topic Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee? in Credit Cards

Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 18:38:37 GMT

Planning on applying for the Blue Cash preferred or Blue Cash Everyday today, or tomorrow. I've been debating and trying to do the math on both. I am extremely unfamiliar with American Express in general. I'm trying to justify the $75 annual fee and figure out if it's worth it. As far as groceries go since I have three small children, I thought the 6% back would be amazing. I only spend about $40 a month on gas between my two cars as I work about a mile from my house. Are there any other perks besides those? I have other cards with double cash back on groceries, so the 3% doesn't sound that cool. The $150 bonus would cover the AF for 2 years. I'm hearing the BCE and BCP have similar underwriting also. If anybody believes one is harder to get than the other, please let me know. If you've had the BCP and downgraded or BCE and wished you had the other, please let me know why. Thank you for any info! :-)

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 18:44:19 GMT

I have the BCP and I love it with the exception of the rewards payout and usage. You can only claim rewards in $25 increments.

Other than that, they are good.

There are a lot more perks with the AMEX than just the rewards. Right now they are offering good rewards to pay your phone and cable bill. Along with other incentives that may or may not appeal to you.

I dislike the $75 AF but like you said, it has the first 2 years paid for with the spend bonus when you get the card, if you meet the spend requirments. I did with my first purchase.

It's a great card for groceries other than that. I max it out on the grocery reward CB every year. I spend about $500 a month on groceries.

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

Ghoshida — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 18:52:16 GMT

Right now, AMEX is offering a $250 bonus plus upto $200 in statement credit for cell phone bill payments. I suggest that OP search for that offer before applying. The regular offer is okayish. OP might want to use incognito browsing mode to get this offer.

The other perks of AMEX include the AMEX offers that they send to your account. I saved a fe hundred dollars last year using those.

Then there is the free Shoprunner membership.

Free Experian FICO score. You don't get it that easily elsewhere.

Whether it makes monetary sense is for the OP to judge. I use my Sallie Mae Mastercard as the daily driver.

And AMEX takes forever (read: about 60-90 days) for the rewards. Apart from that, it's okay.

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 18:59:11 GMT

@Ghoshida wrote:
Right now, AMEX is offering a $250 bonus plus upto $200 in statement credit for cell phone bill payments. I suggest that OP search for that offer before applying. The regular offer is okayish. OP might want to use incognito browsing mode to get this offer.

The other perks of AMEX include the AMEX offers that they send to your account. I saved a fe hundred dollars last year using those.

Then there is the free Shoprunner membership.

Free Experian FICO score. You don't get it that easily elsewhere.

Whether it makes monetary sense is for the OP to judge. I use my Sallie Mae Mastercard as the daily driver.

And AMEX takes forever (read: about 60-90 days) for the rewards. Apart from that, it's okay.

I wish I had app'd for the Sallie Mae...

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:04:22 GMT

Oooo I didn't know about the Experian score. I really like that. Can someone explain to me about why we do the offer in Ingognito mode? What does this do? And I'm assuming I just Google the offer? Or what do I do? Thanks for the tips!

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

CreditCuriosity — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:08:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Oooo I didn't know about the Experian score. I really like that. Can someone explain to me about why we do the offer in Ingognito mode? What does this do? And I'm assuming I just Google the offer? Or what do I do? Thanks for the tips!

Google how to do incognito mode or private mode for whatever browser you are using and you will get a step by step guide on how to do it.. Alot easier than one of us explaining how to do it where they will show you pictures, etc.

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

jacetx — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:09:18 GMT

If you spend $500 or more on groceries a month alone is worth it. The following calculation is based on $500 per month and takes into consideration the $6k cap on groceries spend. And this leaves out any sign up bonuses.

$500 x 12 = $6000 * 0.06 (6%) = $360 - $75 (AF) = $285 cashback = 4.75% cashback ($285/$6000)

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:13:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Ghoshida wrote:
Right now, AMEX is offering a $250 bonus plus upto $200 in statement credit for cell phone bill payments. I suggest that OP search for that offer before applying. The regular offer is okayish. OP might want to use incognito browsing mode to get this offer.

The other perks of AMEX include the AMEX offers that they send to your account. I saved a fe hundred dollars last year using those.

Then there is the free Shoprunner membership.

Free Experian FICO score. You don't get it that easily elsewhere.

Whether it makes monetary sense is for the OP to judge. I use my Sallie Mae Mastercard as the daily driver.

And AMEX takes forever (read: about 60-90 days) for the rewards. Apart from that, it's okay.
I wish I had app'd for the Sallie Mae...

Yes, the Sallie Mae certainly ate into the attractiveness of the BCP (and much more so the BCE). But now that is no longer available.... The calculations aren't hard, the BCP earns 4% more on groceries (up to $6K a year) and 1% more on gas than your 2% card. If a) that is more than the $75 AF, b) is beter than another card you could get, and c) the bonus is better than the alternatives, then it's a good match.

If you have much higher combined spend on gas, groceries and drug stores, consider the Old Blue Cash instead.

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:16:33 GMT

@jace8602 wrote:
If you spend $500 or more on groceries a month alone is worth it. The following calculation is based on $500 per month and takes into consideration the $6k cap on groceries spend. And this leaves out any sign up bonuses.

$500 x 12 = $6000 * 0.06 (6%) = $360 - $75 (AF) = $285 cashback = 4.75% cashback ($285/$6000)

That's just payback of the AF, have to consider what alternatives there are and see if this earns more. In the past, for example, 2 SM did better.

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

jacetx — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:25:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@jace8602 wrote:
If you spend $500 or more on groceries a month alone is worth it. The following calculation is based on $500 per month and takes into consideration the $6k cap on groceries spend. And this leaves out any sign up bonuses.

$500 x 12 = $6000 * 0.06 (6%) = $360 - $75 (AF) = $285 cashback = 4.75% cashback ($285/$6000)
That's just payback of the AF, have to consider what alternatives there are and see if this earns more. In the past, for example, 2 SM did better.

I'm not considering any other cards since OP specifically asked about the BCP. My calculation includes the payback of the AF because OP wants to know if its worth it, which IMO it is.

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:27:12 GMT

do note, walmart doesn't count as supermarket for amex. *not sure about the other stores like target? costco? sam's club? idk. i dont shop at these stores. make sure the 'supermarkets' you buy from mainly are amex 'approved' supermarkets.

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

jacetx — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:30:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
do note, walmart doesn't count as supermarket for amex. *not sure about the other stores like target? costco? sam's club? idk. i dont shop at these stores. make sure the 'supermarkets' you buy from mainly are amex 'approved' supermarkets.

Costco and Sam's Club are coded as "Wholesale Clubs" I believe, so they do not qualify.

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:31:19 GMT

Also, gas stations at supermarkets dont count I believe

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:37:02 GMT

@jace8602 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@jace8602 wrote:
If you spend $500 or more on groceries a month alone is worth it. The following calculation is based on $500 per month and takes into consideration the $6k cap on groceries spend. And this leaves out any sign up bonuses.

$500 x 12 = $6000 * 0.06 (6%) = $360 - $75 (AF) = $285 cashback = 4.75% cashback ($285/$6000)
That's just payback of the AF, have to consider what alternatives there are and see if this earns more. In the past, for example, 2 SM did better.
I'm not considering any other cards since OP specifically asked about the BCP. My calculation includes the payback of the AF because OP wants to know if its worth it, which IMO it is.

But "worth it" sort of implies "compared to what" (including nothing). So my example, if I offer you a card which pays 0.1% with an annual fee of $1, you are ahead if you spend just $1,000 a year! Is this a worthwhile card? No, because you can do much better.

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

jacetx — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:38:33 GMT

Also, I'm going to add to that the 3% cashback on select dept stores is nice.

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

kdm31091 — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:41:45 GMT

Personally I found the annoyances with Amex's clunky reward system eclipsed all else for me. Rewards take months to post, they are picky about supermarkets, 25 dollar increments only pretty much guarantees you never cash out the full amount, etc.

Some people don't mind the headaches for the increased rewards but to me it just wasn't worthwhile. Now, to be clear, there are no cards out there otherwise with 6 percent at supermarkets. That said, because of the 25 dollar increment rule, you'll rarely be able to collect the full amount, which to me reduces the effective rewards rate.

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

jacetx — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:49:13 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@jace8602 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@jace8602 wrote:
If you spend $500 or more on groceries a month alone is worth it. The following calculation is based on $500 per month and takes into consideration the $6k cap on groceries spend. And this leaves out any sign up bonuses.

$500 x 12 = $6000 * 0.06 (6%) = $360 - $75 (AF) = $285 cashback = 4.75% cashback ($285/$6000)
That's just payback of the AF, have to consider what alternatives there are and see if this earns more. In the past, for example, 2 SM did better.
I'm not considering any other cards since OP specifically asked about the BCP. My calculation includes the payback of the AF because OP wants to know if its worth it, which IMO it is.
But "worth it" sort of implies "compared to what" (including nothing). So my example, if I offer you a card which pays 0.1% with an annual fee of $1, you are ahead if you spend just $1,000 a year! Is this a worthwhile card? No, because you can do much better.

I understand what you are saying but you are missing my point. You are mentioning the Sallie Mae, which is a mute point since this card is no longer obtainable. Like I said "IMO is worth it" OP can take it or leave, it is up to him/her to do the homework and decide. My example was with grocery spend which is the biggest earner on this card. Would you provide an example of another card that would be better for groceries other than SM?

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 19:56:15 GMT

Good point. What I meant by "Worth it" is in comparison to the Blue Cash Everyday. I want one or the other, but am trying to decide which. 3% is ok, but not thst great in comparison to what I already have. I wanted something stronger, with more rewards. This is my first AMEX. I didn't really want to deal with the points with the Everyday....Def prefer cash back. I am pretty shocked to hear about AMEX's interesting and semi-annoying cash back system. You would think with them being a leader in the industry, they would work out the kinks. I mean "weeks to post"? Makes me love my Cap1 cards even more. lol. I am just looking to learn everything possible I can before opening the AMEX door.

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 20:14:00 GMT

@jace8602 wrote:
. My example was with grocery spend which is the biggest earner on this card. Would you provide an example of another card that would be better for groceries other than SM?

Well, for bug spend, I already mentioned the OBC (which is what I happen to use even though I have two SM). If you want to use points (and I know the OP just said prefer cashback) EDP can give more value than the BCP (and PRG above the cap). The Freedom this quarter can be used (as UR) which can again impact how useful the BCP can be,

But as the OP now says it was just between BCP and BCE, your answer was good. (IMO, just the wrong question!)

Re: Is the Amex BCP worth the annual fee?

jacetx — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 20:14:36 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Good point. What I meant by "Worth it" is in comparison to the Blue Cash Everyday. I want one or the other, but am trying to decide which. 3% is ok, but not thst great in comparison to what I already have. I wanted something stronger, with more rewards. This is my first AMEX. I didn't really want to deal with the points with the Everyday....Def prefer cash back. I am pretty shocked to hear about AMEX's interesting and semi-annoying cash back system. You would think with them being a leader in the industry, they would work out the kinks. I mean "weeks to post"? Makes me love my Cap1 cards even more. lol. I am just looking to learn everything possible I can before opening the AMEX door.

The delay is for sure irritating but it works for me. I put my cashback in savings so I'm not in a rush to get it ASAP. Good for you for doing your research before aplying, I ended up with several cards in the past because I knew I would get approved for it but did not need them or there was something better.