Amex Blue Cash Preferred

The Blue Cash Preferred is the suburban-family default: groceries, gas and streaming, all at top-of-market rates. Anyone who spends meaningfully at US supermarkets should start their comparison here, because the 6% grocery rate is the highest of any mainstream card. It is issued by American Express on the American Express network, and it is written for applicants with good to excellent credit, roughly 700 or higher. The terms are straightforward. The annual fee is $0 intro for the first year, then $95. A 0% intro APR runs for 12 months on both purchases and balance transfers, after which the regular APR is 19.49% to 28.49% variable, set by creditworthiness. Earning is tiered: 6% at US supermarkets on up to $6,000 of spend per year, 6% on select US streaming with no cap, 3% on transit and at US gas stations, and 1% on everything else. The welcome offer runs as high as $300 back after $3,000 in the first 6 months, though Amex personalizes it, so the figure you are shown may be lower. The math that matters: maxing the grocery cap alone returns $360 per year, which comfortably clears the $95 fee even after the intro year ends. Then the honest flags. Rewards accrue as Reward Dollars and redeem only as statement credits, not as transferable points, travel, or cash to a bank account, so the value is fixed and modest. The 6% grocery rate applies to US supermarkets specifically; superstores and warehouse clubs are excluded, which quietly disqualifies a meaningful share of many households' food spending. The $6,000 annual cap on the 6% tier means spend above $500 a month at supermarkets drops to 1%. And the 0% intro APR is a 12-month window, not a permanent feature; carrying a balance past it exposes you to a variable APR as high as 28.49%, which erases rewards many times over. This is a card to pay in full, not to finance. Who it fits comes down to grocery volume. If your household routinely spends near the $6,000 supermarket cap and clears the statement in full each month, the $360 grocery return, plus gas, transit and streaming earnings, makes the $95 fee easy to justify. If you buy most of your groceries at a superstore or warehouse club, or if you carry a balance, the excluded merchants and the post-intro APR undercut the headline rate, and a no-fee flat-rate card may serve you better.