Only 1 Amex card left paying 5% on gas

American Express recently announced that its
SimplyCash Business Card will start paying only a 3% rebate on gas, down from 5%, starting on July 15.  Anyone who recently signed up for the card will be grandfathered into the 5% rate for at least 12 months.  Remaining options for 5% back on gas:

1. Costco TrueEarnings Business Card from American Express: No annual fee, but you must be a Costco member.  It is a business card, but anyone can apply (just use your name as the name of your business).  Offers cashback in various categories:

• 5% on gas



• 3% on restaurants



• 2% on travel



• 1% on everything else



• OPEN discounts (on top of above discounts)
  
  • 5% on Hertz, Kinkos, etc.
  
  
  
  • 3% on Hyatt, Delta, Stubhub, etc.
  
  
  

My take: Costco Amex is currently the best cashback card available.

2. Penfed Platinum Cash Rewards: No annual fee, but you must become a member before qualifying.  Benefits include:

• 5% on gas



• 2% on supermarkets



• 1.25% on everything else



• Low charge on foreign exchange transactions (1% vs. 3% for most other credit cards)

My take: Solid 2nd choice if Amex ever drops its 5% on the Costco card.

3. Discover Open Road Card: No annual fee and offers the following cashback:

• 5% on gas, car maintenance, and car purchases (cashback gas/maintenance limited to $5/month and $60/year) (Thanks Brendan for the correction.)



• Cashback on all other purchases (0.25% up to $1500, 0.50% up to $3000, and 1% on spending above $3000)

My take: Limits make this card pretty worthless.

There are other cards out there that aren't as attractive such as:

• A card out there from Associated Bank that has an unadvertised offer for 5% back.  I find this not very compelling since the Penfed card trumps it and is well documented.



• Amex Blue Cash.  It pays 5% back after $6500 in purchases.  Since you earn less than 1% back on your first $6500 in purchases, the Costco card is better.