The Writer’s Coin

When I first started shopping around for a credit card with a good reward program, I was a little confused. There is a lot of fine print to wade through and they all have more footnotes than Infinite Jest. Since my budgeting system involves putting all my purchases on my credit card, it’s worth it for me to do my homework when picking a card.

Then I eventually found the card I have now: The Bank of America Worldpoints Card (formerly of MBNA fame). I get 1% cash back on all my purchases, no annual fees, and the great customer support that all BofA customers enjoy. Bank of American is also the bank I have my checking account with, which is just a coincidence but is certainly convenient.

I’m happy with the card and it’s myriad choices. You can use your rewards ($1 = 1 point) for purchases from their catalog, travel, VIP events, and even magazine subscriptions. But the best choice is and always has been cash (on average, my card pays me around $200/year this way).
Lately though, I’ve seen a lot of offers for cards that give 5% cash back on certain “everyday purchases” like at supermarkets, gasoline, and pharmacies. I don’t have a car but I do go to the supermarket every week and that has always tempted me to switch. I’ve always told myself the hassle wasn’t worth the switch.

Until (maybe) today. I am looking at the rewards for the American Express Blue Cash Card mentioned here and boy does it look good. You get 5% cash back on those “everyday purchases” while getting 1.5% on all other purchases*. So I’m maximizing all my returns by just switching to this card and maintaining my current budgeting routine.

Let’s estimate how much of a cash back I would get at the end of the year with this card:

-Old Card: around $20,000 charged at 1% = $200

-New Card: around $3500 in groceries at 5% = $175
around $500 in gas at 5% = $25
around $16,000 charged at 1.5% = $240
TOTAL = $440

That’s over twice as much as I was getting before! I guess all that’s left is to find out if American Express is accepted as widely as Master Card is.

Can anyone vouch for that?

*The catch is you have to spend over $6500 bucks/year, which I clear easily.

Tags: american express blue cash, credit card rewards