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The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express and the Chase Freedom Flex℠ are 2 of the top cash-back credit cards on the market. Each offers great bonus categories, interesting card benefits, statement credits, and protections to help keep you covered.
If you’re trying to decide which card would make the better addition to your wallet, this guide will provide a detailed comparison of all of the offerings of each card to help you decide just that.
Amex Blue Cash Preferred Card vs. Freedom Flex Card — Summary
Here is an overview of how each card stacks up in each category.
Bottom Line: Both cards really shine when it comes to their respective cash-back rates. The Amex Blue Cash Preferred card leads on supermarket, streaming, gas, and transit purchases. The Freedom Flex card is optimized for its rotating categories, Chase travel portal purchases, Lyft rides, dining, and drugstore purchases.
The Value of a Welcome Bonus
Amex Blue Cash Preferred Card
Freedom Flex Card
While you can redeem the cash-back bonus through the Chase travel portal, adding a premium Ultimate Rewards card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Cardwill give you access to the Chase transfer partners where you can get significantly more value for your points.
Earning Potential
A great cash-back credit card rewards you for the items you spend the most on. Image Credit: alexanderuhrin via Adobe Stock
Now let’s do a side-by-side comparison of which cards offer more cash-back rewards on select purchases.
Bonus Category
Amex Blue Cash Preferred Card
Freedom Flex Card
U.S. Supermarkets
6% cash-back (on up to $6,000 in spend each year)
1% cash-back
Select U.S. Streaming Services
6% cash-back
1% cash-back
U.S Gas Stations
3% cash-back
1% cash-back
Transit
3% cash-back
1% cash-back (excluding Lyft rides)
Chase Travel Portal
1% cash-back
5% cash-back
Quarterly Rotating Categories
N/A
5% cash-back (on up to $1,500 in spend per quarter)
Lyft Rides
3% cash-back
5% cash-back
Dining
1% cash-back
3% cash-back
Drugstores
1% cash-back
3% cash-back
All Other Purchases
1% cash-back
1% cash-back
As you can see, the 2 cards are quite different when it comes to their respective bonus categories, so this might be a key consideration in helping you decide which card is better for you.
The Amex Blue Cash Preferred card might be significantly more rewarding if you have high amounts of spend in one or more of its 6% or 3% cash-back categories of U.S. supermarkets, select streaming services, U.S. gas stations, and transit purchases.
On the other hand, those looking for a card that rewards them for dining and drugstore purchases, along with Chase travel portal purchases, Lyft rides, and quarterly rotating bonus categories should likely opt for the Freedom Flex card. Of course, quarterly rotating bonus categories are a bit vague, so it might feel difficult to determine how useful that would be. In the past, these categories have included categories such as grocery stores, Amazon.com, gas stations, PayPal, and more.
Redemption Options
Amex Blue Cash Preferred Card
Any cash-back that you earn with your Amex Blue Cash Preferred card can be redeemed as a statement credit to offset any purchases made with the card. Unlike other cash-back credit cards, you aren’t required to have a certain amount of cash-back rewards in order to be able to redeem, and you can redeem your rewards as often as you’d like.
Freedom Flex Card
The cash-back earned with your Freedom Flex card can be redeemed towards statement credits to offset purchases, for trips through the Chase travel portal, gift cards, and during checkout with select retailers like Amazon.
However, while the Freedom Flex card is merely a cash-back card on its own, those that pair it with a premium Ultimate Rewards card, such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, can pool their rewards together to receive even more value. More specifically, you can redeem your points through the Chase travel portal with a 25% bonus, at a rate 0f 1.25 cents per point, or through Chase transfer partners where you can often get 2 cents per point in value or more.
Bottom Line: When it comes to redemption options, we have to give the edge to the Freedom Flex card here, as it not only offers more options but also opens the door to getting even more value from your rewards when you pair it with an Ultimate Rewards-earning card.
Statement Credits
Amex Blue Cash Preferred Card — Equinox+ and The Disney Bundle
Offset part of your Equuinox+ membership with the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card. Image Credit: Equinox
To help offset the annual fee, the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card includes up to $10 monthly credit towards an Equinox+ subscription when enrolled.
If you’re not already familiar, Equinox+ is the fitness brand’s at-home workout app that includes access to instructor-led live and on-demand classes, so you can always get a workout in no matter where in the world you are.
The $10 monthly credit can save you up to $120 each year towards the $39.99 monthly cost of Equinox+ — effectively netting you a 25% discount on your monthly membership.
Cardmembers also receive $7 back each month (up to $84 back annually) after spending $12.99 or more each month on an eligible subscription to The Disney Bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, when using your card. Note that enrollment is required, so be sure to get the most out of being a cardmember.
Freedom Flex Card — Gopuff and Instacart
While it is fairly uncommon for a no-annual-fee credit card to offer any sort of statement credit, the Freedom Flex card actually offers 2 of them.
First is a $10 monthly Gopuff credit, which allows you to get snacks, drinks, and household essentials delivered right to your door. This credit is currently available for cardholders through December 31, 2023, allowing it to save you upwards of $120 a year.
Next, Freedom Flex cardholders receive a 3-month membership to Instacart+, offering free delivery and reduced service fees on your grocery orders, plus a $10 statement credit per quarter, adding up to $40 each year off your Instacart orders.
Additional Card Benefits
Freedom Flex Card — DoorDash
The Freedom Flex card also includes a free 3-month membership for DoorDash DashPass, the meal delivery platforms subscription service that offers free delivery and reduced service fees on eligible orders. Plus, after your free 3-months, you will be automatically enrolled in DashPass at 50% off for the next 9 months.
Since DashPass usually costs $9.99 per month, this could save you nearly $75 over the 12-month period.
Travel Protections
Here is how each card keeps you covered during your travels.
Benefit
Amex Blue Cash Preferred Card
Freedom Flex Card
Rental Car Insurance
N/A
Secondary
Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance
Not offered
Up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip for your prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses
Travel and Emergency Assistance Services
Not offered
Yes
While neither card is great when it comes to travel protections, the Freedom Flex card is slightly better since it offers trip interruption insurance and emergency assistance services, while the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card does not. Additionally, both cards charge foreign transaction fees, so neither is a good option for your overseas purchases while traveling.
Shopping Benefits and Protections
Both cards fare better when it comes to shopping protections. Here is what they offer.
The Amex Blue Cash Preferred card offers these benefits:
Amex Offers — Discounts and opportunities to earn more points with 100 merchants each month
American Express Experiences — Exclusive access to ticket presales
Purchase Protection — Covers new purchases against damage or theft for up to 120 days from purchase with up to $500 in coverage per claim and $50,000 per account
Extended Warranty Coverage — Extends a U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year on eligible warranties of 3 years or less
Cell Phone Protection— Get up to $800 per claim and $1,000 per year in cell phone protection against covered theft or damage when your monthly bill with your card; you can have a maximum of 2 claims in a 12-month period, with a $50 deductible per claim
Annual Fees and Adding Authorized Users
Annual Fees
The Amex Blue Cash Preferred card charges a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95 annual fee, while the Freedom Flex card does not charge an annual fee, so you’ll want to take that into consideration when deciding which card is a better fit for you.
Authorized Users
Fortunately, neither card charges an additional fee for you to add an authorized user. Just keep in mind that while authorized users will still earn points and receive the same protections as the primary cardholder, you will not receive a second set of statement credits for the authorized user card.
Final Thoughts
So which is better, the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card or the Freedom Flex card? That entirely depends on your spending habits, along with what benefits and protections you are looking for in a new card.
In our view, if your monthly spending falls in line with the bonus categories of the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card, and/or you’re an Equinox+ subscriber, then that likely would be the card for you. On the other hand, if your spending habits mirror the Freedom Flex card bonus categories, you want a card that offers cell phone protection, and/or you want to pair it with a premium Ultimate Rewards card, then the Freedom Flex card would be the way to go.
The information regarding the Chase Freedom Flex℠ was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, click here.
Featured Image Credit: Upgraded Points
Frequently Asked Questions
If you find yourself spending a lot of money at the supermarket or on streaming subscriptions, gas, and transit purchases, then the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card might be a better option for you. If your purchases are more geared towards dining, drugstores, or travel, and you like the idea of having a rotating bonus category where you can get 5% cash-back, then consider the Freedom Flex card.
The top benefits of the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card are that it offers 6% cash-back at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 in spend each year) and select U.S. streaming services, 3% cash-back on transit and U.S. gas station purchases, and up to a $120 annual Equinox+ credit.
The top benefits of the Freedom Flex card are that it offers 5% cash-back on purchases through the Chase travel portal, quarterly rotating bonus categories (on up to $1,500 in purchases per quarter), 3% cash-back on dining and drugstore purchases, statement credits for Gopuff and Instacart, and cell phone protection.
Yes, the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card has a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95 annual fee.
No, the Freedom Flex card does not charge an annual fee.
Yes, the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card charges a 2.7% foreign transaction fee.
Yes, the Freedom Flex card charges a 3% foreign transaction fee.
Boasting a portfolio of over 20 cards, Jarrod has been an expert in the points and miles space for over 6 years. He earns and redeems over 1 million points per year and his work has been featured in outlets like The New York Times.
Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.
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