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Blue from American Express® Credit Card review: Time to move on from this discontinued card

The Blue from American Express was a great start for beginners looking for a straightforward rewards card, but there are better options than this discontinued card.

 /  7 min
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Snapshot

2.6

Bankrate rating
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Rating: 2.6 stars out of 5

Bottom line

The Blue from American Express was a great start for beginners looking for a straightforward rewards card, but there are better options than this discontinued card.

Blue from American Express®

Blue from American Express®

N/A

Intro offer

N/A

Rewards Rate

1X

Annual fee

$0

APR

23.99% Variable

2.6
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Bankrate Score

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Bankrate’s take: As of late 2018, The Blue from American Express card has been discontinued. Fortunately, Amex offers several other valuable no-annual-fee cards that can fill that gap, like the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card.

Blue from American Express® Credit Card overview

The discontinued Blue from American Express® Credit Card was a solid entry-level credit card that allowed beginners to collect Membership Rewards points. While experienced credit card users have likely moved on to better cards, the Amex Blue comes with no annual fee and enough benefits to prove useful for people who value simplicity.

  • Credit Card Cash Back Icon

    Rewards

    • 2X Membership Rewards points on eligible purchases with American Express Travel®
    • 1X Membership Rewards points on all other eligible purchases

    Expert Appraisal: Weak

  • Credit Card Search Icon

    Rates and fees

    • Variable APR: 23.99 percent
    • Annual fee: $0
    • Foreign transaction fee: 2.7 percent of each transaction after conversion to U.S. dollars
    • Balance transfer fee: Either $5 or 3 percent of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
    • Late/returned payment fee: Up to $40

    Expert Appraisal: Unimpressive

  • Congrats Icon

    Other cardholder perks

    • Complimentary ShopRunner membership
    • Car rental loss and damage insurance
    • CreditSecure®
    • Global Assist® hotline
    • Purchase protection
    • American Express Experiences
    • Free FICO score
    • Amex offers

    Expert Appraisal: Typical

Alternatives to Blue from American Express® Credit Card

You can earn better rewards and more robust benefits with just about any other American Express credit card. Newer cards also feature strong welcome offers and better overall terms. If you still have this card, product changing to a different card is likely a better value.

Image of Blue from American Express®

Blue from American Express®

Annual fee

$0

Intro offer

N/A

Rewards rate

1X
Info Icon

Recommended Credit Score

N/A
Info Icon
Image of Amex EveryDay® Credit Card

Amex EveryDay® Credit Card

Annual fee

$0

Intro offer

10,000 Points
Info Icon

Rewards rate

1X - 2X
Info Icon

Recommended Credit Score

Good to Excellent (670 – 850)
Info Icon
Image of Chase Freedom Unlimited®
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on Chase's secure site

Annual fee

$0

Intro offer

Up to $300 cash back
Info Icon

Rewards rate

1.5% - 5%
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Recommended Credit Score

Good to Excellent (670 – 850)
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Blue from American Express® Credit Card pros and cons

Pros

  • Checkmark Icon

    This no-annual-fee card will keep any Membership Rewards earned on other cards from expiring.

  • Checkmark Icon

    You’ll get Amex’s standard set of valuable perks with this card.

  • Checkmark Icon

    Free FICO score access can help monitor your credit to build towards a better card.

Cons

  • Earning rates on this card are poor compared to Amex’s newer offerings.

  • You can’t transfer points to Amex transfer partners with this card.

  • This card is no longer available for new applications.

Best cards to pair with the Blue from American Express® Credit Card

If you still have this card, pairing it with another American Express card is almost necessary to provide any substantial value. Both versions of the EveryDay cards make valuable partners.

Bankrate’s Take — Is the Blue from American Express® Credit Card worth keeping?

If you still have the Amex Blue, you might keep it for the standard Amex benefits, to keep your average age of accounts high or your Membership Rewards from expiring. However, the rewards earned and fee structure don’t provide a good case for continuing to use the card in place of any of Amex’s newer card offerings. If you’re serious about earning significant Membership Rewards, you’ll be better off with other Amex cards. 

The information about the Blue from American Express® Credit Card, Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express and the Amex® EveryDay Preferred Credit Card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.

How we rated this card

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150+
cards rated
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50+
rewards programs valued
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1800
data points analyzed
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40+
perks evaluated

We rate credit cards using a proprietary card scoring system that ranks each card’s estimated average rewards rate, estimated annual earnings, welcome bonus value, APR, fees, perks and more against those of other cards in its primary category.

Each card feature is assigned a weighting based on how important it is to people looking for a card in a given category. These features are then scored based on how they rank relative to the features on other cards in the category. Based on these calculations, each card receives an overall rating of 1-5 stars (with 5 being the highest possible score and 1 being the lowest). 

We analyzed over 150 of the most popular rewards and cash back cards to determine where each stacked up based on their value, cost, benefits and more. Here are some of the key factors that influenced this card’s overall score and how the score influenced our review:

Frequently asked questions

* See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on the offer you desire you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, is accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information.