Credit Cards

[bribro]

AmEx has impeccable timing. I was literally going to apply for a BCE/BCP today to get my foot in the door with AmEx, and then I received a targeted offer from them in the mail this morning. It's actually for the AmEx Blue Sky (non-Preferred), which I hadn't even considered. Here are the offer terms:

• Earn 30,000 points - after you make $500 in purchases within your first 3 months. That's enough for $400 redeemable toward airline tickets, hotel stays, or any other type of travel.
• 0% introductory APR for 15 months on purchases. After that, your APR will be variable rate, currently 17.24%.

BTW, AmEx is clearly gunning for CSP with this offer. On the outside of the offer envelope it says: "Switch to Blue Sky for American Express. Extraordinary travel rewards. Plus all the benefits of Cardmembership, with no annual fee." They must have soft pulled me and seen all the charges I was running through my 2-months old CSP and wanted in on the action.

Compared to the standard online Blue Sky deal of 7,500 points after a $1k spend in 3 months, this is pretty enticing. If I'm reading this correctly, I could charge a $500 flight on the card to meet the minimum spend, then get a $400 statement credit making the flight only cost me $100. Plus, I get in with AmEx for backdating purposes. CSP will still be my main card and I will likely SD this card after getting the bonus but I would like to eventually PC to Blue Cash Everyday, which would actually get some use. Does this plan make sense? It seems like a no-brainer...

[FrugalRican]

Makes sense to me, specially since it has no AF.

The $400 statement credit is nice. And i was going to say, it seems oddly familiar to the CSP offer.

I still think the CSP is superior to the Blue Sky, by far.

When I applied for the BCE, I was looking at the Blue Sky first and then realized, it kind of wasn't a good card for me.

[bribro]

Yeah, I totally agree the CSP is a better card (although not for all with the $95 AF). I would be getting this card strictly for the 30k bonus and to establish a relationship with AmEx.

I did a little Googling and it seems they offer 22.5k, 30k, and 37.5k targeted offers for Blue Sky. I'm not sure what determines your offer amount. It's a little annoying that I didn't get the best offer ever, but hey, $400 is $400.

[FrugalRican]

You got a better offer than most receive though.

I'm sure I'll never see anything like that.

[bribro]

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on this offer and received instant approval for a $10k CL. The CL is a little lower than my other cards but I'll go for the 61 day CLI to try and bump it up to $25k.

[FrugalRican]

Adopt me.

Congrats.

[pizzadude]

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bribro wrote:

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on this offer and received instant approval for a $10k CL. The CL is a little lower than my other cards but I'll go for the 61 day CLI to try and bump it up to $25k.

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Congrats !!  AMEX is great with CLs from what people have reported, so I'm sure you'll get a very nice 60 day CLI. 

[noobody]

Congrats !! job well done!!

is " $400 redeemable toward airline tickets" equal to statement credit? 

or credit towards NEXT air tickets?

[pizzadude]

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noobody wrote:

Congrats !! job well done!!

is " $400 redeemable toward airline tickets" equal to statement credit? 

or credit towards NEXT air tickets?

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You'll have to read the fine print to know for certain, but I would interpret it as credit towards future purchases.

[bribro]

Thanks all!

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noobody wrote:

Congrats !! job well done!!

is " $400 redeemable toward airline tickets" equal to statement credit? 

or credit towards NEXT air tickets?

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It says statement credit. I'm planning to fly to NYC this month anyway so if I book a $500 ticket it'll only cost me $100 net. Then to the SD this card goes.