Summary And Rebates - I personally have the Blue Cash Everyday^SM Card from American Express and highly recommend it to those who want to earn cash rebates on their credit card because at present, this card is the only non-tiered rebate card that pays 3% rebates on everyday purchases like supermarket, gasoline and drugstore purchases all year round. Right now, new cardholders can get $100 bonus cash back after spending $1,000 within the first 3 months

How Do You Earn Cash Back - The Blue Cash Everyday^SM Card from American Express allows you to earn 3% rebates from supermarket, 2% on gasoline and department store spending. For other regular spending, you earn 1% rebates.

One of the things to note is that this is the only card we know of that allows you to earn 3% cash back from all supermarkets. This is very important because the best 'standalone supermarket credit cards" at best allow you to earn 3% cash back only if you purchase their "in-house" brands. It is also the only cash back card we know of that allows you to earn 2% rebates when you shop "off line" at any department store. Hence, if you have store credit cards, this could also be a great additional card to have because you are unlikely to only shop at one or two stores regularly.

Holders of any of the American Express Blue card series can access deals with their partner merchants. I frequently check out the blue deal page (see screen shot below) for any deals to take advantage of. If you are diligent, you can save quite a bit of money just being alert to these things.





Fees - There is no annual fee.

I have to start by saying that the Blue Cash is a recommended card on our editors' choice section. It beats all cards that offer just the standard 1% cash back. In this part, we will compare it to the better cards in the market, those that offer more than 1% cash back.

Compared to the Blue Cash Preferred Card - This card has an annual fee version called the Blue Cash Preferred Card. It comes with a $75 annual fee (versus no annual fee for this card). But you can earn higher rebates (6% rebates on supermarket, 3% on gas and department stores and 1% on everything else). There is a breakeven point where getting the Preferred version makes sense (we'll soon have a calculator on this page).

Compared with Costco Credit Card - The Costco Card is another cash back card from Amex that allows you to earn 3% rebates on gasoline, 3% on restaurants and 2% on travel. It beats the Blue Cash Everyday on gasoline and has 2 other categories that Blue Cash Everyday does not have. This would actually make a great complimentary card.

Versus Cards with Rotating Categories - The other cash back credit cards (the better ones anyway) in the market today consists of cards that offer "rotating categories". No longer are cards offering straight rebates on certain types of expenses (with the exception of Amex) because they have found it to be a losing propostion as savvy consumers (those who pay in full) simply make use of the spending in those categories! Others like the Chase Freedom, Discover More and Citi Dividend Card offer quarterly rotating categories. What this means is that every quarter, there will be a list of types of expenses that will earn you 5% rebates (eg travel, gas, home improvement). While this is great, the issuers are betting you will not be using their card only for those categories when they pay 5%. The good thing about these cards is that if you actually time your expenses, you can make out very well with these cards. These cards also have online shopping portals that allow you to earn more than 1% rebates when you shop with their merchant partners.

So having said all that, we cannot really compare it because the Blue Cash is so different from these other cards. What it does offer is the ability to earn 2% and 3% rebates on things you would always spend on (gas, groceries and department) throughout the year. With these other rotating category cards, you actually have to register to participate each quarter (which can be a real pain). The rotating category cards also require you to redeem you cash rebates yourself (which can be good or bad - it's bad for me because I always forget). The Blue Cash on the other hand, simply credits your statement at the end of your calendar year the rebates you have earned throughout the year. For me, the Blue Cash is about simplicity versus it's peers (the better ones) where you have to be more "active" to take advantage of the rebates they offer.

Verdict - The Blue Cash Everyday^SM Card from American Express is one of the best cash back credit cards in the market today. I personally have this card and have earned more than 2% every year on the card. Customer service has been excellent as well. This is a card I would highly recommend for those looking to earn cash rebates from their credit cards. The thing that I really like about this card is that it is just simple to use. At the end of every calendar year, you get your rebates in the form of a statement credit. That works for me because I will always forget to redeem rewards. Other cards in the market like the Chase Freedom or Discover More Card have features like rotating categories that technically allow you to earn rebates from more categories (though limited to certain periods of the year). However, the downside to this is that you have to register every quarter for them (I also have the Chase Freedom - so I know). This card should form the mainstay for those looking to earn cash rebates from your credit card. Once you get down to using it, you can add other cards with rotating categories to supplement the Blue Cash. Overall, highly recommended.

References
1. New Blue Cash® credit cards from American Express help put cash back in consumers' pockets with up to 6% back from everyday shopping