justinh20

I typically spend $600-800/month on groceries and it seems that the Amex Blue Cash Preferred is the best for solely grocery purchases at 6% up to $6,000 in purchases. Am I wrong?
https://www304.americanexpress.com/c...ash-preferred/

I currently have:

• Marriott Rewards Premier (I stay at Marriotts exclusively for work)
• Capital One Visa Signature (several years old, 1.5% cashback on everything)

I've checked out all other cards I can think of and this seems to work out to be the best. I see that Amex EveryDay Preferred is another option but I think the annual fee makes it less than optimal for my spending.

Any thoughts before I pull the trigger on this?

justinh20

The card I'm referring to is the Preferred which gives 6% cash back on up to $6,000 in purchases ($360). I'm not huge into redeeming for travel unless it could be directly transferred into AAdvantage account because I likely won't have enough spending on this card to redeem for anything large when I'm only using it for groceries so I'd need to be able to consolidate with other point sources for it to be worthwhile I think. Does AmEx point redemption for travel happen directly through their marketplace only?

mia

My mistake. I removed my original reply before I saw your second post.

1. Blue Cash Preferred annual fee is $75. Everyday Preferred annual fee is $95. Is the $20 per year difference the problem?

2. Note that the supermarket bonus is capped:

justinh20

Yes, I do see it's capped and it's only a $20 difference but since I'm only using for groceries, cash back seems to be better than points?

onthego15

I've had the BCP for 3 1/2 years, and it is one of my favorites. I spend about $500 a month on groceries, so I reach very close to the max ($6000 a year) annually. There simply is no other card that gives 6%.
Also, AMEX is so generous with their special offers that I will earn close to $200 cash back with those.

mia

Membership Rewards points cannot be transferred to AAdvantage. However, they can be used for travel on flights operated by AA by transferring to British Airways. This generates greatest value if you redeem for domestic USA economy class non-stop flights. It will work for connecting flights and premium cabin flights, but the number of BA points required increases.

justinh20

That's what I figured. If I'm only spending $600-800 a month on a card which only gives points I don't think I'll accrue enough points for that to make sense. That's why I was thinking cash back would make more sense. After I reach the cap, I can switch spending to another card

mia

This very much depends on where you live, where you fly, and in which class of service.

If you spend $6,000 per year at qualifying supermarkets on Blue Cash Preferred you will have $360 - 75 fee = $285.

If you spend $6,000 per year at qualifying supermarkets on Everyday Preferred you will earn 18,000 points, and pay a $95 annual fee. 18,000 AAdvanatge miles won't allow you to fly even one domestic economy round trip, but British Airways award schedule is based on distance, and 18,000 is sufficient for two domestic non-stop round trips of 650 miles or shorter. If that fits your travel pattern, it is likely worth more than $285, but you need to spend some time in this thread to understand exactly how the BA program works:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...2014-a-18.html

onthego15

Don't think of this only for 6% on groceries.
The 3% categories (department stores and gas stations) are sometimes useful.
You get $150 cash back after your first $1000 in purchases
You can refer friends and family for $50 a referral (if they get the card)
The special offers are abundant and lucrative.

justinh20

Thanks for the direct comparison. I'll read up there and it really comes down to how much travel I really want to do as well. Personally, cash back may be more valuable to me if I don't want or plan to travel next year.
Is the BA redemption policy planned to change for 2015 or still up in the air?

True as well, but all of that would be true for either type of AmEx card (cash back or travel rewards)

Julian Brennan

I love my BCP but unfortunately it's capped @ $6k/yr so it only takes you so far when you tack on a $500 VGC every week @ the supermarket. For groceries the best card IMHO is the old blue cash, giving you unlimited 5% straight on groceries and also in drug stores after the first $6500 spent.

Another way to maximize CB on groceries is to get a Sallie Mae card for everyone in the family. They have 5% flat on groceries but the cap is @ $250/m so the OP would need ~3 cards to max it out with that volume...

eajusa

I agree that unless you are using the Everyday Card to earn Avios for a couple domestic tix in economy, you may prefer the cash back. Most of my flying is in Summer, so I enjoy the BCP for groceries. However, my flying frequency ever increases, I will seriously consider the Everyday instead for my grocery shopping.

justinh20

Thanks everyone for the inputs. I picked the Preferred card up through a targeted offer with $250 cash back (better than what's offered to public or through referral).

onthego15

Good for you! That's the first time I've seen a $250 offer. Very nice!

Fuerza

Just curious BCP 6% resets every year in January, correct?