The annual fee on the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express sets a high bar for its rewards. You can clear it fairly easily if you regularly spend a lot at the supermarket, the gas pump, or on commuting. And if you earn the card's welcome offer for new cardholders, your first year-plus with the card will cost you nothing. Here are the card's top features:
Big supermarket rewards
The industry-leading cash-back rate at supermarkets is this card's primary allure. You get 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $6,000 a year in spending. After you hit the cap, supermarket spending earns 1%. Terms apply.
Assuming you spent $6,000 a year on groceries, you're looking at a whopping $360 in rewards just from that one spending category. This card's headline feature comes with a big caveat though. The 6% rewards are available only at U.S. supermarkets. American Express' definition of supermarkets excludes wholesale clubs such as Sam's Club, superstores like Target and Walmart, specialty food stores and others. So consider not only how much you spend on groceries, but also where you buy them.
🤓Nerdy Tip
Supermarkets often sell gift cards for a variety of stores, restaurants and online retailers. Depending on how your supermarket handles gift card sales, you may be able to use your 6% rewards by buying gift cards for other merchants with your Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express and then using them yourself.
Big rewards on eligible streaming services
Although that 6% on U.S. supermarket spending is capped at $6,000 annually, eligible U.S. streaming services have no cap on the 6% cash back. If you're all about cord-cutting and have one or more subscriptions to such services as Hulu, Netflix, Pandora or Spotify, you'll save money if you pay with the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express. Granted, you’re unlikely to spend near as much on streaming as you do at supermarkets, but 6% is a huge percentage in cash back. American Express notes that if your streaming subscription is bundled with another product or service or billed by a third party, such as a cable or phone company, your purchase may not be eligible for the 6% back. Terms apply.
Transit rewards
The 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations is also among the highest you can get anywhere — and those rewards aren't capped. That's a boon for car commuters and owners of gas-guzzling vehicles. However, restrictions apply here, too.
The higher gas rewards are available only at traditional stand-alone gas stations. Warehouse clubs, superstores and supermarkets that sell gas don’t count, according to American Express. Terms apply.
American Express further sweetens the card's earning power for commuters by adding transit as a 3% bonus category. This includes spending on rideshares, tolls, taxis, buses, trains and parking. It's a potentially huge boon for those who rely daily on public transportation and other ways of getting around that don't require filling up at the pump. Terms apply.
Bonus offer for new cardholders
The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express offers a welcome bonus, something that not all of its cash-back competitors do: Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months. Terms Apply. That more than covers the annual fee for a while.
🤓Nerdy Tip
There's another version of the card, called the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred® American Express Card, that is nearly identical. It offers the same rewards, but for those with eligible Morgan Stanley brokerage accounts it also offers a $100 statement credit every year after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases.
