Amex EveryDay Card Review

Full Review of Amex EveryDay Card

Pros Explained

• Decent Rewards Rate on Supermarket Purchases: The Amex EveryDay card offers respectable rewards on purchases made at U.S. supermarkets. Card members earn 2 points per dollar on supermarket purchases, up to a $6,000 spending cap annually. Once you reach the $6,000 spending threshold for the year, you'll continue earning 1 point per dollar on those purchases. You'll earn 2 points per dollar on travel booked through AmexTravel.com. That includes not only flights and prepaid hotels, but vacation packages and cruises, which some other Amex cards exempt from the most generous rewards rate. All other purchases earn one point per dollar and those rewards are unlimited. 
• The 20% Points Bonus Adds to Rewards Earnings: Another nice feature of this card is the opportunity to earn a points bonus when you spend. If you use your card to make purchases 20 times or more in any given billing cycle, you'll earn a 20% bonus on those purchases. The bonus provides an easy way to accumulate additional points for purchases you already make. As an example of its impact, let’s assume you make 10 supermarket purchases for the month, totaling $1,000. You also make 10 miscellaneous purchases, totaling $1,500. Using the base rewards rate, you'd earn 2,000 points on the supermarket purchases and 1,500 points on the miscellaneous ones. The 20% bonus would supplement those 3,500 points with another 700 bonus points, for a total of 4,200 points earned for the month. 
• 0% APR on Purchases: The Amex EveryDay is primarily a rewards card but it also has strong appeal as a card for financing new purchases. The 0% APR promotional offer applies to new purchases you make with the card during the first 15 months. That's a positive if you're considering making some large purchases and need time to pay them off without incurring interest charges. 

Cons Explained

• Supermarket Rewards are Capped: This card’s two-points-per-dollar rewards rate is good only up to the first $6,000 in purchases. After that, the special supermarket rate expires, and you earn only the default rate of one point per dollar. If you’re a heavy groceries spender, then, you may want to consider a card that has both generous supermarket rewards and a higher cap. The Amex Gold card, for example, has a hefty $250 annual fee but would earn you 4 points per dollar spent at supermarkets, up to $25,000 a year in purchases. Assuming you spent $10,000 a year, or about $200 a week, at supermarkets, the value of the extra points you’d earn with the Amex Gold card would more than justify its annual fee. 
• Some Chains are Excepted from the Supermarket Rate: If you buy most of your groceries from retailers like Walmart, Target, Costco, or Sam’s Club, you won’t be able to take advantage of the card’s generous supermarkets rewards rate. Instead, you’d need to change your spending habits to shop more at actual supermarkets rather than superstores and warehouse clubs.
• 2.7% Foreign Transaction Fee Applies to Purchases Outside the U.S.: If you plan to travel and take this card along, be aware of the foreign transaction fee. This 2.7% fee is added on to purchases made outside the U.S., or even within the country with a merchant that’s outside it. Whether you're traveling for business or pleasure, the fee can make everything you spend more expensive. It may be to your advantage to charge travel to another rewards card that doesn't carry a foreign transaction fee.

True to its name, the Amex EveryDay is for people seeking a card they’ll use every day—or at least the five times per week required to earn its 20% points boost on 20 or more transactions a month. 

To maximize rewards, that use should include regular spending at supermarkets, perhaps with some use for air and hotel expenses through Amex Travel too. But if your total purchases in those categories are heavy, a card with an annual fee and even-richer rewards might deliver a better payoff than the Amex EveryDay. 

With interest-free purchases for its first 15 months, the Amex EveryDay is also ideal if you're planning some major buys in the near future and would appreciate carrying them for a while without incurring interest charges. 

One-Time Offer

This card’s introductory one-time offer for eligible new cardmembers is 10,000 Membership Rewards points when $2,000 or more is charged to the card in the first six months. Those points are worth up to $200 if redeemed through Amex Travel, and potentially more if they’re instead transferred to one of the card issuer’s transfer partners. 

While the one-time offers from some other cards deliver more points, they also usually require higher spending—of $3,000, or even $5,000—within the same time period. Also, an annual fee may be required. As with other offers, if you qualify for the bonus, you receive its points in addition to rewards points earned on the purchases required to earn it. 

Rewards Earning Details

Accumulating rewards points is a straightforward process. You'll earn 2 points per dollar for purchases made at select U.S. supermarkets, up to the first $6,000 in purchases annually. If you reach that spending limit, a 1 point per dollar rewards rate kicks in on supermarket purchases until your next card year begins. There is no cap on how much you can spend with regard to earning the 2 points per dollar rewards on travel at AmexTravel.com.

All other purchases earn 1 point per dollar, with no limit on the number of points you can earn. When you make 20 or more purchases with your card in a billing cycle, you'll earn a 20% points bonus on all purchases for the month. 

Rewards Redemption Details

You can redeem your points in many different ways, with varying redemption values. The options, with values per 10,000 points redeemed, include covering card charges ($60), paying with points at checkout ($50 to $100 in most cases), or buying gift cards from Amex ($50 to $100) or a host of airlines, restaurant chains, or retailers ($50 to $100, depending on the company). 

If you redeem your rewards by transferring them to the points program at one of Amex’s partners, however, you may be able to get more for your points than these amounts.

Transferring Points

American Express gives you the option to transfer some or all of your points to partner travel brands. To transfer points, you simply link your Membership Rewards account to your travel partner's loyalty program, decide how many points to transfer, then redeem them with the travel provider. 

Here are the travel partners to which you can transfer points, along with how many partner points you will earn for each Amex Rewards points transferred: 

• Air France / KLM Flying Blue: 1:1 
• Asia Miles: 1:1
• British Airways Executive Club: 1:1
• Club Eurostar: 1:0.66
• Delta SkyMiles: 1:1
• Emirates Skywards: 1:1
• Etihad Guest: 1:1
• Finnair Plus: 1:1
• Hilton Honors: 1:2
• Iberia Plus: 1:1
• Marriott Bonvoy: 1:1.5
• Nectar: 1:1
• Qantas Frequent Flyer: 1:1
• Radisson Rewards: 1:3
• Scandinavian Airlines EuroBonus: 1:1
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer: 3:2
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: 1:1

As this shows, some partners allow for 1:1 point transfers, but not all of them do so as with calculating redemption value for other options besides travel, it's important to look at how many partner points you'll need to make a purchase before you execute the transfer to the partner’s program. 

How to Maximize Your Rewards

There are several ways to maximize rewards with this card. First, plan to charge all of your grocery spending up to the $6,000 spending cap. Make sure you’re shopping at a supermarket, per se, rather than such alternatives as warehouse clubs and superstores, where purchases will not qualify for the more generous rewards. Try, too, to buy non-food items you need at the supermarket, since all purchases made at markets qualify for the 2-points-per-dollar rewards. 

Keep track of your purchases each month to make sure you reach the 20-transaction minimum required to earn the 20% points bonus. If you’re short of transactions at the end of the month, any purchases for which Amex is accepted will help you meet your goal.

Similarly, make sure you charge at least $2,000 in the first six months to qualify for the introductory points bonus. Since that breaks down to a modest $333 or so per month, that shouldn’t be a hard target to hit, provided you’re charging almost everything to the card. 

Make sure, too, that you use to card to pay for travel purchases, and book through AmexTravel.com to earn 2 points per dollar on those transactions. While the default rate on other purchases of 1 point per dollar spent is modest, charging everything else to the card, from gas to school supplies to your monthly electric bill, can still add up to a worthy number of extra points.

Amex EveryDay Credit Card's Outstanding Benefits

• 20% monthly points bonus
• Points transfer to partner travel programs
• Pay It Plan It customized payment plans

Standard Benefits

• Purchase protection*
• Secondary car rental insurance coverage*
• Global Assist hotline*

*Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.

Cardholder Experience

American Express received a score of 838 in J.D. Power's 2021 Credit Card Satisfaction Survey. It ranked first among 11 card issuers for credit card satisfaction among consumers. 

Members can manage their accounts online or through the American Express app. Fraud protection is included as a cardmember benefit and you won't be held responsible for fraudulent charges. Dispute resolution services are also available to help you resolve fraudulent or unauthorized charges. 

The Pay It Plan It feature allows you to create a customized payment plan for balances you plan to pay off over time. You can generate a year-end summary to recap your purchases for the year, which can be helpful for managing your budget. 

Customer service is available by phone 24/7 at 800-528-4800. You can also log in to your account online or through the American Express app to use the live chat feature. 

Security Features

In general, Amex offers security features that are considered standard for the credit card industry. One standout feature is the ability to freeze and unfreeze your card through the Amex mobile app if it’s lost or stolen.

Hidden Fees to Watch Out for

Amex levies a fee for transferring its rewards points to some domestic partners’ programs, something few if any other card issuers do. While the rate is low ($0.0006 per point), it does add up; for example, you’d pay $18 to transfer 30,000 Amex points to an airline. 

Otherwise, the fees and costs for the Amex EveryDay are typical of those for other basic rewards cards. 

Our Verdict

The Amex EveryDay credit card is a good choice if you want to earn decent rewards on supermarket spending without paying an annual fee. It also offers a way to make new purchases and carry those without interest charges for the 15-month introductory period.

Also in its favor is an alluring 2-points-per-dollar reward on travel purchases. Those transactions, though, must be made through Amex’s own travel service, where other cards allow you to earn generous rewards by buying directly through airlines or with third-party travel sites. And the card’s 2.7% fee on foreign transactions means you’d likely want to bring along a card that has no such charge on trips outside the U.S.

This card also isn’t very rewarding when it comes to everyday purchases other than supermarket spending. All other purchases, including gas and restaurant spending, earn only a modest point-per-dollar. If you drive your car a lot, or dine out frequently, you might be better off with a card that offers better rewards on everyday categories, even if it comes with an annual fee. For example, the Amex EveryDay Preferred card has a $95 a year annual fee but offers 3 points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets, without any monthly transaction requirement, also on up to the first $6,000 in purchases annually. That card also allows you to earn 2 points per dollar at gas stations.

Also, earning rewards points, and then figuring out how and where it’s best to redeem them isn’t for everyone. A card that instead offers cash back on purchases is a simpler prospect, and many are available that provide generous rates on groceries and everyday purchases. For example, the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card offers exceptional 6% cash-back rewards for spending at supermarkets (on up to $6,000 in spending per year) and streaming services, along with a generous 3% rate for gas and transit purchases.