American Express Green Card Review: Underrated 3x Points Card

The Green Card's $150 annual fee puts it at a disadvantage relative to the Citi Strata Premier and the Wells Fargo Autograph (regular and Journey). But, as it's been four to five years, the Green Card is due for a refresh. The annual fee will go to $195 and credits will be added. I figure $100 on Resy and another $100 credit of some sort.

I think I generally agree with this. Maybe $50 or $100 Resy and then they'll keep the Clear credit and call it a day. Still think other travel cards will be better for most people unless you book a lot of non-chain hotels and/or cruises and of course lots of cards now have 3X dining.

I got the Green AMEX, paid the annual fee, charged lots of travel to it, WITHOUT REALIZING that "points" are in no direct way related to "cents." So, 3500 points were were approximately $150 as a credit. Not cool, though it was my own fault for not clarifying this problem before getting the card.

The proportion of redemption is not 1:1, so 1 cent is not worth 1 cent. On Wells Fargo Autograph card, it does equal 1 cent. So, since I have that card, I've switched to it. AND, it has no annual fee!

Hopefully, I have not misunderstood or misinterpreted any of this....please correct me if I have. I used the "calculator" on my Green Card account to tell me how much the 3500 "points" were "worth."

Got this when the bonus was 60K with a special short term spend bonus. Have the Morgan Stanley Platinum so glad I got it before the rules were changed. Got it in anticipation of the day I get rid of Platinum. Meanwhile I have a free AU (and free AU on Platinuml. We are a mid-70s couple and take 1 or 2 cruises a year. We have both had awesome AMEX offers on the card for our cruise line of choice, amounting to the amount of a good SUB per person for the past 2 years.

@Dr. Stan, did you even read the post? The best way to use your Amex MR points is to transfer them to partners. Transfer them to AC, AF/KL, SQ, etc., and you can use them for premium cabin awards. Combine this card with Rakuten, and you'll accumulate MR points a lot quicker.

As for your valuation, I don't know how you got those figures, but $150 for 3500 MR points is actually pretty decent and well beyond 1 cent per point.

Valid points you make...IF you have accounts to transfer them to. I do not (UA and AA are it!). And (my mistake) it was something like 35000 points, not 3500. Which would have been worth $350 on WF.

You clarified for me the purpose of the card and it is more for you "pros" than for me. But thanks! And, safe travels.

I have a lot of my miles with Chase (for UA) and with AA.
I do like the fact that if I cancel an award with UA or AA the miles return to accounts I use most. But AMEX has some valuable transfer partners and they are really worth looking into, as Ben points out. I recently used a transfer bonus to Emirates for 2 business class tix JFK-MXP at 87K each. And I know I will use MR points in the future.

@Dr. Stan, I just checked my account, and you can get 6 cents/point value out of Amex MR points if you use them for statement credits (not sure if all purchases qualify, but dining/travel should be fine). 35,000 is worth $2,100. Even if you don't transfer to a partner, that's a very solid value.

But, your original statement got it right - you definitely need to understand the programs, values, redemption options, etc., to maximize your points. If you decide to cancel your Green card, try to use your points up or they'll all go to waste.

6/10 cent is less than 6 cents. Now if you could get 6 cents I'd be cashing out ASAP.

35k points is $210 cash to Amex.

Happy to sell you all of mine for 4c a pop. Quite a bargain!

@Abe, OMG, I feel so stupid. I calculated the statement credit, missed the decimal point, and calculated the 35k based on that mistake. 😮 :-p

*sigh* I was wondering why it looked so good. Everyone would just redeem for the statement credit! XD

Bottom line: Best value is still transfer partners!

@Ben, would you kindly consider writting an article about REVOLUT card which is European based. It has a point program which transfers to AVIOS & Flying Blue for now. Worth investigating.

I think I generally agree with this. Maybe $50 or $100 Resy and then they'll keep the Clear credit and call it a day. Still think other travel cards will be better for most people unless you book a lot of non-chain hotels and/or cruises and of course lots of cards now have 3X dining.

@Dr. Stan, did you even read the post? The best way to use your Amex MR points is to transfer them to partners. Transfer them to AC, AF/KL, SQ, etc., and you can use them for premium cabin awards. Combine this card with Rakuten, and you'll accumulate MR points a lot quicker.

As for your valuation, I don't know how you got those figures, but $150 for 3500 MR points is actually pretty decent and well beyond 1 cent per point.