American Express Blue Review

Overall Rating

No annual fee
Easy access to the ever-exclusive Amex club
Points system that exceeds other 'free' credit cards
Great online access
Quick & easy account management

Customer service sucks, to be kind (Amex Australia)
No online customer service; terrible phone service

The American Express Blue Credit card affords a fantastic opportunity for the young professional to join the Amex club and try to squeeze some benefits out of it. In Australia, you can get it with an income of 25k AUD annually or more, so that's quite achievable even on the minimum wage. It doesn't suck money for card fees, and the point systems are exactly the same as the charge card or standard credit card that are defended with exclusivity. The online access is outstanding, and the system feels like it's really secure and presentable, unlike some banks that pop up with 404's within their own account system.

On the flip side, they've really skimped on customer support. Typical of Australia's American Express branch, it's very difficult to get treated with any dignity at all if you don't have a platinum status or higher - you should be so lucky that they even approved your account, or so the attitude seemed to be. Furthermore, there's no online support system, but it does tell you where you can write a letter. Yes, a letter. I never heard of complaining through the mail since my dad's era, and I have never done so in my life until now. I hope they actually do something about it rather than just trash it, but we can only wait and see.

On the whole, I thoroughly recommend the card though, because 90% of the time, you'll never have to deal with the customer service reps (I only do because I wish to obtain a charge card for the travel insurance +++) and the card looks better than anything on the Australian market. People comment on how it looks cool or chic, and they have no idea it's easy to get and doesn't attract a fee! Even platinum cards don't get seen as something fashionable anymore these days. Therefore, the lack of marketing actually makes it seem more exclusive than it is, so you get treated better by anyone who isn't in the finance industry, or who is not an enthusiast.

Go ahead and shoot for this one. It's definitely worth your while for a low-end card, and I'd say it rates better than a lot of Gold or even Platinum cards offered by the banks, at least in the Australian market.