6% Cash Back at US Supermarkets ($6,000/Year), Welcome Bonus, New Disney Streaming Credit — My Money Blog

New Disney streaming bundle credit worth $7 a month ($84 annually). The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express has been in heavy rotation recently: 6% cash back at US stand-alone supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases. The welcome offer is also currently very generous. If you spend $100 a week at supermarkets, that alone will earn you over $300 a year in rewards. The highlights:

• $350 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.
• NEW: Disney Bundle credit worth up to $84 annually. The Disney Bundle includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Get $7/month back in the form of a statement credit after you spend $13.99 or more each month on an eligible subscription with your Blue Cash Preferred Card. Enrollment required.
• 0% intro APR on purchases AND balance transfers for 12 months from the date of account opening. After that, your APR will be a variable APR of 16.24%-27.24%.
• Buy Now, Pay Later: Enjoy $0 intro plan fees when you use Plan It(R) to split up large purchases into monthly installments. Pay $0 Plan It fees on plans created during the first 12 months from the date of account opening. Plans created after that will have a fixed monthly plan fee up to 1.33% of each purchase amount moved into a plan based on the plan duration, the APR that would otherwise apply to the purchase, and other factors.
• 6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%).
• 6% Cash Back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions.
• 3% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations.
• 3% Cash Back on transit including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more.
• 1% Cash Back on other purchases.
• $95 annual fee. (See Rates and Fees)
• Terms Apply.

Max out your benefit by buying gift cards at US supermarkets. I use this card to buy gift cards at a standalone US supermarket to use up the annual limit and get 6% back. My local Safeway has an entire wall of options, but I usually go with Amazon, Apple, or Starbucks (gifts). You can easily confirm that your purchase still gets 6% cash back on your account online:

Supermarkets details. “US stand-alone supermarkets” means that superstores, convenience stores and warehouse clubs are not considered supermarkets. This means no Super Wal-Mart, no Super Target, no Costco. Examples of merchants that do count (and this is not a complete list!) are Safeway, Whole Foods, Meijer, Vons, Winn-Dixie, Gristedes, Shoprite, Stop and Shop, and online supermarkets such as FreshDirect.

Gasoline details. “US stand-alone gas stations” means that superstores, supermarkets, and warehouse clubs that sell gasoline are not considered gas stations. This means no Target, no Costco, no Sam’s Club. Examples of merchants that count (and this is not a complete list!) are Exxon, Mobil, Hess, Shell, Gulf, Murphy USA, Murphy Express.

US Streaming Subscriptions details. These are all included at 6% cash back:

• Amazon Music
• Apple Music
• Audible
• CBS All Access
• Direct TV Now
• ESPN+
• Fubo TV
• HBO Now
• Hulu
• iHeartRadio
• Kindle Unlimited
• MLB.TV
• NBA League Pass
• Netflix
• NHL.TV
• Pandora
• Prime Video Unlimited
• Showtime
• Sling TV
• SiriusXM Streaming and Satellite
• Spotify
• YouTube Music Premium
• YouTube Premium
• YouTube TV

Disney Bundle credit details. Receive $7 back each month (up to $84 back annually) after spending $13.99 or more each month on an eligible subscription to The Disney Bundle which includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ using your Card. Enrollment required.

Enrollment on the Amex.com Benefit Dashboard is required to receive this benefit. Blue Cash Preferred® Card Members are eligible to receive a $7 statement credit each month after making qualifying purchases online at U.S. websites Disneyplus.com, Hulu.com or Plus.espn.com and in U.S. dollars amounting $13.99 (excluding taxes) or more in that calendar month. “Qualifying purchases” include The Disney Bundle monthly subscription purchases of either $13.99 a month or $19.99 a month (excluding taxes) and any other monthly or annual subscription purchase or add-ons purchased at U.S. websites Disneyplus.com, Hulu.com or Plus.espn.com that amount to $13.99 (excluding taxes) or more in any one calendar month made with your enrolled Card.

Annual fee. There is a $95 annual fee, so you’ll want to utilize that 6% cash back on groceries to maximize your value. If you spend the max cap of $500 a month at supermarkets, at 6% back that would net you $360 cash back in a year vs. $60 at 1% cash back. Note that simply spending $31 per week at supermarkets at 6% cash back will result in over $95 Reward Dollars per year to cover the annual fee.

If you spend the max cap of $500 a month at supermarkets, at 6% back that would net you $360 cash back in a year. Minus the $95 annual fee, and you’ll still earn $265 net cash back on $6,000 of spending, for an net overall cash back rate of 4.4%. That’s still a good year-round cash back rate for groceries, and I’m completely ignoring the US streaming subscriptions category. (See Rates and Fees)

Alternatively, the Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express offers 3% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%). The welcome bonus for that card is a $200 statement credit after you spend $2,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months. with no annual fee. (See Rates and Fees)

Cash back is officially given in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit, gift cards, and merchandise. I always just stick with statements credit to directly pay down my monthly bill.

Bottom line. The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express has the key feature of 6% cash back at US supermarkets (on up to $6,000 per year). You can now also get 6% cash back on Netflix/Spotify/HBO Now as well as 3% cash back at US gas stations and transit (Uber/Lyft/train). This has been a “keeper” card for me for many years now. I treat it like one of my 5% cash back cards, except there are no rotating categories or activations to worry about. They also just added a Disney streaming bundle credit worth up to $7/month ($84 annually).