American Express Blue Sky CC - any experience?

[disneypharm]

DH and I received American Express Blue Sky CC applications (one per person) with $200 GC in the mail today. It has no annual fee. We have been looking to get a card which gives you travel type benefits/rewards. This seems pretty good but I wanted to get some information from others. So, any good and bad experiences? Thank you in advance.

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

DH and I both got an offer last year, it is very easy to redeem the points. I have used it for timeshare exchange fees. My only problem is a store where I do a lot of shopping doesn't take AMEX.

 

[disneypharm]

DH and I both got an offer last year, it is very easy to redeem the points. I have used it for timeshare exchange fees. My only problem is a store where I do a lot of shopping doesn't take AMEX.

Thanks. Did you get a $200 GC with your card and when did you receive them?

Anyone else has this card and are you happy with it?

 

[kristenrice]

I'vve had it since 2008....LOVE it!

I got the $200 bonus (in the form of 30,000 bonus points) and it is really easy to use the points. The best thing about it? If you use it as your credit card on file at WDW, your room charges are all considered "travel" since the billing party is the resort. We recently went to HHI and used our KTTW card to pay for a dolphin tour, kayak trip, Kids Nite Out, several souvenirs, refillable mugs, a quick-service meal and some adult beverages and 2 bike rentals at the resort. ALL of it got charged to the room and our $500 in Blue Sky rewards covered it all.

UnderCoverTourist is also considered "travel" so you can buy discounted tickets with the rewards.

One thing to watch is individual transactions....they can't be lumped together. For example, I recently booked airfare on AirTran. I booked it as two one-way trips. My TOTAL airfare was $199.xx, but it was $109 and $90 segments. I still had to redeem $200-- $100 towards the $109 segment and $100 towards the $90 segment-- and I still had to pay the $9. (This would have been avoided had I booked it as a round trip). I find that when we plan on using the credits towards hotels, I am always looking for a hotel that is as close to $100 as possible.

I have everything I can auto-billed to the card. I use it as our primary card and our Disney Visa is the back up. As a PP mentioned, the biggest downfall is the fact that it isn't as widely accepted as Visa. They're customer service is outstanding and I love how the bill is separated into what is put on my card and what is put on DH's card, even though it is the same account.

 

[disneypharm]

I'vve had it since 2008....LOVE it!

I got the $200 bonus (in the form of 30,000 bonus points) and it is really easy to use the points. The best thing about it? If you use it as your credit card on file at WDW, your room charges are all considered "travel" since the billing party is the resort. We recently went to HHI and used our KTTW card to pay for a dolphin tour, kayak trip, Kids Nite Out, several souvenirs, refillable mugs, a quick-service meal and some adult beverages and 2 bike rentals at the resort. ALL of it got charged to the room and our $500 in Blue Sky rewards covered it all.

UnderCoverTourist is also considered "travel" so you can buy discounted tickets with the rewards.

One thing to watch is individual transactions....they can't be lumped together. For example, I recently booked airfare on AirTran. I booked it as two one-way trips. My TOTAL airfare was $199.xx, but it was $109 and $90 segments. I still had to redeem $200-- $100 towards the $109 segment and $100 towards the $90 segment-- and I still had to pay the $9. (This would have been avoided had I booked it as a round trip). I find that when we plan on using the credits towards hotels, I am always looking for a hotel that is as close to $100 as possible.

I have everything I can auto-billed to the card. I use it as our primary card and our Disney Visa is the back up. As a PP mentioned, the biggest downfall is the fact that it isn't as widely accepted as Visa. They're customer service is outstanding and I love how the bill is separated into what is put on my card and what is put on DH's card, even though it is the same account.

Thank Kristinrice. This is great information. We just bought about $600 worth of Universal Orlando tickets from Undercovertourist! It would have been great to use this card instead. Anyway, we already have a Disney Visa that we use for our trips. We are going to a DCL cruise + Universal Orlando trip in 3 months and the $200 GC will be great. Do you know if we can use the Blue Sky CC or $200 GC at Universal Orlando? We have about $800 Disney rewards plus onboard credits to use for our DCL cruise plus Magic Kingdom Halloween party. I would love to use the Blue Sky one for Universal.
Thanks again for your help

 

[unionville]

We use our Amex Blue Sky more than our Disney Visa. Very easy to use - you can redeem your points online once you have made a "travel purchase" with the card. We went to Disney World last Thanksgiving and we used our redemption points to pay for our dining plan. We just cruised with Carnival, so when I pay the bill online this month I will go ahead and redeem some of my points toward our cruise charges. We have only used our rewards "after the fact". We apply it to charges we made that are classified as travel.

 

[disneypharm]

We use our Amex Blue Sky more than our Disney Visa. Very easy to use - you can redeem your points online once you have made a "travel purchase" with the card. We went to Disney World last Thanksgiving and we used our redemption points to pay for our dining plan. We just cruised with Carnival, so when I pay the bill online this month I will go ahead and redeem some of my points toward our cruise charges. We have only used our rewards "after the fact". We apply it to charges we made that are classified as travel.

Thanks. I don't understand what you mean by the above bolded sentence. You can only redeem your points after a travel purchase? I thought you get points with any purchases!
My letter says that I can redeem 26,000 bonus points ($200 gift cards) after making $500 in purchases within the first 90 days. Does it have to be only travel purchases?

 

[unionville]

More clarification: If you book your travel through the American Express website you get more points (I think it's 2 times). But, you get reward points no matter what you purchase. We use our cards for everything: gas, groceries, restaurants, etc...

When you get ready to redeem your reward points, there are several options. The best bang for your buck is using the reward point towards travel that you either book through their website or just pay for with your AMEX Blue Sky. Once it shows up on a statement, you can apply your reward payment. You can use the rewards to get AMEX gift cards or apply cash payments toward your account, but once again travel is the better exchange. Here are a few options:

3250 points = $25 AMEX gift card
6500 points = $50 AMEX gift card
7500 points = $100 toward a travel purchase

We have used the travel purchase for various hotels, cruises, and even Walt Disney World hotels, tickets, and dining plans. We chose this card to use toward travel. If you aren't going to be be solely focused on travel options, there is probably a better card out there. We felt the Chase Disney Visa card did not give us as much flexibility as the AMEX Blue Sky.

 

[disneypharm]

Unionville - Thank you for your clarification. The only CC we have used in the past 6 years is Disney Visa. We try to do a Disney trip (WDW or Disneyland) once a year, but we travel to other places as well. Therefore, this will work great for us. I submitted my application online and received the approval within seconds. My $200 GC will be great for the Universal Orlando's portion of our trip in October. Thanks again

 

[unionville]

I think you will be pleased with the reward program. The card isn't as "cute" as the Disney Visa but it usually causes a comment or two since it's clear! Remember there are always a few places that won't accept AMEX so I always have my Disney Visa as back up.