The Amex EveryDay^® Preferred Credit Card — Full Review [2024]

Great Card If

• You spend approximately $100 per week in groceries and make enough additional transactions to reach the 50% bonus level
• You are a frequent driver and buy a lot of gas
• You use your credit card often to make regular purchases

Don’t Get If

• You rarely use a credit card when you shop
• You do not travel frequently
• You won’t make enough transactions to reach the 50% bonus level

Welcome Bonus & Earning Categories

If you apply for the card, you will be eligible to get the current sign up bonus after you’ve used your card to make the required amount in purchases within the allotted time frame (see the card summary table above).

Accumulating points on this particular card is pretty easy. That’s because, as the name of the card suggests, you can get your points by spending on “everyday” purchases like groceries and gas.

Earn 3x points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year (after that, you still earn 1x points), 2x points at U.S. gas stations, and 1x points on other purchases (Terms and Conditions Apply).

Bottom Line: Earn 3x points at U.S. supermarkets, 2x points at U.S. gas stations, and 1x points on other purchases made with the Amex EveryDay Preferred card.

Your 50% Bonus Is Awaiting You

This Amex card comes with a bonus after making a certain number of purchases with your card inside of a billing period.

After getting your points, including bonus points, if you’ve made 30 or more purchases during a billing period, you’ll earn a 50% bonus on points from those purchases.

This is pretty incredible! With the bonus, the equivalent earnings rate of the Amex EveryDay Preferred card becomes 1.5x (everything), 3x (U.S. gas stations), and 4.5x (U.S. supermarkets).

You will certainly not struggle to earn points if you use the card enough, and this rate rivals that of most other cards out there!

Additional Bonus Categories Common to All Membership Rewards Cards

Like all Membership Rewards cards right now, you can get 2x points for making travel purchases through the AmexTravel.com Portal.

Unfortunately, the 50% bonus for 30 transactions does not apply to points earned in the AmexTravel.com Portal, although each portal transaction will count toward one of your 30 purchases to activate the bonus.

The Benefits of Being a Member of the Amex EveryDay Preferred Card

For the utmost in purchase protection, just use the Amex EveryDay Preferred card when you make your purchases. Doing so can give you peace of mind and additional coverage on items you buy (for all items, Terms and Conditions Apply).

• Extended Warranty – With the extended warranty, you can get up to one additional year added to the original manufacturer’s warranty on items you purchase with your AMEX card.
• Purchase Protection – You can keep eligible items safe from damage or theft up to 90 days from purchase by buying them with your card.
• Return Protection – Should you try to return an item you purchased with your AMEX card but it is the original manufacturer, American Express may provide you with a refund of up to $300.

American Express will also work with you to help resolve any fraudulent or incorrect charges that appear on your AMEX statements.

Bottom Line: When you’re a member, you are covered on the items you purchase with the Amex EveryDay Preferred card.

Other Perks: Insurance, Protection, and More

The Amex EveryDay Preferred card can also offer some awesome perks if you’re a frequent traveler. Just by having and using your card, you’ll get the ultimate in protection and coverage, such as:

• Roadside assistance
• Car rental loss and damage insurance
• Global Assist Hotline
• Travel accident insurance
• Baggage insurance plan

Regardless of whether you travel for business or fun, you can have the peace of mind in knowing that you’re covered.

Bottom Line: Members have additional insurance coverage just by using the Amex EveryDay Preferred card to book travel and other arrangements.

Drawbacks of Using the Card

Even though there are a number of nice benefits to having the Amex EveryDay Preferred card in your pocket, there are a couple of things you should consider before applying.

These are especially important because there are a ton of credit cards out there that you can choose from!

First, this card does charge an annual fee of $95. That being said, if you do a few quick calculations and determine that the rewards will outweigh the cost, that amount could easily be well worth it.

Also, unlike most American Express cards, this card allows you to carry a balance, meaning you don’t have to pay off all of your charges every month.

While this may sound like a benefit at first, it can actually be both a blessing and a curse since interest accrues on the unpaid balance.

So, if you do opt to only pay off a portion of your charges in a given month, you need to be careful not to let things snowball or you could end up owing quite a bit just in interest charges over time.

Any interest paid will massively outweigh the benefits of your points, so don’t get this card simply to collect points if you will go into debt doing so.

The Amex EveryDay Preferred card can provide a ton of bonus points if you use it frequently. There may be other cards that are more suited to you, though, if you don’t think you’ll use it regularly.

If, however, you are someone who pulls out the plastic to pay for purchases both large and small, then you could definitely find yourself racking up the rewards points pretty quickly with this card.

Bottom Line: If you use the Amex EveryDay Preferred card regularly, it can offer a lot of rewards. Just be mindful of the accrued interest charges if you carry a monthly balance!

How To Get the Most Out of Your Card

There are a number of ways to get rewards from using the Amex EveryDay Preferred card – starting by using the card for making your “everyday” purchases like groceries and gas.

Use the card at least 30 times in a billing cycle, and you’ll get even more rewards on those purchases. This threshold activates the 50% bonus on all points earned in the billing period.

The card offers a variety of rewards, including protection for purchases like extended warranty options and protection from theft or damage.

For those who travel frequently, the card also provides peace of mind through its additional insurance, roadside assistance, and global assist hotline.

The card offers other nice perks, too, such as an introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers.

Unlike most other American Express cards, members of this card are able to carry a balance from month to month.

Bottom Line: The Amex EveryDay Preferred card rewards you for making your “everyday” purchases; the more often you use it, the more rewards you can earn.

Best Way To Redeem Amex Points

You can redeem points from the Amex EveryDay Preferred card in a multitude of ways. Here are just a few tips on redeeming Membership Rewards points:

Option #1:  For those who love to travel, you can use points toward a variety of different frequent flyer programs, or you can use them to pay for travel reservations directly.

Option #2:  You can easily book your travel via the AmexTravel.com portal. This will typically provide you with the easiest options for redeeming your points.

Option #3:  While travel will generally provide you the most “bang for your points bucks,” points can also be used for obtaining gift cards as well as shopping through one of the many AMEX shopping partners like Amazon.com or BestBuy.com.

However, these options typically produce values of $0.01 or less per point, while travel will get you at least $0.01; some travel redemptions can even be made for well over $0.02 per point!

Best Way To Maximize Amex Points

There are a lot of ways you can benefit from the Amex EveryDay Preferred card, and you should know the best ways to accumulate Membership Rewards points.

One of the greatest things about this particular card is that it allows you to do just that! By combining bonus categories with overall transaction bonuses, you will be nearing a reward in no time.

Members of the card should ideally have a strategy in place for earning points each month. Here are some tips:

Tip #1:  Be sure you use your card 30 or more times on purchases in a billing period so you get 50% more points on those purchases (minus any credits and/or returns).

Tip #2:  When you use the credit card for purchases at U.S. supermarkets, you can earn 3x points on up to $6,000 per year. After that, you earn 1x points.

Tip #3:  Pay at the pump to get 2x bonus points on unlimited gas throughout the year (U.S. gas stations only).

Tip #4:  Check out any Amex Offers in your account portal for other potential deals to boost your points! You may get additional points at places like Target, Amazon.com, and more.

Tip #5: Remember to use the card to book trips on the AmexTravel.com site. You will get 2x points for all travel booked through the site.

Caveat: the 50% bonus does not cover points earned through the travel portal, but this will count as a transaction towards your 30 transaction goal!

American Express has both hotel and airline partners through its Membership Rewards program that you can transfer to for (often) outsized value.