Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
The Amex Everyday Preferred is a bit of a forgotten card when compared to the rest of its Membership Rewards-earning siblings. Despite flying under-the-radar, the card can be a good earner for supermarkets and gas stations (and to a lesser extent everywhere else spending). But there’s a catch, or two catches really.
First, in order to unlock noteworthy returns in the grocery and gas categories, you need to complete 30 or more purchases each month. If you do, you get a 50% points bonus, which effectively makes this a 4.5x grocery and 3x gas card. Without those transactions, it slides down to 3x/2x respectively, which doesn’t really stand out for a card that you have to pay for the privilege of using. The second asterisk is that the supermarket multiplier is limited to $6k/calendar year…not much in comparison to many folks’ annual grocery spending.
Given all that, is it worth the $95 annual fee to schlep it around in your wallet?
Amex Everyday Preferred Current Welcome Offer
| Card Offer |
|---|
This card is no longer available for new applications ⓘ Friend-Referral This card is not currently available for new applicants.$95 Annual Fee Alternate Offer: Some people click through and find that they are targeted for an offer of 30K points after $2K spend in 3 months. Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 30K after $2K in first 3 months |
Amex Everyday Preferred Review
Despite the normally subpar welcome offer, $95 annual fee, low grocery maximum and 30 transaction headache, there is a use case for this card. Since the card’s $6K annual grocery max resets on the calendar year, if you get it towards the middle-to-end of the year, you can effectively get $12K of bonused supermarket spending across two calendar years ($6K during the end of the first year and another $6K at the beginning of the second). After that, once the annual fee comes due, you can downgrade to a no annual fee Amex Everyday card, which will keep your Membership Rewards alive and transferable with no annual fee. After waiting for around a year, and once the supermarket maximum resets, it’s very common to receive an offer to upgrade back up to the Everyday Preferred with a bonus that is usually about the same as the new card welcome offer. By doing this, and maximizing the grocery spend, you can effectively pay $95 every other year for around 65-70K Membership Rewards points. And, on top of that, you still “get” to track the 30 purchases per month in order to maximize the earnings.
Sound like too much squeeze for the juice? It just might be.
- Annual Fee: $95
- Authorized User Annual Fee: $0
- Foreign Transaction Fee: Yes
- What points are worth: The Amex Everyday Preferred earns Membership Rewards points. Our current Reasonable Redemption Values pegs them at 1.55 cents each.
- Best Use for Points: Membership Rewards can be transferred to travel partners at a 1:1 ratio and this will almost always yield the most value. There’s three hotel partners (Choice, Hilton, Marriott), but the transfer ratio makes them unappealing most of the time. On the other hand, airline partners are excellent and include Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, ANA Mileage Club and Avianca LifeMiles.
- Earning Categories:
- 3X – US supermarkets (Up to $6,000 spend per calendar year)
- 2x – gas stations
- 1x – everywhere else
If you make 30 or more purchases in a billing period you will get a 50% bonus on points, less returns and credits. This turns the card’s earnings into:
-
- 4.5x – US supermarkets
- 3x – gas stations
- 1.5x – everywhere else
- Travel Protections:
- Auto Rental Coverage: Secondary auto rental CDW (collision damage waiver). Provides reimbursement for theft and collision damage for rental cars in the U.S. and abroad.
- Purchase Protections:
- Return Protection: You may return purchases to American Express if the seller won’t take them back up to 90 days from the date of purchase. American Express may refund purchase price excluding shipping and handling. $300/item max, $1,000/calendar year/card account. Valid in US and US territories only.
- Who’s this card for? Folks who don’t mind tracking the 30 purchase requirement and can maximize the grocery and gas categories.
- Is the Amex Everyday Preferred a keeper? Once you’ve received the welcome offer and maxed out the supermarket earnings (which reset on the calendar year), there’s not much reason to jump through the monthly transaction hoops and continue paying the $95 fee for what effectively becomes a 3x gas card. It’s probably better to downgrade to the no annual fee Amex Everyday card, which will keep your Membership Rewards points alive and transferable. The Everyday consistently receives upgrade offers back to the Everyday Preferred that are fairly similar to the original welcome bonus. This can make it worth upgrading for another year once the supermarket limit has reset.
Amex Everyday Preferred Pros and Cons
Pros
- Good earnings at gas stations and US supermarkets
- Often receives decent upgrade offers from the Amex Everyday card
- Membership Rewards has great airline partners
- Usually has a period of low or 0% APR on purchases and transfers as part of the welcome offer
Cons
- Welcome offer is rarely anything to get excited about
- Having to maintain 30 purchases each month in order to maximize earning can be a pain
- 3x/4.5x at supermarkets is limited to only $6K/calendar year
- Outside of bonused spending categories, not much in the way of perks
American Express Transfer Partners
| Rewards Program | Amex Transfer Ratio | Best Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus Avios | 1 to 1 | Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Aer Lingus rather than British Airways, Qatar, or Iberia. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| AeroMexico ClubPremier | 1 to 1.6 | AeroMexico is a SkyTeam partner. Club Premier points can be used to book flights on AeroMexico, SkyTeam alliance members (such as Delta or Korean Air), or on select partner airlines. Unfortunately many have reported that awards are extremely difficult to book through AeroMexico so we do not recommend transferring points to this program. If you want to fly AeroMexico, look to transfer points to another SkyTeam partner (such as Air France) and then book AeroMexico with that program. |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1 to 1 | Redeem for Star Alliance flights and/or flights with Air Canada partners (such as Etihad). No fuel surcharges; $39 CAD award booking fee; 5,000 points to add stopover on one-way award. See: Air Canada Aeroplan: Everything you need to know. |
| Air France KLM Flying Blue | 1 to 1 | Monthly Air France Promo Awards often represent very good value. Air France miles can be used to book Sky Team awards, including Delta awards. Air France often offers very good business class award pricing between the US and Europe & Israel. |
| Alaska MileagePlan | 1 to 1 via Hawaiian | Alaska Airlines offers decent oneworld award pricing, excellent short-distant pricing, and uniquely allows free stop-overs one one-way awards. Additionally, Alaska allows free award changes and cancelations (although they do have a small non-refundable partner award booking fee) |
| ANA Mileage Club | 1 to 1 | Redeem for Star Alliance flights. Multiple stopovers allowed. ANA offers many great sweet-spot awards, including flying around the world in business class for as few as 115K miles! See also: ANA - a terrific Membership Rewards gem. |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1 to 1 | Avianca LifeMiles can be great for Star Alliance awards. They offer reasonable award prices and no fuel surcharges on awards. They also offer shorthaul awards within the US (for flying United, for example) for as few as 7,500 miles one-way. Best of all, their mixed-cabin pricing can lead to fantastic first-class award prices. See this post for details. |
| British Airways Avios | 1 to 1 | While flights on British Airways itself often incur outrageously high fuel surcharges, many BA partners charge low or no fuel surcharges. Excellent value can often be had in redeeming BA points for short distance flights outside the US. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1 to 1 | Cathay Pacific has a decent distance based award chart, but they don't allow stopovers longer than 24 hours. Cathay Pacific Asia Miles can be a good option for booking American Airlines flights with a distance based award chart, especially if other OneWorld Alliance miles aren't available. For long distance flights, it is possible to reduce the cost of a premium cabin award by adding on a lower cabin segment. See this post for details. |
| Choice | 1 to 1 | Choice Privileges points seem to be randomly valuable within the US, but dependably valuable internationally in expensive locations such as Scandinavia and Japan. Points can sometimes offer great value when used towards participating Preferred Hotels of the World. |
| Delta SkyMiles | 1 to 1 plus excise tax | Delta no longer charges change or cancellation fees on awards originating in North America. Flash award sales and flights to/from locations other than the U.S. or Canada can offer great value. See: Best uses for Delta miles. |
| Emirates Skywards | 1 to 1 | The best use of Emirates miles has been to fly Emirates itself. Unfortunately fuel surcharges can be extremely steep. One workaround is to book select routes such as JFK to Milan or Newark to Athens. See: How to find and book Emirates first class awards. |
| Etihad Guest | 1 to 1 | Etihad offers a distance based award chart for flying Etihad and another for its partners. Points may offer good value for expensive but short-distance flights. |
| Finnair Plus+ | 1 to 1 via BA | Finnair points are now "Avios" and points can be moved to/from other Avios programs. Finnair uses zone based award charts rather than distance based. As a result, Finnair sometimes has better (and sometimes worse) pricing than other Avios programs. |
| Hawaiian Miles | 1 to 1 plus excise tax | Hawaiian Miles can be converted instantly to Alaska Mileage Plan miles. Alaska Airlines offers decent oneworld award pricing, excellent short-distant pricing, and uniquely allows free stop-overs one one-way awards. Additionally, Alaska allows free award changes and cancelations (although they do have a small non-refundable partner award booking fee) |
| Hilton | 1 to 2 | 5th Night Free awards. Best value is usually found with very low end or very high end Hilton hotels. Bonus: award nights are not subject to resort fees. Note that Hilton points often go on sale for half a cent each and so its rare for point transfers to Hilton to be a good value. |
| Iberia Avios | 1 to 1 | On their own flights, Iberia offers low award prices and a very reasonable 25 Euro cancellation fee. Partner awards can offer good value under some circumstances as well, but these are usually nonrefundable. Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Iberia rather than British Airways, Aer Lingus, or Qatar. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| JetBlue | 250 to 200 plus excise tax | JetBlue points offer the most value when cheap ticket prices are available and when award taxes are high relative to the overall cost of the ticket (more details can be found here). The JetBlue Plus Card and the JetBlue Business Card offer a 10% rebate on awards, so you can get more value by holding one of these cards. |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 1 to 1 | 5th Night Free awards. Opportunities to get outsized value exist but can be hard to find. |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1 to 1 | Best use is probably for flights on El Al with no fuel surcharges. Also useful for short AA flights. Qantas offers distance based award charts similar to Cathay Pacific. Both are OneWorld Alliance members. I recommend comparing award prices across both programs before transferring to either. Qantas offers round the world business class awards for only 280,000 points (but with many restrictions) |
| Qatar Privilege Club Avios | 1 to 1 | Qatar has reasonable award prices for flying Qatar itself. Points are now transferable 1 to 1 to British Airways (and from there to Aer Lingus or Iberia). It is now also possible to book JetBlue flights with Qatar Avios. |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1 to 1 | Use to book Singapore Airlines First Class awards (generally reserved for their own members), Alaska Airlines economy awards, or for Star Alliance awards (including United Airlines). |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 | Virgin Atlantic offers a few excellent sweet spot awards. See: Best uses for Virgin Atlantic points (Sweet Spot Spotlight). |
American Express Application Tips
- Safe to Apply: Amex is usually the safest bank for trying your luck at earning a new welcome offer. Most of the time, they won’t issue a hard pull when denying your application or when approving you if you already have at least one Amex card. Plus, they’ll warn you during the application process if you’re not eligible for the bonus.
- Once in a Lifetime Rule: If you've ever had a card before, you are most likely prohibited from earning a welcome offer for that same card if you apply now. Fortunately you'll be warned during the application process if this is the case. Amex is known to "forget" that you've had a card after about 5-7 years. Note that there are frequently offers with no lifetime language (NLL) that aren't bound by this restriction.
- "Family" Rules: In addition to the "once in a lifetime" rule, Amex now applies additional "family" rules to several groups of consumer cards. These rules don't apply to business cards.
- Platinum/Gold/Green: You may not be able to get a welcome offer on the Green, Gold, Platinum, Charles Schwab Platinum or Morgan Stanley Platinum if you've previously had any of the Platinum cards previously.
- Everyday: You may not be able to get a welcome offer on the Everyday card if you've previously had the Everyday Preferred card.
- Cash back cards: You may not be able to get a welcome offer on the Blue Cash Everyday card if you've previously had the Cash Magnet, Blue Cash Preferred or Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred cards. You're not eligible for a welcome offer on the Blue Cash Preferred card if you've previously had the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred card.
- Delta cards: You can get a welcome offer on any of the Delta cards provided you've never had a more expensive Delta card than the one you are applying for. So, for example, you're eligible for a welcome offer on the Delta Reserve if you've had the Delta Gold, but you may not be eligible for a welcome offer on the Delta Gold if you've previously had the Reserve.
- 1 per 5 days: You can get at most one credit cards within every 5 days. This rule does not apply to Pay Over Time (charge) cards.
- 2 per 90 days: You can get at most two credit cards within 90 days. This rule usually does not apply to Pay Over Time (charge) cards.
- 1 of same product per 90 days: Amex will only approve you for the same card once every 90 days (this primarily comes into play when applying for "no-lifetime-language" (NLL) links.
- Marriott cards: Approval for any Marriott card is governed by a labyrinthine set of unintuitive rules. You can see the full eligibility chart here. It seems that Amex may consider the Bevy and Brilliant cards as the same product, which means that you would have to wait 90 days after applying for the Bevy before being able to be approved for the Brilliant.
- Card Limits: Amex normally only allows customers to have five credit cards and ten Pay Over Time (charge) cards at one time. Both personal and business cards count towards the respective five and ten card limits. There are some instances where certain customers have been allowed to go above those limits.
- Application Status: Call (877) 239-3491 to check your application status or use this link.
- Reconsideration: If denied, you can call (800) 567-1083 and ask for your application to be reconsidered.
Related Cards
| Card Offer |
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Just gonna say that in the town I live in, all the parking meters downtown individually take credit cards down to 25 cents for a short stay. If you don’t mind spending a few minutes walking around when downtown and giving away a few bucks, 30 purchases a month is pretty easy.
Really? All for the privilege of paying $95 for a capped bonus multiplier? You’d make more $/hr picking up pennies off the ground on your walk around town.
You can charge whatever you want anywhere. Just saying hitting the 30 charges a month is super easy. Think of it from that angle. I have the preferred because I am on like my 4th time around of upgrade then downgrade. That everyday card family has provided me with a fairly good number of points over the years.Once you have that 30 pops under your belt, groceries and stuff become more lucrative. A lot depends on where you live and what you do too.
Is this the cheapest AF on an Amex card that includes airline transfer partners? Could be worth it for that alone if you don’t want to be bothered with the Gold or Platinum coupon books
It isn’t. There’s two no annual fee cards that keep points alive and allow for partner transfers: the Everyday and the Blue Business Plus. The BBP is the better option of the two IMHO.
The 30 transaction requirement is right up there with Amex’s RAT team and couponization of card benefits.
The notion of 30 “everyday” transactions per month is imposing. And, as the competition has evolved, the EDP has become irrelevant and desperately needs a rethinking. Ours is the oldest card in our sock drawer. It sits there solely for credit report purposes.