topic Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE in Credit Cards

Which one is better: BCP or BCE

LS2982 — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 23:33:12 GMT

I always thoughht BCE was but I checked the 2 out side by side and BCP has the better cash back rewards but an AF.

Which one does everyone here think is better?

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 23:38:09 GMT

I'm a single guy who dines out a lot, so the Everyday would be better for me. However, roughly $50 a week in grocieres is the break even point (not even including gasoline purchases), so it doesn't take much for the Preferred to be a better deal.

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

-Cain- — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 23:41:50 GMT

I would choose the one that matched my personal spending habits better. Would I cover AF and then some? If the answer is no, then I'd probably go with BCE.

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

cleanitup — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:04:37 GMT

I also did the side by side compare, and went with BCP cause my grocery store and gas will more then cover the annual fee. I went with higher rewards vs no annual fee. My spending habits say BCP is better.

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

LS2982 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:27:08 GMT

Does AMEX consider Sams club as groceries if you buy them there?

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

Anonymous — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:31:21 GMT

I just cashed in $154 from BCP. Not a heavy spender but it's already paid for itself since the App on Jan 27th.

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

LS2982 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:33:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I just cashed in $154 from BCP. Not a heavy spender but it's already paid for itself since the App on Jan 27th.

Nice!! I'm leaning on BCP for next year, Hoping a pre-approval will show up by then. I just thought about Sam's not taking AMEX

So will Costco count as groceries if used there for it?

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

-Cain- — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:33:56 GMT

Does Sams club accept AmEx? I thought they had a deal with Discover similar to Costco and AmEx.

Warehouse stores don't usually fall under grocery/supermarkets though.

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

-Cain- — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:34:50 GMT

Costco will be 1%.

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

LS2982 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:35:12 GMT

@-Cain- wrote:
Does Sams club accept AmEx? I thought they had a deal with Discover similar to Costco and AmEx.

Warehouse stores don't usually fall under grocery/supermarkets though.

I just thought of that like 5 mins. after I posted it

I'm curious if Costco will count, DW likes buying bulk for groceries.

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

LS2982 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:36:02 GMT

@-Cain- wrote:
Costco will be 1%.

Always something!!!

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

-Cain- — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:36:28 GMT

I hardly step foot in a supermarket anymore, love me some Costco.😃.

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

Travis-84 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:37:38 GMT

The BCE has a 100 bonus for spending 1k in 3 months. The BCP has a 150 bonus. Assuming you can make this, then the first year annual fee is effectively 25.00, and it makes the BCP a much better deal. Track your usage over a year and then find out which one is best.

You could also mess around in excel and have it figure out which is better if you key in how much you spend month in each catagory.

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

LS2982 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:39:45 GMT

@Travis-84 wrote:
The BCE has a 100 bonus for spending 1k in 3 months. The BCP has a 150 bonus. Assuming you can make this, then the first year annual fee is effectively 25.00, and it makes the BCP a much better deal. Track your usage over a year and then find out which one is best.

You could also mess around in excel and have it figure out which is better if you key in how much you spend month in each catagory.

I'm liking that 6% on groceries and 3% on gas. I can make that work real nice for me and DW! But I need to find a good store she'll get quantity out of and not crazy pricey either. Sams does it for us but only 1% and it would have to be at Costco.

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

Anonymous — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:46:46 GMT

Well, it depends on your usage. If your supermarket purchases are large, you many consider the BCP since it offers 6% back. In my case, it is the better choice. I made up for the annual fee in around 1.5 months.

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

Coldness — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 01:59:56 GMT

I'm kind of on the other side of the fence...

I was recently approved for a BCE (came in mail yesterday! weeee!).

I did the math on it and BCP did yield a good $120 or so more a year for me (so, $45 more after the annual fee). However, I do not like the concept of annual fees and will probably end up closing my Zync even with its cheap fee.

Here's the problem - what if I become ill or go out of town for a while and do not shop at grocery stores or buy much gas? Bam, I suddenly got screwed and won't beat out the BCE for the year. I don't want to stop using the card for awhile for any reason and end up having it be a burden. And it's highly likely - who knows when something else will come in down the road with better rewards? Heck, I won't be using my BCE for gas 6 months out of the year due to Discover's rotating categories as it is. Plus, sometimes "warehouse" stores have some darn good deals that 6% or 3% off won't make up for, so not all of my grocery shopping is going to happen at actual grocery stores during the year.

I do love the flat 1% on "everything else", though. Discover really needs to drop their $3k threshold with that...

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

Tonya-E — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 02:42:23 GMT

As everyone has stated, it depends on the spending habits. So far I have earned roughly $225 in cash back rewards on the BCP since December (including the $150 bonus). It has paid it's annual fee for about 3 years already even with the rewards having a month delay. If your spending habits exceed the annual fee enough then the BCP is the way to go. You can do a side by side comparison on the site though based on your average monthly spending. It's a good tool to use to determine which is better for you.

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

Anonymous — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 03:52:44 GMT

I totally forgot about the $150 bonus!

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

clocktick — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 04:28:12 GMT

I estimated what I spend in food, gas and department store purchases and did the math with both cards (minus the $75AF of course) and the BCP still came in slightly ahead for me. I would just run the numbers and see what's best for you personally. I also get my prescriptions, and drug store type items (ibuprofen/toilet paper/greeting cards, etc.), at the grocery store so that probably helps as well.

Re: Which one is better: BCP or BCE

bichonmom — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 04:31:14 GMT

I've been comparing the two, also... in plans for my future app.

This page has a good comparison: http://bluecashcards.americanexpress.com/home/#/

Right now, they're giving $150 cash back for BCP and $100 cash back for BCE. So, if that's still avail when you app, the additional $50 you get for BCP offsets the $75 AF.

But if your wife, like me, seldom goes to a grocery store anymore, then it's probably not worth the $75 AF for the BCP. If you guys shop @ Costco a lot though, you might want to get the Costco card because #1, no AF and #2, it gives 3% on gas (like BCP does), plus 1% @ Costco (which you'd also get w/BCP). Unless you shop a lot at Dept. stores, the Costco card is just as good as BCP, but w/o the AF.