If you’ve been thinking about the points game for a while and want a no-annual fee credit card with a good sign-up bonus, this is a great way to start with American Express.
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Beats The Competition

Unlike the Chase Freedom and Freedom Unlimited No-Annual Fee cards which also earn points which require their more premium (annual fee) Sapphire cards: Preferred and Reserve to allow transfers, this AMEX card can do the same by itself.
This is the ONLY no annual fee credit card that actually earns and permits the holder to transfer Membership Rewards points out of their account to any transfer partner hotel or airline.
The Sign-Up Bonus
If you use our application link, you will receive 15,000 MR points (worth over $300 when redeemed towards travel) when you spend $1000 in the first 3 months. The card does not have an annual fee making it a keeper card. (Public offer is only 10,000 MR Point sign-up bonus).
The card has a $0 Balance Transfer Fee so you can make use of that by learning more about Balance Transfers here.
The Point Earning Categories
Admittedly, the card does not have the best of multipliers when it comes to categorical spending: 2X MR Points at US Supermarkets upto $6000/year and 1X MR Point on everything else. Hence this is seen as a great “beginner” points card as it’s easy to follow and does not come with a lot of confusion.
Additionally, you can earn 20% more points when you use your card 20+ times in a billing period. This can be easily achieve by billing items at the self-check-out counter at the grocery store individually 20 times effectively earning you 2.4 MR point/$1 spent (or 1.2 MR points/$1 for everything else).
If you go for the Everyday Preferred ($95 annual fee) credit card, you earn 3X at US Supermarkets, 2X at US Gas Stations and 1X on everything else with a 50% more points with 30+ transactions in a billing period. Trust me, ignore the Preferred version of the card – it’s honestly pointless.

Value of the Card
The sign-up bonus alone is enough to cover two one-way tickets on American Airlines when transferred to transfer partner: British Airways OR using Avios for short haul flights.
If you are someone who is not comfortable with paying an annual fee for credit cards, but want the benefits of AMEX’s more popular Gold Card, then this is a great way to earn, collect and use your MR points. Additionally, if you feel that the premium Annual fee cards no longer give you positive expected value, you may close them after the first year without having to worry about loss of points.
AMEX point pools all the MR points into one account and as long as you keep the EveryDay card active, you will not lose access to those points.

Card Benefits to consider
Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance

This ONLY covers any physical damage to your car rental. Do note this is NOT primary coverage, but is rather secondary coverage. What does this mean? If your rental sustains damage of any sort, your car insurance coverage will take precedence. If your personal car insurance does not have rental coverage, then this automatically becomes primary. Keep in mind this does NOT cover liability coverage. It’s still better than paying for CDW at the counter as most rental companies charge a lot on a per day basis.
Cellphone Purchase protection

Let’s say you bought a phone under or equal to $1000 – it is covered under damages (accidental). So if you accidentally spill water or drop and damage it, you can file a claim to get back your money. Do keep in mind, you have to had purchased the device using your AMEX card and within the past 120 days.
Extended Warranty
Great add up to two extra years added to the original manufacturer’s warranty on new purchases made on the card . Applies to warranties of 5 years or less.
Link with Ebates for quick and easy points

When you link your Amex Membership Reward point earning card such as the Everyday card, you may get an initial bonus of 1500 MR points plus all cashbacks/points can be directly transferred to your Amex account. Learn more about this on Ebates here or sign-up here.
Free Two Day Shipping with ShopRunner

An equivalent (but smaller version) of Amazon, get free 2-day shipping on eligible items at a growing network of 100+ online stores with ShopRunner. You have to enroll in complimentary membership as it is a benefit of your Card.
Save $30 of Amazon when redeeming 1 MR Point
Learn more on how to get this amazing deal here.
Potential alternative
Ironically enough the Amex Blue Cash (no annual fee) card offers better categorical cashback which you can learn more in it’s own article. However what you need to realize is that 1MR point can be worth more than ¢ 1. An average valuation is 1 MR point = ¢ 2 or over for a good redemption. However comparing MR point earning cards vs Cashback cards isn’t entirely fair unless you care only about the latter. Even if you travel once a year, a point earning card will give you more value than a cashback card.

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