Family Finances: Why the Amex Blue Cash Preferred Card Is Great for Families Seeking Cash-Back

Travel rewards often get the most attention in the world of credit card rewards, but great cash-back credit cards can also be very valuable additions to your wallet.

The Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express is one such example. It allows you to earn up to 6% cash-back at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. streaming subscriptions, and U.S. gas stations and transit.

In this guide, we explain why the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card is well worth considering for families looking to earn more cash-back on their daily purchases.

Card Overview

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Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express

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This card is great for those who want to earn cash-back with U.S. supermarkets, U.S. streaming subscriptions, transit, and U.S. gas stations.

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Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express

This card is great for those who want to earn cash-back with U.S. supermarkets, U.S. streaming subscriptions, transit, and U.S. gas stations.

Welcome Offer

You may be eligible for as high as $300 cash back after spending $3,000 in purchases on your new Card in the first 6 months. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Cash back is received as Reward Dollars, redeemable for statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout. Terms Apply.

As High As $300 Cash Back. Find Out Your Offer.

UP's Offer Valuation*:

As High As $300

Annual Fee

$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.

APR

19.49%-28.49% Variable,0% on purchases for 12 months

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.

Good to Excellent

Why We Like This Card

The Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express is a stellar cash-back credit card for those looking to maximize every purchase they make.

With bonus categories like U.S. supermarkets, select U.S. streaming services, U.S. gas stations, and transit purchases, this card rewards you for the items you spend the most on in a big way! For those looking to earn up to 6% cash-back on their purchases, this could be the card for you!

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 6% cash-back at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year)
• 6% cash-back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions
• 3% cash-back on U.S. gas stations and transit (including rideshares, parking, etc.)

Cons

• $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95 annual fee (rates and fees)

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Card Highlights

• Apply and find out your welcome offer. As High As $300 cash back* after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply, and if approved: 1. Find out your offer amount 2. Accept the Card with your offer 3. Spend $3,000 in 6 months 4. Receive the cash back. *Cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed for a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout.
• $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.
• Enjoy 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months from the date of account opening. After that, your APR will be a variable APR of 19.49%-28.49%.
• Plan It^®: Buy now, pay later with Plan It. Split purchases of $100 or more into equal monthly installments with a fixed fee so you don’t have the pressure of paying all at once. Simply select the purchase in your online account or the American Express^® App to see your plan options. Plus, you’ll still earn rewards on purchases the way you usually do.
• Earn 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in eligible purchases (then 1%), 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions, 3% cash back at eligible U.S. gas stations and on transit (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more) purchases and 1% cash back on other purchases. Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit and at Amazon.com checkout.
• Get up to a $10 monthly statement credit after using your enrolled Blue Cash Preferred^® Card for a subscription purchase, including a bundle subscription purchase, at DisneyPlus.com, Hulu.com, or Stream.ESPN.com U.S. websites. Subject to auto-renewal.
• Terms Apply.

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 19.49%-28.49% Variable,0% on purchases for 12 months
• Foreign Transaction Fees: 2.7% of each transaction after conversion to US dollars.

Rewards Center

Redeem cash-back through your American Express account

Cash-Back on Groceries

One of the best benefits of the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card is the ability to earn 6% cash-back on up to $6,000 per year in purchases at U.S. supermarkets. You’ll be hard-pressed to find another credit card on the market that beats earning 6% cash-back on grocery spend.

Spending $6,000 or more on groceries each year shouldn’t be very difficult for most families. This will earn you $360 in annual cash-back on the first $6,000 and 1% cash back on all grocery spending thereafter.

Depending on the size of your monthly grocery expenses, it could make sense for your household to have 2 Amex Blue Cash Preferred cards, allowing you to earn 6% cash-back on up to $12,000 in grocery expenses each year across the 2 cards.

Cash-Back on Streaming Subscriptions

Streaming services are becoming increasingly popular, with seemingly every platform offering a streaming service now. If it’s been a while since you last looked through all the services you are paying for, it’s likely more than you might initially guess.

While one great way to save some extra cash is by cutting out a few of these services that you don’t use much, the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card is there to help out with the must-have streaming services you want to keep by giving you 6% cash-back on U.S. streaming subscriptions.

Fortunately, the list of included streaming service subscriptions eligible for the cash-back is quite extensive and includes:

Of course, unless you’re spending hundreds of dollars on streaming services per month, it’s unlikely that this bonus category will amount to considerable savings, like on groceries by comparison. Even still, if you’re spending money on grocery expenses anyway, you might as well earn as much cash-back as possible.

Cash-Back on Transit

With your Amex Blue Cash Preferred card, you’ll also earn an uncapped 3% cash-back on transit purchases, which includes taxis, rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses, and more.

This is a great addition because it is a flexible category, given that American Express categorizes multiple types of purchases as transit.

So whether you often have to drive your car on toll roads and/or pay for parking, frequently use rideshare services, or live in a city that is well-connected by trains, you’ll always earn 3% cash-back on all these purchases.

Cash-Back on Gas

The Amex Blue Cash Preferred card also earns an uncapped 3% cash-back at U.S. gas stations, another helpful daily expense category that tends to add up for most families. According to J.D. Power, the average family spends about $2,500 on gas yearly.

At that rate, earning 3% cash-back on these purchases would amount to $75 in cash-back each year. That figure nearly covers the annual fee of the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card without accounting for all the cash-back you’ll earn on the other bonus categories.

Keep in mind that not every gas merchant is eligible for extra cash-back. Eligible merchants include Gulf, Murphy USA, Murphy Express, Exxon, Mobil, Hess, and Shell. Superstores, supermarkets, and warehouse clubs that sell gasoline, like Target and Walmart, are not considered gas stations.

Additionally, eligible gas stations with convenience stores where you can purchase drinks, snacks, gift cards, and more are eligible for 3% cash-back.

Other Ways the Amex Blue Cash Preferred Helps Save Your Family Money

The Disney Streaming Statement Credit

Upon enrollment, cardholders get up to a $10 monthly statement credit after using their enrolled Blue Cash Preferred Card for a Disney Streaming subscription purchase, including a bundle subscription purchase, at Disneyplus.com, Hulu.com, or Stream.ESPN.com U.S. websites. Subject to auto-renewal

If you’re already paying for the Disney Streaming subscription, receiving this benefit is a nice win. The monthly credit amount helps to offset the Amex Blue Cash Preferred annual fee.

Amex Offers

While this perk is not exclusive to the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention how Amex Offers can help your family earn even more cash-back.

If you’re unfamiliar with it, each month, American Express will give you access to 100 offers from various merchants to help you earn additional cash-back when you shop with these merchants (enrollment required). To take advantage of the offers, you only need to add them to your card and then shop as you’d typically do.

While some offers will be more valuable than others, we commonly see Amex Offers with popular merchants such as lululemon, Sephora, Home Chef, and Chevron.

Card Protections

Your Amex Blue Cash Preferred card also comes with a few notable card protections to help keep you covered and save you cash when you have issues with a purchase or during your travels.

• Purchase Protection: Items purchased with your card are covered up to 90 days from the purchase date if stolen or accidentally damaged. The coverage is limited to up to $1,000 per covered purchase and up to $50,000 per account per calendar year.
• Return Protection: This policy allows you to return eligible purchases to American Express if the seller doesn’t take them back up to 90 days from the date of purchase. Coverage is limited to up to $300 per item, up to a maximum of $1,000 per calendar year per account.
• Extended Warranty Protection: This provides up to one extra year added to the original manufacturer’s warranty on warranties of 5 years or less.
• Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance: Use your card to reserve and pay for the entire rental and decline the rental company collision damage waiver (CDW), and you can be covered for damage to or theft of your rental vehicle in a covered territory. This coverage is secondary to your primary auto insurance.

Final Thoughts

The Amex Blue Cash Preferred card is easily one of the best credit cards for families seeking to earn more cash-back.

Not only does it help you earn tons of cash-back on the everyday items you spend the most on, like groceries, transit, streaming, and gas, but it also offers a monthly statement credit for Disney Streaming, access to Amex offers, various purchase protections, and more.

If your family already pays for Disney Streaming, and a significant amount of your monthly expenses go toward the card bonus categories like groceries and gas, and you’d like to earn more cash-back on these purchases, you should strongly consider adding the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card to your wallet.

Those who want more than cash-back can explore the full American Express card range before deciding.