American Express Co. is offering more perks to travelers with its new Blue Sky Preferred credit card.
The card, introduced Nov. 1, is the first to offer a $100 annual credit that cardholders may apply to cover travel costs such as baggage fees, in-flight meals, entertainment or Internet access on any airline, according to Amex. It has a $75 annual fee.
Cardholders also may earn double points on all hotel, car-rental and dining purchases and one point on all other spending.
The catch: To redeem the $100 travel allowance, cardholders must book the flight using the Blue Sky Preferred card and request reimbursement within 60 days of charging the travel fee to their card.
The Blue Sky Preferred Card sounds like a "relatively competitive" addition to the card industry's travel-rewards sector, which is becoming "increasingly saturated," said Brian Riley, senior research director at TowerGroup.
"Clearly Amex still has a lot of flexibility with its merchant discounts, and it is reinvesting that back into their customer base with more perks such as these," Riley said.
