card will cost you only $95. This is plenty of time to offset that fee with your cash back earnings and consider if the cost makes sense for your budget before the third year.

What are the pros and cons?

Pros

  • Checkmark

    The card provides excellent tiered cash back on groceries, gas, transit and streaming subscriptions, so you can earn rewards on everyday spending.

  • Checkmark

    It offers strong purchase protection, return protection and extended warranty benefits.

  • Checkmark

    It has a respectable welcome offer and introductory APR for new purchases and balance transfers.

Cons

  • The card has a $95 annual fee after the first year, which may be a deal breaker for cost-conscious people.

  • The high-earning U.S. supermarket category is capped at $6,000 in annual spending (then 1 percent) and excludes big-box stores and warehouse clubs.

  • It has limited rewards redemption options, which is a significant disadvantage when compared to other cash back cards.

A deeper look into the current card offer

Quick highlights

  • Rewards rate: 6 percent cash back on U.S. supermarket purchases (up to $6,000 per year, then 1 percent); 6 percent back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions; 3 percent cash back on transit; 3 percent back on U.S. gas station purchases; 1 percent back on all other purchases
  • Welcome offer: Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new card within the first six months
  • Annual fee: $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95
  • Purchase intro APR: 0 percent for 12 months
  • Balance transfer intro APR: 0 percent for 12 months
  • Regular APR: 18.99 percent to 29.99 percent (variable)

Current welcome bonus

New Blue Cash Preferred cardholders can earn a $250 statement credit after spending $3,000 within the first six months of card membership. This is a slight decrease from the card’s previous offer of $350 in statement credits after the same spend in the same timeframe.

This change coincides with a new annual fee structure: New cardholders now get a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, after which the regular $95 annual fee applies. Plus, this offer still beats out many of the bonuses you’ll find on competing cash back cards and offers double the typical timeframe for reaching the bonus spending threshold — six months versus the usual three months.

Rewards rate

The Amex Blue Cash Preferred offers tiered cash back, which means you’ll earn rewards at different rates across multiple categories. Some tiered rewards cards impose spending caps on your high-earning bonus categories, reverting your rewards rate to 1 percent after spending a certain amount. Many cards cap high-tier rewards at $1,500 in purchases per quarter, but the Blue Cash Preferred card’s 6 percent U.S. supermarket category’s limit is $6,000 per year in purchases, then it drops to 1 percent. This gives you year-round flexibility to meet that cap on your terms rather than a quarterly restriction limiting you.

How you earn

Like other cash back cards from American Express, you earn cash back initially as “Blue Cash Reward Dollars,” which you can redeem for a statement credit.

You’ll earn 6 percent cash back at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1 percent) and on select U.S. streaming subscriptions, including Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video and Spotify. 

You’ll also earn 3 percent cash back at U.S. gas stations and transit (including taxis or ride-shares, parking, tolls, public transit, etc.) as well as 1 percent cash back on all other purchases.

These high-earning categories have the potential to reap significant rewards since they’re diverse enough to cover a sizable portion of your day-to-day expenses. In fact, if you spend at least $132 each month at U.S. supermarkets, you should earn enough rewards to cover your annual fee.

You can then take advantage of your card’s flexibility and create more opportunities to maximize your cash rewards. Along with its rewards at U.S. supermarkets and gas stations, two categories that most cardholders spend heavily in, the Blue Cash Preferred card may help you earn bonus rewards with the Amex Offers program. Amex Offers are limited-time deals you can activate in your account to earn extra cash back or Membership Rewards points on purchases from participating retailers, such as Hulu or Uber.

How to redeem

Unfortunately, the Blue Cash Reward Dollars you earn don’t provide many redemption options. However, cash back (unlike rewards points and miles) is an incentive system strengthened by simplicity. You can redeem rewards for a statement credit, gift cards ($25 minimum) or merchandise.

Although you can’t redeem your cash back as a gift card, direct deposit or check,  redeeming for a statement credit is the most versatile rewards option since it can cover your balance directly.

How much are rewards worth?

Since the Blue Cash Preferred is a cash back card, the Blue Cash Reward Dollars you earn are equivalent to actual dollars. Whether you redeem for a statement credit, gift card or other merchandise, your rewards are still worth up to $1 per Reward Dollar.

Other cardholder perks

The Blue Cash Preferred doesn’t carry nearly as many benefits as American Express’s best rewards cards. However, standard Amex perks like shopping and travel protections, are still rather useful.

Streaming deals

If you’re a fan of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, you can get a ton of unexpected value out of the Blue Cash Preferred. Along with its top-tier rewards rate on streaming services, the card earns $7 back each month if you use it to spend $12.99 or more each month on an eligible subscription to The Disney Bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ (enrollment required). That essentially gets you all three services for the price of one and adds up to $84 in savings if you squeeze the full value out of the offer. That’s almost as much as the card’s annual fee.

Shopping and travel protections

Your Blue Cash Preferred card comes with several protections that nearly all American Express cards provide, as well as the less-common return protection.

  • Return protection: You can return eligible purchases of under $300 even when the merchant doesn’t offer returns (a limit of up to $1,000 in returns per year applies).
  • Purchase protection: If an item you purchased with the card needs to be repaired or replaced, you can get reimbursed up to $1,000 per eligible incident (up to $50,000 per year total).
  • Extended warranty: You get an extra year of coverage on items with an existing warranty of up to five years (up to $10,000 in coverage per eligible item and $50,000 per card).
  • Car rental loss and damage insurance: If a vehicle you’ve rented with your card is damaged or stolen in an eligible country, you can take advantage of secondary insurance coverage.

Complimentary ShopRunner membership

Since the Blue Cash Preferred is a personal U.S. Amex card, you’ll have a complimentary ShopRunner membership (enrollment required) while your card is active. This can be a great perk for online retail shoppers as ShopRunner gives you free two-day shipping at checkout when you shop with over 100 online merchants, including Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Coach. You’ll also be notified of which brands currently have deals you can take advantage of along with Shoprunner member discounts. 

Pay It Plan It

If you’re trying to whittle down your balance, the Amex Pay It Plan It feature provides alternative payment strategies. You can use Pay It to immediately take care of purchases less than $100. Meanwhile, Plan It allows you to slowly pay off larger qualifying purchases more than $100 and pay them over a set period on up to 10 different payment plans.

Plan It can be useful for earning cash back on small purchases because using your card essentially becomes as easy as using a debit card. However, your mileage might vary with Plan It. In lieu of interest payments, you’ll still owe a fixed monthly plan fee, which could be more expensive in some cases.

Fortunately, you can enjoy $0 intro plan fees when you use Plan It monthly installment plans during your first 12 months from the date of account opening. After that, your plans will have a monthly plan fee of up to 1.33 percent of each purchase amount moved into the plan based on its duration (the APR would otherwise apply to the purchase and other factors).

Rates and fees

If you’re not sure whether the Blue Cash Preferred card fits your spending habits, the 12-month 0 percent introductory APR on purchases and waived annual fee will buy you some time to decide. After that, the ongoing APR is 18.99 percent to 29.99 percent variable and the annual fee is $95.

You may also be able to transfer your balance to the Blue Cash Preferred card and enjoy the same intro APR period as with purchases. The ongoing annual fee might be something some cardholders would avoid, but it takes only modest grocery spending to offset that cost.

There is also a 2.7 percent foreign transaction fee if you’re traveling outside the U.S.

First-year card value vs. ongoing value

Not only will your first year with the Blue Cash Preferred bring bonus cash back, but you can also save big on interest. Intro purchase APR offers aren’t common among cards with annual fees, and the intro bonus’ total cash back ranks among the biggest bounties in the premium cash back card world.

Although there’s an annual fee, opening the potential to earn grocery and gas rewards can be worth it.

Benefits and Costs First-year value Ongoing value (no welcome offers)
Yearly rewards* +$657 +$657
Welcome offers +$250 (after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new card within the first 6 months)
Perks (of monetary value) N/A N/A
Annual fee $0 intro annual fee for the first year ($95 a year thereafter) -$95
Total value $907 $562

*Based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics's annual consumer expenditures.

Bankrate staff experience

The Blue Cash Preferred card’s unique everyday value has impressed several credit card and personal finance experts here at Bankrate, including resident senior credit card analyst Ted Rossman.

Rossman has written at length about why he loves the Blue Cash Preferred, believing its focus on grocery cash back is the perfect fit for his family. But it’s not just the $360 he earns in cash back every year that keeps him happy. Rossman makes sure to take full advantage of the card, earning cash back rewards in all its bonus categories while also taking advantage of the many “perks that protect my online and in-store purchases.” These include purchase and return protections, as well as an extended warranty clause.

The Blue Cash Preferred packs so much value, Rossman prefers it over the Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express as well as the American Express® Gold Card.

“For my money, there’s no topping the Blue Cash Preferred.”

— Ted RossmanSenior Credit Card Analyst at Bankrate

How the Amex Blue Cash Preferred compares to other cash back cards

The Blue Cash Preferred is hard to beat in the cash back world when it comes to consistent, high-earning grocery and gas rewards. Unless you feel earning 5 percent cash back on other types of purchases with a rotating category card is a better match, alternative rewards card choices come down to the rewards structure and categories that best fit where you shop.

Image of Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
Bankrate Score
See Rates & Fees , Terms Apply
Apply now Lock
on American Express's secure site

Annual fee

$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.

Intro offer

Earn $250
Info

Rewards rate

1% - 6%
Info

Recommended Credit Score

Good to Excellent (670 – 850)
Info
Image of Citi Custom Cash℠ Card
Bankrate Score
See Rates & Fees , Terms Apply
Apply now Lock
on Citi's secure site

Annual fee

$0

Intro offer

$200
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Rewards rate

1% - 5%
Info

Recommended Credit Score

Good to Excellent (670 – 850)
Info
Image of Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express
Bankrate Score
See Rates & Fees , Terms Apply
Apply now Lock
on American Express's secure site

Annual fee

$0

Intro offer

Earn $200
Info

Rewards rate

1% - 3%
Info

Recommended Credit Score

Good to Excellent (670 – 850)
Info

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

With the Preferred’s no-annual-fee sibling card, the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, you earn a slightly lower cash back rate in the same categories as the Blue Cash Preferred. Although the Blue Cash Preferred Card offers a higher cash back rate and a slightly higher welcome bonus, the Blue Cash Everyday Card offers a slightly longer intro APR period for purchases and balance transfers. For people who wish to save on interest for a longer period of time, this may be more advantageous.

Overall, the battle of the Blue Cash cards isn’t much of a fight. The Blue Cash Preferred Card provides the most long-term value, which can more than make up for the $95 annual fee ($0 intro annual fee for the first year). You get not only a bigger welcome offer, but also twice as much cash back on your U.S. supermarket spending, not to mention the higher bonus rewards for spending at U.S. gas stations and on transit. However, the Blue Cash Everyday Card may be a better fit for people who don’t like paying annual fees and who would like 3 percent cash back on U.S. online retail purchases up to $6,000 per year (then 1 percent).

Blue Cash Preferred® Card vs. Citi Custom Cash℠ Card

In most cases, the Blue Cash Preferred tops the Citi Custom Cash Card

The Blue Cash Preferred is also far more flexible. You can spend as much as you want each month at U.S. supermarkets until you hit your high cash back rate spending limit for the year. But your Blue Cash Preferred Card will still pack a lot of value because you earn bonus rewards in multiple categories. And the other spending categories don’t have spending limits.

Unfortunately, the Citi Custom Cash Card is only good for spending in one category. You earn a high cash back rate in one of its fixed categories up to $500 per billing cycle and 1 percent on everything else.

Since it has no annual fee, the Citi Custom Cash Card is a great choice for someone who will use it to make purchases in a designated category each month. For example, make it your credit card that earns the highest cash back on gas. Or use it as a high-earning grocery rewards alternative if you max out your yearly spend with the Blue Cash Preferred card’s U.S. supermarket category. But for all your other purchases, the Blue Cash Preferred will more than make up for its $95 annual fee ($0 intro annual fee for the first year) with its welcome offer, rewards and additional benefits.

Best cards to pair with this card

The Citi® Double Cash Card makes an excellent partner card. It’s a no-frills, flat-rate credit card that offers 2 percent on every purchase: 1 percent when you buy and 1 percent when you pay. It has no annual fee and is a fantastic complement to the tiered rewards structure of the Blue Cash Preferred Card. Use your Amex card for all of your spending that falls in the bonus categories, and then pull out your Double Cash Card for any purchase that would normally only earn 1 percent.

What if you surpass $6,000 each year in groceries? In that case, the Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express is an excellent backup card for another 3 percent at U.S. supermarkets (also capped at $6,000 annually, then 1 percent).

Bankrate’s Take — Is the Amex Blue Cash Preferred worth it?

The Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express is one of the best cash back credit cards that offers consistently high-earning cash back rates on everyday essentials like groceries, gas, transit and streaming subscriptions, which are a step above many other cash back cards’ reward offerings. Family shoppers, home cooks, heavy commuters and busy professionals will find that it’s worth it to have one rewards card that delivers similar rates for most of their spending.

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.

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Written by
Re'Dreyona Walker
Editor

Re’Dreyona Walker is an editor for Bankrate and CreditCards.com, focusing on product guides and reviews. As a personal finance expert, she is dedicated to providing honest product reviews as well as in-depth, comprehensive guides to assist readers in building credit and finding the best credit cards for their needs.

Edited by Credit Cards Editor
Reviewed by Former Senior Director of Content

* See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on the offer you desire you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, is accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information.