3% Cash Back and $100 Bonus – The Best Card on Earth

by Darwin on March 8, 2012

If you’re going to use a credit card, you might as well optimize your cash back! I do, and it brings us tax-free income of $700-$1000 a year depending on what we’re up to.  Well, now there’s there ultimate card for what’s probably your single biggest expense – groceries! (and next biggest – gas!)  The Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express offers the highest cash-back reward I’ve ever come across and there’s no catch – and there’s a $100 bonus to boot! (see this card and many others with this cash back card comparison tool)

Here are the specs on this one:

      • Earn 100 Reward Dollars after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.
      • Earn Cash Back: 3% at US supermarkets, up to $6,000 per year in purchases, 2% at US gas stations & select US dept stores, 1% on other purchases. Terms and limitations apply.
      • Cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit.
      • Simple and Straightforward: With the Blue Cash Everyday Card, you can start earning cash back. No rotating reward categories. No enrollment required. No annual fee.
      • 0% intro APR on purchases  and balance transfers for 15 months. After that, your APR will be a variable rate, currently 12.99%-21.99%, based on credit worthiness and other factors.
      • Terms and Restrictions Apply.

With these cash-back reward categories, I could probably eliminate my other cards by consolidating since my other cards can’t top this in any categories by also getting 3% back on gas and 1% on everything else. (see this card and many others with this cash back card comparison tool)

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.

{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }

Julie @ Freedom 48 March 8, 2012 at 7:24 pm

That’s some pretty serious cash back! The cash back credit card we had considered was 1% total! lol

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Darwin March 12, 2012 at 10:43 pm

Yes, this one crushes everything. My PenFed used to be nice until they did away with the good cash back.

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slug | sunkcostsareirrelevant.com January 8, 2013 at 12:19 pm

PenFed Cash Rewards still rules as the best gas card.

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Darwin January 8, 2013 at 9:45 pm

they have the 5% as well as a few others, I think Chase, Visa, Discover perhaps. But that’s gas only

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Cherleen @ My Personal Finance Journey March 11, 2012 at 1:30 am

The rewards are tempting but I will still pass on it. I already experienced getting neck-deep on paying credit card bills. After paying them off, we decided to stick to one card and use it only for emergency purposes, then pay it in full at the end of the month.

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Darwin March 12, 2012 at 10:43 pm

Oh totally; we pay our bills in full each month. If we were carrying higher interest debt, the cash back doesn’t matter.

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Belinda Ramirez May 16, 2012 at 3:04 am

Yes, American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card has a very amazing offer. I’m still tied up with my Citibank card with 5% rebate. To increase my rewards, what I do is offer my friends to do the payments for travels, online hotel bookings, and many more. So I get their payment, charge the transaction to my credit card and then I get the rewards. It’s a neat way of helping and increasing rewards.

Warmly,
Belinda

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Andy July 31, 2012 at 3:51 pm

The $75 per year is a reasonable fee for roadside assistance.

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JoeTaxpayer October 29, 2012 at 11:20 am

Our grocery store spend is about $200/wk. current card offers 2%, so at 4% better, we’d be ahead about $325/yr after the $75 fee. Not bad. Asking – I wonder if they track individual items at the grocery store. When I have a planned $1000 homedepot purchase, it would be no bother to grab gift cards at the supermarket for a $60 reward.

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Darwin November 1, 2012 at 9:53 pm

It’s just a % off the total bill, so good point – can buy up all kinds of gift cards at a 6% discount too!!!

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slug | sunkcostsareirrelevant.com January 8, 2013 at 12:20 pm

Just don’t ONLY buy a gift card. That’s the only case where they could assume a gift card purchase and not give you the 6%.

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JoeTaxpayer January 8, 2013 at 12:25 pm

Slug- I did just that. It was a “get 10% back” deal for only 90 days, good at Drug Store, Supermarket, Gas Station. The CVS near me had $500 VISA cards for a $3.95 fee, less than 1%. I wrote about this experience for a fellow blogger at http://www.budgetsaresexy.com/2012/09/how-to-make-money-cash-back-credit-cards/
Crazy deal? Yes. But I pulled it off with barely a hitch.

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Darwin January 8, 2013 at 9:44 pm

That sounds like an awesome deal if you can get 10% off again! 6% is next best thing.

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