Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express
The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express has been a long time favorite among card holders for one main reason, it was the only American Express card to give a $0 annual fee for travel-friendly Membership Rewards points.
For travelers, the Amex EveryDay® card was the “perfect card.” Although this card appealed to the traveler, most people couldn’t find a true purpose to own it. Of course, Amex knew that and decided to do something about it.
Balance transfers anyone? Yes, American Express has now added balance transfer benefits to the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card. Now that the EveryDay® has reward benefits and balance transfer benefits to boot, it could be a card that is now truly an “every day” card.
In fact, the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card is one of our top rated balance transfer cards to own. For starters, you get to enjoy a 15 month 0% intro APR on balance transfers and purchases. Since it applies to purchases too, that means it acts like a 15 month interest free loan on all of your purchases.
The more you use your card, the better. After all, it’s not called the EveryDay® card for nothing. If you use it a lot, you can rack up the reward points. The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express is intended to be a card that can be used everywhere, a true “all-the-time card.”
As a rewards card it still delivers some value — but as a balance transfer card, it can be a ticket out of debt. You also get purchase protection and car rental insurance with your credit card, as well as the offering of Amex exclusive perks like entertainment access and Global Assist® Hotline. (Without any annual fees of course)
Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express
The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express is a better rewards credit card (on paper) when compared to the EveryDay credit card. With the Amex EveryDay card, you have an opportunity to cash in on 10,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 within the first 3 months of owning the card. The Amex EveryDay® Preferred card gives you 15,000 bonus points.
The EveryDay® Preferred Card doesn’t stop there, it gives X3 points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 in purchases per year) and X2 points at U.S. gas stations. The EveryDay Credit Card gives X2 at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 in purchases per year); then X1. (Terms may apply)
Transaction bonuses on the cards differ too, giving an edge to Amex Preferred® Credit Card. The EveryDay Preferred gives you 50% more points for making 30 or more purchases in a billing period while the EveryDay gives you 20% more points for making 20 or more purchases in a billing period.
Both credit cards offer point transfers, pay with points, travel accident insurance, car rental loss & damage, extended warranty, return protection and purchase protection.
Basics And Benefits Of The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express
Now, let’s discuss the EveryDay card as a balance-transfer credit card first. If you’re familiar with balance transfer credit cards, you know most of these types of cards don’t give you any true reason to keep using them once your introductory 0% interest rate ends. The APR rates are often high, rarely do they give you rewards.
The good news, the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express is the exception. Check this out.
AS A BALANCE-TRANSFER CARD
The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express gives you the “three zeroes” that identify a top-notch balance-transfer card:
• $0 balance-transfer fee on transfers requested within 60 days from account opening
• $0 annual fee
• 0% on Purchases and Balance Transfers for 15 months, with an ongoing APR of 14.49% – 25.49% Variable APR (Which isn’t too bad at all)
Now, there’s not too many credit cards out there that offer benefits such as these. Actually, it’s very rare to see at all. Let me give you an example. Let’s talk about balance transfer fees. On most credit cards, Balance-transfer fees will typically cost you 3% to 5% of the total amount transferred, which would be $30 to $50 on every $1,000 transferred. If you’re transferring a few thousand dollars or more, you could be looking at a large amount.
Since the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express is 0%, you won’t be paying anything to transfer your balance (which is a great thing). Rather, you can use that money to pay down your transferred debt more quickly, every body wins!
Now, what about the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card as a reward card?
AS A REWARDS CARD (EVERYDAY)
With the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card, you get the following:
• 2 points (membership rewards) for every dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 a year in spending, after 1 point per dollar)
• 2 points per dollar on eligible travel purchases (must be booked through amextravel.com)
• 1 point per dollar (on all other purchases)
• A 20% points bonus for each billing period in which you use the card at least 20 times or more
• An offer for all new cardholders: You can earn 10,000 Membership Rewards® points after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in purchases (must be within your first 3 months) Some terms may apply
• Annual Fee: $0
AS A REWARDS CARD (PREFERRED)
With the Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card, you get the following:
• 3 points (membership rewards) for every dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 a year in spending, after 1 point per dollar)
• 2 points per dollar on eligible travel purchases (must be booked through amextravel.com)
• 1 point per dollar (on all other purchases)
• A 50% points bonus for each billing period in which you use the card at least 20 times or more
• An offer for all new cardholders: You can earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in purchases (must be within your first 3 months) Some terms may apply
• Annual Fee: $95
The bonuses offered by The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express appear to be better to the untrained eye, but are they?. Although you can earn 15,000 bonus points, X3 points at U.S. supermarkets and 50% more points for making 30 or more transactions during a billing cycle, it’s the Preferred card that has a $95 annual fee you must make up.
Typically, 1 reward point equals a penny. Let’s say you get a 10,000 point reward, that would equal $100. Now, there’s a 20% bonus when you use your Amex EveryDay credit card when you use your card 20 times or more. With the Amex EveryDay® Preferred card, you get 50% bonus points when you make 30 purchases or more during a billing cycle.
Now, your membership rewards points are quite flexible on both Amex credit cards. You’ll be able to use them to redeem travel, cash, gift cards and more. You can also transfer them to the loyalty programs, partner airlines or hotel chains.
Be cautious though, some of these options will give you less than your penny a point rate. Yeah, that’s not cool but that’s a fact. Just make sure you ask before you pull the trigger. The minimum redemption would be 5,000 points.
WHAT ARE MEMBERSHIP REWARDS® POINTS WORTH?
Membership Rewards® points can be redeemed in a number of different ways. For each option, point’s worth varies, so some redemption options may be better than others. Here are the ways you can redeem your rewards and how much one point is worth for each option:
• Frequent flyer programs: Points are often worth $0.01 each, with some worth more or less. For example; 1,000 Membership Rewards® points = 2,000 Hilton Honors Points or 1,000 SkyMiles®.
• Gift cards: Points are valued at $0.01 each.
• Merchandise: Points are valued at $0.005 each.
• Travel: The value of points vary. (Make sure you check in advance)
• Pay with points at checkout or via statement credit: The value of points vary and are usually less than $0.01.
The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express: Drawbacks
While the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express offers an interesting array of benefits, it’s best used as a balance-transfer credit card. As a rewards card, simply put, there’s just better cards out there.
The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express: Drawbacks
The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express is a great rewards card. The big drawback for this card is the $95 annual fee.
We’ll talk about what other reward cards are out there so you can make the best possible decision for you.
EARN HIGHER REWARDS FOR $0 A YEAR
American Express does have another $0 annual fee credit card that has better rewards at U.S. supermarkets.
That card is the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express. This credit card gives you 3% cash back at supermarkets in the United States (up to $6,000 annually) then 1%, 2% at U.S. gas stations. You can also earn 2% at select department stores in the United States of America too, as well as 1% on everything else.
The card comes with a similar bonus offer, too: $150 statement credit after you spend $1,000 in purchases on your new card. (Must be within the first 3 months. Terms may apply.
Another rewards credit card you may want to consider is Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer earns 1% cash back on every dollar you spend, then an additional 1% cash back for every dollar you pay off. This actually doubles the base rate of The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express.
Now, Citi® has stated that they plan to leave the the competitive rewards space to concentrate on these types of offers. As of this review, we don’t know much more than that.
While it’s better suited as a rewards card, the Citi® Double Cash Card offers balance transfers too. Even so, you’ll get charged a fee of 3% or $5 of the amount transferred, whichever is greater. This card also has an annual fee of $0 also, but it doesn’t have a sign-up offer.
It’s interesting to see American Express enter the 0% APR no BT space. This type of offer is also promoted by Chase (with the Chase Slate credit card) and also with the BankAmericard Credit Card. We expect more credit cards to follow suit. We’ll be curious to see who enters this specific space over the months as interest rates continue to go higher.
FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEES
Although both the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card and EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card attempts to appeal to travelers with bonus rewards for certain travel, both are not good cards to take with you abroad, since they charge a foreign transaction fee of 2.7%.
If you plan on using this card to travel abroad, you’ll be better off choosing the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card. While the Amex EveryDay® charges 2.7% for international transactions, the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card has no such fees.
As it pertains specifically to foreign transactions, there’s no question that other cards offer are just better. You’ll be better off getting another card if you plan to purchase with your card or use cash/debit card.
REDEEMING YOUR REWARDS
Since we know a lot of you are interested in the rewards offered by Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express, we wanted to explain how you can redeem all of your collected reward
• Redeem points for travel, entertainment, dining, merchandise and online shopping. You can also redeem your points toward eligible card charges like retail, dining, groceries and more.
• Transfer points to participating travel reward programs such as Delta Skymiles, Hawaiian Airlines, Jet Blue, Virgin Atlantic, Hilton Honors and Starwood Preferred Guest.
• There are a wide variety of additional benefits and services, including early access to preferred seating at sought-after events with the Entertainment Access program.
FEES AND APR (EveryDay Credit Card)
• Annual Fee: $0
• Purchase APR: 0% on purchases for 15 months, then 14.49%-25.49% Variable, based on creditworthiness.
• Balance Transfer APR: 0% on balance transfers for 15 months, then 14.49%-25.49% Variable, based on creditworthiness.
• Balance Transfer Fee: $0 Balance transfers must be requested within 60 days from account opening.
• Foreign Transaction Fee: 2.7% of each transaction after conversion to US dollars.
• Late Payment Fee: Up to $38.
• Cash Advance Fee: Either $5 or 3% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
• APR for Cash Advances: 26.74% Variable
• Penalty APR: 29.99% Variable
• Returned Payment Fee: Up to $38
FEES AND APR (EveryDay Preferred)
• Annual Fee: $95
• Purchase APR: 0% on purchases for 12 months, then 14.49%-25.49% Variable, based on creditworthiness.
• Foreign Transaction Fee: 2.7% of each transaction after conversion to US dollars.
• Late Payment Fee: Up to $38.
• Cash Advance Fee: Either $5 or 3% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
• APR for Cash Advances: 26.74% Variable
• Penalty APR: 29.99% Variable
• Returned Payment Fee: Up to $38
The Venture® Rewards Card has more lucrative rewards flexible for travelers. You earn 2 miles for every dollar spent and miles can be redeemed for credit on your statement against any travel purchase, no matter how it was booked.
Furthermore, this card has a pretty awesome sign-up offer: You’ll get a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles once you spend $3,000 on purchases (must be within the first 3 months of signing up) which equals $500 in travel. For the first year, you can enjoy a $0 fee, afterward you’ll pay around $95 annually.
MUST HAVE GOOD/EXCELLENT CREDIT
The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express and the Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card require you to have good to excellent credit.
If your credit is only average, we’d recommend the Chase Slate®, which has a $0 annual fee. It also offers 0% on Purchases and Balance Transfers for 15 months, and then the ongoing APR of 16.49% – 25.24% Variable APR.
The great thing with Chase Slate®, you’ll pay no balance transfer fees for transfers made during the first 60 days of starting your account. The card doesn’t have a way to earn rewards, but if your goal is to pay down your debt, it makes for a great credit card option to know.
The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express: Final Judgement
The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express excels as a balance transfer credit card. If you have good credit and need to pay off credit card debt, this card can offer time to catch up on payments.
As a rewards credit card, it isn’t a bad card and it doesn’t cost you anything to carry, which is a great thing. Is there better reward credit cards out there? Absolutely, many of them we included in this review. Is a few rewards better than none? You bet, so it really depends on what your card needs are.
The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card is a good card to have. To get the most out of this card, it depends on what you need.
The Amex EveryDay Preferred® Credit Card from American Express: Final Judgement
The Amex Everyday® Preferred Credit Card from American Express is a great rewards card. When compared to the EveryDay Card, you earn more reward points. Plus, you can earn 15,000 points as a bonus.
When you compare the 2 credit cards, the EveryDay Preferred credit card has the best rewards.
The only downfall is the $95 annual fee. Now, you can earn a ton of bonus points and you can offset this fee. That’s true, but you’ll need to spend thousands on your Preferred credit card to offset the fee.
