AMEX EveryDay Preferred Card: "Updated Card Art, New Design Available"

"Updated 2024.8" This card now has updated card art, and you can ask customer service to replace it with the new design. That said, this card hasn’t changed in a long time—it really needs some more modern benefits added (and preferably not just coupons)!

The current welcome bonus on this card is 15,000 points, though it’s worth checking whether you can find a higher offer.

• AMEX EveryDay Preferred Card application link

AMEX EveryDay Preferred 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 in-store, online, and in-app all qualify. However, the terms say gift card purchases are not allowed. My guess is that real purchases should trigger the credit, though AMEX could claw it back if it wants to be strict.
• Excellent earning rates: After 30 purchases in a billing period, this card becomes extremely powerful. It offers consistently high bonus earning on groceries and gas (valuing points at 2 cents each, that’s effectively 9% back at supermarkets and 6% back on gas). Most importantly, all other purchases earn 1.5X points (effectively 3% back), so you can earn solid rewards on insurance, tuition, and everyday spending anywhere.
• AMEX card benefits
  • AMEX Offers: What? $20 back on $20 at Amazon? Walmart 15-back-on-5? $10 back on $75 for your phone bill? Generous AMEX often gives cardholders strong Amex Offers, letting you earn cash savings while spending. See AMEX OFFER guide for details.
  • High credit limits: AMEX is very generous with customers and often gives much higher credit limits than other banks. I was instantly approved for $10,000 when I applied, which honestly shocked me.
  • 3X credit limit increase: Starting on day 61 of card membership, you may be able to request an increase to 3 times your original credit limit through the official website.
  • Free ShopRunner membership: Enjoy free 2-day shipping at many online stores. See the official link for details.
  • Extended warranty: Items paid in full with an AMEX card get an extra year added to the manufacturer’s warranty.
  • Free reports: Some users can check their credit score for free and receive one free credit report per year.

Cons

• The points cannot be redeemed for cash at a 1:1 rate (though who would use valuable Membership Rewards points that way anyway?)
• Making 30 purchases every month can be a bit tiring (true, but if you don’t hit the target, buying a $0.5 Amazon gift card can help with the transaction count; really, one coffee a day would do it)

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 Experience with This Card:

This card launched in April 2014, so many people may not know much about it. I applied in October, and since then it has become one of my must-carry cards whenever I go out. The annual fee can be fully offset by AMEX offers, and the bonus earning rates make valuable Membership Rewards points pile up quickly. If I could choose to keep only one card, this would be it. First, let’s look at the rewards from my own spending:

• Groceries: $500/month
• Gas: $80/month
• Other spending: $800/month

Using that spending pattern, you would earn 500*4.5+80*3+800*1.5=3,960 Membership Rewards points per month, or 44,280 Membership Rewards points per year. Add in the welcome bonus, and that’s enough to transfer to ANA miles for a round-trip U.S.-China ticket worth about $1,200. Even without the welcome bonus, just 15 months of regular spending would get you to 60,000 points.

If you don’t want to pay the annual fee, there’s a small trick: in the second year, you can downgrade this annual-fee card to the no-annual-fee EveryDay Card, which can also transfer to airline miles. Of course, the earning rates are much lower than on the annual-fee version. If you spend a lot on groceries and gas, I still recommend keeping the EveryDay Preferred Card long term.

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