Amex Blue Cash Preferred - Open Questions

[joesbrat67]

I am seriously considering applying for the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card, but would love to solicit feedback from current cardholders regarding the following:

1) How easy is it to use the earned rewards?

2) General perks, such as travel and entertainment.  Are card holders generally satisfied with these services?

3) APR - I see the APR range is from 13.24% to 23.24%.  While I know the rate can vary based on user credit profile, but I'm curious to know what the general average is at this time?

4) 2 common complaints that I tend to see in the forums - lack of retailers where AMEX is accepted and poor customer service when it comes to issue resolution.  Can any card holders provide feedback on current experience?

In addition, I assume that my scores should be sufficient enough for approval - EX 770, EQ 787, TU 790, no pub records or collections

Any and all feedback would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Appleman]

Your scores are good enough.

Other factors will go into approval as well, debt, income and credit history to name a few.

I have never had a customer service issue with AMEX, obviously other people have.

They have some pretty good promotions currently. $150 for a certain spend over 3 months ($1000 spend).

Plus up to $200 for wireless services bill. Have a $250 monthly AT&T (or other major carrier) bill, pay with the card and get 10% back. There is a time limit but will not be a problem for me to hit my $200.

So basically a $350 sign on bonus.

If AMEX were your only card, then you might have a problem paying everywhere. If you also carry a MC/Visa you are golden.

[Anonymous]

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@joesbrat67 wrote:

I am seriously considering applying for the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card, but would love to solicit feedback from current cardholders regarding the following:

1) How easy is it to use the earned rewards?

2) General perks, such as travel and entertainment.  Are card holders generally satisfied with these services?

3) APR - I see the APR range is from 13.24% to 23.24%.  While I know the rate can vary based on user credit profile, but I'm curious to know what the general average is at this time?

4) 2 common complaints that I tend to see in the forums - lack of retailers where AMEX is accepted and poor customer service when it comes to issue resolution.  Can any card holders provide feedback on current experience?

In addition, I assume that my scores should be sufficient enough for approval - EX 770, EQ 787, TU 790, no pub records or collections

Any and all feedback would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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1) It's easy to use the rewards, it just takes 2 cycles to finally start getting them, and you can only redeem in $25 increments. If you get instant savings via offers or bonus, you'll get them faster than the actual rewards.

2) The perks I haven't used at all. I've taken advantage of offers on the card and they are FANTASTIC savings. Really superb in most areas. 

3) I'm not privy to any info on APR, in fact, I personally don't know mine. It's a rewards card, so I bet it's higher than giraffe ears.

4) I have yet to run into a retailer that doesn't accept AMEX. They seem to either take all the cards or none at all. The customer service leaves something to be desired. The CSRs that I have spoke to seem dumber than a box of rocks, like they're just reading from a prompt. But I had one CSR who pushed my rewards dollars through for me. I probably got them a couple days earlier than I would have normally.

While I'm not an underwriter, I would say you have a good chance based on your scores... But remember there's an annual fee on this card. So if you're not going to meet the spending on fuel and grocery to make it worth your efforts, you might look elsewhere. Other than that it's a great card IMO.

[joesbrat67]

I currently have Capital One Quicksilver and Chase Freedom.  I tend to lean on the Freedom card more, due to the quarterly 5% offers, but leaning more towards Amex Blue Cash Preferred because the rewards benefit being a recurring yearly benefit.

[Anonymous]

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@joesbrat67 wrote:

I currently have Capital One Quicksilver and Chase Freedom.  I tend to lean on the Freedom card more, due to the quarterly 5% offers, but leaning more towards Amex Blue Cash Preferred because the rewards benefit being a recurring yearly benefit.

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You have a good lineup! I'd go for it if I was you, if I was sure I could make it worth it given the AF

[Anonymous]

Also, the BCP has 3% CBat certain retail stores. I bought an air compressor at Sears and got 3% back on it.

[kdm31091]

I will comment that  as far as ease of use of rewards, the Amex cards aren't the best. Rewards take 2 months to show up, and you can only cash out $25 increments i.e. $25, $50, $75. Anything in between...too bad, too sad, have to wait until you build more up. Pretty frustrating. The 6% on grocery stores is unmatched by other options, but when you consider the delay and increment things, your actual reward is somewhat reduced because you can (almost) never really claim the full amount.

The Blue Cash isn't really a "perks" card. It's basically just a cash back card with few bells and whistles, though it does get Amex Offers which can be valuable but are of course variable and not guaranteed.

Amex is good with lowering APRs - I will give them that. Given history and usage, most people have little problem getting their APRs reduced, but still, not guaranteed.

As much as I'm not a big fan of the blue cash cards, I do think the "Amex acceptance" thing is overstated. If you frequent small, mom and pop type shops, you may have issues, but generally most major places accept Amex. Customer service...can't really say as I never deal with it much. I just don't find myself calling any of my issuers very often. But most of the major issuers have plenty of customer service complaints, so you have to just take each story with a grain of salt.