Why You Should Consider the Amex Everyday Credit Card
The Amex EveryDay Credit Card is a no annual fee credit card that often gets overlooked by its more well known siblings like the Premier Rewards Gold Card. The EveryDay Credit Card earns a decent bonus rate on supermarkets but it also serves a number of different practical purposes that you should be aware of. Here are a few reasons why you should consider the Amex EveryDay.
It’s very rare to find a rewards credit card with no annual fee that allows you transfer points to travel partners. Banks like Chase and Citi both require you to be an active cardmember of a premium card to transfer their points to partners and that means you’ll have to pay the annual fee on their cards.
However, the Amex EveryDay card provides you with the ability to transfer points to a number of different Membership Rewards travel partners including:
American Express does not allow you to transfer Membership Rewards to family members or your spouse. However, you can transfer points to the loyalty program accounts of authorized users on your Amex cards.
So an easy way to get around the restriction of not sharing points is to add an authorized user to your Amex EveryDay card. There is no fee to add an authorized user unlike many of the other cards, so the EveryDay card is deal for this situation.
Save your Membership Rewards
The EveryDay card can help save your hard earned Membership Rewards. If you have an upcoming annual fee that you don’t want to pay for one of your American Express cards, you can always cancel that card and as long as you have the Amex EveryDay card active before you cancelled that card you can keep your points.
If you didn’t have a card “on deck” like the Amex EveryDay, you’d lose all of your Membership Rewards after cancelling all of your Membership Rewards earning cards!
0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months.
If you’re in the market for making a big purchase or just trying to get into credit cards with a little bit of safeguards against interest payments, this card can be a great option.
It earns at a decent rate
Beyond all of those practical reasons to hold on to the card, it’s actually a pretty decent card. It earns Membership Rewards at the following rates.
2x points at US supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases(then 1x)
1x points on other purchases.
If you use your Card 20 or more times on purchases in a billing period you get 20% more points on those purchases
With the 20% monthly bonus factored in, that’s 2.4X at supermarkets and 1.2X on all purchases. For not having to pay any annual fee, that’s a pretty good deal.
Depending on your personal spending habits, you may want to with the Amex EveryDay Preferred, however.
The EveryDay Preferred card earn the following:
3x points at US supermarkets (On up to $6,000 in purchases per year)
2x points at US gas stations
1x points on other purchases
What really makes the Amex EveryDay Preferred card such a high earner is that when you use your card 30 or more times on purchases in a billing period you get 50% more points on those purchases! That’s in addition to the bonus categories, making it one of the most high-earning cards on the market.
But since it comes with the $95 annual fee you need to make sure that you’re spending will cover the annual fee. An easy way to do that is to compare what you’ll earn on both cards. For example, if you compare the groceries category it will look like the following (assuming a value of 1.8 cents per point):
EveryDay
2.4 x 1.8 = 4.32% return per dollar spent
EveryDay Preferred
4.5 x 1.8 = 8.1% return per dollar spent
This means that per dollar spent on groceries the EveryDay Preferred out earns the EveryDay by a rate of 3.78%. If you factor in the $95 annual the math looks like $95/.0378 = $2,513. So if you spend more than somewhere around $2,500 per year on groceries you and hit the monthly 30 transaction minimum, you’ll come out on top with the EveryDay Preferred. And that’s not even factoring in 2X on gas and the 1.5X on everything else.
Sign up bonus
The one area where the Amex EveryDay is a bit weak is the signup bonus as the standard public offer is only for 10,000 Membership Rewards after spending $1,000 within the first 3 months (although you might get lucky and come across a targeted offer for 25,000 or even 35,000).
Final word
Overall, the Amex EveryDay is a solid no annual fee card that presents many advantages and practical purposes. I think a lot of people should definitely consider adding it to their wallet but should also consider if the EveryDay Preferred might be a better fit.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred vs The Amex EveryDay Preferred
[Offers contained within this article may no longer be available]
The Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Amex EveryDay Preferred are two popular reward-earning credit cards. The Sapphire Preferred is more of a true “travel credit card,” while the Amex EveryDay Preferred is better described as a credit card great for earning travel rewards. Here’s a comparison of the two cards and a recommendation as to which card would be better off for travelers.
1. Transfer Partners
Both of these cards earn flexible points that can be transferred to a number of quality transfer partners. It’s tough to pick which program has the better partners since that often depends on your personal preference and geographical location. However, you should always make sure you’re familiar with airline alliance partners before picking a program because you can often utilize travel partners from both of these programs to book awards through alliances that can serve your needs.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
The Sapphire Preferred earns “Ultimate Rewards” that can be transferred to a variety of travel partners listed below:
Airlines
British Airways Executive Club
Korean Air SKYPASS
Flying Blue
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
United MileagePlus
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hotels
Hyatt Gold Passport
IHG® Rewards Club
Marriott Rewards
The Ritz-Carlton Rewards
Membership Rewards
The Amex EveryDay Preferred will earn you Membership Rewards that can be transferred to a variety of travel partners listed below:
Airlines
Membership Rewards Airline Partners
Membership Rewards Airline Partners
These partners do not have all have the same transfer ratios as you can see below:
Your Membership Rewards cannot be freely transferred between you and any friend or family members
They don’t expire as long as you remain a cardholder
2. Redeeming Points and shopping portals
In addition to transferring points to travel partners you can always redeem your points in different ways, such as for cash back, gift cards, or to book travel.
Membership Rewards
Membership Rewards can be redeemed in the following ways:
Between .5 and 1.0 cent per point for gift cards
0.6 cent per point for a statement credit/charge.
1.0 cent per point on air fare
0.7 cent per point on hotels, cruises, and vacation packages.
Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal
Ultimate Rewards can be redeemed in the following ways:
1.0 cent per point for cash back into your Chase checking or savings account.
1.0 cent per point for gift cards
As a Chase Sapphire Preferred card holder, if you book travel through the Ultimate Rewards Portal you can redeem points as 1.25 cents per point.
For the most part, I would avoid these redemption options, as you will almost certainly get better value with travel partners. However, redemptions through the Chase travel portal at 1.25 cents per point aren’t horrible (just make sure you’re not paying a lot more than you would by booking elsewhere). Thus, if I had to give a preference for redeeming points for these options, I’d give the edge to the Sapphire Preferred.
Shopping Portals
A plus to having the Sapphire Preferred is it grants you access to the Ultimate Rewards Shopping Portal. If you’re unaware, there are many shopping portals that will allow you to earn miles or points when you make purchases online. Read about online shopping portals here if you’re unfamiliar. The Ultimate Rewards Shopping Portal often offers some of the best rates for earning points.
Unfortunately, American Express did away with its shopping portal a couple of years ago. However, they have “Amex Offers.” With Amex Offers, you can score a some great discounts from online retailers and if utilized properly, you can easily end up saving a couple of hundred bucks a year, depending on your spending habits.
3. Sign-up Bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred
40K to 50K (currently 50K) when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months
An additional 5K for adding an authorized user.
The standard offer for the Amex EveryDay Preferred
Get 15,000 Membership Rewards points after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in purchases in your first 3 months.
This is the standard public offer
Get 30,000 Membership Rewards after you use your new Card to make $2,000 in purchases in your first 3 months.
This offer comes around occasionally, often via Google Chrome Incognito.
Get 50,000 Membership Rewards after you use your new Card to make $2,000 in purchases in your first 3 months!
Highly targeted offer that only some have received in the mail.
The standard sign-up bonus for the Sapphire Preferred is obviously much more valuable than the standard offer for the EveryDay Preferred. Even if you’re able to find the “Incognito” offer, you’re still falling short of the Sapphire by about 15 to 25,000 points. Thus, the winner here is definitely the Sapphire Preferred.
4. Bonus category earning potential
Chase Sapphire Preferred
2X on Travel (This covers a broad range of expenses from tolls, parking, bus fairs, train tickets, and of course, air line tickets.)
2X on Dining
Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card
This is where the Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card really shines and in my opinion, it might just be the top earning travel rewards credit card, especially if you max out the supermarket categories. Let’s take a look at its bonus earning potential.
3x points at US supermarkets (On up to $6,000 in purchases per year)
2x points at US gas stations
1x points on other purchases
What really makes this card such a high earner is that when you use your card 30 or more times on purchases in a billing period you get 50% more points on those purchases!
Comparing the Earning Potential
The following is an unscientific, estimated breakdown of the main expenditures by American consumer units mostly by using official data over the past couple of years (2012 to 2014) on consumers. I modified some of the figures to make things easy and have added some to the travel category just to make the comparison more relevant to travelers.
(Keep in mind, I’m not factoring in expenses that some people could put on their credit cards like healthcare, car payments, rent, utilities, loan payments, etc.)
Here’s a breakdown of the spending I’m factoring in:
Gasoline: $2,500
Parking, tolls, and misc. travel: $1,500
Entertainment: $2,500
Food at home (groceries): $6,000
Dining: $2,700
Apparel: $1,500
Phone service: $1,000
Misc.: $800
Household expenses and furnishings: $3,000
That comes out to a total of $21,500 of expenses that could be put on your credit cards.
So let’s see how the cards would earn compared to each other:
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Gasoline: $2,500
Parking, tolls, and misc. travel: $1,500 (2x)
Entertainment: $2,500
Food at home (groceries): $6,000
Dining: $2,700 (2X)
Apparel: $1,500
Phone service: $1,000
Misc.: $800
Household expenses and furnishings: $3,000
Year 1 earnings
25,700 Ultimate Rewards
Amex EveryDay Preferred
Gasoline: $2,500 (2X)
Parking, tolls, and misc. travel: $1,500
Entertainment: $2,500
Food at home (groceries): $6,000 (3X)
Dining: $2,700
Apparel: $1,500
Phone service: $1,000
Misc.: $800
Household expenses and furnishings: $3,000
We will assume 30 purchases are made each month so you qualify for the 50% bonus.
Year 1 earnings
54,000 Membership Rewards
As you can see, the EveryDay Preferred blows the Sapphire Preferred out of the water with these spending habits. In fact, I think that only in a small number of cases the Sapphire Preferred could actually beat out the Everyday Preferred. The 50% monthly bonus in points is simply too good to beat out in most cases.
While the EveryDay Preferred earns more, don’t forget that you don’t have the annual fee waived the first year and will likely earn many more Ultimate Rewards with the sign-up bonus for the Sapphire Preferred. Thus, in the short term, I would give the nod to the Sapphire Preferred but for long-term earning potential, the EveryDay Preferred would have to be the winner.
5. Annual Fees
Chase Sapphire Preferred
$95, waived the first year
Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card
$95, NOT waived the first year
The $95 fee cuts into the savings of the EveryDay card, making the Sapphire Preferred even more of a valuable option.
6. No interest for the first 15 months
One thing that the EveryDay Preferred has over the Sapphire Preferred is that it has a 0.0% introductory APR for the first 15 months. This is nice to have but if you’re not in the market for a 0.0% introductory APR and more concerned with travel rewards and benefits, then this perk obviously won’t mean much to you.
7. Foreign Transaction Fees
Chase Sapphire Preferred
No foreign transaction fees
Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card
2.7% on international transactions
The Sapphire Preferred really starts to outshine the EveryDay Preferred when it comes to travel-related benefits. One of the first ways it does is that the EveryDay card has foreign transaction fees. With so many travel cards offering no foreign transaction fees, it really wouldn’t make sense to use the EveryDay on international trips.
8. Primary rental car insurance
Chase Sapphire Preferred
The Sapphire Preferred offers primary rental car insurance usually covering the full lost value of the automobile (subject to certain exceptions, of course).
Amex EveryDay Preferred
Excess rental car insurance (may cover what your insurance company doesn’t cover)
Primary rental car insurance is one of the top benefits of the Sapphire Preferred even though it’s not discussed often. For some, the $95 annual fee would be worth this benefit alone.
9. Travel protections
The Chase Sapphire Preferred really has the EveryDay Preferred beat when it comes to travel protections. The only benefit offered by the EveryDay is for lost or damaged luggage. Here’s how that that benefit compares:
Lost or damaged Luggage
Chase Sapphire Preferred
For checked or carry-on bags are damaged or lost by the carrier, you’re covered up to $3,000.00 for each Insured Person for each Common Carrier Covered Trip and up to $500.00 for each Insured Person for each Common Carrier Covered Trip for jewelry, watches, cameras, video recorders, and other electronic equipment.
Amex EveryDay Preferred
Will pay a benefit for the Replacement Cost, up to $1,250, for each Covered Person on a Covered Trip for Loss of carry-on Baggage.
Will pay a benefit for the Replacement Cost, up to $500, for each Covered Person on a Covered Trip for Loss of checked Baggage
The Sapphire Preferred has many other travel benefits, too. These include:
Trip Interruption: If your trip is canceled or cut short by covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses,
Trip Delay Reimbursement: If delayed more than 12 hours you are covered for expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket.
Baggage Delay Reimbursement: covers up to one hundred ($100.00) dollars per day for a maximum of five (5) days
For the EveryDay, you’d have to purchase travel insurance before your trip to get these benefits. Thus, the Sapphire Preferred is a far superior travel credit card in this regard.
10. Purchase protections
The EveryDay Preferred can definitely hold its own against the Sapphire Preferred with respect to purchase protections, however. Here’s a run down of some of the major benefits.
A) Purchase protections
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.
Amex EveryDay Preferred
Covers your new purchases for 90 days against damage or theft up to $1,000 per claim and $50,000 per Card Member account per calendar year.
B) Extended Warranty Protection
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Extends the time period of the original manufacturer’s written U.S. repair warranty by one (1) additional year on eligible warranties of three (3) years or less, up to a maximum of ten thousand ($10,000.00) dollars per claim
Amex EveryDay Preferred
Provides one additional year if the original manufacturer’s warranty is between one year and five years limited up to a maximum of USD $10,000 per occurrence
C) Price Protection
Chase Sapphire Preferred
If a card purchase you made in the U.S. is advertised for less in print or online within 90 days, you can be reimbursed the difference up to $500 per item, $2,500 per year.
Amex EveryDay Preferred
No price protection offered
D) Return Protection
Chase Sapphire Preferred
You can be reimbursed for eligible items that the store won’t take back within 90 days of purchase, up to $500 per item, $1,000 per year.
Amex EveryDay Preferred
You can be reimbursed for eligible items that the store won’t take back within 90 days of purchase, up to $300 per item, $1,000 per year.
Final Word
The Amex EveryDay Preferred card is a fine card for racking up tons of Membership Rewards through spending, and it’s an okay travel card in the sense that you can earn points quickly that you can apply to travel. However, it’s not a good travel credit card in terms of travel benefits and travel perks offered.
Overall, in terms of which card is the better credit card to be used on and while traveling, the Amex EveryDay Preferred can’t compare to the Sapphire Preferred. However, if you’re just wanting a card to earn you tons of points that will help you to be able to redeem trips with travel partners, the Amex EveryDayPreferred is a terrific option with its high bonus earning rates and great purchase protection.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.
Review of the Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card
[Offers contained within this article may no longer be available]
The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card is a card that a lot of people tend to sleep on. It’s not quite the travel card as the Premier Rewards Gold Card but it offers a tremendous potential for earning Membership Rewards with its 50% monthly bonus in points earned. Here’s a review of the Amex EveryDay® Preferred and some things to consider when applying for the card.
Transfer Partners
American Express cards like the Amex EveryDay® Preferred earn you Membership Rewards. They are generally considered one of more valuable reward currencies and these points can be transferred to several different airline and hotel partners. Below is a list of the eligible travel partners.
Airlines
Membership Rewards Airline Partners
Membership Rewards Airline Partners
These partners do not have all have the same transfer ratios as you can see below:
Your Membership Rewards cannot be freely transferred between you and any friend or family members
They don’t expire as long as you remain a cardholder
Redeeming Points
If you don’t decide to transfer your Membership Rewards to other travel partners you can always utilize them for travel redemptions or purchases.
Membership Rewards can be redeemed in the following ways:
Between .5 and 1.0 cent per point for gift cards
0.6 cent per point for a statement credit/charge.
1.0 cent per point on air fare
0.7 cent per point on hotels, cruises, and vacation packages.
Aside from maybe using them for air fare to earn or maintain elite status, I personally do not think these are good redemption rates. However, depending on the circumstances (no availability with travel partners, short on cash, etc.), it might make sense for you to redeem your points through the Amex travel portal.
Sign-up Bonus
The standard offer for the Amex EveryDay Preferred
Get 15,000 Membership Rewards points after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in purchases in your first 3 months.
This is the standard public offer
Get 30,000 Membership Rewards after you use your new Card to make $2,000 in purchases in your first 3 months.
This offer comes around occasionally, often via Google Chrome Incognito.
Get 50,000 Membership Rewards after you use your new Card to make $2,000 in purchases in your first 3 months!
Highly targeted offer that only some have received in the mail.
If you already hold an American Express card, your chances of receiving the 50,000 offer in the mail are very slim. Thus, the 30,000 offer is probably going to be your best bet but there’s no way of knowing when it might come around again.
One bonus per lifetime
You need to know that American Express has a once per lifetime rule for receiving sign-up offers for its cards. There are some exceptions to this and you can read more about them in the American Express application rules article.
Bonus Category Earning
This is where the Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card really shines and in my opinion, it might just be the top earning travel rewards credit card, especially if you max out the supermarket categories. Let’s take a look at its bonus earning potential.
3x points at US supermarkets (On up to $6,000 in purchases per year)
2x points at US gas stations
1x points on other purchases
These are decent bonus categories. The two notably missing categories are dining and travel purchases, but those categories can be covered with cards like the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card or the Chase Sapphire Preferred®.
What really makes this card such a high earner is that when you use your card 30 or more times on purchases in a billing period you get 50% more points on those purchases!
Now, Im pretty sure those calculations (from 2014) did not factor in the 2x on dining on the Premier Rewards Gold Card and I don’t think they factored in the potential for 4x on airfare. Thus, it’s definitely possible that the Premier Rewards Gold Card might out earn the Amex EveryDay® Preferred based on some of the spending habits.
But still, the Amex EveryDay® Preferred is one of the best all-around daily spending credit cards (“daily drivers”) and is likely the best for earning Membership Rewards for someone who will max out the supermarket 3X earnings and obtain the 50% bonus each month.
Amex Offers
Amex Offers are promotional offers that are available to all Amex cardholders. Some of these offers will essentially provide you with free money, often giving you back $5-$15 off purchases at different online retailers. If you used consistently and effectively, you can easily save yourself $100-200 a year on items you would’ve likely purchased anyway.
No interest for the first 15 months
0.0% introductory APR for the first 15 months. After that, your APR will be 13.24% to 22.24%, based on your creditworthiness and other factors as determined at the time of account opening
Foreign Transaction Fees
2.7% on international transactions
Annual Fee
$95, not waived the first year
Downgrading
The Amex EveryDay® Preferred can be downgraded to the no annual fee Amex EveryDay®. The Amex EveryDay® earns:
2x points at US supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases(then 1x)
1x points on other purchases.
If you use your Card 20 or more times on purchases in a billing period you get 20% more points on those purchases
So you lose out on 50% bonus (reduced to 20%), 3X on supermarkets (reduced to 2x), and lose out completely on the 2X on gas. However, with no annual fee and the ability to hold on to and earn Membership Rewards, downgrading to the Amex EveryDay® is a solid choice if you don’t want to continue to the pay annual fee.
Final Word
The Amex EveryDay® Preferred is a top points earning rewards card. However, since the card doesn’t earn bonus points for dining or travel, it’s highly recommended that you supplement this card with one that does, such as the American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card or the Chase Sapphire Preferred®. Having at least one of those cards will provide a traveller with complete bonus category earning potential along with superior benefits, such as better travel and purchase protection.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.
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