Amex Blue Cash Everyday Review: A No Annual Fee Card With Solid Bonus Categories

Review: Learn more about the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express

The Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express is one of the better no annual fee cash back cards out there, especially after some recent improvements that made it more competitive. If you’re looking for a simple, free card that earns a solid return at supermarkets, gas stations, and online retailers, this one is worth a look.

American Express is best known for its points-earning cards, but the Blue Cash Everyday proves that Amex can do cash back well too. The card has no annual fee, a decent welcome bonus, a 0% intro APR offer, and some useful bonus categories that cover a good chunk of everyday spending.

In this post, I’ll go through the bonus categories, the credits and perks, and how this card compares to both the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express and the Citi Double Cash® Card.

Blue Cash Everyday bonus offer

Earn up to $200 cash back

The Blue Cash Everyday is offering a welcome bonus as high as $200 cash back after you spend $2,000 in purchases within the first six months. That’s a reasonable bonus for a no annual fee card, and the spending requirement is low enough that most people should be able to hit it. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.

0% intro APR for 15 months

The Blue Cash Everyday card also offers 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months from the date of account opening. After that, the variable APR is currently between 19.49% - 28.49%.

I generally recommend avoiding financing purchases through credit cards. But if a short-term 0% APR opportunity can help you manage a large purchase and you can pay it off before the rate increases, it’s a nice option to have.

Card eligibility and approval

Amex cards tend to be fairly easy to get approved for if you have excellent credit. The main rules:

You can hold at most five American Express credit cards at any point (this doesn’t include hybrid cards like charge cards)

You can be approved for at most two Amex cards in a 90-day period

Blue Cash Everyday fees

No annual fee

The Blue Cash Everyday has no annual fee. Not the first year, not ever. That alone makes it worth considering as a long-term card in your wallet, even if it’s not your primary spender.

Holding no annual fee cards long term is also a great way to help your credit score. About 30% of your score comes from credit utilization (the more available credit you have but don’t use, the better), and 15% comes from credit history length (the older your average account age, the better). A free card you keep open for years helps on both fronts.

Foreign transaction fees

Like the Blue Cash Preferred, this card does have foreign transaction fees (2.7%), so I wouldn’t use it for purchases in foreign currencies. Stick to domestic spending with this one, and find a card with no foreign transaction fees if you’ll be spending time abroad.

Earning cash back with Blue Cash Everyday

The Blue Cash Everyday has three main bonus categories, each earning 3% cash back on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%).

3% cash back at U.S. supermarkets

You earn 3% at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year (then 1%). Earning 3% at supermarkets with no annual fee is a solid deal, and this is one of the better free cards for grocery spending.

As with most grocery bonus categories, this generally won’t include warehouse clubs (like Costco), superstores (like Walmart or Target), convenience stores, or discount stores. Traditional supermarkets and grocery chains are what you’re looking for.

3% cash back at U.S. gas stations

You also earn 3% at U.S. gas stations on up to $6,000 per year (then 1%). This is one of the better no annual fee cards for gas station spending.

3% cash back on U.S. online retail purchases

This is the bonus category that makes the Blue Cash Everyday stand out from its siblings. You earn 3% on U.S. online retail purchases on up to $6,000 per year (then 1%). This covers purchases made on a website or app from a U.S. retail merchant that sells physical goods directly to consumers.

Given how much shopping happens online these days, this can be a really valuable category. You won’t find this bonus on many other cards.

1% cash back on everything else

For purchases outside the bonus categories, you earn 1% cash back. This is where the card falls short. At just 1% on non-bonused spending, you’ll definitely want to pair this with a card that offers a better return on everyday purchases.

Credits and Benefits: Up to $264 in annual perks

Up to $84 in annual Disney+ bundle credits

The Blue Cash Everyday offers up to $7 per month (up to $84 per year) in statement credits when you use your card for a Disney+, Hulu, or ESPN+ subscription or bundle through their U.S. websites. If you already pay for any of those services, this is free money.

Up to $180 in annual home chef credits

You can also earn up to $15 per month (up to $180 per year) in statement credits when you purchase Home Chef meal solutions online with your card. If you use Home Chef, this is a significant benefit. If you don’t, it’s probably not worth signing up just for the credit.

Amex Offers

Every Amex card gives you access to the Amex Offers program, which provides targeted deals with a variety of retailers. Different cards get different offers, so having multiple Amex cards means more chances to save. I try to have as many Amex cards as possible specifically to take advantage of this. Having a no annual fee card like this is ideal, since the card isn’t costing you anything, but you’re still getting access to potentially valuable offers.

2 reasons NOT to get the Blue Cash Everyday

While there are several reasons to consider the Blue Cash Everyday Card, there are also a couple of reasons to not get this card, or at least not apply outright for it. In no particular order:

Get the Amex Blue Cash Preferred Card instead

If you generally like the idea of the Blue Cash Everyday Card, there might still be a better play here. The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express is the premium version of the card, and it could be worth applying for it instead (Enrollment is required for select benefits):

The big question is whether the Preferred’s $95 annual fee is worth the upgrade. If you spend at least $267 per month at U.S. supermarkets, the extra 3% (the preferred earns 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%)) on groceries alone will cover the fee. The Preferred also adds 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming and 3% on transit, which the Everyday doesn’t offer.

On the flip side, the Everyday has two things the Preferred doesn’t: 3% on U.S. online retail purchases and a 0% intro APR offer. If you do a lot of online shopping and not as much grocery shopping, the Everyday could be the better card.

One nice thing is that you could start with the Blue Cash Preferred (which is free the first year), and if the math doesn’t work out, downgrade to the Blue Cash Everyday after year one. That way you get the bigger welcome bonus and test the higher earning rates risk-free.

There are better cash back cards for everyday spending

While there are lots to like about the Blue Cash Everyday, it’s also not particularly well-rounded if you’re looking for an all-in-one cash back credit card.

The card offers 3% cash back at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations, and U.S. online retail purchases (up to certain limits), but on other purchases you’ll earn 1% cash back.

Everyone will have to crunch the numbers for themselves, but 1% cash back is pretty uncompetitive nowadays for savvy consumers. For example, the no annual fee Citi Double Cash® Card offers 1% cash back when you make a purchase, and 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase (in the form of ThankYou points).

The Blue Cash Everyday wins in its bonus categories, earning 3% at supermarkets, gas stations, and online retailers compared to the Double Cash’s flat 2%. But the Double Cash wins everywhere else, earning 2% on all purchases versus just 1%.

If your spending is heavily concentrated in supermarkets, gas, and online shopping, the Blue Cash Everyday will earn you more. If your spending is more spread out across lots of different categories, the Double Cash’s flat 2% on everything will likely come out ahead.

The Double Cash also has a major advantage in flexibility. Its ThankYou points can be transferred to airline and hotel partners (in conjunction with a premium Citi card like the Citi Strata Premier® Card), giving those points the potential to be worth well more than 2 cents each. The Blue Cash Everyday’s rewards are purely cash back.

The ideal setup? Have both. Use the Blue Cash Everyday for supermarkets, gas, and online retail where it earns 3%, and the Double Cash for everything else at 2%.

Bottom line

The Blue Cash Everyday is a solid no annual fee cash back card with useful bonus categories at supermarkets, gas stations, and online retailers. The 3% rate in those categories is strong for a free card, and the Disney streaming credits, Home Chef credits, and Amex Offers add extra value on top.

The card’s main weakness is the 1% rate on everything outside the bonus categories. For that reason, I’d recommend pairing it with a flat-rate card like the Citi Double Cash (2% on everything) to fill in the gaps. Together, they make a simple, effective, no-annual-fee credit card cash back setup.

If you find yourself spending more at supermarkets over time, you can always upgrade to the Blue Cash Preferred for that 6% grocery rate. But for a free, low-maintenance starting point, the Blue Cash Everyday is a great choice.

If you want to learn more about the Amex Blue Cash Everyday Card or want to apply, follow this link.