Jan 26, 2016, 7:19 pm
Last edit by: ChrisFlyer66
This thread includes all posts for 2016 onwards. The previous 2013- 2014 megathread is here. The 2015 thread is here.
This card is no longer available to new applicants!
Bonus category spending is now capped at $50,000 per year.
Oct 22, 2014 onwards: Many people getting cancellation email from Amex.
Amex may continue to close accounts for excessive spend in bonus categories. Some who have been shutdown are reporting back that AMEX is declining new non-OBC card applications due to "unsatisfactory relationship". (However, see here for an example where reconsideration was successful.) It is unclear at this time the length/extent of this Adverse Action/Ban.
If AMEX sends you a cancellation it goes on your record as a cancellation by AMEX, not a cancellation by cardholder. While FICO score does not distinguish between closed by issuer and closed by cardholder, on manual review it may raise questions. However, issuers close cards for benign reasons as well (such as non-use) so unless several cards have been closed it probably won't cause a rejection by itself.
Excessive MS on this card may sever your ties with Amex. Consider factors that may have led to these closures when sharing personal experiences.
Up to 5% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores (Everyday Purchases). Up to 1% Cash Back on other purchases. For your first $6,500¹ spend in a reward year², you will earn 1% on Everyday Purchases³ (5% after 6500⁴), and 0.5% on other purchases (then 1%).
0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months.
Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, or purchases of other cash equivalents. Additional terms and restrictions apply. (Presume these T&Cs are standard and that all credit cards state this)
¹ First '$6,500' is spend on all purchases.
³ 'everyday purchases' refers to U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores, not all purchases.
⁴ 5% kicks in immediately after hitting $6500.(mid-statement). In fact, it will even kick in mid-purchase and a portion of the purchase will credit at the higher rate.
* Reward dollars for the previous statement period show up a day or two after the current statement period closes.
* Most cash back redemptions will be applied to your statement within 2–3 days.
* Helpful post regarding moving CL between cards. Thanks lad2
* How to Visually Distinguish the Three Types of Blue Cash Cards:
Blue Cash (old) has a "<" character to the left of the word CASH
Blue Cash Everyday has a circle to the right of the word CASH, with the "Everyday" wording at the back.
Blue Cash Preferred has the word PREFERRED printed vertically on the extreme left side.
If you get the error message "You cannot be logged in. Please contact the number on the back of your card." when trying to redeem Reward Dollars online, it may be because you have too many closed accounts still showing in your scrolling images of cards. Delete the closed ones, then try to redeem again.
This card is no longer available to new applicants!
Bonus category spending is now capped at $50,000 per year.
Oct 22, 2014 onwards: Many people getting cancellation email from Amex.
Amex may continue to close accounts for excessive spend in bonus categories. Some who have been shutdown are reporting back that AMEX is declining new non-OBC card applications due to "unsatisfactory relationship". (However, see here for an example where reconsideration was successful.) It is unclear at this time the length/extent of this Adverse Action/Ban.
If AMEX sends you a cancellation it goes on your record as a cancellation by AMEX, not a cancellation by cardholder. While FICO score does not distinguish between closed by issuer and closed by cardholder, on manual review it may raise questions. However, issuers close cards for benign reasons as well (such as non-use) so unless several cards have been closed it probably won't cause a rejection by itself.
Excessive MS on this card may sever your ties with Amex. Consider factors that may have led to these closures when sharing personal experiences.
Up to 5% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores (Everyday Purchases). Up to 1% Cash Back on other purchases. For your first $6,500¹ spend in a reward year², you will earn 1% on Everyday Purchases³ (5% after 6500⁴), and 0.5% on other purchases (then 1%).
0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months.
Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, or purchases of other cash equivalents. Additional terms and restrictions apply. (Presume these T&Cs are standard and that all credit cards state this)
¹ First '$6,500' is spend on all purchases.
³ 'everyday purchases' refers to U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores, not all purchases.
⁴ 5% kicks in immediately after hitting $6500.(mid-statement). In fact, it will even kick in mid-purchase and a portion of the purchase will credit at the higher rate.
* Reward dollars for the previous statement period show up a day or two after the current statement period closes.
* Most cash back redemptions will be applied to your statement within 2–3 days.
* Helpful post regarding moving CL between cards. Thanks lad2
* How to Visually Distinguish the Three Types of Blue Cash Cards:
Blue Cash (old) has a "<" character to the left of the word CASH
Blue Cash Everyday has a circle to the right of the word CASH, with the "Everyday" wording at the back.
Blue Cash Preferred has the word PREFERRED printed vertically on the extreme left side.
If you get the error message "You cannot be logged in. Please contact the number on the back of your card." when trying to redeem Reward Dollars online, it may be because you have too many closed accounts still showing in your scrolling images of cards. Delete the closed ones, then try to redeem again.
Old Amex Blue (2016 onwards)[not taking new applications]
Sep 3, 2018, 2:19 pm
#424
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,944
Any recent experience with reaching the threshold via Amex GC purchase? Last year a supervisor queried it (when looking at my account for another reason) but it was OK then....
Oct 8, 2018, 8:40 pm
#426
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 198
i love FT. What is hard to calculate with BC rewards? Last time I checked, $56,500 spend with 6500 at 1x and 50000 at 5x equaled $2565.
Oct 8, 2018, 8:54 pm
#428
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: SAN
Programs: Delta Gold. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Explorist.
Posts: 1,674
You should be able to see the reward year online by logging into your account. It is definitely not based on calendar year.
Oct 10, 2018, 12:01 pm
#429
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 6
On top of that, some stores that I shop at for groceries "fred meyer" are excluded from their grocery category, so it's not that straightforward.
I just did a search on my reward refunds over the past 2 years vs. total spend on the card, and I'm coming up with the following:
Overall cash back rate: 1.5%
Comparing to Sapphire Reserve with points worth 1.5c on my preferred airline, and 3x points on travel and dining it looks like I'm better off using the Reserve for daily spend.
Then given that I'd be using the Reserve mostly, it's unclear whether it would even be worth using the OG blue cash for groceries etc. to get to 5% after $6500. Probably not, I'm looking at ~3% CB oveall, or $335 more in CB vs. using the Reserve for everything.
Last edited by xEtherealx; Oct 10, 2018 at 12:28 pm
Oct 10, 2018, 1:19 pm
#430
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: SLC
Posts: 97
5% on grocery, gas, pharmacy, 1% on everything else
On top of that, some stores that I shop at for groceries "fred meyer" are excluded from their grocery category, so it's not that straightforward.
I just did a search on my reward refunds over the past 2 years vs. total spend on the card, and I'm coming up with the following:
Overall cash back rate: 1.5%
Comparing to Sapphire Reserve with points worth 1.5c on my preferred airline, and 3x points on travel and dining it looks like I'm better off using the Reserve for daily spend.
Then given that I'd be using the Reserve mostly, it's unclear whether it would even be worth using the OG blue cash for groceries etc. to get to 5% after $6500. Probably not, I'm looking at ~3% CB oveall, or $335 more in CB vs. using the Reserve for everything.
On top of that, some stores that I shop at for groceries "fred meyer" are excluded from their grocery category, so it's not that straightforward.
I just did a search on my reward refunds over the past 2 years vs. total spend on the card, and I'm coming up with the following:
Overall cash back rate: 1.5%
Comparing to Sapphire Reserve with points worth 1.5c on my preferred airline, and 3x points on travel and dining it looks like I'm better off using the Reserve for daily spend.
Then given that I'd be using the Reserve mostly, it's unclear whether it would even be worth using the OG blue cash for groceries etc. to get to 5% after $6500. Probably not, I'm looking at ~3% CB oveall, or $335 more in CB vs. using the Reserve for everything.
If you are going to Manufacture spend, keep your OBC.
Last edited by MauiKauaiOahu; Oct 10, 2018 at 1:21 pm Reason: clarify annual fee
Oct 11, 2018, 9:07 am
#431
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 198
5% on grocery, gas, pharmacy, 1% on everything else
On top of that, some stores that I shop at for groceries "fred meyer" are excluded from their grocery category, so it's not that straightforward.
I just did a search on my reward refunds over the past 2 years vs. total spend on the card, and I'm coming up with the following:
Overall cash back rate: 1.5%
Comparing to Sapphire Reserve with points worth 1.5c on my preferred airline, and 3x points on travel and dining it looks like I'm better off using the Reserve for daily spend.
Then given that I'd be using the Reserve mostly, it's unclear whether it would even be worth using the OG blue cash for groceries etc. to get to 5% after $6500. Probably not, I'm looking at ~3% CB oveall, or $335 more in CB vs. using the Reserve for everything.
On top of that, some stores that I shop at for groceries "fred meyer" are excluded from their grocery category, so it's not that straightforward.
I just did a search on my reward refunds over the past 2 years vs. total spend on the card, and I'm coming up with the following:
Overall cash back rate: 1.5%
Comparing to Sapphire Reserve with points worth 1.5c on my preferred airline, and 3x points on travel and dining it looks like I'm better off using the Reserve for daily spend.
Then given that I'd be using the Reserve mostly, it's unclear whether it would even be worth using the OG blue cash for groceries etc. to get to 5% after $6500. Probably not, I'm looking at ~3% CB oveall, or $335 more in CB vs. using the Reserve for everything.
Oct 11, 2018, 4:02 pm
#432
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 50
Spending beyond 50K cap?
My rewards year ended on Sept 10, and just got my Oct statement that had a full accounting for the Rewards Dollar Spending for the year. Because I miss counted some spending -- I went over my $56,500 target ($6500 initial + 50K at 'bonus' rates). I actually spent $57,387 for the year (as shown on my statement). So I expected that the 'extra' $887 would either get no Rewards Dollars at all or get only 1%. But all of the spending on my Sept statement was credited with the full 5%. Did I just get lucky -- or did they remove the spending cap?
Oct 11, 2018, 5:17 pm
#433
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 1,066
who the heck knows. I've contacted amex after the statement closes to check rewards rate on a few transactions and quite honestly I'm not sure that they are 100% correct. Looking back at my september statement I can't seem to make sense of some of the rates. I can tell you that I asked them about a specific charge after it posted and they told me it was credited at 5%. Turns out and 1,038.28 was at 5% and 446.82 was at 1%. Don't trust what they tell you, I'm glad i checked. Guess this is a good reason to make sure and finsih up a few months before the end of your year.