reviewer
seestellar
Phoenix, AZ

Great card for disciplined users!

5 star rating

an aggressive saver
Pros

    Generous, low introductory interest rate, Easy online account management, easy access to your account, Nifty year-end breakdown of expenditures, free money, Low fees/no fees (depends on credit), Nice customer help.


NOV
13
2008
Rewards credit cards can be a great income stream if you work it right. 

The first key is to use it for every qualifying purchase but the second key step takes discipline and is where many people trip up.  To make it work, you must pay off the balance regularly (I pay my card on the 15th and 30th of the month) to avoid interest charges and late fees and to account for it in your cash flow (rather than thinking you have a WHOLE lot more money in your checking account than you actually do). 

The American Express Blue card is a great cash rewards card if you can live with those two steps.  The 5% back on groceries, gas and drugstores is the best I could find.  Sure, Discover sometimes offers 5% back on one or more of those categories, but it's only for a quarter.  And yes, the $6500 minimum before it kicks into high gear is a lot -- but again, if you charge your utilities, insurance, health bills, etc. (remembering to pay them off each month), it's very very doable. 

I actually carry 3 cards:  AmEx Blue, Chase Freedom (3% back on your top 3 categories, sometimes 5 when a promotion is offered) and Discover (5% back on categories which change quarterly).  Admittedly, my husband can't remember what he's supposed to put on which card, but again, if you're disciplined, you can generate some nice free cash. 



I_thumb_up American Express - Blue is recommended by seestellar

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