Hard not to love Amex..

[disdreamin]

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@Runitup wrote:

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@disdreamin wrote:

I have both SM and BCP due to our high grocery spend. My plan is to put the first $250 per month on SM, and then the remainder on BCP. I easily max out the combined totals, so not worried about losing out on the BCP benefits. I am trying to remember to put all gas on SM since it gives a better return, but either is better than dumping gas onto a different card (at least the ones in my arsenal - ).

My calculations show BCP being better than BCE for grocery spend if you will be putting more than $2500 annually in grocery spend through the card (I didn't factor fuel or other spend in, just ran grocery numbers), If those numbers are wrong, please let me know, but that's the break-even point taking the differences in earnings and the annual fee into account - if I calculated things correctly.

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Not for me.

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Do tell! If there is something better out there, I am ALL ears. What am I missing?!  (These forums are SO bad for my AAoA...I'm hoping this isn't a different card I'm going to feel compelled to get).

[disdreamin]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@onstar wrote:

I'm not a big Costco fan, but that can certainly be true. On many food items, they are 10%+ cheaper.

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Yep, and Amex gets you 1% off Costco gas, 

Maybe it's different in other states, but here in CA, there's very little value in a 5% cashback gas card - often you'll be paying at best equal to, but usually much greater than, costco or ARCO prices. And with ARCO, you can buy gas cards at Smart & Final (codes as grocery store), for cashback.

For gas, just use an app like GasBuddy and you'll save a lot more than 5%. But I can see why some people want to avoid Costco or ARCO gas stations for convenience - there can be long lines at costco, and ARCO doesn't take CCs and charges $0.35 for debit.

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I've lucked into living near enough to a Costco that our local ginormous gas station essentially matches their price (Costco is currently 1 cent less per gallon, but they are normally the same). So I get the benefit of low gas price plus the rewards savings. Basically, I shop at the cheapest place AND use SM or BCP.

[onstar]

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@disdreamin wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@onstar wrote:

I'm not a big Costco fan, but that can certainly be true. On many food items, they are 10%+ cheaper.

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Yep, and Amex gets you 1% off Costco gas, 

Maybe it's different in other states, but here in CA, there's very little value in a 5% cashback gas card - often you'll be paying at best equal to, but usually much greater than, costco or ARCO prices. And with ARCO, you can buy gas cards at Smart & Final (codes as grocery store), for cashback.

For gas, just use an app like GasBuddy and you'll save a lot more than 5%. But I can see why some people want to avoid Costco or ARCO gas stations for convenience - there can be long lines at costco, and ARCO doesn't take CCs and charges $0.35 for debit.

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I've lucked into living near enough to a Costco that our local ginormous gas station essentially matches their price (Costco is currently 1 cent less per gallon, but they are normally the same). So I get the benefit of low gas price plus the rewards savings. Basically, I shop at the cheapest place AND use SM or BCP.

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In southern California, Costco gas is usually 5-10% cheaper than other gas stations.

Current gas prices near me, per GasBuddy:

Shell: 3.87

Mobil: 3.79

Chevron: 3.59

Shell: 3.47

76: 3.47

Costco: 3.19

This trend (5-10% savings) holds true for most of the places I visit around here.

Edited to add: Plus, the Amex Costco card gives you back 3%.

[disdreamin]

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onstar wrote:

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<snip>

This trend (5-10% savings) holds true for most of the places I visit around here.

Edited to add: Plus, the Amex Costco card gives you back 3%.

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Here, Costco is currently $2.86 and Delta Sonic is $2.87 (lowest two in my immediate area), and Sallie Mae gets me 5% off, so I'll stick with that. As you said, YMMV depending on your location and cards. Still, I'm feeling pretty lucky with our gas prices right about now.  

[takeshi74]

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@Bman70 wrote:

BCP is hard to beat!

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As with any card, depends on one's spend.  There are certainly other cards that would fit better with other spend patterns.

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@disdreamin wrote:

Do tell! If there is something better out there, I am ALL ears. What am I missing?!  

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Sounds like you're not running the numbers for your spend.  That is a must when considering rewards cards.  You cannot rely on generalizations about better/best/etc.  THese are subjective terms.  If you want to know what's better for you then you need to provide more details on your spend.  What categories and what volumes?

If you don't want to run the numbers then look for themanwhocan's charts.

[disdreamin]

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@takeshi74 wrote:

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@disdreamin wrote:

Do tell! If there is something better out there, I am ALL ears. What am I missing?!  

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Sounds like you're not running the numbers for your spend.  That is a must when considering rewards cards.  You cannot rely on generalizations about better/best/etc.  THese are subjective terms.  If you want to know what's better for you then you need to provide more details on your spend.  What categories and what volumes?

If you don't want to run the numbers then look for themanwhocan's charts.

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I've run the numbers as well as looked at the charts provided by TMWC. I have what makes the most sense for my household at this point, unless there is something new out there that I am not yet aware of. That was the reason for my asking, NOT because I haven't spent the time to investigate and ask questions pertaining directly to my spending. At this point, the only better choices for me (for groceries and gas) would be two SMs paired with my BCP (not going to do that, I've got two new Barclay accounts this year, Arrival+ and one SM) or OBC (which I've read some odd things about and decided to steer clear of, although for my spend it would have been the optimal choice).

Thus, unless there is something new out there I am not yet enlightened about, I'm all good. If there *is* something new, and it isn't issued by someone I'm afraid to rock the boat with (Chase, I'm looking at YOU), I'd definitely consider another card/account to up the ante as far as annual return.