Review: Is the Amex EveryDay the best card for you?
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If you want to cancel one of your Amex cards with a high annual fee, you'll need to make sure that you keep at least one card that earns Membership Rewards points. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing your hard-earned points. The Amex EveryDay card can be a great long-term option in this case, since it has no annual fee.
Beyond the ability to earn Amex points without paying an annual fee, the Amex Everyday card's standout feature is a 20% points bonus when you make at least 20 transactions in a billing cycle. This means you'll effectively earn 2.4x points at US supermarkets (up to $6,000 spent per year) if you hit that requirement, and your non-bonus purchases will earn you 1.2x points. For those who can earn the bonus each month, this is a great option to maximize spending that doesn't qualify for traditional bonus categories like groceries and dining.
Bottom line: If you don't want to pay an annual fee but you still want to earn travel points that you can redeem directly through Amex as well as with transfer partners including airlines and hotels, the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express is hard to beat — especially if you can hit 20 transactions per billing period to earn the 20% points bonus.
Using Membership Rewards points
Unlike with Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou points, with American Express's Membership Rewards program, you only have one points-earning account no matter how many credit cards you have. If you redeem your Membership Rewards points through the Amex Travel site, you'll get a value of 0.7 to 1. cents per point. But by transferring your points to Amex's hotel or airline travel partners, your points can be worth much more.
Amex EveryDay versus other Amex cards
| Annual fee | $0 | $95 | $150 |
| Welcome bonus | 10k points after you spend $1k in the first 3 months from account opening | 15k points after you spend $1k in the first 3 months from account opening | 30k points after you spend $2k in the first 3 months from account opening |
| Earning rates | 2x points at US supermarkets* 2x points on travel booked through Amex Travel 1 point per dollar on everything else | 3x points at US supermarkets* 2x points at US gas stations 2x points on travel booked through Amex Travel 1 point per dollar on everything else | 3x points on travel 3x points at restaurants worldwide 1 point per dollar on everything else |
| Transaction bonus | 20% points bonus when you use your card to make 20 or more purchases in a billing cycle | 50% points bonus when you use your card to make 30 or more purchases in a billing cycle | N/A |
| Not available through Business Insider |
*2x/3x points at US supermarkets on up to $6,000 spent per year, then 1x
Amex EveryDay versus other no-annual-fee cards
| Annual fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Welcome bonus | 10k points after you spend $1k in the first 3 months from account opening | N/A | $200 back after you spend $500 in the first 3 months from account opening, plus 5% cash back on groceries on up to $12,000 spent in the first year |
| Earning rates | 2x points at US supermarkets* 2x points on travel booked through Amex Travel 1 point per dollar on everything else | 2% cash back on every purchase (1% back when you buy, 1% back when you pay your bill) | 1.5% cash back on every purchase** |
| Can you use rewards for travel? | Yes | Yes, but in order to transfer to most airline partners, you must also have a premium Citi card | Yes, but in order to transfer to Chase airline and hotel partners, you also need a premium Chase card |
| Intro APR offer | 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months from the date of account opening, then | 0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months from the date of account opening, then a |
*2x points at US supermarkets on up to $6,000 spent per year, then 1x
**New bonus categories are coming to the Chase Freedom Unlimited on September 15
Amex EveryDay features
Monthly transaction bonus
One unique feature of the
Car rental loss and damage insurance
The Amex Everyday card doesn't offer much in the way of additional benefits, but it does include car rental loss and damage insurance, which lets you decline any paid insurance add-ons when you rent a car. Just note that this coverage is secondary rather than primary, meaning it will kick in only after your other car insurance policy's coverage is used.
Amex EveryDay costs and fees
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If you do a cash advance, it comes with a fee of $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater. The APR on cash advances varies with the prime rate and is currently 25.24%.
Late and returned payments charge a fee of $40 each. If you use the Amex EveryDay card outside the United States, it comes with a foreign transaction fee of 2.7%. Instead use one of the many great cards with no foreign transaction fees.
