I consider the Blue Cash EverydaySM Card from American Express to be a core cash back card for anyone who wants to earn cash back. Extra cash back can be earned on grocery, gasoline and department store purchases. They are items that we spend money on almost everyday (but hopefully not on department stores) and having this card in your wallet will save you quite a bit of money in the long run. For high spenders, you will be pleased to know that you can earn unlimited cash back.
This card is truly one of the rarer cards in the market today that offers a straight simple cash back formula with no fancy things like rotating categories and online shopping mall (though they do have their uses as we will see later). There is also no limits on the amount of cash back you can earn so that is another definite thumbs up for this card.
I personally have the Chase Freedom® Visa and all I can say is that it is a great card to have. This is not just a cash back card though because you can redeem the points you earn for other rewards in the Chase Ultimate Rewards program as well. This card has a 5% rotating category which pays card members 5% cash back on expense categories which change every quarter. As part of the Chase Ultimate program, they also have the a shopping mall which a couple of hhundred online merchant partners. When you use the card and shop at their website through your Chase account, you can earn extra points and cash back.
A card like this will suit those watching their spending very carefully and are also alert as to which card to use to maximize the cash back you can earn. If you are very detailed oriented, this card would be perfect for you.
The Discover® More® Card is very much like the Chase Freedom and has a 5% quarterly rotating category feature as well. They also have an online shopping mall. What distinguishes this card from others is that their online shopping mall pays the most rebates among their competitors if they both have identical merchants. An example would be Macy's. They may be a partner of several different shopping portals. But if you shop at Macy's website through your Discover account, you will most likely get the highest rebate. For this reason, this is a great card during the year end shopping season.
Another wonderful feature about this card is that if you also have the option of exchanging the cash back you have earned for gift cards. Best of all, you can get a higher value if you do so. For example, you may have earned $40 in cash back. You could exchange that for $80 in Hyatt gift card! This is another wonderful feature and great for folks who would like to earn gift card rewards as well.
