Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express Review and Details

In this review of the Blue Cash Preferred^® Card, from one of our partners, American Express, we’ll look at who the card is for, its credit score requirements, benefits, rewards rate, key characteristics, and more. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com for more information.

This Article Contains:

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Who is the Blue Cash Preferred Credit Card for?
Blue Cash Preferred Credit Score Requirements
Blue Cash Preferred Benefits
Blue Cash Preferred Rewards Rate
Blue Cash Preferred Fees
Blue Cash Preferred APR
Key Characteristics of the Blue Cash Preferred Card
Alternatives to the Blue Cash Preferred Card

Let’s get started.

Who is the Blue Cash Preferred Card for?

The Blue Cash Preferred^® Card is the perfect cash back credit card for everyday purchases. People with decent credit scores can opt for this hassle-free credit card as it offers good benefits, a competitive welcome offer, and great cash back rewards.

This Amex card has extensive cash back coverage across a wide array of purchase categories, including U.S. supermarkets, gas stations, and streaming subscriptions, transit, and essentially everything in between.

This credit card gives you simple cashback in the form of Blue Cash Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit, letting you choose what to do with your saved cash.

The Blue Cash Preferred Credit Card can be seen as an upgrade to the popular Blue Cash Everyday^® Card as cardholders get to benefit from a higher cash back rate in exchange for a nominal annual fee (See Rates and Fees).

Blue Cash Preferred Credit Score Requirements

To qualify for the Blue Cash Preferred Credit Card, you’ll need to be in the Good - Excellent credit score range.

What’s a Good credit score?

A FICO^® score of 670 or more falls in the Good-Excellent credit score range. A credit score in this range drastically improves your approval odds.

Apart from a credit score, the card issuer may also consider your income, existing debts, and other information.

Blue Cash Preferred Benefits

Here are some of the benefits you can enjoy with this card:

- Welcome Offer - You earn $250 cashback in the form of a statement credit after spending $3,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of card membership.
  
  Pay It^® allows users to pay off purchases under $100 directly from within the American Express mobile App using their eligible credit card.
  
  Plan It^® allows users to split up purchases of $100 or more into monthly payments. Each active payment plan is charged a fixed fee(See Rates and Fees). Enrollment is not required.
  
  Currently, AmEx is charging $0 on plan fees during the first 12 months of card membership. For plans created after this introductory period, you can expect to pay a plan fee of up to 1.33% of the purchase amount based on the plan duration. (See Rates and Fees)
Comprehensive Return Protection - With Return Protection, you may return eligible purchases to American Express if the seller won't take them back up to 90 days from the date of purchase. American Express may refund the full purchase price excluding shipping and handling, up to $300 per item, up to a maximum of $1,000 per calendar year per Card account, if you purchased it entirely with your eligible American Express^® Card. Purchases must be made in the U.S. or its territories.
- Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply.
- Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.
Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance - Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance can provide coverage up to $50,000 for theft of or damage to most rental vehicles when you use your eligible Card to reserve and pay for the entire eligible vehicle rental and decline the collision damage waiver or similar option offered by the Commercial Car Rental Company. This product provides secondary coverage and does not include liability coverage. Not all vehicle types or rentals are covered. Geographic restrictions apply.
- Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply.
- Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.
- Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
Global Assist^® Hotline - You can rely on Global Assist Hotline 24 hours a day / 7 days a week for medical, legal, financial or other select emergency coordination and assistance services while traveling more than 100 miles away from your home. Third-party service costs may be your responsibility.
- Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply.
- Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.
- Card Members are responsible for the costs charged by third-party service providers.

Blue Cash Preferred Card Rewards Rate

Blue Cash Preferred is the ideal rewards card for everyday purchases. It offers great cash back in the form of Blue Cash Reward Dollars on virtually all purchases you make.

Here’s a breakdown of its rewards rate:

6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%).
6% cash back on select streaming subscriptions. This includes popular streaming services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, Hulu, and more.
3% cash back at U.S. gas stations and on transit purchases (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses, and more). Airfare, car rental, and cruises don’t count as transit purchases.
1% cash back on other eligible purchases.

For comparison, the Blue Cash Everyday Card, offers 3% cash back at U.S. supermarkets and 2% at U.S. gas stations and select department stores.

If your available Reward Dollars balance is 25 or more, you can redeem them for a statement credit at a rate of 1.00 Reward Dollar to $1.00. Additionally, as long as your AmEx card account is in good standing (not canceled or past due), your Reward Dollars will never expire.

Blue Cash Preferred Card Fees

The Blue Cash Preferred Credit Card comes with a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95. (See Rates and Fees). While this may seem a bit high it’s easily offset by the cash back you earn on day-to-day expenses.

Like other popular credit cards, Blue Cash Preferred has additional fees such as a foreign transaction fee, a cash advance fee, etc (See Rates and Fees).

The foreign transaction fee is 2.7% of each transaction after conversion to U.S. dollars (See Rates and Fees).

American Express charges a cash advance fee of either $10 or 5% of the cash amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater (See Rates and Fees).

Late and returned payments could result in penalty fees of up to $40 (See Rates and Fees).

Blue Cash Preferred Card APR

Low intro APR: 0% for 12 months on purchases from the date of account opening, then a variable rate, 19.24% to 29.99%

Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.

$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.

Buy Now, Pay Later: Enjoy $0 intro plan fees when you use Plan It^® to split up large purchases into monthly installments. Pay $0 intro plan fees on plans created during the first 12 months from the date of account opening. Plans created after that will have a monthly plan fee up to 1.33% of each eligible purchase amount moved into a plan based on the plan duration, the APR that would otherwise apply to the purchase, and other factors.

6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%).

6% Cash Back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions.

3% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations and on transit (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more).

1% Cash Back on other purchases.

Get up to $120 in statement credits annually when you pay for an Equinox+ membership at equinoxplus.com with your Blue Cash Preferred^® Card. That’s $10 in statement credits each month. Enrollment required.

Thinking about getting The Disney Bundle which includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+? Your decision made easy with $7/month back in the form of a statement credit after you spend $12.99 or more each month on an eligible subscription with your Blue Cash Preferred Card. Enrollment required.

Terms Apply.

Tip: This card is a great fit if you’re looking to make a large purchase and want to pay it down over these 12 months at 0% interest (See Rates and Fees).

Blue Cash Preferred comes with a variable cash advance APR of 29.99% (See Rates and Fees).

Additionally, this credit card also carries a variable Penalty APR of 29.99% (See Rates and Fees). When applied, the penalty APR will last for at least six months, after which the card issuer reviews your American Express Card account.

The credit card company gives you at least 25 days after the close of each billing period to pay your credit card bills. If you pay your entire balance each month, then no interest is charged on a purchase (See Rates and Fees).

Next, let’s take a look at some of the key characteristics of this credit card.

Key Characteristics of the Blue Cash Preferred Card

Here are some key characteristics of this card:

Unsecured credit card - The Blue Cash Preferred Card is an unsecured credit card that doesn’t require a security deposit.

Welcome offer - Blue Cash Preferred cardholders earn a $250 statement credit after spending $3,000 on purchases during the first six months of account opening.

Cashback on everyday spending - This AmEx card offers cash back on a wide range of essential purchases.

Based on the Consumer Expenditure Survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average U.S. household spent about $4,942 on food at home annually in 2020. This means a family could easily max out their 6% rewards on the grocery spending bonus category, which alone is worth approximately $296 in cashback.

To top it off, you can earn more cashback every time additional card members make an eligible purchase with their card through the same American Express card account.
High annual fee - The annual fee of $95 might seem a bit too much at first but it's easily offset by an excellent rewards rate centered around essential expenses such as food and gas.

Alternatives to the Blue Cash Preferred Card

Final Thoughts

The Blue Cash Preferred Card is an ideal card for those looking to earn some decent cash back on a day-to-day basis. This Amex card offers a competitive rewards rate coupled with some great benefits native to American Express, the card’s welcome offer is just the icing on the cake.

It's a superior cashback credit card, definitely worth an upgrade from the Blue Cash Everyday Card.

You can apply for this card here.

Rates and fees for the American Express Blue Cash Preferred card can be found here.

Rates and fees for the American Express Blue Cash Everyday card be found here.