Best Food > Gas > Other rewards

[longtimelurker]

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@trumpet-205 wrote:

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@DaveSignal wrote:

Following the chart, though, the dual Sallie Mae column doesn't really even need to be there.  For all spend levels, a single Sallie Mae always either beats or in a few small cases matches the cash back of a BCE.  There is still never a case, at any spend, where BCE wins.

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I like to point out that since BCE has annual cap, you are allowed to vary grocery spending whereas Sallie Mae the cap resets each month. If you don't max out a particular month's cap then it is wasted.

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True, but this can be easily mitigated if your fave store sells its own gift cards.  You just buy $250 at the beginning of each month and use them as needed.  In my case, the gift cards (Whole Foods) are also sold on Amazon, so you can get the $750 per month there as well.

[CCKing]

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@Themanwhocan wrote:

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@longtimelurker wrote:

TMWC: As the definitive spreadsheet, could you add two columns, Blue Cash (1% up to combined $6,500, then 5%) and BCE+BCP, and add rows for Groceries up to say $400 per week and gas  up to $200.   You know it will be time well spent!

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Why would you want a BCP+BCE column? Perhaps you are unaware, but a Sallie Mae always beats a BCE...

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No offense, but your spreadsheet has severe flaws and fails to consider the rewards between the lines. It also doesn't account for high grocery spending/low gas purchases. Theres no consideration of the sign up bonus, the possibility of having 1 SM and 1 BCE, fluctuations in monthly spend, situations where the grocery bill is greater than 250 in the same trip (are you seriously going to split the charge up)? Also, BCE/BCP offer plenty of rewards that give 20%+ cash back at popular merchants. Additionally the perks with amex are superior to WMC, like if you lose/break merchandise without being liable. Then there's the cash back at department stores.... In other words, your spreadsheet misses a lot and leads to what I believe is a highly erroneous conclusion.

[CCKing]

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@Themanwhocan wrote:

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@longtimelurker wrote:

TMWC: As the definitive spreadsheet, could you add two columns, Blue Cash (1% up to combined $6,500, then 5%) and BCE+BCP, and add rows for Groceries up to say $400 per week and gas  up to $200.   You know it will be time well spent!

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Why would you want a BCP+BCE column? Perhaps you are unaware, but a Sallie Mae always beats a BCE...

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The spreadsheet isn't that great, TBH. Forget the fact that amex BCE has superior perks to WMC, my BCE always has bonus offers of 20%+ cash back at popular merchants. Let alone it gives you more cash off the bat with a greater sign up bonus. Also, what happens in situations where the grocery bill exceeds $250 or if you have large fluctuations in spending month over month?

[Themanwhocan]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

TMWC: As the definitive spreadsheet, could you add two columns, Blue Cash (1% up to combined $6,500, then 5%) and BCE+BCP, and add rows for Groceries up to say $400 per week and gas  up to $200.   You know it will be time well spent!

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Well, the new chart shows that Sallie Mae always wins, provided you have enough Sallie Mae cards  A straight 5% cash back with no annual fee will always win, provided you have enough of those cards to prevent going over the spending caps. BCP with its 6% cash back on grocery up to $6000 spend, is actually always less than 5% cash back due to the $75 annual fee. Its actually 4.75% cash back on exactly $6000 of groceries, and if you spend more or less than $6000, than 4.75% drops much lower...

A significant piece of the puzzle is not being shown here. The Sallie Mae cards have a $750/month 5% Book Store cash back, which is great if you order from amazon.com on a regular basis. The Blue Cash card also gives 5% cash back on Drugstore purchases, and as many of us already know the world is being taken over by CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, etc... Its only a matter of time.

Its only a matter of time...

[mongstradamus]

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@Themanwhocan wrote:

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@longtimelurker wrote:

TMWC: As the definitive spreadsheet, could you add two columns, Blue Cash (1% up to combined $6,500, then 5%) and BCE+BCP, and add rows for Groceries up to say $400 per week and gas  up to $200.   You know it will be time well spent!

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Well, the new chart shows that Sallie Mae always wins, provided you have enough Sallie Mae cards  A straight 5% cash back with no annual fee will always win, provided you have enough of those cards to prevent going over the spending caps. BCP with its 6% cash back on grocery up to $6000 spend, is actually always less than 5% cash back due to the $75 annual fee. Its actually 4.75% cash back on exactly $6000 of groceries, and if you spend more or less than $6000, than 4.75% drops much lower...

A significant piece of the puzzle is not being shown here. The Sallie Mae cards have a $750/month 5% Book Store cash back, which is great if you order from amazon.com on a regular basis. The Blus Cash card also gives 5% cash back on Drugstore purchases, and as many of us already know the world is being taken over by CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, etc... Its only a matter of time.

Its only a matter of time...

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That is really interesting what i am thinking about now is if amex will ever offer PC from BCP to one of those everyday cards. My plan would be app for sallie mae in october, and then PC my BCP to an everyday but looks like they don't offer the PC yet. 

[longtimelurker]

THanks for the great enhanced chart!

As a BC fan, it's nice to see that even when used "properly", at the high end you get much more cash back than the alternatives.  

A common less proper  use for the card is really to buy $5049.50 of stuff at CVS per day (for the hard core).   It would take a LOT of Sallie Mae cards to allow this at supermarkets!

[Themanwhocan]

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That is really interesting what i am thinking about now is if amex will ever offer PC from BCP to one of those everyday cards. My plan would be app for sallie mae in october, and then PC my BCP to an everyday but looks like they don't offer the PC yet. 

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[longtimelurker]

Makes me long for the days when BCP was uncapped!

[Themanwhocan]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

Makes me long for the days when BCP was uncapped!

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I'm just a newbie, that is before my time.

[longtimelurker]

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@Themanwhocan wrote:

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@longtimelurker wrote:

Makes me long for the days when BCP was uncapped!

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I'm just a newbie, that is before my time.

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The uncapped phase didn't last all that long, but Amex handled it well, imposing the cap on your anniversary date, giving some people nearly an extra year of uncapped 6%.