🛒 Amex Gold Card vs. Blue Cash Preferred

At U.S. supermarkets, the Gold earns 4x Membership Rewards points on up to $25,000 per year. At our valuation of 1.8 cents per MR point, that's 7.2 cents back per grocery dollar. The Blue Cash Preferred earns 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets, capped at $6,000 in annual purchases — roughly $500 a month. Below the cap, 6% cash beats 7.2 cents in points only if you value MR points at exactly 1 cent each. Anyone redeeming MR points for travel at 1.8 cents or better comes out ahead with the Gold. Above $500 a month in groceries, the Blue Cash Preferred drops to 1% on the overflow while the Gold continues at 4x — making the Gold significantly stronger for high-spend grocery households.

On dining, the Gold is not a close contest. It earns 4x MR points at restaurants worldwide — 7.2 cents per dollar at our valuation. The Blue Cash Preferred earns 1% on dining, which is 1 cent per dollar. For someone spending $400 a month on dining, the Gold earns $346 a year in dining rewards; the Blue Cash Preferred earns $48. That $298 annual gap in dining alone is larger than the entire Blue Cash Preferred annual fee.

Run the full numbers for a household spending $400 a month on groceries and $400 a month on dining. The Gold earns $346 in grocery rewards and $346 in dining rewards, for $692 total before fees. The Blue Cash Preferred earns $288 in grocery cash back and $48 in dining cash back, for $336 total before fees. After fees — the Gold's $325 reduced to roughly $85 effective if you use the $120 Uber Cash and $120 dining credits, versus the Blue Cash Preferred's $95 — the Gold nets $607 and the Blue Cash Preferred nets $241. The gap is $366 per year in favor of the Gold at this spend level.

The Blue Cash Preferred does have two categories where it pulls ahead. It earns 6% on select U.S. streaming subscriptions and 3% on gas and transit; the Gold earns 1x on both. For a household spending $100 a month on streaming and $200 a month on gas, the Blue Cash Preferred earns $144 more per year on those categories than the Gold. Real money — but not enough to close the gap for anyone spending meaningfully on dining.

The Blue Cash Preferred's simplest advantage is that cash back is always worth face value. Amex Membership Rewards points require active management — transferred to the wrong partner or redeemed for statement credits, they're worth only 1 cent each, which would flip the math in the Blue Cash Preferred's favor. For cardholders who won't track redemption strategies, the Blue Cash Preferred's reliability has real value. But even at a conservative 1.5-cent redemption through an airline transfer partner, the Gold's earn rates produce returns the Blue Cash Preferred can't match for dining-heavy households.

The Blue Cash Preferred makes the most sense for households that spend heavily on gas, have high streaming bills, and prefer cash over points management — particularly if dining out is a small part of their budget. For everyone spending $300 or more combined on restaurants and groceries, the Gold's earn rates and credit structure produce a result that's not close.