Blue Cash Everyday update!

I talked about the BlueCash Everyday card pretty recently, but Amex just announced several improvements to the card that are interesting enough that I decided to write another post about it.  As before, the Blue Cash Everyday earns cashback instead of points and has no annual fee.

Welcome Offer

At the time of posting, the Amex Blue Cash Everyday card has a welcome offer of $200 cashback after spending $2 000 in 6 months.  I had a similar welcome offer when I got mine back in 2017, but I only had 3 months to hit the spend goal.  The cashback is earned in the form of reward dollars, which used to require that the balance reach $25 before it could be paid out, but now can be used at any amount.

Earnings

With the earning changes, the Blue Cash Everyday actually has moved to a two-tiered earning structure: 3% at US grocery stores, US gas stations, and US online retailers (each category up to $6 000/year) and 1% on everything else.  These three categories likely make up some of the biggest expense categories for people whose spending habits are not heavily focused on dining and travel. 

The cap of $6 000/year for the gas cashback is new, and a slight blemish on otherwise all positive changes.  However, this is only a loss if you spend over $12 000/year on gas ($1 000/month), which is a very high spend, even with the current gas prices. 

Benefits

Despite no annual fee, Amex has added some credits to it. First, it offers $7/month towards Disney+/Disney Bundles, which an interesting expansion of Amex and Disney’s partnership beyond the credits offered on the Platinum card.  In addition, you can get $15/month back as credits for Home Chef, which is a meal kit service. If these credits are of interest to you, the card now offers $264 of credits, which is impressive for a no annual fee card.

How to use the cashback

The cashback can be redeemed as a statement credit.  That’s it. Since it doesn’t earn points, you can’t actually use Amex Travel unless you have a second Amex card that does earn points.  Cashback no longer has a $25 minimum to use, which is a great improvement and brings the card in line with competitors’ offerings.

Examples of using the card

Spend per month

For consistency with the other card pages, the second category instead of points earned is ‘cents earned’.

	Example A		Example B		Example C		Example D
Groceries (3%)	$300	900	$200	600	$600*	1 600*	$400	1 200
Gas (3%)	$0	0	$100	300	$200	600	$100	300
Airfare (1%)	$700	700	$200	200	$0	0	$400	400
Hotels (1%)	$1 000	1 000	$200	200	$0	0	$300	300
Gen Travel (1%)	$400	400	$0	0	$300	300	$100	100
Dining (1%)	$600	600	$300	300	$300	300	$0	0
General (1% or 3%)	$1 000	1 200	$500	700	$500	700	$400	600
Total	$4 000	4 900	$1 500	2 300	$1 700	3 500	$1 700	2 900
Average cashback/$		1.23		1.53		2.06		1.71
Average cashback/$ (previous)		1.15		1.33		1.82		1.53

*A grocery spending this high means that the $6 000/year cap is reached.  This has been reflected by lowering the monthly cashback earned proportionally.

Every example budget shows an improvement in overall cashback.  Previously, the average cashback earned was 1.15 – 1.82 ¢/$, but it’s now 1.23 – 2.06 ¢/$. 

Specific examples

Card	World Traveller ($750)  (% return)	Marriott Hotel night ($230/night)	Points values (WT/Hotel)
No rewards card	2 728 (4.9%)	2 200 MP (7.3%)	$37.10 / $17.60
Blue Cash Everyday	2 728 + $7.50 (5.9%)	2 200 MP + $2.30 (8.3%)	$44.60 / $19.90
Chase Sapphire Preferred	2 728 Avios + 1 500 UR (7.9%)	2 200 MP + 460 UR (10.3%)	$59.60 / $24.50
Amex Green Card	2 728 Avios + 2 250 MR (9.1%)	2 200 MP + 690 MR (11.5%)	$68.60 / $27.26

Since these are travel examples, nothing has actually changed here.

Is this credit card right for you?

The addition of new credits and improved cashback earnings is always welcome.  The improved earning on gas is good at a time like this.  The addition of online retailers is a solid new category that could capture a substantial portion of one’s general spending.  With non-bonus spending remaining at 1%, this card may not be the first choice for everyone.  As before the update, it’s definitely not a travel credit card and doesn’t try to be.