Your Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express offers plenty of value. But to unlock the full potential of this card, be sure you’re taking advantage of all its benefits.
With three distinct 3% cash back categories and potentially valuable credits, this card can help you earn meaningful value at a $0 annual fee. Read on to explore the best benefits.
- Earn the welcome bonus
- Learn the spending categories … and their limits
- Use the monthly Disney Bundle credit
- Consider the monthly Home Chef credit
- Take advantage of the 0% intro APR for big purchases
Earn the welcome bonus
The best way to start maximizing your earnings within your first few months of card ownership is to qualify for the welcome bonus.
Currently, the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express offers a $200 statement credit when you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 6 months after your account opens. But you might have been offered a different bonus, depending on when and how you applied.
Regardless of the bonus offer you received, this statement credit can help you get great value for your spending.
Learn the spending categories … and their limits
Spending on the card’s bonus categories is the quickest way to rack up rewards dollars.
The card currently offers:
- 3% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%)
- 3% cash back on up to $6,000 each year in purchases at U.S. gas stations (after that, 1% back)
- 3% cash back on up to on up to $6,000 each year in U.S. online retail purchases (after that, 1% back)
- 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases
These rewards rates can help you earn real value from your spending, but keep in mind that they come with some limitations.
In addition to the annual spending caps in certain categories (applied per calendar year), you’ll want to watch out for which purchases are included in each category.
For instance, “U.S. supermarkets” does not include warehouse clubs and superstores like Target and Walmart, and “U.S. online retail purchases” won’t include everything you buy online.
Use the monthly Disney Bundle credit
If you’re looking to save on the costs of streaming, the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express can help you cover it.
The card offers a $7 monthly statement credit (up to $84 annually) for Disney Bundle subscriptions, which include Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. To qualify, you need to enroll and spend at least $9.99 each month on an auto-renewing subscription using the card.
If you already have a Disney Bundle subscription, this benefit provides clear value. And if you don’t, this credit might be a reason to take another look at this subscription package.
Consider the monthly Home Chef credit
If you’re interested in meal kits, the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express offers a $15 monthly statement credit on subscription purchases from Home Chef (up to $180 per year). Enrollment is required to qualify and is subject to auto-renewal.
Just keep in mind that this monthly credit will likely only cover some of the cost of your Home Chef order.
Take advantage of the 0% intro APR for big purchases
The card offers a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months after account opening. But make sure to try to pay off your purchases and transfers before the intro APR expires, or you’ll be charged a variable regular APR of 18.24% - 29.24% on both.
Balance transfers must be requested within 60 days of account opening to qualify for the intro rate, and there’s also balance transfer fee: Either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
While the balance transfer offer could be helpful for those carrying debt on other cards, we recommend that cardholders using the card for other benefits try to stick to the 0% intro purchase APR offer. In general, it’s a good idea not to use the same card for both new purchases and managing existing debt — juggling both balances can get complicated, and you could end up in more debt than when you started.
Next steps
Your Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express comes with other benefits, including purchase protection and secondary car rental loss and damage insurance. But the perks we’ve called out above are most likely to help you maximize the card’s value in your first few months of card ownership. Eventually, as you use the card more, you might find it has some gaps you’d like to fill. For example, if you like to travel, you may want to add another American Express card to gain the ability to redeem rewards for airfare, hotel stays and more.