Blue Card from American Express Review

Who is the Blue Card from American Express Good For?

The Blue Card from American Express is a Membership Rewards credit card. It’s an entry-level card from the Membership Rewards family, and being a no-annual-fee card it can serve as a good introduction to the Membership Rewards program.

While it doesn’t offer the level of earnings that we might expect from premium Amex Membership Rewards cards, and you can’t transfer the points to the Amex partner airlines, you can still enjoy great benefits that come standard with Amex cards, such as Purchase Protection, Return Protection, ShopRunner membership for free shipping at many internet stores, and more.

Membership Rewards allows you to redeem points in many ways: gift cards, general shopping, Amazon shopping, travel booking (including Airbnb), etc.

Sign-Up Bonus:

• None

Points Earned:

• 2 points per dollar on travel purchases booked through amextravel.com
• 1 point for everything else..

What Do Your Points Get You

You can redeem points for merchandise or travel on the Amex website; use them for Uber rides; apply to your credit card statement; or shop on Amazon. Among all these options, redeeming points for merchandize is probably the worst idea, as it only gives you about 0.5 cents per point or less. Gift cards might be the way to go, even more so, that Membership Rewards often runs special bonuses for gift card redemptions.

Usage Perks:

• No annual fee
• Booking with MR points earns miles and points with airlines and hotels
• Good shopping and travel protection benefits

Usage Quirks:

• No sign-up bonus
• Can’t transfer points to airlines
• Poor value for all redemptions aside from Uber and gift cards

How Far Do Your Points Go?

Since you can’t transfer points to the Amex partner airlines, the next best thing is to redeem them for gift cards or Uber rides. That would give you one cent per point. You can also use Membership Rewards points to buy an Airbnb gift card, which is better than booking an Airbnb stay on points since booking will only yield 0.7 cents for a point. If you use your points on Amazon, they will also get you the same 0.7 cents, which is far from optimal.

Additional Cardholder Benefits:

• Extended Warranty
• Return Protection within 90 days up to $300 per item
• Purchase Protection against damage and theft for up to 90 days
• Free enrollment in the ShopRunner free shipping service
• Entertainment Access
• Ticketmaster Tickets
• Global Assist Hotline
• Amex Auto Purchase Program
• Chip Technology
• Travel Accident Insurance
• Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance