AMEX EveryDay Card (ED) Review — Update 03/2021: 10,000-Point Welcome Bonus + $200 Home Furnishing Credit; No Annual Fee

AMEX EveryDay Card Overview

Highlights

• New: $200 home furnishing credit: If you apply for this card through a referral link now, you can get an extra $200 home furnishing credit. Eligible merchants include The Home Depot, Lowe's, The Container Store, Bed Bath & Beyond, Crate and Barrel, Crate and Kids, CB2, Anthropologie, and Terrain, among others. Purchases made in-store, online, and in-app all qualify. The terms say gift card purchases are not eligible, though I think real purchases should trigger the credit; if AMEX wants to be strict, it is possible they could claw it back.
• Solid earning rates: After making 20 purchases in a billing period, this card effectively earns 2.4x at U.S. supermarkets, which is quite good for a no-annual-fee card. The effective 1.2x earning rate on non-bonus spending is also decent. If you want to earn some MR points without paying an annual fee, this is a good option. However, if you have especially high non-bonus spending—such as insurance, rent, tuition, or utility bills that can be paid by credit card—and you are interested in redeeming for flights, I would still recommend the AMEX EveryDay Preferred credit card. Earning 1.5x MR points should not be underestimated.

AMEX Card Benefits

• AMEX Offers: What? $20 back on $20 at Amazon? Walmart 15-5? $10 back on $75 in phone bills? AMEX is often very generous with targeted offers, letting cardholders earn statement credits while spending. See AMEX OFFER Guide for details.
• High credit limits: AMEX is often very generous with credit limits and frequently gives much higher limits than other banks. When I applied, I was instantly approved for $10,000, which really surprised me.
• 3x credit limit increase: Starting on day 61 of card membership, you may be able to request a credit limit increase to as much as 3 times your original limit through the official website.
• Free ShopRunner membership: Enjoy free 2-day shipping at many online stores. For details, see the official link.
• Extended warranty: Items purchased in full with an AMEX card get the manufacturer’s warranty extended by one additional year.
• Free reports: Some users can check their credit score for free, and you can get one free credit report each year.

Cons

• The points you earn cannot be redeemed for cash at a 1:1 rate (though who would want to redeem valuable MR points that way anyway?).
• Making 20 purchases per month can be a bit tiring (true, but if you have not reached 20, you can always buy a $0.50 Amazon gift card to pad the count; honestly, one coffee a day is more than enough).

Points Program Overview

• Points Value: The average value is 1.5c/p, so 100 MR = $1.5 (Points Value & Analysis)
• Direct Redemption: Redeem travel through amextravel.com at 1c/p (without a premium card); redeem eligible flights through amextravel.com at 1.54c/p (with Business Platinum); redeem for cash in an investment account at 1.1c/p (with Schwab Platinum).
• Points Transfers: Transfer 1:1 to ANA miles (good for round-trip US-China flights and round-the-world tickets); transfer 1:1 to British Airways miles (good for China-Japan routes and short-haul domestic US redemptions); transfer 1:1 to Air Canada miles (good for US-China business class awards and infant tickets); transfer 1:1 to Delta (good for business class, and can also redeem any Delta flight at 1c/p).
• Points Features: All MR points earned by one person are pooled into a single account and can be used directly. As long as you still have at least one MR-earning card open, all MR points will remain valid; be sure to use them up before closing all of your cards. Nearly all MR-earning cards allow you to transfer MR points to airline miles or hotel points. MR points can be transferred to airline or hotel accounts in an authorized user's name.
• My Take: The most common use of MR is transferring to airline miles, mainly ANA, Air Canada, Delta, and British Airways. Delta can help cover SkyTeam options; ANA and AC can selectively cover Star Alliance options; BA can be used for some oneworld awards. Among these, ANA is especially valuable for US-China economy, business, and first class awards. AC and Delta are also good for covering domestic US flights, while BA is best for nonstop domestic US flights. Hotel transfers are a weak spot for MR, and none are really worth transferring to. As for booking hotels or flights directly through AMEX Travel, you usually only get 1 cent per point in value, so I generally do not recommend it. Cash back and gift cards also max out at only 1 cent per point. Therefore, the final valuation is 1.7c, mainly considering the broad airline partner coverage, mostly instant transfer times (ANA takes 2-3 days; others are instant), and the value of these airline miles. The weaknesses are that MR is not very useful for hotel redemptions, and direct airfare bookings do not provide strong value either.
• Detailed Analysis: Membership Rewards Guide >>

My Take

Applying for this no-annual-fee card is a good way to keep the Membership Rewards points you earned from other AMEX cards, and you can still transfer MR points to airline miles through this card. On top of that, the effective 2.4 MR earning rate at supermarkets is quite competitive.

If you do not mind putting in a little effort, you could first invest $95 and apply for the annual-fee version, the AMEX EveryDay Preferred credit card, to get a higher welcome bonus and enjoy one year of accelerated earning. After a year, if you are not satisfied, you can downgrade back to this no-annual-fee EveryDay Card to preserve your points while still keeping the option to redeem when needed.

How to Apply

• AMEX official application status check link
• For the same AMEX credit card, the public welcome bonus is generally available only once (once-per-lifetime restriction)
• You can call the reconsideration line (800-528-4800, 877-399-3083, 866-314-0237) to speed up credit card approval or request a review of a denied application.
• AMEX limits you to 4 credit cards and 10 charge cards total.
• You can apply for a total of two AMEX credit cards every 90 days, excluding charge cards.
• After you submit your application, a pop-up may appear telling you that you are not eligible for the welcome bonus. In that case, it is usually best not to continue with the application (detailed analysis)
• More about applying for AMEX credit cards

Application Link