For the right spender, the American Express Blue Cash Preferred credit card can be the best cash back credit card on the market.
Welcome Bonus: Earn $250 after you spend $3,000 in purchases within the first 6 months.
With the Amex Blue Cash Preferred, you earn high cash back on your spending in 4 categories:
- 6% cash back on grocery store spending on up to $6k of spending per year.
- 6% cash back on streaming services.
- 3% cash back at gas stations.
- 3% cash back on transit such as taxis/ride share, public transit, parking, etc.
- 1% cash back on all other spending.
Unlike most other cash back credit cards, the Amex Blue Cash Preferred has an annual fee of $95, but it is waived in the first year.
0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months from the date of account opening, then a variable APR, 18.49% to 29.49%.
Additional benefits:
- $84 The Disney Bundle Credit: Get a $7 monthly statement credit after using your card to spend $12.99 or more each month on a subscription to The Disney Bundle.
- $120 Equinox+ Credit: Use your card to pay for Equinox+ to receive $10 in monthly statement credits.
Who's Amex Blue Cash Preferred for
If you spend close the the $6,000 annual limit ($500 per month) on groceries, the American Express Blue Cash Preferred easily pays for itself.
Here is a table of how much additional cash back you can earn on your grocery spending with the Blue Cash Preferred depending on the current card you're using is earning.
As you can see from the table, if you are currently earning 3% cash back on grocery spending and spending $400 per month on groceries, you would earn an additional $144 per year by switching to the Amex Blue Cash Preferred. This would pay for the $95 annual fee and give you an additional $49 of cash back on top of the current credit card you are using.
If you don't spend several hundred dollars per month on groceries, you might not earn enough additional cash back from the card to justify the $95 annual fee.
The 6% cash back on streaming is nice to have, but I doubt you're spending enough on streaming alone to justify the $95 annual fee. If you don't spend a lot on groceries, but you do on streaming, you may want to check out the US Bank Cash+, you can get 5% cash back on two categories on up to $2,000 in spending per quarter, one of the 5% cash back categories TV, internet & streaming services, broader than just streaming.
The 3% cash back at gas stations and on transit is good, but there are other no annual fee credit cards offering 3% cash back on these 2 categories such as the Wells Fargo Autograph.
Other Top Credit Cards
Citi Custom Cash
Capital One Venture X
Amex Gold