Amex Blue Cash Preferred Review 2023: Is It Worth It?

Hailed as the ultimate family credit card, the American Express Blue Cash Preferred card offers cashback rewards that are hard to beat. We’re talking a rewards rate of 6% at US supermarkets, 6% on streaming subscriptions, 3% on transit, 3% on gas, and 1% on all other purchases. New cardholders can bag a sizable welcome offer too.

So, what’s the catch? An excellent credit score requirement (670–850), and a $95 annual fee after your first year.

Wondering if the Amex Blue Cash Preferred is worth it? 

Let’s find out—

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Amex Blue Cash Preferred at a Glance

Full name: Blue Cash Preferred® Card

Best for: Families looking for rewards on groceries and gas

Issuer: American Express

Required credit score: Good to Excellent (670–850)

How Does This Amex Credit Card Work?

The American Express Blue Cash Preferred® Card offers a tiered cashback program, meaning you’ll earn rewards at various rates across different reward categories. 

With this Amex credit card, you’ll earn:

• 6% cashback on groceries at US supermarkets.
• 6% cashback on streaming subscriptions.
• 3% cashback on transit—including taxis, rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses, and more.
• 3% cashback at US gas stations.
• 1% cashback rate on any other purchases.

Now, most tiered cashback cards set spending limits (usually $1,500 in purchases per quarter) on high-earning reward categories. 

The Amex Blue card, however, offers higher spending limits and more flexibility. 

For instance, the Blue Cash Preferred card’s 6% US supermarket category has a spending limit of $6,000 per calendar year. 

The rate drops to 1% once you hit this limit—so you’ll have the whole year to meet this cap and decide how to benefit from this rewards category. 

Apart from these bonus points, you can also benefit through the Amex Offers programs. 

Amex Offers are limited-time promotions you can easily activate on your card account. Earn additional cashback or Membership Rewards points on purchases from Amex partners like Hulu or Equinox.

How can you redeem these rewards?

Spoiler: There aren’t a whole lot of ways you can redeem the Blue Cash Reward Dollars you receive. 

Choose to redeem your reward dollars for statement credits with no minimum redemption amount, gift cards, or merchandise.

Mind you, you can’t use your cashback to make your minimum payment.

How much are these rewards worth?

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.

American Express Blue Preferred Card Rating and Quick Review

Here’s our quick Amex Blue Cash Preferred review and overall rating:

American Express Blue Cash Preferred Fees

Here are all the key fees you should consider before getting your hands on this Amex credit card:

Exploring the Yin and Yang of Using Amex Blue Cash Preferred

Here’s a quick glance at all the pros and cons of getting this Amex credit card:

Amex Blue Cash Card Review: A Look at Pros and Cons in Detail

Pros

Here’s why we like the Amex Blue Cash Preferred® Card—

1. Amex Blue Cash card rewards on groceries

Groceries (an essential for every family) is one of the spending categories where this Amex credit card rewards you liberally. 

You’ll earn a 6% reward on the first $6,000 of eligible purchases you make at US supermarkets in a calendar year. Then, you’ll earn 1% Amex Blue Cash Reward Dollars.

Keep in mind that superstores, convenience stores, warehouse clubs, and meal-kit delivery services won’t count as supermarkets (that includes Target, Walmart, Trader Joe’s, and more).

2. Amex Blue Cash Preferred streaming subscriptions list

This credit card offers a 6% American Express cash back rate on select US streaming subscriptions. 

This includes popular services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video, as well as music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.

You can check the current list of providers on the issuer’s website.

3. More Amex Blue Cash Preferred cash back rewards

You’ll earn 3% cashback at US gas stations and on transit (taxis or rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses, and more). 

You’ll also get 1% cashback on all other purchases.

4. Amex Blue Cash Preferred sign up bonus

Getting a new Amex Blue card will earn you a significant welcome bonus of $300 in statement credit. 

You’ll need to spend $3,000 in purchases on your new card within the first six months to be eligible for this offer. 

This credit card also gives you a $0 intro annual fee offer for the first year.

Plus, you’ll pay $0 intro plan fees on plans you create using Amex Plan It® within the first 12 months of account opening.

5. Amex Blue Cash Preferred travel benefits

While not a traditional travel rewards credit card, Amex Blue Cash Preferred does offer some travel-related benefits:

• Car rental loss and damage insurance: When you use your eligible Amex card to reserve and pay for a car rental and decline the collision damage waiver (CDW) at the rental company counter, you can be covered for damage or theft of a rental vehicle. (Keep in mind that coverage isn’t available for vehicles rented in Australia, Italy, and New Zealand.)
• Global Assist® Hotline: This feature provides 24/7 emergency assistance and coordination services, including medical and legal referrals, emergency cash wires, and missing luggage assistance.
• Amex Travel: You can get access to exclusive offers and discounts on hotels, rental cars, and cruises through Amex Travel.

6. More Amex Blue Cash Preferred benefits

This Amex credit card gives you additional benefits through tie-ups with its partner brands:

• Disney bundle credit of $84: You get a $7 monthly statement credit after using your enrolled Blue Cash Preferred® card to spend $12.99 or more each month on a subscription to the Disney bundle.
• $120 Equinox+ credit: Use your Blue Cash Preferred card to pay for Equinox+ at equinoxplus.com and get $10 in monthly statement credits. 

7. Pay It Plan It®

The Amex Pay It Plan It® feature offers two easy ways to control how you pay:

• Use the Pay It® feature for purchases of under $100 on the American Express® app to make payments throughout the month.
• The Plan It® feature lets you split up purchases of $100 or more into monthly payments with a fixed monthly fee.

8. Earn More cashback

Just when you think you’ve saturated the cashback scheme on this card, you’re given more opportunities to earn rewards. 

You earn cashback every time an additional card member makes an eligible purchase with their Amex card. 

You’ll receive cashback in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit.

Check out more top credit cards:

Cons

Here’s everything you should bear in mind when signing up for the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card—

1. Amex Blue Cash Preferred credit score

A FICO Score of 670 or higher is a must when applying for the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card. 

As this is one of the top rewards credit cards, it’s only targeted at customers with credit scores in the good to excellent range.

Read more on how to raise your credit score:

2. Annual fee

This Amex card comes with a $95 annual fee after the first year of card usage. This factor can be a big drawback for consumers who don’t spend enough to offset this fee with cashback rewards.

Freddie Huynh, VP of Data Optimization, Freedom Debt Relief, adds, “If a card has certain rewards that are very important to you, an annual-fee card may be worthwhile. But you have to be flexible enough to actually use those rewards. Do your homework and calculate how much it will cost to just purchase the items/benefits you’ll receive with the card. If it makes sense from that perspective, it might be worth it.”

3. Foreign transaction fees

Amex Blue Cash Preferred charges a 2.7% foreign transaction fee—which can add up quickly for travelers who use this card overseas.

4. Select bonus categories 

While the card does offer generous rewards, it’s only limited to select spending categories like streaming services, gas, and groceries.

Amex BCP Comparison With Other Top Credit Cards

Amex Blue Cash Preferred vs. Everyday

The Amex Blue Cash Preferred® and Amex Blue Cash Everyday® cards are both Amex cash back cards with some similarities (such as their recommended credit score range, and the shopping and travel protections they offer).

However, there are also some notable differences between the two cards: 

Amex Blue Cash Preferred vs. Gold

Both the American Express® Gold Card and the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express are some of the best credit cards for rewards on everyday transactions. 

But they differ in how they deliver those rewards:

Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Amex Blue Cash Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® and Amex Blue Cash Preferred® credit cards are some of the best high-earning rewards and cashback cards respectively:

What Are Some of the Top Alternatives for the Amex Blue Card?

Here’s how the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card compares to other top cashback credit cards:

Amex Blue Card: Useful links

Is the Blue Cash Preferred® card from American Express Good for Me?

The Blue Cash Preferred® card from American Express can be a good fit for you if you spend a lot on groceries, streaming subscriptions, gas, and transit. 

With 6% cashback at US supermarkets, 6% on select US streaming subscriptions, 3% at US gas stations and on transit, and 1% on other purchases, you can earn substantial rewards on everyday spending. 

The card also offers a welcome bonus of $300 statement credit after spending $3,000 in the first six months.

However, the card has an annual fee of $95—which may not be worth it if you don’t spend enough in the bonus categories. And the foreign transaction fee of 2.7% can make international purchases costly. 

So, how much would you actually have to spend to make the Blue Cash Preferred® card worth it?

Here’s a hypothetical example:

So, if you spend $1,620 per month, you’d earn at least $578 cash back each year. After subtracting the annual fee, you’re still coming out $483 ahead.

But before you jump in on this credit card, make sure you compare several top credit cards from different issuers. Also, consider pairing a few cards that offer complementary benefits and perks.