Blue Sky from American Express Credit Card Review

Summary of benefits - The Blue Sky® from American Express probably the best no annual fee travel rewards card today because you get more dollars per reward point than any other card. It's key strength is that you can make reservations through airlines, hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines, travel agencies, tour operators, and online travel sites. This allows you to get the best deals. But this card is also great for folks who fly SouthWest (but do not want to pay the annual fee for a SouthWest Card) because SouthWest Airlines is not available on any of the popular travel portals like expedia.com, orbitz.com etc and on most credit card reward program portal. Since you have to book SouthWest directly with them, this makes an ideal card. You redeem your points (after you have booked your travel) for a credit back to your credit card statement. By booking yourself, you also avoid the usual restrictions like blackout dates, having to book 21 days before flight or mandatory Saturday stays that are common in other credit card reward programs.

Value of Blue Sky Points - If you have this card, you will earn one point for every dollar that you spend. BUt the best part is that for $100 in value, you only need 7,000 points. That means that value of each point is more than the standard 1% of all other no annual fee reward points. To redeem your points, you first have to book your tickets. Unlike other reward credit cards that require you to book through their in-house agents, you can make reservations with airlines, hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines, travel agencies, tour operators, and online travel sites that are submitted under an appropriate industry code or identifier for the above-listed categories. You have to use your card for these ticket purchases. Once you have purchased them, you can use your points to get a credit rebate back into your statement. To use your reward points and get your savings, you need to make your point redemption request after you are first billed the charge and must do so within 60 days.

No Blackout Dates and Restrictions - Because you can choose the agents to book your tickets, you are not subjected to any blackout dates or travel restrictions like having to book 21 days in advance and having to stay over the weekend.

Fees - The Blue Sky has no annual fee.

We've already mentioned earlier that the Blue Sky is a better reward program than credit card reward program travel portal because you cannot book SouthWest Airlines on these portals (SouthWest plays hardball and wants their customers to book directly with them). Recently, Expedia.com and Orbitz.com has also stopped offering American Airlines on their portal. Citi's ThankYou Rewards travel booking site is powered by Expedia.com. So if you have a Citi ThankYou Preffered Card, you cannot compare prices for American Airlines and SouthWest.

Blue Sky Versus Discover Miles - The best comparison is with cards who are similar to the Blue Sky. The first is the Discover Miles Card. It works exactly the same way. Like the BlueSky, the Discover Miles also allows you to earn one "mile" for every dollar that you spend on the card. But the Blue Sky is slightly better because for $100 in ticket value, you need only 7,000 points vs 10,000 Discover Miles.

Versus Capital One Venture (no annual fee version) - The Capital One Venture has a no annual fee version that allows you to earn one point per dollar as well. But like all reward cards, $100 in value requires 10,000 points (versus 7,000 for the BlueSky). Hence, once again, the BlueSky beats the Venture in terms of value. The only area where the Venture is better is that it charges no foreign transaction fee. If you only travel domestic, then that should not be an issue.

Versus Blue SKy Preferred - Amex has an annual fee version of this card called the Blue Sky Preferred Credit Card that charges a $75 annual fee. But in return, you have a $100 credit to use for any travel expenses like baggage fees and in-flight meals. Hence, if you use up the $100 credit, you would have gained $25 in value (since the annual fee is only $75).
 

Verdict - We recommend the Blue Sky® from American Express to those who want to use their credit card for travel rewards but want to avoid paying any annual fees. While other credit cards require you to use their "internal travel agents" to book your travel arrangements, with the Blue Sky, you can use book your travel directly with the airline, hotels or car rentals or through any travel agents to get the best deal. Because you book through your own agents or whatever channels, you avoid the usual restrictions imposed by other reward cards. Credit Cards' proogram internal online travel booking system and in fact, all comparison portal like orbitz.com, expedia.com suffer from the absence of SouthWest in their system. So even if you do a comparison check, you still have to go to the SouthWest site and check their prices. And if you decide to fly SouthWest, it is really cumbersome to use your credit card reward program for that. A card like this really comes in handy for all of you SouthWest flyers. Though most other travel credit cards claim to have no blackout dates, you still have to book 21 days in advance and most of the time have to stay over a Saturday. With the Blue Sky, you avoid these restrictions. Furthermore, the "rebate" you get is slightly better than one percent.

The global traveler will also be pleased to note that the Blue Sky arranges special discounts with various merchants throughout the world. Hence, if you are traveling overseas, you may want to check out any restaurants or retail shops that will give you a special discount if you use your card.

Positives

• Book your own travel and hence get the best deal
• Get more than 1% in "credits"
• Avoid blackout dates and other restrictions common on other travel credit cards