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Pretty sure that the Blue Cash Preferred is cash back only, not part of the rewards network. That's generally for their charge cards, which I abandoned a while back. (I'm not good at keeping track of points.)
I wasn't aware of the $25 increment deal --good to know -- but IMO, $25 chunks is way better than $100 or more, and I see a lot of those.
It is, you can access the reward store and buy from there. I don't think it's the same reward store as the reward cards though. They offer things like ear buds, Wiis, gift cards, golf clubs, etc. And you can use your cash back that you earned on those things.
But again, aside from the gift cards, everything on there is 2-3x MSRP! Really... silly to say politely
@Anonymous wrote:It is, you can access the reward store and buy from there. I don't think it's the same reward store as the reward cards though. They offer things like ear buds, Wiis, gift cards, golf clubs, etc. And you can use your cash back that you earned on those things.
But again, aside from the gift cards, everything on there is 2-3x MSRP! Really... silly to say politely
+1
One of the reasons that I prefer cash rewards to points! I understand cash way better than I understand ear buds. And we don't even want to talk about me and golf clubs --not a pretty subject.
@Anonymous wrote:I recently gotten the preffered. Two things I noticed, the price of the "reward store" and that you can only apply cash back credit to your account in $25 increments.
I just stumbled on this blog after searching the net wondering why the reward store is so expensive (their prices are 2-3x MSRP), so I'll just link it: http://www.thousandaire.com/blog/american-express-rewards-suck/
I also didn't know that you can only claim cash back to credit balance in $25 increments, that makes little sense. Otherwise it's a great card and well worth the annual fee, seeing how easy it is to make it up and gain money by spending on groceries and gas, along with all the other benefits that come with AMEX.
I especially like that Americans answer whenever I called customer support, instead of 100% Indians as is the case with Chase
The rewards store sucks, but you can still get the statement credits in $25 increments. FWIW -- You used to have to wait for an annual statement credit, so in some ways the $25 at any time is an improvement.
I got approved for a Gold and Clear card with an Experian score between 680-700 with 44% utilization at the time so basically it depends how the computers are acting that day.
@tntexans72 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:anyone have one of these cards (blue cash preffered card) ? rewards seem good, didnt know how hard it is to get? has a $75 annual fee tho
Do you have a family? Like OP say, this card will be ideal for a family or if you spend more than $300 per month on grocery.Lets say you spend $300 per month on grocery.....
$300 x 12 months = $3600 annually.
6% cashback at grocery stores
$3600 x 6% = $216 cash back annually
That figure will justify the $75 AF. If you are a family of 4, your grocery bill each month would avg. around $500 x 12 months = $6000. You'll save $360 than.
Bottom line, you just have to figure out what rewards works best for you base on your spending.
I am not really disagreeing that $300/month of groceries is where this card might be useful. But I would suggest that those thinking about how to justify a $75 AF be less loose with the figures and use a realistic alternative in the comparison. A good choice might be the Everyday version of this card at 3% on supermarkets w/o AF. The question could then be what average spending on groceries per month at the 3% extra payback gives back enough cash to justify the $75 AF. The break-even is 75/(6%-3%)/12, or $208.33/month. Then it is time to be loose when factoring in the uncertainty (like one quarter of Chase Freedom at 5%, using that for GCs, etc.). If you did count on the full $1,500 cap on the Freedom bonus annually, the break-even shifts to $333.33/month.
@Anonymous wrote:
@tntexans72 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:anyone have one of these cards (blue cash preffered card) ? rewards seem good, didnt know how hard it is to get? has a $75 annual fee tho
Do you have a family? Like OP say, this card will be ideal for a family or if you spend more than $300 per month on grocery.Lets say you spend $300 per month on grocery.....
$300 x 12 months = $3600 annually.
6% cashback at grocery stores
$3600 x 6% = $216 cash back annually
That figure will justify the $75 AF. If you are a family of 4, your grocery bill each month would avg. around $500 x 12 months = $6000. You'll save $360 than.
Bottom line, you just have to figure out what rewards works best for you base on your spending.
I am not really disagreeing that $300/month of groceries is where this card might be useful. But I would suggest that those thinking about how to justify a $75 AF be less loose with the figures and use a realistic alternative in the comparison. A good choice might be the Everyday version of this card at 3% on supermarkets w/o AF. The question could then be what average spending on groceries per month at the 3% extra payback gives back enough cash to justify the $75 AF. The break-even is 75/(6%-3%)/12, or $208.33/month. Then it is time to be loose when factoring in the uncertainty (like one quarter of Chase Freedom at 5%, using that for GCs, etc.). If you did count on the full $1,500 cap on the Freedom bonus annually, the break-even shifts to $333.33/month.
Good analysis of the numbers up to a point, but the last sentence doesn't take into account that Chase doesn't do 5% on groceries every quarter. (Alas.) Sorry, I might have missed something you were saying there though.
I cook from scratch, thus minimal restaurant bills, and I like to get creative, thus significant grocery bills. I looked at my grocery bills over the last year, ran the numbers, and yup, I definitely come out ahead with the Preferred, even with the fee. And I'm really, really allergic to fee cards, so I didn't do this lightly. I use my Freedom or any other Visa/ MC with a groceries reward at my tiny little neighborhood market that doesn't take AmEx for the emergency runs.
@haulingthescoreup wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I am not really disagreeing that $300/month of groceries is where this card might be useful. But I would suggest that those thinking about how to justify a $75 AF be less loose with the figures and use a realistic alternative in the comparison. A good choice might be the Everyday version of this card at 3% on supermarkets w/o AF. The question could then be what average spending on groceries per month at the 3% extra payback gives back enough cash to justify the $75 AF. The break-even is 75/(6%-3%)/12, or $208.33/month. Then it is time to be loose when factoring in the uncertainty (like one quarter of Chase Freedom at 5%, using that for GCs, etc.). If you did count on the full $1,500 cap on the Freedom bonus annually, the break-even shifts to $333.33/month.Good analysis of the numbers up to a point, but the last sentence doesn't take into account that Chase doesn't do 5% on groceries every quarter. (Alas.) Sorry, I might have missed something you were saying there though.
I cook from scratch, thus minimal restaurant bills, and I like to get creative, thus significant grocery bills. I looked at my grocery bills over the last year, ran the numbers, and yup, I definitely come out ahead with the Preferred, even with the fee. And I'm really, really allergic to fee cards, so I didn't do this lightly. I use my Freedom or any other Visa/ MC with a groceries reward at my tiny little neighborhood market that doesn't take AmEx for the emergency runs.
Sometimes I am guilty of the sin of idea compression. I did assume just one quarterly $1,500 Chase bonus spending cap, which some might need to spread beyond the one quarter through purchases of gift cards in the grocery store. Which of course really throws the numbers off if the gift cards are not for groceries, hence the uncertainty admission. I am going to have to learn a lot about gift cards pretty soon, because Chase is converting my old Perfect (3% on gas) into my second Freedom.
Wow, I never thought of the gift cards angle! Interesting twist. (Do you get rewards on gift cards? I can't remember.)
Wish I could compress some ideas. Cheers!
@haulingthescoreup wrote:Wow, I never thought of the gift cards angle! Interesting twist. (Do you get rewards on gift cards? I can't remember.)
Wish I could compress some ideas. Cheers!
While I don't think Amex gives rewards on gift cards (per se), I don't think the merchant transmits information as to how much of your purchase is of gift cards. So, while I believe it's against Amex's policies, I think it's unenforceable.