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The Amex Blue Cash Preferred is one of the few cash back cards I’ve used in the past to put a little bit of green back in my wallet. But the Blue Cash Preferred just got revamped and now comes with some new benefits (and some sweet new card art). Here’s everything you need to know about the new and improved Blue Cash Preferred.

Welcome offer 

There are two welcome offers you can utilize right now. 

• Public offer: Earn $250 Back after you spend $1,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months
• Referral link offer: Earn $300 Back after you spend $1,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months

Obviously the referral option is more lucrative. $300 cash back is pretty solid for a cash back credit card but you can do better with some other good cash back cards.

The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card comes with a $500 early spend bonus after spending $3,000 in the first three months (along with unlimited 4% cash back on dining and entertainment and 2% at grocery stores). Click here to read more about that card. 

And of course the hot offer right now for up-front value is the 60,000 point offer for the Chase Sapphire Preferred after spending $4,000 in the first three months. Those 60,000 points are worth $750 if used toward travel in the Chase Travel Portal.

Note that the Blue Cash Preferred does NOT earn Membership Rewards — only cash back that you can use for something like a statement credit. So you can’t transfer your points to Amex travel partners. 

Bonus categories 

The Blue Cash Preferred is losing the 3% at department stores on July 31st, 2019 and will earn the following rates. 

• 6% back at US supermarkets, on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%)
• 6% back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions
• 3% back on transit 
• 3% cash back at US gas stations 

Supermarkets

The 6% back at US supermarkets is great and can be highly rewarding. It’s the #1 reason I used the Blue Cash Preferred in the past. 

However, I still prefer to earn 4X on groceries with the Amex Gold Card (up to $25,000 per year) since I value 4X Membership Rewards over 6% cash back. The limit on $6,000 per year in purchases is also why I prefer to go with the Amex Gold Card as well — there’s just a much higher ceiling for rewards with the Gold Card.

The Amex Gold Card currently comes with an offer allowing you to earn 35,000 Membership Rewards Points after you spend $2,000 in the first 3 months. But there are referral offers for 40,000 Membership Rewards Points after you spend $2,000 in the first 3 months. You can use my referral link for the higher Amex Gold offer. Note: I’ve already maxed out my referrals so I won’t receive any points if you use my link. 

Streaming 

Getting 6% back at on select U.S. streaming subscriptions is nice but I’m not huge on this bonus category because the monthly payments for streaming services are usually very low. Even if you spend $100/month on streaming that’s only $72 back each year. That’s enough to lessen the blow of the annual fee but most people are probably not looking at a huge amount of savings. 

Also, some other card could offer better rewards for some services. For example, the Chase Ink Cash is known to earn 5X on some streaming services like Netflix, Spotify, and Hulu. Granted with the Blue Cash, the list is probably much more extensive. 

Here are some of the streaming services that qualify for the 6% back: 

It’s worth noting that the Blue Cash Preferred is weak on dining and other cards like the Savor or Amex Gold Card would be good ways to supplement your earnings. 

Transit 

3% back on transit is a great replacement to the department store category. This category is relatively broad and includes the following: 

• Trains
• Taxicabs
• Ride share services like Uber and Lyft (this is better than the Uber card.)
• Ferries
• Tolls
• Parking
• Buses
• Subways

I’d still prefer a card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve that earns 3X on ALL travel purchases, but I don’t think there’s a whole lot of true cash back cards offering 3% cash back on these transit categories (the Wells Fargo Propel comes to mind).

Since these expenses can add up quickly, I actually think this is a pretty strong new category for the Blue Cash Preferred. In my opinion, this is where there the bulk of the added value is with the new card. 

Gas

Nothing changed with getting 3% cash back at US gas stations. 3% back on gas isn’t bad but If you really want to save on gas there are other cards out there offering 4% to 5% back on gas so 3% back isn’t the best bonus rate for fuel out there. For example, the Sams MasterCard allows you to earn 5% back on gas (up to $6,000 per year) and there are other better options out there as well. 

0% APR

The Blue Cash Preferred comes with an into 0% APR period on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months. 

Annual fee

This card comes with a $95 annual fee. That’s actually very easy to offset with heavy grocery store spend. For example, if you maxed out the $6,000 supermarket category you’d earn $360 in cash back. It is worth noting that there are some great cash back card out there with no annual fee like the Chase Freedom and Freedom Unlimited. 

Final word 

Overall, the new revamping makes the Blue Cash Preferred a better product but not by a wide margin, in my opinion. It’s got the same rates on supermarkets and on gas and though it gained the local transit + streaming categories, it lost department stores. I’d definitely investigate other options if you spend a lot on groceries, dining, and general travel expenses. 

I like the $300 welcome bonus a lot but if you’re looking for upfront value there are better welcome offers out there offering you $500 or well over $500 in upfront value. 

Daniel

H-Town based Attorney turned credit card rewards expert. Founder of UponArriving.com.