If you have an American Express Blue credit card, check your AMEX Offers (at their website or app). You may have been offered an Upgrade promotion to the Blue Cash Preferred credit card. The upgrade promo is a $150 statement credit if you make $1000+ in purchases during the first three months of the upgrade.
The Preferred has a $95 annual fee but gets you 6% on supermarkets (up to $6000 per year; instead of 3% of the no-annual Blue) and 3% on Gas and select department stores (instead of 2% with the no-annual fee Blue). Everything else is 1% for both.
Even though all of us deal hunters hate annual fees with a passion, the $95 Preferred (without even considering the $150 one-time bonus) makes sense financially if you spend over $264 per month on supermarkets. Basically you want your 3% difference (6% – 3%) to give you a bonus bigger than the $95 annual fee. That’s $3166.67. To make the math easier, divide it by 12 to get a better estimate.
Not only that, but because the limit is $6000 per year, you have a profit-making ceiling of making $85~ more than you would if you remained at the 3% level. That’s with the $95 annual fee deducted from your profit.
And that’s before we factor in the 1% extra you will receive on select gas stations and department stores!
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