I’m looking at the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express for my family. The 6% back on groceries and streaming sounds amazing, but I’m not sure about the $95 annual fee after the first year. Has anyone here used it? Do you think the rewards justify the cost, or should I go with a no-fee option?
I’ve had the Blue Cash Preferred for about a year now, and as a family of four, the 6% on groceries definitely makes up for the fee. We easily hit the $6,000 cap on supermarket spending, which means we get $360 back, and that alone covers the annual fee. Plus, we use it for streaming services, so the savings stack up quickly.
@Quinn
That’s what I was thinking. We probably spend around $150 a week on groceries. Do you find that the cap on grocery spending is an issue for your family?
Kipp said:
@Quinn
That’s what I was thinking. We probably spend around $150 a week on groceries. Do you find that the cap on grocery spending is an issue for your family?
Not really, but we do keep an eye on it. Once we hit the cap, we switch to another card. But honestly, hitting that cap means we’ve already earned quite a bit, so it’s not a huge deal for us.
I use the Blue Cash Everyday instead, which has no annual fee. It only offers 3% back on groceries, but I don’t spend enough to justify paying an annual fee. It works well for smaller households or if you don’t spend that much on groceries.
@Juno
I considered the Everyday version too. Do you feel like you’re missing out by not having the 6% back?
Kipp said:
@Juno
I considered the Everyday version too. Do you feel like you’re missing out by not having the 6% back?
Not really. Since I don’t hit the $6,000 limit in grocery spending, the 3% is enough for me. But if you’re spending a lot, the Preferred could definitely be more valuable, even with the fee.
We’ve been using the Blue Cash Preferred for a couple of years. The streaming rewards are a nice bonus too—6% back on Netflix, Disney+, and Spotify adds up, especially with kids at home. Plus, the gas rewards at 3% are decent if you drive a lot.
@Westin
That’s a great point about the streaming services. We subscribe to a few of those, so that could add to the value.
The annual fee might seem high, but the sign-up bonus ($250 after spending $3,000) covers it for a while. If you hit that bonus, you’ll have plenty of time to see if it’s worth keeping long-term.
Merrill said:
The annual fee might seem high, but the sign-up bonus ($250 after spending $3,000) covers it for a while. If you hit that bonus, you’ll have plenty of time to see if it’s worth keeping long-term.
Good call on the sign-up bonus. That’s definitely something to factor in, especially for the first year.
The card works well for us, but if you do a lot of shopping at places like Costco or Walmart, keep in mind that you won’t earn the 6% back there. It’s something to consider depending on where you do most of your grocery shopping.
@Vine
That’s a good point. Most of our grocery shopping is at regular supermarkets, but I’ll have to make sure the places we shop qualify for the 6%.