Through May 5, Amex is offering a terrific welcome bonus for the Amex Green Card: $2K spend gets you 50K Points plus $200 in statement credit for home furnishings (including Home Depot and Lowe’s). I learned today that while the Green Card adds to your Amex credit card limit, its approval is not affected by that limit.
While many people have more than 4 or 5 Amex credit cards, Amex won’t approve you for a new credit card unless you are under the limit. For some, the new card limit is 4 credit cards and for others the limit is 5 credit cards (we don’t know why it varies). The only way I’m aware of to know your limit is to apply for a new Amex credit card, get denied, and then talk to a rep who will tell you how many credit cards you need to close in order to get approved for the new one.
The Amex Green Card counts as a Credit Card towards Amex’s credit card limit. Traditionally, Amex has handled their credit cards and charge cards (now often referred to as “pay over time” cards) separately. They had a 4 or 5 card limit for credit cards and a 10 card limit for Pay over Time cards. This changed recently with the Green card which now counts towards your credit card limit even though it is a Pay over Time card.
It turns out that you can get approved for a Green card even if you are over the credit card limit. I was recently denied a new Amex Hilton credit card because I have too many Amex credit cards. This morning, though, I applied for the Green card and was instantly approved. This tells me that the Green Card is treated like a Pay over Time card (which it is) when applying for the Green card, but it is treated like a credit card when you have it and apply for other credit cards.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Do you think Amex would claw back $200 Credit if I bought GC at Lowe’s?
No
[…] 3/15/21: Frequentmiler has a data point indicating that while Green cards are considered a credit card to use up a spot […]
I have side question regarding Amex Green card. Do you know what will happen if I renew my Clear, will get $100 reimbursement to Amex Green account and then upgrade Green to Amex Platinum?
I believe that will work. I don’t think they’ll pull back the $100
I was an authorized used on an Amex Green about 10 years ago — will I still be able to get the bonus?
Yes
I can’t think of any situation where having been an authorized user will prevent you from getting the bonus on that card with any issuer at all. So yes, you can get the bonus on this situation and also in any similar situation that I can imagine.
Now I have an even greater urge to cancel the Green.
I like this theory much better than the Citi Hilton conversion theory 🙂
It’s always been a charge card? Where did you read it’s not treated as such?
https://frequentmiler.com/amex-green-card-counts-as-credit-card-towards-amex-limit/
Thank You So Much Nice Post