Anyone use the Blue Sky American Express Offer?

[indimom]

I received an offer which included 30,000 bonus points once you made $500 in purchases. The rewards would give us $400 toward flights, hotels or rental car.

I have gotten these offers in the past, but never bothered to look into them. Now, I'm considering accepting the offer to earn the 30,000 bonus points to use toward a trip we have planned at the end of July.

Just wondering if anyone else has this card, used this offer in the past, and what their experience was?

My plan is to rebook our universal stay (end of July) on this card, and to use the rewards to pay off that purchase. It appears to work as a reward credit after the purchase. Is that correct? Are there any loopholes I'm missing? Is it difficult to get your points applied to a travel purchase?

Also, DH and I both received the offer. Can we both apply and, if accepted, make $500 in purchases each, and receive $800 in credit? I suppose we could each book one night of our stay at RPR and use the credit from each card to pay for those nights? Sounds like a plan, in theory, but I wasn't sure if I was missing anything??

**To be clear, we use a credit card for all our monthly bills and pay off at the end of the month (usually our Disney VISA, but we have plenty rewards for that portion of our trip). We would NOT be creating any debt by accepting this offer.

Thanks for any information/suggestions you may have!

 

[davedmaine]

People need to be careful with these offers. Yes, you'll save a couple hundred bucks in the short-run, but a new credit card will increase your credit score .. if you're planning on buying a house, car, etc., in the near future, I wouldn't bother..

 

[wiigirl]

People need to be careful with these offers. Yes, you'll save a couple hundred bucks in the short-run, but a new credit card will increase your credit score .. if you're planning on buying a house, car, etc., in the near future, I wouldn't bother..

I think you mean decrease your credit score.

 

[indimom]

People need to be careful with these offers. Yes, you'll save a couple hundred bucks in the short-run, but a new credit card will increase your credit score .. if you're planning on buying a house, car, etc., in the near future, I wouldn't bother..

Ahhh, and I thought I covered all the bases with my question. We're settled in our home, vehicles, etc. Our credit score is excellent and we have no plans to make any major purchases. We only have two credit cards currently (the Disney Visa and one store card) so I don't think it would adversely affect our score. Just considering another avenue to make this a super cheap trip with the family.

And a Shameless Bump....anyone with information on this offer?

 

[Sweettears]

Simply adding a credit card is not going to impact your credit score. I took advantage of the offer several months ago and it worked fine.

 

[indimom]

Simply adding a credit card is not going to impact your credit score. I took advantage of the offer several months ago and it worked fine.

Thanks for the review!

Do you happen to know if we can both take advantage of the offer and basically double our credit?

 

[Sweettears]

Thanks for the review!

Do you happen to know if we can both take advantage of the offer and basically double our credit?

As long as its under a different name and SSN and you both have good credit, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[kristenrice]

We've had this card for several years and I love it. We got the same offer...spend $500 and getr $400 in rewards.

Here's some extra info...

The rewards can only be redeemed in $100 increments and you cannot combine transactions. For example, you spend $50 on a rental car, $75 on a hotel and $275 on a flight. Even though your total is $400, you would have to redeem $500 ($100 for each transaction) since each transaction is separate.

Second, when you go to Disney (or any Disney Resort), put your AMEX on your room charge. That way, ANYTHING you charge to the room (souvenirs, park tickets, entertainment, etc) is categorized as "travel" and you can use your rewards. We did this at HHI...dolphin tour, Kids Nite Out, resort activities, bar tabs, everything was covered by our rewards.

One nice thing about this card that is different from other "mileage" cards is that you do not have to redeem enough rewards to cover the entire charge. If you buy a $300 airline ticket, you can redeem $100, $200 or $300 to cover it. If you have a charge that is just over a $100 increment, you can redeem for less so you don't lose any value.

 

[3angelsmom]

I have this card and took advantage of a similar offer last year.

While the card has gotten many positive reviews, I don't like it because I've found that redemption is not as flexible as some of the other rewards cards I have. Like the PP said, you have to redeem in $100 increments and you cannot combine transactions. As you can see by kristenrice's example, in reality the total benefit is not what it appears to be. You do have the option to redeem points for gift cards, but they are redeemed at a much lower "value" than travel.

I prefer a card with a more straightforward rewards program like Chase Sapphire Ultimate Rewards or Discover cash back where $1 = a point and you have a cash or statement credit option. This trip we're renting DVC, flying on SW points, and not renting a car. So no major expenses that can be categorized as travel. But I still have the option to convert my points to cash to pay for the DVC rental and SW taxes/EBCI if I want to. JMO.

 

[indimom]

Thanks so much for the information. It sounds like the reward system will work for the trip we have planned, so I think we're going to go ahead and apply.
I'm getting excited to see how many other deals I can apply to this trip to get the fiinal OOP even lower.

 

[kristenrice]

I have this card and took advantage of a similar offer last year.

This trip we're renting DVC, flying on SW points, and not renting a car. So no major expenses that can be categorized as travel. But I still have the option to convert my points to cash to pay for the DVC rental and SW taxes/EBCI if I want to. JMO.

You can always charge everything at WDW to your room and then you can redeem your AMEX points to cover it. It gets charged as a single transaction so you can use as many or as few points as you want.