Card Details and Application Link |
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American Express® Green Card 40K points ⓘ Friend-Referral 40K after $3K spend in first 6 months. Terms apply. See Rates & Fees $150 Annual Fee Friend-referral links like this one sometimes result in an error message incorrectly stating that a character may be missing. If this happens to you, try opening the same link in a different browser. Click Here to Apply This is a friend-referral offer. A member of the Frequent Miler community may earn a referral bonus if you are approved for this offer Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 60K after $3K spend in first 6 months + 20% off travel and transit purchases for first 6 months. [Expired 8/21/23] FM Mini Review: This card is worth considering as your go-to travel card, but only if you value its CLEAR and Lounge Buddy credits. Also note that Amex cards continue to have limited acceptance in many international destinations. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: ✦ 3X on travel & transit (including flights, hotels, taxis, and rideshares) ✦ 3X dining ✦ 1X points on other purchases. Terms apply. See Card Info: Amex Pay Over Time Card issued by Amex. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: $199 CLEAR credit annually Terms Apply. |
Intro
The American Express Green Card is a reasonably rewarding card for travel thanks to it offering 3x rewards for all travel and dining spend. Additionally, if you value the card’s CLEAR benefit, the net cost of owning the card is roughly zero.
The biggest issue with the Green card is that its an Amex card. Internationally, Amex isn’t as widely accepted as Visa or Mastercard and so its use is limited when you’re likely to need it the most.
Application Tips
Amex Application Tips
Check application status here. |
Should you apply?
Green card welcome bonuses are usually worth considerably more than the card’s annual fee. So, as long as you can meet the offer’s minimum spend requirements, it can make sense to apply and keep the card for at least one year. You can always cancel once the annual fee comes due in year 2 to avoid paying for the second year.
One thing to note: Amex imposes a limit per person of 5 credit cards and 10 Pay Over Time cards. And the Amex Green Card is weird. It is technically a Pay over Time card, and it is treated that way when applying for the Green Card, but if you already have the Green Card, it is treated as a credit card towards your credit card limit. This applies only to the consumer Green card. The Business Green card acts as a regular Pay Over Time Card.
Amex Green Card Reconsideration
If denied, call reconsideration: 877-399-3083 (new account holders); 866-314-0237 (current account holders)
How to Meet Minimum Spend requirements
Eligible purchases to meet the Threshold Amount do NOT include fees or interest charges, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, purchases of gift cards, person-to-person payments, or purchases of other cash equivalents.That said, many techniques for meeting minimum spend are perfectly fine. Here are some techniques that are safe for meeting Amex minimum spend requirements (click each link for more information):
Annual Fee
The Amex Green card has a $150 annual fee. Additional cardholders are free.
Amex Green Card Perks
The Green Card offers the following perks:
- 3X Points On Restaurants, Travel, & Transit
- $189 CLEAR® Plus Credit per calendar year: Simply pay for your CLEAR Plus membership with your Green card.
Redeem Points
In general, Membership Rewards points are worth up to 1 cent each when redeemed for merchandise or gift cards. Fortunately, there are three ways in which it is possible to get more value: redeem points for flights, transfer points to hotel or airline partners, or invest rewards. More on each below…
Travel
The Business Platinum Card offers a 35% Airline Bonus: Get 35% of your points back when you redeem points through Amex Travel for either a First or Business class flight on any airline, or for any flights with your selected airline.
After you receive the 35% rebate, the value works out to 1.54 cents per point. That's very good, but it does require owning this ultra-premium card.
Transfer points
The best use of Membership Rewards points, in our opinion, is to transfer points to airline and hotel partners in order to book high value awards. Your best bet is usually to wait until you find a great flight or flight award before transferring points. One exception: Amex often offers transfer bonuses to certain programs (Virgin Atlantic and British Airways are two common examples). If you’re confident that you’ll use the points for good value, it may make sense to transfer points when those bonuses are in effect.
For specific examples of great ways to use points transferred to airline miles, please see: Amex Membership Rewards sweet spots.
Current Transfer Bonuses
Here are the currently available transfer bonuses from Amex Membership Rewards (this table will update automatically when new offers are found):
Transfer Bonus Details | End Date |
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15% transfer bonus from Amex Membership Rewards to Avianca LifeMiles | 12/31/24 |
35% transfer bonus from Amex Membership Rewards to Marriott Bonvoy | 12/31/24 |
40% transfer bonus from Amex Membership Rewards to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 12/31/24 |
25% transfer bonus from Amex Membership Rewards to JetBlue | 12/31/24 |
Points can be transferred to the loyalty accounts of the primary cardholder or any authorized user or employee on the account.
Transfer Partners
It is free to transfer Membership Rewards points to foreign airlines. For transfers to US airlines, however, Amex charges an “excise tax offset fee” of $0.0006 per point (with a maximum fee of $99). Airlines subject to this fee are noted below.
Cash back (invest with rewards)
Other options
You can also redeem points for gift cards or merchandise. At most, with this approach you’ll get 1 cent per point value, but usually you’ll get quite a bit less.
You can also use points to pay some merchants directly (Amazon.com, for example). Don’t do this. These options offer very poor value. Further, they may compromise the security of your account (i.e. if someone hacks into your Amazon account, they might spend your Membership Rewards points – causing you a headache in getting your points reinstated).
Manage Points
Combine Points
Amex automatically pools all of your points together. When you earn points with different cards, the point total shown when viewing either card is the total across cards.Share Points
Unlike Chase and Citibank, Amex doesn’t allow members to move points from one person’s account to another. That said, it is possible to transfer one person’s points to another person’s loyalty program account. The key is that the person who receives the points must be an authorized user or employee on the other person’s account. For example, my wife can transfer Membership Rewards points to my Virgin Atlantic account as long as I’m an authorized user (or employee) on any of her Membership Rewards cards.An authorized user card must be active for 90 days before it will unlock the ability to transfer your points to the authorized user’s loyalty program account.
How to Keep Points Alive
Thankfully, it is very easy to keep Amex Membership Rewards points alive. Simply keep any Membership Rewards card open. For example, if you are about to close your one and only Membership Rewards card, then open another Membership Rewards card account first in order to preserve your points. Amex offers some no-fee Membership Rewards cards, such as the Blue Business Plus and the Amex Everyday, so this shouldn't be much of a burden.Related Cards
Card Offer |
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250K points ⓘ Friend-Referral 250K points after $20K spend in the first 3 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees) $695 Annual Fee Alternate Offer: Targeted online offer of 250K points after $15K spend in the first 3 months See this post for details. Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. |
100K points + 10X on dining ⓘ Non-Affiliate 100K points after $8K spend in 6 months + 10x on dining for 6 months (on up to $25K in purchases). Terms apply. $695 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. |
75K points + 20% back at restaurants ⓘ Non-Affiliate 75K points after $6K in purchases in the first 6 months + 20% back at restaurants for the first 6 months up to $250 back. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees) $325 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 100K after $6K in the first 6 months + 20% back at restaurants for the first 12 months up to $250 back [Expired 11/10/24 - referrals only] |
40K points ⓘ Friend-Referral 40K after $3K spend in first 6 months. Terms apply. See Rates & Fees $150 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 60K after $3K spend in first 6 months + 20% off travel and transit purchases for first 6 months. [Expired 8/21/23] |
15K points ⓘ Friend-Referral 15K points after $3K spend in first 3 months. Terms & limitations apply. $95 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. |
200K points ⓘ Friend-Referral 200K points after $15K spend in 3 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees) $375 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: None. This is the best we've ever seen. |
This card is no longer available for new applications ⓘ Friend-Referral This card is not currently available for new applicants. No Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. |
No Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. |
This card is no longer available for new applications ⓘ Friend-Referral This card is not currently available for new applicants. $95 Annual Fee Alternate Offer: Some people click through and find that they are targeted for an offer of 30K points after $2K spend in 3 months. Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 30K after $2K in first 3 months |
$95 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. |
80K points ⓘ Non-Affiliate 80K after $8K spend in first 6 months. Terms apply. $695 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 125K points after 6k spend [Expired 11/8/23] |
None This card is no longer available. No Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: None |
125K points ⓘ Non-Affiliate 125K after $8K spend in first 6 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees) $695 Annual Fee This card is only available to clients that maintain an eligible Schwab brokerage account. Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 100K points + 10x when you Shop Small in the US & at restaurants worldwide [Expired 1/20/22] |
This card is no longer available for new applications No Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. |
15K points + 0% APR for 12 months ⓘ Affiliate 15k points after $3k spend within the first 3 months + 0.0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from the date of account opening, then a variable rate, 17.74% - 25.74%, based on your creditworthiness and other factors at account opening. (Rates & Fees) No Annual Fee |
Getting This message: ‘XXXXXX, you are not eligible to receive the welcome offer. In determining eligibility, we considered your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors.”
Did not have this card in the past, never had a balance transfer, have 1 personal card and business checking account, under 5/24 and Last card opened (any) 3/21/23. Any other reasons I deemed as not “worthy” ?
FYI there are 45k mile offers by referral s
Also note the CLEAR credit is now $189
Any updates to this offer? If Resy offer has expired is the 40K offer the best available now?
Is there a current offer that’s working? This Resy offer ended awhile ago.
What’s the best green offer these days? The resy offer doesn’t work.
You can get a total of 45K points after $2K spend in 6 months instead of 40K with a referral link.
Appears there is no longer a Resy offer for American Express® Green Card. The link no longer returns a Green only Plat, Gold and Blue.
So is the 2 cards in 90 Day Rule: You can get at most two credit cards within 90 days. – Is this specific to American Express Cards? I was just declined by American express and I am wondering why… Thank you
Yes, the section entitled “Amex Application Tips” is specific to Amex.
As to why you were declined, you can try calling the reconsideration phone number listed in that section to speak with someone. Know that they won’t always have the actual reason and may just make one up, but if it’s something like the 90 day rule or 5 credit card rule, they will let you know.
Green card referral link broken