American Express Blue Cash Preferred

Amex Blue Cash Preferred: every credit, verified and dated

Name: American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card
Brand: American Express
Availability: InStock

Every reward and credit below is checked against American Express's own page, dated, and never shaped by affiliate revenue. We take no commissions, so the math has no reason to flatter the card.

Annual fee: $0 first year, then $95 Sources extracted from American Express's published pages · June 1, 2026 How we verify →

Benefit data is extracted from American Express's own published pages by our automated pipeline; all line items trace to the Blue Cash Preferred card page (americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/card/blue-cash-preferred/). Dates reflect pipeline runs, not same-day human checks. By O.B., Founder.

Is it actually worth $95? Find yourself below.

The first year is free; after that the fee is $95. This card's value is built on two things you can actually count: 6% back at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 of spend per year) and a $120 Disney Bundle credit — plus 6% on select streaming, 3% on gas and transit. Whether it pays off comes down almost entirely to how much you spend on groceries. Here's the honest math for three kinds of cardholder.

The big-grocery-budget cardholder

If you spend the full $6,000/year at U.S. supermarkets, 6% returns $360 in cash back from groceries alone. Add the $120 Disney Bundle credit (if you'd pay for Disney+, Hulu or ESPN+ anyway), and you're at $480 in countable value before gas, transit, or streaming — against a $95 fee. That's a net of roughly +$385/year, plus whatever 3% gas and transit add on top.

Maxes the $6,000 grocery cap + uses the Disney credit: about +$385/year before other categories.

The average-family cardholder

A more typical household spending ~$500/month ($6,000/year) on groceries still maxes the cap, but many families spend less — say $300/month, or $3,600/year, which at 6% is $216. If you also use the $120 Disney credit, that's $336 in value against the $95 fee — a comfortable +$241/year, before adding 3% gas and transit. For most grocery-spending families, this card clears its fee with room to spare.

~$300/month groceries + Disney credit: roughly +$241/year, before gas and transit.

The light-grocery cardholder

If you rarely shop at supermarkets — you eat out, or buy groceries at warehouse clubs and Walmart, which Amex does not count as "U.S. supermarkets" — the 6% rate may apply to very little of your spending. Without the grocery volume and without using the Disney credit, the $95 fee can easily outrun what you earn back.

If that's you, a no-annual-fee cash-back card (including Amex's own Blue Cash Everyday) may return more for your pattern. The Preferred only wins if you feed it real supermarket spending.

Low supermarket spend, no Disney credit: the $95 fee can exceed the rewards.

Every reward and credit, checked against Amex's own page

These are the earning rates, the statement credit, and intro terms Amex publishes for the Blue Cash Preferred, rendered straight from our verified data. Each links to the issuer's own page.

Reward / credit	Rate or value	Source
Cash back at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000/year, then 1%)	6%	view source
Cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions	6%	view source
Cash back at U.S. gas stations	3%	view source
Cash back on transit (incl. taxis, rideshare, parking, tolls, trains)	3%	view source
Cash back on all other eligible purchases	1%	view source
Disney Bundle Credit ($10/month statement credit)	$120/year	view source
Intro APR on purchases & balance transfers (then a variable APR)	0% for 12 months	view source
Annual fee	$0 intro, then $95	view source

Cash back is received as Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit. The 6% supermarket rate applies to up to $6,000 in purchases per year, then 1%. "U.S. supermarkets" excludes superstores, warehouse clubs, and some grocers — check Amex's terms.

Protections and perks (included, no fixed dollar credit)

These come with the card but carry no fixed statement-credit value, so they're not in the math above. Each still links to Amex's own page.

Benefit	Details	Source
Purchase Protection	Up to $1,000 per covered purchase against damage or theft	view source
Return Protection	Up to $300 per item when a store won't take it back	view source
Car Rental Loss & Damage Insurance	Secondary coverage	view source
Plan It®	Split large purchases into monthly payments	view source
Send & Split® (Venmo & PayPal)	Send money and split purchases easily	view source
Cash back redemption at Amazon.com checkout	Use Reward Dollars at Amazon	view source
Balance transfer offer (within first 60 days)	Transfer balances at the intro APR	view source

The gotchas — what the headline value hides

The 6% groceries rate is capped at $6,000/year. After $6,000 in supermarket spend, the rate drops to 1%. The most the 6% category can return is $360 a year.
"U.S. supermarkets" is narrower than it sounds. Amex excludes warehouse clubs (Costco, Sam's Club), superstores and big-box stores (Walmart, Target), and some specialty grocers. If you buy groceries there, they likely earn just 1%.
There's a $95 annual fee after year one. The first year is free, but from year two on you need enough grocery spend (and/or the Disney credit) to clear $95 before the card pays off.
The Disney credit requires an enrolled, recurring subscription. The $10 monthly credit only posts when you pay for an eligible Disney Bundle subscription with the card — it's not free money if you wouldn't otherwise subscribe.
The 6% streaming list is specific. Only select U.S. streaming services qualify; check Amex's current list before assuming your service counts.

What we left out of the table — and why

The welcome offer. Blue Cash Preferred typically advertises up to $300 cash back after meeting a minimum spend (recently ~$3,000 in the first months). Because welcome offers change without notice, we don't bank it in the steady-state math — check Amex's current terms when you'd apply.
The exact dollar value of 3% gas, transit, and streaming. These are real rates, but their value depends entirely on your spending in each category, which we can't stamp from a benefits page. We fold them in as "additional return" rather than inventing a figure.
Reward Dollar redemption nuances. Cash back posts as Reward Dollars redeemable for statement credit; we treat $1 of Reward Dollars as $1, which is how Amex redeems them for statement credit.

How we built this page

Every benefit above is extracted from American Express's own published Blue Cash Preferred pages by our automated pipeline, stored with its source link, and dated. We take no affiliate commissions and link to no application offers, so nothing on this page is shaped by what pays us — because nothing does. If a number here is wrong, it's because Amex changed their page or our pipeline misread it; either way, our methodology explains how to check, and the source links let you verify every line yourself.