At first glance, the Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card from American Express looks like an attractive credit card option for just about anyone. Despite its $95 annual fee, its generous point earning scheme for popular purchases makes it seem like this card is a sure bet. But getting the most out of the Amex EveryDay Preferred requires you to be a smart and disciplined consumer.
Sign Up The Right Way
Signing up for an Amex EveryDay Preferred is a great way to start earning points. A better way? Spend $1,000 on it in the first three months. Do that and Amex will give you 15,000 free points.
Use It Often
30 or more times within a billing period to be exact. Do that and you’ll get 50% more points (less returns and credits) on each of those purchases.
|
The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express
Add to Favorites
|
$95 first year
$95 after first year |
Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards Points® After you use your new Card to make $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months Read Review » |
|
Already have this card? Track it and maximize your rewards.
|
|||
|
|
The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express |
|||||
| Apply Now Add to Favorites | ||||||
|
||||||
| Read the FTG Review » | ||||||
Redeem Your Points
Don’t just collect them. Amex offers a variety of ways you can redeem membership points, such as gift cards, merchandise, cash back for purchases and even Uber rides. You can also transfer points to several hotel brands and over 15 partner airlines’ frequent flyer programs. Through Amex’s Pay with Points program you can also use your points to pay for all or part of a flight, hotel booked and paid in advance, vacation or cruise booking through amextravel.com. So far so good.
Don’t Forget Everyday Expenses
The Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card isn’t just for big purchases. In fact, it offers you 3x points for every dollar that you spend at US supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year, after you reach that ceiling, points go down to 1x), 2x points per dollar spent at US gas stations and one point per dollar on all other purchases.
Let It Keep You Protected
The Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card also comes with popular standard premium features like travel accident insurance, car rental loss and damage, extended warranty and purchase protection.
Make It Worth the Fees
The Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card offers 0% intro APR on both purchases and balance transfers for the first year — more than enough time to make next year’s $95 and 13.24% to 23.24% APR rate worth it. Set the annual fee and interest rate as a goal to beat every year and this card will pay for itself. With the card’s annual and foreign transaction fees, you need to be sure you can squeeze all the points possible out of the 50 percent bonus and the card’s 3x and 2x categories.
Ask Before You Commit
This is a great card, but ask yourself these questions before you buy it: Do I spend a significant amount of money on groceries and gas? Will I spend $1,000 on it in the first three months? Do I make 30 purchases per billing cycle? If you can easily answer yes to these questions, then the Amex EveryDay Preferred will likely be an asset. If not, look elsewhere for a card that better matches your spending habits.
What do you think about the Amex EveryDay preferred?
[Image via Getty]