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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: The Money Monk on May 25, 2015, 09:47:05 PM

Title: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: The Money Monk on May 25, 2015, 09:47:05 PM
I am constantly singing the praises to my friends and family of the AMEX blue cash preferred card. THe benefits are so good I don't know how they do it.

6% on groceries
3% on gas

as well as a multitude of random deals throughout the year. They had one deal on small business saturday where you could get $10 off any purchase of $10 or more at MOST business, up to 3 times! I made 3 purchases right in a row at the local grocer and got $30 off. BAM! free money!

Just last week they had a deal for $20 off any purchase of $20 or more from samsclub.com. Got $20 more worth of free stuff (shipping counts toward the total too!)

Yes there is an annual fee (like $75) but the 6% on groceries and other benefits easily make up for it.

 if you want a referral link for the card that will give you a $150 signup bonus [MOD EDIT: Removed link.]  PM poster [/END EDIT]. I also have a $50 bonus for the Discover IT card, which is another great card with rotating 5% cashback categories.

But regardless if you use my referral or not, you gotta get this card. If you don't have it you are leaving a lot of money on the table.
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: beltim on May 25, 2015, 10:00:28 PM
They can do it because they limit the 6% cash back to $6000 worth of groceries per year.  After subtracting the annual fee, that means you can max out at 4.75% cash back on that amount (after that amount, it's 1%).

Several cards have some categories that hit 5% cash back up to a limit.  If groceries are the best bonus category for you, then it looks like you found a good card for you.
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: The Money Monk on May 25, 2015, 10:04:21 PM
They can do it because they limit the 6% cash back to $6000 worth of groceries per year.  After subtracting the annual fee, that means you can max out at 4.75% cash back on that amount (after that amount, it's 1%).

Several cards have some categories that hit 5% cash back up to a limit.  If groceries are the best bonus category for you, then it looks like you found a good card for you.

I know they limit it, but that is still:

$360 on groceries
$45 on gas
$30 on small business saturday deal
$20 on Samsclub deal
-75 annual fee
--------------------
$380 cash back

from one card in a single year. Not too bad, over 30 bucks a month!
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: stlbrah on May 25, 2015, 10:04:53 PM
its my favorite as well.

I go in every monday night and buy my groceries for the week, at usually $60-80 and get around $4 back on average, and save them until I get the $25 cash back to apply to my card, then pay off the card.

Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: The Money Monk on May 25, 2015, 10:07:27 PM
its my favorite as well.

I go in every monday night and buy my groceries for the week, at usually $60-80 and get around $4 back on average, and save them until I get the $25 cash back to apply to my card, then pay off the card.

Make sure you occasionally check the 'benefits" section on the website too so you don't miss those sweet extra deals when they pop up. 
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: stlbrah on May 25, 2015, 10:11:39 PM
its my favorite as well.

I go in every monday night and buy my groceries for the week, at usually $60-80 and get around $4 back on average, and save them until I get the $25 cash back to apply to my card, then pay off the card.

Make sure you occasionally check the 'benefits" section on the website too so you don't miss those sweet extra deals when they pop up.

thanks, i had no idea that existed. I could probably score some of those $50 referrals pretty easily
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: Bob W on May 25, 2015, 10:12:48 PM
My guess would be the grocery stores that accept the card bake the 6% into their pricing.   You would probably save more money by shopping at low cist stores.
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: The Money Monk on May 25, 2015, 10:51:02 PM
My guess would be the grocery stores that accept the card bake the 6% into their pricing.   You would probably save more money by shopping at low cist stores.

it's AMEX eating that cost, not the grocery stores. The stores just have to pay the CC processing fees like they always do, it's no better or worse for this card.

I shop at Publix, one of the largest grocery chains in the southeast. Their prices are competitive with all others in the area. I seriously doubt this card changed their prices at all. They accepted AMEX before they made this card anyway.

It just goes to show you how poorly most people use their credit cards, when they can give away $300 or $400 a year in benefits and still make money from the average user.
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: seattlecyclone on May 25, 2015, 11:29:42 PM
How much do you spend on groceries? I have the Sallie Mae card which pays 5% back on gas and grocery stores (for the first $250 per month per category) and has no annual fee. I don't think we've hit the $250 cap yet because there's just two of us and we buy about half of our food at Costco where they don't take that card.
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: The Money Monk on May 25, 2015, 11:59:12 PM
How much do you spend on groceries? I have the Sallie Mae card which pays 5% back on gas and grocery stores (for the first $250 per month per category) and has no annual fee. I don't think we've hit the $250 cap yet because there's just two of us and we buy about half of our food at Costco where they don't take that card.

Yeah that's a great card too. I spend about 250 a month, but I then have $3000 left I can spend at the grocery store and get 6% on, so I can get gas cards, or gift cards to other places as well, and then have the little extras too.

 
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: TRBeck on May 26, 2015, 07:35:45 AM
They can do it because they limit the 6% cash back to $6000 worth of groceries per year.  After subtracting the annual fee, that means you can max out at 4.75% cash back on that amount (after that amount, it's 1%).

I would find it tough to spend more than $6000/yr. on groceries for our family of 4.

This is a great card for those with family-sized grocery bills as pointed out, and will likely be the next card I snag now that we've hit our targets with the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: Syonyk on May 26, 2015, 08:04:07 AM
I would find it tough to spend more than $6000/yr. on groceries for our family of 4.

Gift cards for Amazon/gas/etc at the grocery store typically count... ;)
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: fartface on May 26, 2015, 08:51:43 AM
My problem is our local grocery stores mark items up outrageously. We do 90% of our food shopping at Aldi and Costco, so unfortunately neither establishment would accept this card as a form of payment.

Our monthly average for a family of five is typically around $570. This includes lots of organic eggs, dairy, produce and  meat. We'd be over $800 if we shopped at our local grocery stores.
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: Jeremy E. on May 26, 2015, 10:07:00 AM
I do my grocery shopping at Winco, Wal Mart, and the farmers market. Winco doesn't take credit cards, Wal Mart doesn't count as a grocery store, and the farmers market doesn't take credit cards.
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: economist on May 26, 2015, 10:13:47 AM
I just got this card. I've been reading for a while that it's a great card, especially for people who mostly spend on groceries and gas. I used the card match tool on creditcards.com and was approved for a 250 statement credit after 1000 spend over three months. Just FYI if anyone is considering getting this card, you may want to try that since you might get 250 instead of 150.

I shop at harris teeters, food lion, and trader joes for most of my groceries. I figure the bonus more than pays for the 1st annual fee, and if it turns out I am not qualifying for that 6% cash back at the stores I shop at, I will either cancel or downgrade to the no-fee version.
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: jennifer.rowecassiman on May 26, 2015, 11:10:12 AM
I was going to mention the Sallie Mae card as well. I use that one and you get 5% back at grocery stores, gas stations, and bookstores which Amazon counts as. No annual fee either.


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Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: seattlecyclone on May 26, 2015, 01:03:09 PM
I just did the math on this. The breakeven point between the Sallie Mae card and the Amex Blue Cash Preferred is at $325/month of grocery store spending. Spend more than this and the 6% back on $6,000/year of grocery store purchases makes up for the annual fee. Spend less than this, and you'll be better off with the no-fee Sallie Mae card even with its lower 5% reward level and $250/month cap. Do be aware that the Sallie Mae card also offers 5% back at gas stations and Amazon with separate limits, so you might want to ignore any gift card purchases for these places when doing your comparison.

If you spend more than $6,000/year at grocery stores, get both cards!
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: The Pigeon on May 26, 2015, 02:30:58 PM
As a single with annual grocery bill of ~1200, the math makes no sense for the AMEX Blue Preferred. If you have a modest grocery bill like me, AMEX's no-annual-fee version of this (Blue Cash Everyday) is great. 3% on groceries... I don't remember the other perks, you'd have to check out their site.
But 3% on groceries with no ANnual Fee is a winner for me. That Sallie Mae card sounds tempting...
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: economist on May 26, 2015, 03:38:23 PM
I like the sound of the Sallie Mae card. It seems like if you were a two or more person household you could get around the limit by each person getting their own Sallie Mae card. That would basically give you 500/month, or 6,000/year, 5% on groceries with no fee. You'd lose 60/year by not having the 6% card, but save 75 on the annual fee, plus get 5% on gas instead of 3%.
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: 4alpacas on May 26, 2015, 03:50:42 PM
I just did the math on this. The breakeven point between the Sallie Mae card and the Amex Blue Cash Preferred is at $325/month of grocery store spending. Spend more than this and the 6% back on $6,000/year of grocery store purchases makes up for the annual fee. Spend less than this, and you'll be better off with the no-fee Sallie Mae card even with its lower 5% reward level and $250/month cap. Do be aware that the Sallie Mae card also offers 5% back at gas stations and Amazon with separate limits, so you might want to ignore any gift card purchases for these places when doing your comparison.

If you spend more than $6,000/year at grocery stores, get both cards!
Thanks for the analysis!
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: Pooperman on May 26, 2015, 04:18:52 PM
Amex rewards is nice. Got $20 in free Amazon money off one deal. I check occasionally and got lucky that time as it was a 2 day deal!
Title: Re: Best rewards credit card ever
Post by: SwedishChef on May 27, 2015, 12:07:29 PM
I love this card. It doesn't make sense for some, but we happen to hit that sweet spot where our monthly budget on groceries 1) more than pays for the annual fee, and 2) doesn't hit the $6000 annual limit. Plus, the sign-up bonus negated the annual fee for two years. I shop primarily at a small, budget-conscious grocery known for its great butcher counter, plus a couple trips to Trader Joe's a month. Farmer's markets too, but that's cash. I cook virtually every night of the week, then brown-bag our leftovers for next day's lunch. I spend a little more to get higher quality produce, meats, and dairy. Virtually no processed foods.

Every couple of months I have about $75 of cash back to credit to my account. Pays for a few tanks of gas!