I have noticed recently that people have been finding my site when looking to compare the American Express Blue and Blue Cash cards. If folks search long enough on my site, they’ll find out a decent amount about one of these cards, the Blue Cash; however not much in the way of a side-by-side comparison between the two. In this post, I’d like to close that gap so people interested in one of these cards can quickly see which one might work best for them.

Before diving into the differences between these two cards, let’s cover what they have in common. With either card, both will offer the following:

• No annual fee
• Ability to carry a balance (in addition to the option of paying off the balance in-full each month)
• 20-day grace period between a statement close date and its payment due date
• A rewards program (the details of which differ though)
• No limit or expiration on the rewards you earn
• Introductory 0% APR on purchases

Subscribers to my tutorial on getting free money know that I’m no fan of carrying a balance. The interest rates on credit cards are rarely low enough to justify carrying a balance. With both the Blue and Blue Cash cards however, it’s easy to make an exception to this rule. With the 0% APR on purchases, I myself carried a revolving balance on the Blue Cash card, then paid off the entire balance at the end of the introductory period.

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Popularity: 40% [?]

I have been noticing in my web server logs for a couple months now that quite a number of people have been searching for a head-to-head comparison of the Amex Blue Cash vs. Chase Freedom cards. As subscribers to my cash back tutorial already know, I consider these two credit cards to be the best ones available today.

Given the number of people searching for this kind of comparison, I thought it best to prepare a quick post to help people decide between the two. So if you’re one of those folks that stumbled onto this post through the search engines, welcome!

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Popularity: 100% [?]

Last year was a year of change for me. I overhauled my system in 2007, which resulted in $892.78 more cash back than 2006’s total of $1,329.97 (a 67% increase). The main catalysts behind this increase were two new cash back credit cards, a new online checking account and a new online savings account.

Starting in May of last year, I switched my primary credit card from the Chase Perfect Card to the Blue Cash from American Express. I continued to use my Chase Perfect Card to back up my Blue Cash card, until it dawned on me that I could do even better by backing it up with the Chase Freedom credit card. So in October, I began using the Chase Freedom as my new backup card.

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Popularity: 59% [?]

A few years ago, I saw an ad for the Blue Cash card on TV. The commercial’s touting of its high 5% rebate got my attention. When I researched this card on American Express’ website, I saw that the big rebate didn’t actually start until I spent at least $6,500 on the card. Until I reached that magic $6,500 number, the card would earn me just 1% at gas stations, grocery stores and drug stores, and a measly 1/2% everywhere else. “My Chase PerfectCard gives me 3% at gas stations and 1% everywhere else”, I thought, “so I’ll just stick with what I have.”

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Popularity: 51% [?]

In my last post, I talked about how the Chase PerfectCard MasterCard was a nice companion to American Express’ Blue Cash card. Although I still believe this is true, I’ve found another card that fits the bill even better.

The new card is also from Chase, and it’s the Chase Freedom Cash World MasterCard. I’ve been using this card for about a week now, and I’ll share a deep dive review of my experiences with it here in the coming weeks after I’ve kicked the tires a bit more with it.

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Popularity: 60% [?]

The Blue Cash card from American Express is a monster of a money-maker if you’re able to put a lot on a credit card each month. I put all my everyday purchases and bills on my credit card, so my monthly statements average around $2,200. At this spending level, the Blue Cash card knocks the socks off of any other cash back credit card available to the tune of hundreds of extra dollars a year.

Because of the significant cash back, the AmEx Blue Cash card is now my card of choice. The Chase Perfect Card used to be my #1 card, but it still deserves a spot in my wallet however. Here’s why: with the AmEx Blue Cash card, I’ll run into the occasional merchant that doesn’t take American Express (Sam’s Club, for example). When this happens, I use my Chase Perfect Card. Even in this case, I’ll still be earning at least 1% cash back for the purchase, which is 1% more than I otherwise would have earned had I just resorted to paying with a debit card.

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Popularity: 39% [?]

American Express just announced yesterday that American Home Mortgage Corp is the first lender to sign up for its “Express Rewards Mortgage” program. This program allows its members to pay their mortgage with their AmEx credit card.

Mortgage is one of those bills that I’ve always had trouble paying with a cash back credit card. There are two reasons for this: one is that the mortgage service provider gets hit with a hefty fee for accepting a credit card payment, and second, they’re not real comfortable with someone paying their loan with borrowed money from another loan (in this case the credit card bank). AmEx has apparently found a way around these issues enough to convince at least one lender to accept their card for mortgage payments. From the press release:

American Express Cardmembers with qualifying new purchase or refinance loans with American Home Mortgage will pay a one-time fee of $395 to the lender for enrollment in the Express Rewards Mortgage program at the time of closing.

We also see that there’s an enrollment fee for the program. The fee must be part of how AmEx addresses the first issue, either by sharing this one-time fee with the lender, or by reducing or eliminating the lender’s credit card processing surcharge. Completely a guess on my part, as AmEx did not disclose the internal mechanics of the program.

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Popularity: 27% [?]