Amex Blue Cash Everyday card review: It's hard to beat for bonus cash back without an annual fee

Review: Is the Amex Blue Cash Everyday the right card for you?

Grocery stores and gas stations are two of the biggest credit card expenses for many people, and what better way to combat some of your highest expenses than getting cash back in both of those categories?

The Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express earns cash back on every purchase, with no annual fee(See Rates). It's an especially good choice for purchases in its bonus categories. You'll get 3% back on the first $6,000 spent at U.S. supermarkets each calendar year (then 1% back) and 2% back at U.S. gas stations and select U.S. department stores.

The Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express offers cash back in lieu of miles or points, but the upside of earning cash back is that you can use it for travel expenses that aren't covered by travel rewards points, or of course for any type of expense. 

If you put an average $1,500 per month on your card — including $500 per month at supermarkets and $75 at gas stations — you'd end up with $309 in cash back at the end of your first year.

That's not a bad return for a card with no annual fee — and it doesn't even include the welcome offer:20% back on purchases at Amazon.com on the Card in the first 6 months, up to $200 back (plus, you can earn $100 back after you spend $1,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months). That could boost your total return to $609 in your first cardholder year.

Bottom line: The Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express is a solid cash-back card with no annual fee. It's an especially valuable choice for purchases at US supermarkets and gas stations, thanks to its bonus earning categories.

Blue Cash Everyday versus other Amex cash-back cards

*3% back on up to $6,000 spent at US supermarkets in a calendar year, then 1% back

**6% back on up to $6,000 spent at US supermarkets in a calendar year, then 1% back

Blue Cash Everyday versus other cash-back cards

How to redeem your cash back

The fact that the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express earns cash back instead of points is both a good thing and a bad thing. It's a good thing if you're looking for a simple rewards program. Because you're just getting cash back, there is no such thing as a "bad" redemption — the value of cash never changes.

The flip side of that is that there is not really a "good" redemption, either. All redemptions are just statement credits that are redeemed at the same value no matter what.

You can redeem your reward dollars for statement credits whenever your available reward dollars balance is $25 or more. You cannot use cash back to pay your minimum balance due.

Blue Cash Everyday card features

Because the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express is fairly basic, there aren't a lot of the ancillary benefits that come with some other cards. You've got the 3% and 2% bonus categories, no annual fee, and that's about it.

One benefit that might be of use to some people is the 15-month introductory 0% APR rate on purchases. You get the introductory 0% APR on purchases that are made in the first 15 months of account opening, then a 13.99% to 23.99% variable APR will kick in.

Blue Cash Everyday costs and fees

The Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express has no annual fee but does charge a variety of other fees.

The card charges a variable interest rate, currently a 13.99% to 23.99% variable APR, based on your creditworthiness and other factors as determined at the time of account opening. The card does offer an introductory 0% APR for 15 months on purchases after account opening, after which the 13.99% to 23.99% variable APR rate takes effect (See Rates).

For cash advances, there's a fee of $10 or 5% (See Rates) of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater and an interest rate of 25.24% (See Rates). The penalty APR on the card is 29.24% and late and returned payments cost up to $40 each. (See Rates)

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