AmEx Blue Cash Rewards Performance
Tip It!The anniversary date on our AmEx Blue Cash rewards card is in December. That means that the rewards that we’ve accrued throughout the year will be paid out this month. Curious as to how we’ve been doing, I logged in to check…
As a reminder, this card pays 5% on “everyday” purchases (gas, groceries, and drugstores) and 1.25% (formerly 1.5%) on all other purchases once you reach $6500 in total purchases. Prior to that level, you’ll earn 1%/0.5% on the two different categories.
After logging in and poking around, I learned that we’ve cleared 1.93% in rewards over the past year. Not too shabby, but slightly below the 2% offered by the Charles Schwab reward card.
Should we switch to the Schwab Visa?
On the plus side, the Schwab card is a Visa, so it’s more widely accepted. It also pays out the rewards on a monthly basis, which is nice. The downside is that you have to open a Schwab account into which the rewards will be deposited.
I’ve heard rumors that the terms of the Schwab rewards will be changing, but that they’ll be grandfathering existing cardmembers in under the old reward structure. Because of this, I’m thinking of applying for the Schwab card just in case.
Published on December 21st, 2009 - 11 Comments
Filed under: Credit Cards
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
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11 Responses to “AmEx Blue Cash Rewards Performance”
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December 21st, 2009 at 3:57 pm
I still have the good old Chase Rewards card, with full 5% on everyday purchases and full 1% on the rest. Nobody beats that.
By the way, you can maximize your return by spreading around the spending.
For example, I use that Chase card only on groceries, gas and pharmacy (full 5%) because it has a limit of $300 a year on rewards and I for restaurants I use Chase Amazon card (2% cashback), for the rest I use Citi (1% from the first dollar, up to $300 a year in rewards) and sometimes Discover (nice rewards sometimes, based on a stupid calendar, combined with ridiculous low limits).
December 21st, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Still using Schwab. Huge fan of that 2% cashback being automatically deposited.
Marian brings up a great point that you have to use multiple cards to maximize your rewards. Personally, I have resisted this temptation because I believe I would start spending more than I would gain in rewards.
December 21st, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Your Schwab link goes to a broken page.
December 21st, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Five percent back on all purchases? That is so much, it’s hard to believe!
John DeFlumeri Jr
December 21st, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Interesting. They’ve taken down the online application and I can’t find any mention of the card on their website. It still exists, though. You can apply by calling. According to the NY Times Bucks Blog, the number is:
866-724-9223
They also quoted a company source as saying “the company had no plans to change the benefits for current cardholders.”
In other words, if you want this card, you should probably apply for it right now.
link: http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com.....-may-fall/
December 21st, 2009 at 6:28 pm
@John DeFlumeri Jr
Not on all purchases.
Only groceries, gasoline, pharmacy. But 5% starting from the first dollar that you spend.
December 21st, 2009 at 8:44 pm
I use combination of Schwab and Costco AmEx Business
2% at Schwab on all purchases
3% on Restaurants – AmEx
4% on Gas – AmEx
2.5% total cash back… not too bad
December 22nd, 2009 at 9:36 am
Schwab cashback is deposited within a week after you pay your credit card bill and plus it’s 2% back on EVERYTHING with no limits. You just can’t find a better rewards card in my opinion.
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:11 am
I’ve got an Orchard Bank Mastercard that pays 2% on everything. I only use a Costco Amex on gas and dining because it pays 3% on those categories. I tried to look for the Orchard Bank MC that I have, but couldn’t find it. Perhaps it has been discontinued.
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:21 am
Another option is the Pentagon Federal Credit Union that has a card that earns as noted below.
Earn 2% cash back on supermarket purchases*
Earn 5.00% cash back from gas purchases paid at the pump*
Earn 1.25% cash back from all purchases** you make with the card during each billing cycle
You can have a military connection to join the Pentagon Federal Credit Union, OR you can join the National Military Family Association (NMFA) with a one year membership for $20 and then you can joint the credit union– you don’t need to maintain your NMFA membership to be a credit union member. https://www.penfed.org/membershipApplication/2008/nmfa.asp?app=
December 24th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
I use the Schwab account. I just transfer the money to my checking account every so often…so having to open a brokerage is a bit of an extra step…but once you do it’s pretty painless to get your actual cash.