Review of the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express

Last Updated: 11/2/2012

The Blue Cash Everyday® Card From American Express and the Blue Cash Preferred® Card From American Express are the workhorses of the American Express credit card stable. Generally speaking, while both of these cards are fantastic at offering solid rewards on key spending categories, the Blue Cash Preferred® tends to have the edge under most scenarios, though you can read more below to get the details.

You can also read our review of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card From American Express.

Earning Rewards With The Blue Cash Everyday® Card

I’m hard-pressed to think of more basic activities than purchasing food, gasoline, and clothing. And it just so happens these are the 3 areas where the Everyday card excels, paying 3% cash back at U.S. stand-alone supermarkets, and 2% cash back at U.S. stand-alone gas stations as well as select major department stores.

It is worth noting that the 3% cash back at U.S. stand-alone supermarkets is limited to your first $6,000 of spend in this category (after which all spend in this category earns the standard 1% cash back rate). That translates to earning an extra $120 per year in this category, which is nothing to sneeze at!

When Does It Make Sense To Apply For Blue Cash Everyday® Card From American Express?

While the Blue Cash Preferred® Card From American Express offers a whopping 6% cash back at U.S. stand-alone supermarkets, as well as 3% at U.S. stand-alone gas stations and select major department stores, it also comes saddled with an annual fee of $75. Thus, the natural question arises: “based on how much I spend, which of these 2 cards would be better for me?”

While we’ve dedicated an entire post to answering this question, we hate making people click more than they have to, so here’s the skinny.

The key category of spend to focus on is your spend at U.S. stand-alone supermarkets, since this category represents the biggest difference between the 2 cards. If you were only to use either card at supermarkets, then the 2 cards would perform identically at $208 per month of spend (this does factor in the $75 annual fee on the Preferred version, but not the sign-up bonuses on each card). Since the average citizen spends around $300 per month on food at supermarkets, most people will clear this hurdle.

If you also end up using each card to make qualifying gas and department store purchases (on top of your supermarket purchases), then the Blue Cash Preferred® Card pulls even further ahead-though the biggest gains are made when you use the card at the supermarket.

If you really want to see how the math plays out for your specific spending profile, then go ahead and use our GetDebit Ranking Engine, found directly off the home page. That’s the ultimate source of truth, sort of like going to see the Oracle in the Matrix.

GetDebit’s Final Thoughts on the Blue Cash Everyday® Card From American Express

If you spend modest sums at the supermarket (say, $100-$250 per month), then the Everyday card may be just the piece of plastic for you. For higher levels of spend, you’d better go for Everyday’s big brother, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card. But regardless, both of these cards are fantastic. I personally carry the Preferred version, and have been exceedingly happy with the rewards I’ve been able to accumulate.

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Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.