SeahawksNYC

Not sure if there are ever transfer bonuses from Chase UR to Avios but AMEX seems to have 25-35% bonuses pretty often (I think even as high as 50%) at some point.

No FX fees would have been nice in the EveryDay Preferred though.

drewguy

+1. Just got my bill notifying me of annual fee renewal this month . . . may be time for a change.

Locke42

Is it really that hard to rack up 30 transactions in a month on a card? Or do FTers just have so many cards that dividing their spending between different cards makes it hard to put 30 transactions on any single one?

The bonus categories are just the icing on top of the cake, IMO. The base 1.5 points per dollar is a great rate for general spending, especially if you're looking to redeem on any of the airlines that MR or SPG share. For me, personally, it means I can earn miles for Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific, which are the two international airlines I fly the most, at a faster rate than with any other card.

The only thing that might keep me from getting this card is if holding either of these cards disqualifies me from getting the better sign-up bonuses for the MB Amex Platinum or the PRG.

mia

No better than Preferred Rewards Gold, if you spend $30,000 in a calendar year. For some 30 transactions per month will be more appealing, while for others meeting the annual threshold is easier.

Locke42

My point is that if you use this as a general spending card for purchases that don't belong to a traditional bonus category, then getting to 30 transactions in a month will be trivial. You don't even need MS.

The only reason I can see for not getting this card is if you would rather earn points from churning rather than from spending. This thing's sign-up bonus is paltry, and combined with Amex's long time requirement for re-qualifying for the sign-up bonus, that means this isn't as attractive for churning.

But for general spending, I think this is hard to beat.

Dieuwer

How about neither...

nall

Press Release:
http://about.americanexpress.com/new...edit-card.aspx

Has some more detailed T&C that may be of interest to some here.

mia

My point is that both the Premier Rewards Gold and Everyday Preferred offer a path to 1.5 points per dollar on general spending, it's not unique to Everyday Preferred.

Smerri

If the fee-free version does transfer to airlines like it's saying then that has to spell the end for the Green card.

mia

It would seem to spell the end for Blue from American Express (but not Blue Cash or BlueSky), but not for Green because some people prefer a charge card.

drewguy

I have the green card. But I'm not sure why I should prefer a charge card to this. Am I missing something? What does a charge card give you that a credit card doesn't?

mia

1. American Express (generally) limits USA clients to 4 credit cards and an unspecified number of charge cards. Credit cards include Blue Cash, BlueSky, Costco, Delta, Hilton, JetBlue, Starwood. If you need or want four cards from that list, but also want to earn Membership Rewards, a charge card could be the solution. (Blue from American Express and Everyday also earn Membership Rewards, and they are credit cards.)

2. A flexible spending limit. American Express evaluates individual charge card transactions rather than mechanically applying a fixed credit limit. This can work for or against you, depending on your spending pattern, and how much they know about your financial resources (which includes more than just the information you supplied on an application.)

3. Charge cards are reported differently to credit bureaus because there is no fixed credit limit. Whether this is beneficial depends of your circumstances.

xchpstang

FWIW, PRG will still you give you double MR if you shop at Walmart Neighborhood Market. I'm almost sure that Supercenters are coded the same way since my pending transactions at WM Neighborhood Market initially show Supercenter but I still end up getting 2X MR.

If this is any indication then these new cards are probably coded the same way and you should get the full bonus on MR at either Walmart SC or Walmart NM.

lkar

So, I think the comparison between the Everyday Preferred and the PRG turns on just a handful of factors, assuming you can do 30 swipes per month.

Threshold questions:

1) If you had either of the cards, would you put your grocery and gas spending on the cards? If the answer is no because you have some other option to get better bonuses at gas stations and groceries, then the PRG is probably not worth it to you, and your question should be whether 1.5 MR for every day spend is worth getting the Everyday as opposed to a different card for nonbonus spend.

2) Will you put $30k on one of these cards if you have it. If the answer is is no, then the PRG is almost certainly a loser for you. There are some theoretical people for whom the PRG still makes sense -- like if you have $20k in grocery spend but nothing else, and very little gas spending you would put on either card.

3) Do you plan to put more than $30k on the card? If yes, then you're hitting diminishing returns if you have the PRG unless your spend above $30k is all at grocery stores. If it isn't, then for every dollar you spend over $30k for non-grocery spend is costing you 500 point, viz. the Preferred. For every $1,000 spent at gas stations after $30k, the PRG is costing you 1,000 points viz. preferred. So, if 1.5 MR rewards points per $1 is what you would choose to do for nonbonus spend (as opposed to, say, using SPG or Arrival), then you should not pick the PRG if you expect significant spending above $30k.

With those three threshold questions out of the way, if you still are in the game for one of these cards, which should you get? I think it depends exclusively on two factors: How much grocery spend will you have and how much gas spend will you have?

Let's look at the absolute best case for the PRG. It is if you spend $30,000 or more, all on groceries. At $30k grocery spend, you get 105,000 MR points with the PRG. On the Everyday preferred, you would get 63,000 MR points (6k x 4.5 plus 24k x 1.5). So, that's 42,000 extra points for an extra $80 annual fee. Clearly worth it.

However, as your grocery spend goes down and your gas spend goes up, the balance changes. Let's drop the grocery just a bit and increase the gas a little. At $25k in grocery spend, $2,500 in gas spend, and $2,500 in other spend, it starts to get closer. That's 97,500 MR points on the PRG and 67k MR points on the Preferred. So, that's a difference of nearly 31k MR points for the $80 annual fee difference. But remember, this only works if you have exactly $30k in spend on the PRG. At this point, every dollar you put on it above $30k is costing you points.

Ok, so what's the break even point? Depends on how much gas you buy and how much you value MR points. Assuming about 3k per year in gas purchases, the break even seems to be around 14k to 15k in grocery spend. Less than that, and you should get the preferred. More and you should get the PRG. And if you have substantially less than that, the decision is simply whether 1.5 MR is the best you feel you can do for nonbonus spend, in which case avoid the higher fee and get the preferred.

For those who are able to churn away at groceries and gas stations, I think you go back to the principles at the top. If you're doing about 30k mostly at groceries, the PRG is for you. If you're doing close to 36k at groceries, you might consider getting both. You put the first 6k on the preferred, which gives you 9k more than you would get on PRG and justifies the fee. Now put the rest on the PRG and get the extra 54k. Put all gas on the preferred. Win win.

Dieuwer

What person spends $82 EACH DAY on groceries?? Must have a HUGE family to hit that number...