Who should (and who shouldn’t) get a Blue Cash Preferred card?

With summer travel coming up, it’s not just time to reevaluate how you use your current cardbut also to see which cards to add to your wallet in the future. Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express is one such card to consider.

Blue Cash Preferred is currently offering a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 on a purchase on your new card within the first six months. Plus, it comes with an annual referral fee of $0 for the first year, then $95 (see prices & fees).

Let’s find out if the Blue Cash Preferred is the right card to add to your wallet — and who should and shouldn’t get one.

Main benefits of Amex Blue Cash Preferred

The most notable perk of the Blue Cash Preferred is its generous bonuses on certain spending categories. While some cards can earn cashback bonuses (or points) on just one or two categories, Blue Cash Preferred actually offers bonuses across four spending areas:

You will earn 1% everywhere else. Cashbacks are received as Rewards Dollars which can be redeemed for statement credits.

Earning 6% cashback (and even 3% cash back) is not surprising. And if you take a closer look, these are all the most profitable categories for everyday spending. From groceries to streaming, this is often the area where we are spending more than in the pastwhether you are traveling or not.

Cardholders can also receive a $7 monthly statement credit after qualifying online purchases with Disney+, Hulu, or ESPN+. That’s up to $84 annually for these popular streaming services.

Related: Review of Blue Cash Preferred

This is obviously the first thing you should consider to decide if Blue Cash Preferred is right for you. The age-old question, especially for many card beginners: is it better? Earn points for your purchases or earn cash back?

If you want to travel (at least one day) and your first priority is getting most of value from one credit card, you will get one card to earn points or miles. You can get a much bigger return on rewards points cards from maximizing perks and redemption options when compared to most cashback card.

Related: My mom gets her first rewards card after using cash in 50 years

But not everyone has a priority to travel right now. Plus, not everyone has the time — or inclination — to put in the effort to track spending and redemption strategies, which is where cashback cards like the Blue Cash Preferred come in. There’s amazing simplicity to earning and redeeming a fixed amount — and you always know what to expect when redeeming.

For example, if you’re already a Hulu, Disney+, or ESPN+ subscriber, that’s an easy $84 annual value with the Blue Cash Preferred.

You spend a considerable amount in bonus categories

If you don’t have much to spend on at least one or two bonus types (US subscribe to streamingWE supermarket up to $6,000 per calendar year, transit and we the gas station), it may not be reasonable to obtain this card.

For example, you’ll earn $360 if you max out the cashback benefit at US supermarkets each year, with an initial $0 annual fee for the first year, then 95 dollars (see rates and fees) more than it’s worth. That breaks down to spending $500 on groceries per month.

In addition, the average US consumer subscribes 12 media and entertainment services, so the 6% cashback in the card will be very helpful. However, streaming as a category probably won’t earn you much cash as services are typically no more than $20 per month.

However, when you combine two 6% portfolios and two 3% portfolios, you earn a substantial cashback every year.

Related: Your credit card now has you covered if you forget to cancel your subscription

You don’t want to remember the temporary directory

Blue Cash Preferred is built for simplicity. It has simple, matching bonus categories and easy cashback. To redeem, you can easily get a statement credit, get a gift card, or shop directly with your rewards.

Related: Updated information about monthly card benefits you should know

The selling point of Blue Cash Preferred is its simple cashback structure; if you want a card more suitable for travel rewards you’re better off using something like a card American Express® Gold Card or Platinum Card® from American Expresswhere you can accumulate points of delight.

You want loads of perks

Likewise, the Blue Cash Preferred doesn’t have many ways of adding bells and whistles. Compare that to Lots of Amex Platinum Annual Statement CreditsWorks best for frequent travelers and high spenders.

You can handle complex monetization structures

If you don’t mind doing a little extra credit card math every day – juggling all the pieces of plastic in your wallet and deciding which card is best for each purchase – you might prefer one of these the aforementioned Amex card, or a cashback card with a more complex earning structure, to Blue Cash Preferred.

by Amex Blue cash priority one of Best rewards credit card – and for good reason.

This is a lucrative card if you can max out the bonus categories and want to earn cash back (instead of points). You can now take advantage of the current offer of a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 on a purchase on your new card within the first six months of becoming a member card.

Even if you decide not to sign up for the Blue Cash Preferred, check out TPG’s list of best credit card to find the right card to meet your earning goals.

For Blue Cash Preferred rates and fees, click This.

Additional reporting by Ryan Wilcox.