American Express EveryDay® Preferred Review
Overview
I will be blunt: the Amex EveryDay Preferred is not a card I would tell you to hold onto. It charges a $95 annual fee and does not give you nearly enough back to justify it anymore. The earning that used to make it interesting has been matched, and beaten, by cards that charge nothing.
It earns 3x on groceries and 2x on gas, and that is basically the whole story. Plenty of no-fee cards do 3x on groceries today, so you are paying $95 for something you can get for free. Like the rest of the EveryDay line it is also closed to new applicants, so there is no welcome bonus to chase either. My two cents: get rid of it.
Think twice if: you have any other option at all, because $95 for 3x groceries and 2x gas is a bad deal when no-fee cards match the grocery earning.
Our 2.5 out of 5 rating
Each score weighs the rewards rate, value after the annual fee, welcome offer, points flexibility, and perks, with every point valued at a flat 1 cent. This is our editorial assessment to help you compare cards, not a guarantee of approval or of the value you will get.
Rewards: how it earns
There is not much here, and that is the problem. You get 3x on groceries, 2x on gas, and 1x on everything else. The 3x on groceries sounds fine until you remember that a pile of no-fee cards earn 3 percent or 3x on groceries today, so you are paying $95 for earning you can get for free. The 2x on gas is nice but does not move the needle. As a rewards card in 2026, it just does not hold up.
| Category | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000/yr) | 3x | Bonus category |
| Gas | 2x | Bonus category |
| Dining and restaurants | 1x | Base rate |
| Travel | 1x | Base rate |
| Streaming | 1x | Base rate |
| Everything else | 1x | Everything else |
Every point and mile above is valued at a flat 1 cent, the same honest standard we use for every card. Run your own spending through the calculator to see what this card would actually return for you.
Pros and cons
- Earns transferable Amex Membership Rewards points
- 3x on groceries and 2x on gas
- At $95, a cheaper Amex-points keeper than the $150 Green
- The $95 annual fee is hard to justify today
- No-fee cards now match its 3x grocery earning
- Closed to new applicants, so there is no welcome bonus to offset the fee
- Weak across every category outside groceries and gas
The welcome bonus
Nothing to see here. The card is closed to new applicants, so there is no welcome bonus to earn. If you already have it, you got whatever offer existed when you signed up, and that is the last bit of free value this card will hand you.
Is it worth the annual fee?
This is the whole issue. The $95 fee buys you 3x groceries and 2x gas, both of which you can match on cards that cost nothing, so the fee is not earning its keep for the vast majority of people. The only scenario where I would even consider paying it is if this is your single tie to the Amex ecosystem and your alternative is paying $150 for the Green just to keep your points alive, then $95 is at least the cheaper option. Outside that narrow case, the fee is dead weight.
First-year value vs ongoing value
| Welcome bonus | Not available (no longer open to new applicants) |
| To earn it | No minimum spend |
| Est. first-year value* | $338 |
| Est. ongoing value / yr* | $338 |
There is no lump-sum welcome bonus, so first-year and ongoing value are about the same, roughly $338 a year on typical spending after the fee. What you see is what you get from day one.
*First-year value counts the welcome bonus, estimated rewards, and annual credits, minus the annual fee; ongoing value is a typical year after. Every point at a flat 1 cent, on average spending.
Benefits and protections
Beyond the rewards, the perks and protections worth knowing about include:
- Earns Membership Rewards points, transferable to Amex airline and hotel partners
Statement credits
This card does not come with recurring statement credits. Its value is in the rewards rate and welcome offer.
Ecosystem and transfer partners
The American Express EveryDay® Preferred earns Membership Rewards, one of the more valuable currencies in rewards because of where the points can go. You can move points 1 to 1 to 10 airline and hotel partners: Delta SkyMiles, British Airways, Air France/KLM, Singapore Airlines, ANA, Avianca LifeMiles, Emirates Skywards, Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, and The Leading Hotels of the World. As an earner, its job is to rack up points cheaply that you move to a hub card before transferring. The sweet spots are usually premium-cabin flights and high-end hotel nights, where a single point can be worth well more than the 1 cent we value it at here.
Airline partners: Delta SkyMiles, British Airways, Air France/KLM, Singapore Airlines, ANA, Avianca LifeMiles, Emirates Skywards, The Leading Hotels of the World.
Stop guessing at point values. Look up the real mileage price and live seat availability for a specific flight.
Search award flights on seats.aero →Hotel partners: Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors.
Look up the live points price and availability for a specific hotel stay before you book.
Search award stays on rooms.aero →Who should get it, and who should skip it
For almost everyone, my answer is the same: do not hold this card. The $95 fee does not buy you anything you cannot get on a no-fee card, and since it is closed to new applicants, there is no bonus upside to offset it either. If it is sitting in your wallet costing you $95 a year, get rid of it.
The one exception is narrow. If this is the only card you have that earns Amex Membership Rewards, and your alternative is paying $150 for the Green just to keep those points alive, then $95 is at least cheaper. But if you have any other Amex option, this one is easy to let go.
How it compares
If the American Express EveryDay® Preferred is not quite the right fit, these related cards are worth weighing against it:
Frequently asked questions
Best-card guides featuring this card
Offer details verified against issuer sources as of July 2026. Editorial opinions are our own. Cardocrat values all points at a flat 1 cent and never inflates redemptions.
