Cashback incentives at supermarkets, streaming services, and petrol and public transportation are generously rewarded by the American Express Blue Cash Preferred® card, excluding superstores and warehouse clubs. For the first year, there's no annual charge; after that, it's $95; but, if you spend $31 per week on groceries, you might get that money back.
Introduction
High cashback rates at U.S. supermarkets on the Blue Cash Preferred Card could catch eyeballs, but those same eyeballs might shy away after reading the small print. The additional cash back category has an annual spending maximum of $6,000 and excludes big-box retailers like Walmart and Target and warehouse clubs like Costco. Additional purchases will only earn 1% for those who have already reached the maximum. While the list of qualified streaming services isn't exactly awful, it's unlikely to be a top-earning reward category—unless, of course, you're a media junkie who subscribes to everything.
The Pros
Cash back benefits for grocery and streaming services are among the best in our database with this CardCard. As of this writing, it is now offering 6% cash back at supermarkets and certain services like Hulu and Netflix for up to $6,000 in annual expenditure and 5% cash back on select services like SiriusXM. There aren't many better deals than this one-time offer, which is both generous and doable. After spending $3,000 on your new CardCard in the first six months of Card Membership, you will receive a $300 rebate. You will receive a statement credit in the form of cashback.
Cons Explained
The annual cost for American Express customers is $95 after the first year, even though the price is waived for new members. Consequently, you'll need to utilize it to recover the $95 cost once you've taken advantage of the zero-annual price promotional offer and substantial first-year signup incentive. You'll need to spend at least $31 per week on groceries and streaming services or $62 per week on petrol or public transportation to break even on the cost within a year. Of course, spending in these areas can be combined with other purchases to obtain the meager 1 percent cash back.
One-Time Offer For The Blue Cash Preferred Card
Within the first six months of using your new credit card, you will get a $300 statement credit. You will receive a statement credit in the form of cashback. The cost is small, but the benefit is substantial. For the year, the one-time incentive amounts to a net return of almost 10% on the Card'sCard's original expenditure, all by itself. (We remove the Card'sCard's $95 annual charge from the net reward. But it doesn't account for any extra cash back you'd get by meeting the spending requirements within three months or the cash back you'd get for the rest of the year if you continued to use the CardCard.)
Earning Reward Details
Pay 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets; 6% cash back on most U.S. streaming video and music services; and 3% of all U.S. transportation and petrol purchases, with rewards spending caps of $6,000 per year. A 1% cash back return is given for all other purchases.
Cash-back benefits are only available for purchases made on American Express' official streaming service list. The list is extensive and includes almost all the main online video (Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now) and audio (Spotify, Audible, Apple Music) streaming services.
Reward Redemption Information
Rewards dollars can be redeemed for a statement credit when they accumulate to $25 or more in cashback rewards.
Getting the Most from Your Rewards
The easiest approach to make the most out of this CardCard is to maximize the 6% cash back on grocery purchases up to the $6,000 threshold. Once you've done that, use the CardCard to pay for all of your streaming services and your petrol and other transportation costs to receive a nice 3% back on your purchases. All other purchases receive 1%, which adds up over the year.
Assumption Situations
Your family spends $7,061 on food each year; $348 for streaming services; $254 for public transportation; and $1977 on petrol. In other words, you'd rack up $458 in cashback rewards using this CardCard without taking into account purchases that receive 1% cash back.
That works out to a weekly grocery bill of $135.79, $6.69 for streaming services, $4.88 for public transportation, and $38.02 for petrol.
Case for Hope
To take full use of this CardCard, families should buy more groceries, move their TV-service expenditure from ineligible cable and satellite services to eligible streaming services, and charge all local transportation and gas expenses to their CardCard. Supplement your spending by purchasing pharmaceutical products, pet supplies, home cleansers, and other items you may normally buy elsewhere if you can't achieve the $6,000 supermarket spending threshold (to get $360 in cash back).
