Blue Bird by Amex

[GDL]

Can someone tell me all about the Bluebird Amex cards?

1. Can they be used at Disney and Universal?

2. Can I use the temporary one I get at Wal-mart at Disney next week?

3. Going to be getting for my teen so she can have her own separate money, are these a good way to go?

4. Can you give me any and all pros and cons?

 

[GDL]

Anyone?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

From what I read on their site they do not appear to be either a debit or credit card. It is a bank card that is linked to a computer and/or smart phone. It indicates it can be used to pay bills and get cash from an ATM. My thoughts on both 1 and 2 are no.

 

[Firefly09]

Can someone tell me all about the Bluebird Amex cards?

1. Can they be used at Disney and Universal?

2. Can I use the temporary one I get at Wal-mart at Disney next week?

3. Going to be getting for my teen so she can have her own separate money, are these a good way to go?

4. Can you give me any and all pros and cons?

1. Yes, anywhere that accepts Amex

2. From the Bluebird website it seems that you can use the temporary one. Which really if you have time I would just skip this step, save $5 and order the permanent card from bluebird directly

3. That is up to you. You can fund the card in several ways, load it up at your Walmart, set up direct transfer from a bank account. I guess it's good since its as widely accepted as any Amex, but you can limit her spend since it won't let you charge more than what's in your account.

4. This does not help build credit. There are ATM fees unless you use certain ones which I think are only found at Walmart. The website is easy to use but has been buggy in the past. That's all I can't think of right now.

If you do a google search for Amex bluebird you will find quite a few bloggers who have broken down the plus/minus of this card. You may have to filter out the information about earning frequent flier miles and such. Look for Million Mile Secrets, I feel he simplifies it the best.

Good luck!

 

[newMrs.Robinson]

My daughter has the AAA travel money card. You can use it at Disney or any other place and all ATMs. She's 13 and has had no problems anywhere with it. You can get them at any AAA and start using it. It was 6.95 but then you can refill it for free. It expires in 2 years.

 

[Mom21]

My dd has had the AMEX PASS card for several years. Sounds similar to the one you are talking about. I can fill it with funds from my checking account. Only I don't like is that it takes 4-5 days to get there for her. I use it for her allowance and spending money so not really a big deal. No fees. She's had no problem using it except before she had her license I had to take her and get an ID card so they would accept it at stores.

 

[SSRFred]

I got a blue bird card specifically so that I could then open a sub-account and get one for my DS. It is accepted anywhere Amex is accepted which makes it very easy to use.

The biggest downside of the card is what the PP said about loading the card. It took upward of a week every time I transferred $ from my bank account. I don't know if it would be faster loading $ onto it at Walmart because I ordered my cards online.

What I really like about the card for my DS is that not only can I monitor his sub-account but I can also limit how much is spent on the card every day. I definitely prefer my DS carrying this card rather than cash (until he is an older teen). I think this card is great for young teens to learn how to handle $ and budget $.

 

[Shmily1]

Couldn't you get them a student account with a debit Visa or Mastercard at your local bank that you already use? That's how I did DS and DD and it worked great!