Best Credit Card For Everyday Spend

It’s no secret that the primary way I earn points and miles is through credit cards. That’s mostly done through the lucrative sign-up bonuses. The question now is, after you earn the sign-up bonus by reaching the minimum spend requirement, what is the best credit card for everyday spend?

The AMEX Everyday Preferred card is the clear answer for this question.

Before I get into the details, let me clarify what I mean by “everyday spend”. Every day spend is the stuff you purchase outside of a bonus category such as airfare, hotels and dining. For example, I would use my Citi Prestige credit card when paying for hotels because it offers 3X points/dollar on hotel spending plus the amazing complimentary 4th night benefit. For airfare, I would use my Premier Rewards Gold Card from American American Express since it offers 3X points/dollar on airfare purchased directly with airlines. For dining expenses, I would use the Chase Sapphire credit card to get 2X points/dollar.

Other than everyday spend and bonus category spend, there are cards only good for the benefits and perks. A great example of that is the Platinum Card from American Express. This card is amazing for the perks but I wouldn’t use it for purchases other than the initial minimum spend requirement to get the bonus points. It only earns 1 point/dollar on everything. However, it’s a great card to keep in your wallet to access the Centurion Lounges when travelling, to get the $200 Airline Fee Credit, Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓, Hilton HHonors^™ Gold Status Enrollment, Starwood Preferred Guest Gold, Boingo American Express Preferred Plan.

Now back to the AMEX Everyday Preferred card 

Here are the details of the card:

• Earn 15,000 (or 30,000 if you are targeted) Membership Rewards®points after you use your new card to make $1,000 in purchases in your first 3 months
• 3x points at US supermarkets – On up to $6,000 in purchases per year
• 2x points at US gas stations
• 1x points on other purchases
• 50% more points when you use your card 30 or more times on purchases in a billing period
• $95 Annual Fee

This means if you normally make 30 transactions per month you’ll be earning:

• 4.5x points at US supermarkets – On up to $6,000 in purchases per year
• 3x points at US gas stations
• 1.5x points on other purchases

These are some great returns on everyday purchases that will add up significantly over the course of a year. American Express Membership rewards can easily be valued at close to 2 cents/point. That’s a return of 9% on supermarket spend, 6% at Gas stations and 3% on everything else.

Bottom Line:

The AMEX Everyday Preferred card is a great card to add to your wallet for the long term. It’s very rewarding in everyday spend and it also allows you to transfer the points you earn to AMEX transfer partners such as Delta, Singapore Airlines, JetBlue and others.

If you have any questions please tweet me @pointspointers or email me at pointspointers@gmail.com or comment below.