topic AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh in Credit Cards

AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

dudley — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 12:48:06 GMT

Hello to all.

IF Amex does a refresh on the above card, which I have had since it came out, and IF they raise the $6000 grocery limit for 6% to something like $12000, and IF they raise the annual fee on this card to $150 (or thereabouts), I have a question.

I, as much as anyone, have been hoping for an increase in the spending cap, but I just realized that my wife and I might spend $6500-7000 on groceries annually, at this point. I say "this point" because grocery prices are going up, and will continue to do so for the forseeable future.

Is the higher (theoretical) spending cap of $12000 a good buy for my grocery spend, or not? I have loyally paid the $75, and then $95, annual fee becuase the $6000 was (is?) a good match for my grocery spend at the time. Should I pay the $150 (theoretical) fee, if it happens, on the presumption that the $150 fee will stay intact for 5-6 more years, just as the $95 fee did, and that the $12000 (again, theoretical) cap is a good safety net against future grocery price increases (especially with tariffs) or not?

Also, if the $6000 spending cash grocery limit is raised, what, if anything, does this do to the Blue Cash Everyday?

Currently, I only carry, and want to continue to carry, my two oldest cards in my wallet, AMEX Blue Cash Preferred and Chase Freedom Unlimited. Citi Double Cash is in the sock drawer for autopays only.

Sorry for the length !!

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

Varsity_Lu — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 13:25:14 GMT

$12,000 grocery cap and $150 AF would be fine with me. It would raise the effective cash back to 4.75% if you maxed out the grocery category. If you just used that instead of a capped 5% card, you'd only be missing out on 30 bucks a year, but not having to shuffle multiple capped cards around each week (CCC) would be well worth it.

A-okay with me.

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

Vinjints — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 14:32:44 GMT

This reads as if it's just speculation. Or have you seen this rumor elsewhere?

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

NoHardLimits — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 14:52:34 GMT

@Vinjints wrote:
This reads as if it's just speculation. Or have you seen this rumor elsewhere?

That's my question as well. I clicked on this thread expecting to see something from the rumor mills, but it might just be a wish list.

One thing I've recently observed is that Amex has been really pushing me to apply for the Blue Cash Preferred with multiple targeted offers (higher SUB with no annual fee the first year).

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

dudley — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 16:34:22 GMT

I don't know how often you actually read the credit card forums, but this"speculation" is all over them; it is not something that I dreamed up . . .

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

Varsity_Lu — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 16:41:47 GMT

@dudley wrote:
I don't know how often you actually read the credit card forums, but this"speculation" is all over them; it is not something that I dreamed up . . .

Link please.

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

Kforce — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 18:51:21 GMT

@Varsity_Lu wrote:
@dudley wrote:
I don't know how often you actually read the credit card forums, but this"speculation" is all over them; it is not something that I dreamed up . . .
Link please.

AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh - myFICO® Forums - 6833191

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

Varsity_Lu — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 19:42:59 GMT

@Kforce

Hardy har har. 😖

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

NoHardLimits — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 21:57:38 GMT

@dudley wrote:
I don't know how often you actually read the credit card forums, but this"speculation" is all over them; it is not something that I dreamed up . . .

Well this is a credit card forum, so I think that most people on this site read credit card forums. Personally, I probably spend way too much time reading forums, blogs, and business news journal articles about credit cards. That's not even counting time watching YouTubers.

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

FicoMike0 — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 02:34:12 GMT

At $150 they'll lose me. I'll be back to bce.

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

Windchill92 — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 02:54:12 GMT

Still waiting for online shopping to be added to the BCP.

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

Varsity_Lu — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 11:27:04 GMT

@FicoMike0 wrote:
At $150 they'll lose me. I'll be back to bce.

Funny, because raising the AF would actually benefit us. Right now we have 2 BCP and max them out every year. I am playing the downgrade-upgrade game with my AmEx card to avoid the AF for now, but I don't really think that is a long term sustainable strategy. If the grocery cap was raised to $12k, we would only need one BCP and I'd leave my card as a BCE. The $150 AF would add value since ($720-$150) / $12,000 = 4.75%. Right now the BCP returns ($360-$95) / $6,000 = 4.4%.

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

Kforce — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 17:53:28 GMT

@Varsity_Lu wrote:
@FicoMike0 wrote:
At $150 they'll lose me. I'll be back to bce.
Funny, because raising the AF would actually benefit us. Right now we have 2 BCP and max them out every year. I am playing the downgrade-upgrade game with my AmEx card to avoid the AF for now, but I don't really think that is a long term sustainable strategy. If the grocery cap was raised to $12k, we would only need one BCP and I'd leave my card as a BCE. The $150 AF would add value since ($720-$150) / $12,000 = 4.75%. Right now the BCP returns ($360-$95) / $6,000 = 4.4%.

I believe this "rumor" is unlikely to become reality.

As posted above many have lower spend and others would love a higher cap.

The issue is that any issuer is willing to lose XX dollars a month or year and by increasing the cap, the AF needed is not straight line.

To have a similar financial bottom line, the AF would need to be more like 250 than 150. The reason almost all 5% cards have between $500 - $600 a month cap's. Amex wants to make even more $ and only pays out < 5%, unlikely to upgrade the card with this AF and take a larger loss.

The Rewards percent's with "Rumor" numbers for the curious:


M_Spend	$95_$6,000	$150_$12,000
	{ * > Cap }

100	-1.92 %	-6.50 %
200	2.03 %	-0.25 %
300	3.36 %	1.83 %
400	4.02 %	2.88 %
500	4.42 %	3.50 %
600	3.85 % *	3.92 %
700	3.44 % *	4.21 %
800	3.14 % *	4.44 %
900	2.90 % *	4.61 %
1000	2.71 % *	4.75 %

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

Zoostation1 — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 18:01:14 GMT

A higher AF would complicate my decision to keep it and not drop to BCE. I don't fully max out the grocery cap as a single person, but I make that up significant streaming spend on it (~$150/mo). I've got the $50 corporate advantage credit helping as well (not sure if that would get a bump since Green gets a $75 credit for $150 AF). I'd potentially still keep it but not fully sure. If I downgraded to BCE I'd likely move my streaming spend to Savor, but it's been a little more inconsistent with coding streaming properly. Gas would still stay on BCE for me (can't do a CCC and don't want more cards), while grocery would be a toss up. I'd probably base grocery on whether I had travel planned or not. If I had a trip coming up I'd put it on Savor and if not I'd put it on BCE. Since I have Lyft and UberOne, I'd move my rides which are usually on BCP now to VX, and then move my general online spend to BCE (though it's not all that high). I think on the whole it would lead to more spend on Savor and VX and less with Amex.

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

UncleB — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 07:45:49 GMT

@Windchill92 wrote:
Still waiting for online shopping to be added to the BCP.

Yeah, I get a chuckle every time I get an offer to "upgrade."

I use my BCE almost exclusively for online purchases, so a PC to the BCP would actually be a downgrade in my case.

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

Varsity_Lu — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 11:15:32 GMT

@UncleB wrote:

I use my BCE almost exclusively for online purchases.

Same. Card never leaves my drawer, but I use it on Amazon and with Walmart Pay all the time.

Re: AMEX Blue Cash Preferred Possible Refresh

NoHardLimits — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 15:28:29 GMT

@Varsity_Lu wrote:
@UncleB wrote:

I use my BCE almost exclusively for online purchases.
Same. Card never leaves my drawer, but I use it on Amazon and with Walmart Pay all the time.

Slightly off-topic but for those of you interested in elevated online shopping rewards, Bank of America's Customized Cash Rewards is running a promo for 6% cash back on one category for the first year. I'm actually considering applying for it.

https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/products/cash-back-credit-card/