When it comes to credit cards that earn points which you can transfer to airline and hotel loyalty programs, you’re usually required to pay an annual fee. In fact, I can only think of one personal credit card that earns fully functional transferrable points. That means there are no differences between the points earned with this card and one that costs $695 a year.
The card I’m speaking about is the American Express Everyday card.
While this has always been a great card to keep your American Express Membership Rewards points active, new rules from AMEX make it an appealing starter card for those just getting into the points game.
The American Express Everyday earns Membership Rewards points (Membership Rewards is the name for the flexible reward points earned with American Express cards). There are 21 different airline and hotel programs to which you can transfer Membership Rewards points.
Annual Fee
The American Express Everyday card has no annual fee.
Bonus Spending Categories
The American Express Everyday isn’t an amazing card when it comes to bonus categories. The only bonus is that it earns 2x points on U.S. supermarket spending (up to $6,000 each year.) Its hook is that it rewards you for using it for “everyday” purchases. If you use the card 20 or more times per billing period, you get a 20% bonus on all points earned (that’s for both regular spending and bonuses).
While earning 1.2 points per dollar might seem to be a lower return than a 2% cash-back card, remember that you’re earning transferrable points, which you can use for flights on Delta, Air France and Singapore Airlines.
Something to remember about the bonus categories is that big box places like Target or Walmart and Warehouse Clubs like Sam’s Club, and BJ’s don’t count for supermarket purchases. Purchases made outside the U.S. also don’t count for the bonus categories.
Foreign Transaction Fee
If you use this card internationally, you will pay a 2.7% foreign transaction fee. It’s best to leave this card at home when traveling outside the U.S. and use a card that doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee.
Sign Up Bonus
As of when this article was last updated, you can get 10,000 Membership Rewards points for spending $2,000 in purchases in the first six months of having the card. We do get a referral bonus if you sign up for the card using our referral link.
American Express Restrictions on Sign-Up Bonuses
American Express has rules for sign-up bonuses to stop people from abusing, misusing or “gaming” the system.
The first thing is the once-per-lifetime rule:
You may not be eligible to receive the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees if you have or have had this Card , the Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.
Note that the Amex EveryDay card is now subject to the “little brother” rule. If you have previously held the EveryDay Preferred card, you cannot receive a sign-up bonus for the EveryDay card. However, if you’ve never had the Preferred card, it may be wise to apply for the EveryDay card first, as obtaining this card will not prevent you from earning a sign-up bonus for the Preferred card in the future.
Then comes the anti-gaming clause, which is enforced by AMEX’s Rewards Abuse Team (RAT)
If we in our sole discretion determine that you have engaged in abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with this offer in any way or that you intend to do so (for example, if you applied for one or more cards to obtain an offer(s) that we did not intend for you; if you cancel or downgrade your account within 12 months after acquiring it; or if you cancel or return purchases you made to meet the Threshold Amount), we may not credit, we may freeze, or we may take away Membership Rewards® points from your account. We may also cancel this Card account and other Card accounts you may have with us.
Lastly, AMEX limits what charges count, specifically excluding purchases of gift or prepaid cards.
Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of traveler’s checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, purchases of gift cards, person-to-person payments, or purchases of any cash equivalents.
Final Thought
When choosing a credit card, it’s important to consider its consistent point-earning potential instead of just focusing on sign-up bonuses. For a no-annual-fee card, The AMEX EveryDay card offers a 10,000-point bonus with a reasonable spending requirement over six months. Now that AMEX is limiting the ability to get the bonuses for the entry-level cards if you’ve already had one of its big brothers, even those who have been in the game for a while might be giving the AMEX EveryDay card another look.
