Link: Apply now for the American Express® Green Card
In this post I wanted to take an in-depth look at the American Express® Green Card, which is underrated and often overlooked. In my opinion this is a great card for anyone looking to earn travel rewards in the long run.
The information and associated card details on this page for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
In this post:
American Express Green Card Basics For December 2024
The Amex Green Card has a reasonable annual fee, offers statements credits that can potentially more than offset the annual fee, and offers 3x points in categories that many consumers will spend a lot in.
Combine that with the value of Membership Rewards points, and the other great cards out there you can complement that with, and this is a card that should interest many. So let’s take a closer look at the details.
Amex Green Card $150 Annual Fee
Let’s start off with what most people would consider to be the negative of the card. The Amex Green Card has a $150 annual fee (Rates & Fees). That might sound a bit on the steep side, but I think the benefits more than outweigh it.
Amex Green Card Welcome Offer
The Amex Green Card currently has a welcome bonus where you can earn 40,000 bonus Membership Rewards points after spending $3,000 within the first six months. Personally, I value Amex points at 1.7 cents each, so to me the points are worth $680.
When it comes to eligibility for this card, note that you’re not eligible for the welcome offer on this card if you currently have or have had The Platinum Card® from American Express (review) or American Express® Gold Card (review). On top of that, Amex’s general credit card restrictions apply.
The information and associated card details on this page for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Earning Points With The Amex Green Card
This is where the Amex Green Card gets really awesome, as it’s one of the best cards for earning Amex points. The Amex Green Card offers 3x Membership Rewards points in some lucrative categories. I value Membership Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, so to me 3x points categories equate to a 5.1% return on spending, which is excellent.
Earn 3x Points On Dining
The Amex Green Card offers 3x points at on eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the US. Generally speaking, the restaurants category doesn’t just include sit-down dining establishments, but you’ll often find that fast food establishments, cafes, and even takeout and delivery, code as restaurants as well.
It all comes down to how the merchant categorizes themselves. For example, a restaurant located inside another establishment (like inside a hotel) often won’t code as dining, so that’s something to be aware of. Furthermore, expect that bars, nightclubs, cafeterias, and convenience stores, won’t code as restaurants.
The Amex Green Card is one of the better cards out there for dining purchases.
Earn 3x Points On Travel (Including Transit)
The Amex Green Card offers 3x points on travel purchases (including transit) globally with no limits.
You can expect this to include all kinds of travel purchases, including airfare, hotels, cruises, tours, car rentals, campgrounds, and vacation rentals. For transit, it includes trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways.
As you can see, this includes many purchases you might make in your day-to-day life without actually “traveling,” like ridesharing, as well as bus, train, and subway tickets. This is one of the better cards out there for travel purchases, ranging from airline tickets, to hotel purchases, to rideshare spending.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
The Amex Green Card has no foreign transaction fees (Rates & Fees), so this is a great card to use for purchases abroad. That’s especially true when you consider how many foreign purchases are often in the travel and dining category. I’d say that’s a majority of what I spend money on when traveling.
The information and associated card details on this page for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Redeeming Points With The Amex Green Card
The best way to redeem your Amex Green Card points is to transfer them to one of the Membership Rewards airline or hotel partners. Points can be transferred to the following 21 partners, including 17 airline partners and four hotel partners:
Airline Partners | Hotel Partners |
|---|---|
Aeromexico Club Premier | |
Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles | |
The reason this represents such a good deal is because you can get outsized value toward international first and business class travel. These tickets are often extremely expensive if paying cash, while they can be a good deal on points. On top of that Amex often has transfer bonuses, which can stretch your points even further.
The information and associated card details on this page for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
American Express Green Card Benefits
The Amex Green Card has some benefits that potentially more than offset the annual fee on the card. This includes two annual credits that many may find useful.
Amex Green Card Annual $199 CLEAR Plus Credit
Historically so many credit cards have offered fee credits with TSA PreCheck and Global Entry, though it’s great to see some cards increasingly offering CLEAR credits instead.
The Amex Green Card offers up to $199 per calendar year in CLEAR Plus statement credits. What’s also awesome is that this is annual (based on calendar year), and not once every four to five years, like the TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit would usually be. (Enrollment required)
Just use your card when you pay for your CLEAR membership, and you’ll automatically receive statement credits within two to four weeks of when your card is charged. This $199 credit will cover an annual CLEAR membership, which is an awesome deal, and could save you time at the airport.
Amex Green Card Annual $100 LoungeBuddy Credits
In 2019 Amex acquired LoungeBuddy, and this is the first card to add a LoungeBuddy credit as a benefit. The Green from Amex offers up to $100 per calendar year in LoungeBuddy statement credits when you buy lounge access and charge it to your card.
LoungeBuddy lets you instantly buy access to hundreds of lounges around the world. Now, in fairness, there is quite some overlap between LoungeBuddy’s lounges and those belonging to Priority Pass, so this may not be all that useful to everyone. However, LoungeBuddy does also have some unique partner lounges that don’t belong to Priority Pass.
Statement credits with this should post within two to four weeks.
Amex Offers
One of the great features of Amex cards is access to Amex Offers, which offers savings or bonus points on purchases with all kinds of retailers. There’s huge value to be had in getting as many Amex cards as possible, so that you can get access to the best offers.
Amex Offers could save you hundreds of dollars per year. You can access these offers by logging into your account and scrolling down to the bottom of your account summary page.
The information and associated card details on this page for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Is The Amex Green Card Worth It?
The Amex Green Card has a unique place in Amex’s card portfolio, thanks to the very broad bonus categories. The card offers 3x points on dining and travel, has a fairly reasonable $150 annual fee to begin with, and that gets even better when you consider the up to $289 in credits you can take advantage of annually.
If you’re someone who finds Amex points to be valuable and you spend a lot on dining and travel (which are major categories), then I think this card is a no brainer. Let’s just look at a few other things to consider when deciding if this card makes sense.
Quick Card Comparison: Amex Green Vs. Amex Gold
There’s also the American Express® Gold Card (review), so how do the two cards compare? The Amex Gold Card:
- Has a $325 annual fee (Rates & Fees)
- Earns 4x points at restaurants (on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, and then 1x), 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 of spending per calendar year and then 1x), and 3x points on airfare purchased directly with airlines or at AmexTravel.com
- The card offers significant dining-related credits, up to $424 in value.
Personally, I think the Amex Green Card is better for those who don’t shop a lot at supermarkets, while the Amex Gold Card is better for those who spend a lot at supermarkets.
See this post for a more in-depth comparison between the Amex Gold Card and Amex Green Card.
Quick Card Comparison: Amex Green Vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review) is another incredibly popular card that earns bonus points on dining and travel. How do the two cards compare? The Sapphire Preferred:
- Has a $95 annual fee
- Has a welcome bonus of 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 within three months.
- Earns 3x points on dining, online groceries, and streaming services, and 2x points on travel
- Offers super travel protection, including rental car coverage (which the Amex Green doesn’t)
- Offers a $50 annual hotel credit valid through Chase Travel, compared to the Amex Green’s up to $199 CLEAR credit and the up to $100 LoungeBuddy credit
Individually I think the Amex Green might be superior to the Chase Sapphire Preferred in terms of maximizing points. The catch is that I think the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a better “hub” card, given the value you can create by having Chase Ultimate Rewards cards.
Quick Card Comparison: Amex Green Vs. Citi Strata Premier
The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (review) is another comparable mid-range card that is a competitor to this card. How do the cards compare? The Citi Strata Premier:
- Has a $95 annual fee
- Has a limited-time welcome bonus of 75,000 Citi ThankYou points after spending $4,000 within three months
- Earns 3x points on dining, groceries, gas, EV charging, air travel, and hotels, making this the mid-range card with the best bonus categories
- Offers a $100 annual hotel credit valid through the Citi ThankYou portal
Personally, I think the Citi Strata Premier has the best bonus categories of any mid-range card, and the overall portfolio of Citi ThankYou cards has also been improving considerably.
Complement: Amex Blue Business Plus
If I were to get the Amex Green Card and complement it with one other Amex card, I’d recommend The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (review), which offers 2x points on the first $50,000 spent every calendar year (1x points after that). That makes this one of the best cards for everyday spending.
It’s a pretty unbeatable combination to earn 2x points on everyday business spending and 3x points on personal dining and travel spending.
The information and associated card details on this page for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Bottom Line
The Amex Green Card is one of my favorite mid-range American Express cards. The $150 annual fee card offers 3x points on dining and travel, and offers nearly $300 in annual credits ($199 with CLEAR and $100 with LoungeBuddy).
This is a solid card that’s often overlooked, and I’d say it’s Amex’s closest true competitor to the likes of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Citi Strata Premier℠ Card.
If you want to learn more about the Amex Green Card or apply, follow this link.
The information and associated card details on this page for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: American Express® Gold Card (Rates & Fees), and American Express® Green Card (Rates & Fees).
This card isn't worth it, for me at least. Clear wasn't useful for me ever, when I used the clear lane it was slower than PreCheck plus every time I was asked to show my id anyway. I cancelled this card a couple months ago and haven't regretted it at all
Problem is it has to much overlap with the WF autograph and that has no AF or FTF and is a Visa.
My use of non-airline lounges (including Priority Pass and Amex) is rare. And, being able to simply buy a day pass for that rare instance makes an actual Priority Pass membership of little value. This is where the Lounge Buddy benefit would fit.
Do you have any examples where I could buy lounge access through LoungeBuddy that is not part of Priority Pass? It seems like aadmirals club is not one. Thanks.
On the Lounge Buddy website, search for and select your target airport. Once you're on your target airport's page, IF there are any bookable lounges, at the top of the page, there will be a Quick Filter toggle switch to view only those lounges that are bookable via Lounge Buddy. Compare the list to Priority Pass. If the Quick Filter toggle switch does not appear, it means that particular airport does not have any bookable lounges.
"However, LoungeBuddy does also have some unique partner lounges that don’t belong to Priority Pass"
This would be an interesting & insightful post detailing the above statement.
One drawback of Amex's "restaurant" category is that it doesn't include bars/lounges. For instance, if you go to a gastropub, wine bar or sports bar, it's a toss up on whether it is coded as a restaurant or a bar, and if it's coded as a bar, you only get 1x instead of 3x or 4x.
The Chase Sapphire and Capital One Savor offer their bonus on "dining", which includes bars/lounges.