Was just approved for an upgrade from Blue Cash Everyday to Blue Cash Preferred. Offer was $75 on $1k spend in 6 months. This has been the only offer available to me for about a year.
I got this card originally as a BCP in 2024 with a $350 SUB and no fee the first year. Maxed out the grocery category in 2024 and then maxed it out again the first 5 months of 2025 before downgrading to BCE. They refunded me the $95 annual fee for 2025 after I downgraded. I plan to max out the grocery category for this year and then max it out next year before downgrading to BCE next May. I should be able to get 4 years of 6% cash back on groceries for a total of $20 in annual fees. Not too shabby, AmEx.
@Vinjints wrote:That's a good way to play it.
Re: only offer for the year, does that mean they have the offer and it was still available that whole time, or is there a deadline to accept? Planning a BCP/BCE sometime this year myself.
in my experience, you will pretty much universally have access to one of two BCP upgrade offer after having a BCE that is over a year old
there is the bad offer: $75 for $1k spend/6 months, $95 AF
and the good offer: $150? for $1k spend/6 months, $0 AF
IME, I got the good offer once and I've had the bad offer ever since. If you accept the upgrade offer, it need to stay a BCP for a full year before you can downgrade again. After downgrading, the bad offer to upgrade back up comes back farily quick.
@Vinjints wrote:That's a good way to play it.
Re: only offer for the year, does that mean they have the offer and it was still available that whole time, or is there a deadline to accept? Planning a BCP/BCE sometime this year myself.
There wasn't any ending date for the offer and it never changed. Some people report getting better offers like a $150 SUB with the annual fee waived, but I never received anything other than the one I accepted. Guess I'm not a high priority client in AmEx's eyes.
@4sallypat wrote:Funny, I have BCP but Amex keeps bugging me to get BCE.
Is there any advantage getting BCE ?
BTW I am going to lose the Amazon Prime Business at Amex to US Bank soon so I was looking...
BCE is a great stay-in-your-drawer companion to the BCP if nothing else than for 3% online shopping. And you can get it with a soft pull. You get 3% at Amazon, Walmart online, Walmart Pay at the store checkout, Home Depot online, pretty much any online purchase. It's a great online catch-all card.
