Link: Apply now for the American Express® Green Card with a huge welcome offer
We’ve just seen a huge new welcome offer rolled out on the American Express® Green Card, which I’d consider to be one of the most underrated credit cards out there. If you don’t yet have this card and are eligible, this is a fantastic time to apply, given that this is the best bonus we’ve ever seen on the card.
In this post:
Amex Green Card offering 60K points & up to $200 in statement credits
The Amex Green Card has a new two-part welcome offer:
- Earn 60,000 bonus Membership Rewards points after spending $3,000 within the first six months
- Earn 20% back on eligible travel and transit purchases made during your first six months, up to $200 back in the form of a statement credit
This bonus is huge. It’s worth noting that unlike some of Amex’s other premium cards, this card doesn’t regularly see bonuses this big, and the previous offer was for up to 45,000 Membership Rewards points, without the statement credits. I don’t ever recall seeing an offer this good on the card.
Personally I value Amex Membership Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, meaning the 60,000 points are worth $1,020, and that doesn’t account for up to $200 in additional credits. There are lots of great uses of Amex points, as they can be transfered to all kinds of useful airline and hotel partners.
Who is eligible for the Amex Green Card bonus?
In line with Amex’s “once in a lifetime” rule, the welcome offer on the Amex Green Card isn’t available to those who currently have the card, or those who have had the card (or previous versions of the card) in the past. On top of that, Amex’s general card restrictions apply.
A couple of further things to note:
- You are eligible for the bonus on this card if you’ve had any other Amex card, so you can apply for this card even if you have cards like The Platinum Card® from American Express (review) or American Express® Gold Card (review)
- Amex typically has a limit of letting someone have at most five Amex credit cards (including personal and business cards); anecdotally this card is considered a hybrid card for these purposes, and doesn’t count toward that limit, which should make a lot more people eligible
Why the Amex Green Card is worth it
The Amex Green Card has a $150 annual fee, and is underrated (Rates & Fees). The card has the following perks, among other things:
- The Amex Green Card has a lucrative rewards structure, and offers 3x points on dining, travel, and transit; this is one of the most rewarding Amex cards out there if you’re looking to earn points as quickly as possible
- The Amex Green Card offers a $189 CLEAR credit annually, whereby you can receive up to $189 per calendar year in statement credits when you pay for your CLEAR Plus membership (subject to auto-renewal) with the card
- The Amex Green Card offers a $100 LoungeBuddy credit annually, whereby you can use the LoungeBuddy app to purchase access to lounges, and receive up to $100 in statement credits per calendar year
The rewards structure makes this card worth getting, and then the credits will for many make it easy to justify the annual fee on the card, in my opinion.
Read a full review of the Amex Green Card here.
Bottom line
The Amex Green Card has a big new welcome offer of 60,000 Membership Rewards points upon completing minimum spending, plus up to $200 in statement credits. This is the best bonus we’ve seen this card, and on top of that, this is a generally valuable card that many people overlook.
In the long run this card can be worth keeping for the 3x points on dining, travel, and transit, as well as the credits with CLEAR and LoungeBuddy, which potentially more than justify the annual fee.
Do you plan on picking up the Amex Green Card with the current welcome offer?
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: American Express® Green Card (Rates & Fees).
it said i wasn’t eligible for the bonus even though i’ve never had it.
Those terms aren't concrete they do what they want with who they decide to restrict and who they'll give them to. I've receive multiple bonuses this year on Business Gold and Platinum and they keep offering me more if I apply for more business cards.
My latest pop up offer was close to 200k for a Business Platinum and Business Checking. I don't have a need for anymore business cards though.
I'm pretty sure it...
Those terms aren't concrete they do what they want with who they decide to restrict and who they'll give them to. I've receive multiple bonuses this year on Business Gold and Platinum and they keep offering me more if I apply for more business cards.
My latest pop up offer was close to 200k for a Business Platinum and Business Checking. I don't have a need for anymore business cards though.
I'm pretty sure it comes down to customer value score or something. If your someone that gets a bonus on every product and Amex isn't recouping that customer acquisition cost- don't expect to get any more.
Does the Green Card also have access to AMEX Offers, or is it purely points and incentive-based?
@ destruya -- Yep, it absolutely offers access to Amex Offers!
Sometimes better offers. Example, just completed payment on a cruise. From booking to final payment a span of two years, I had four offers applied to fare. Three were on my Green card. Two pay $1,000 get back $300. The last one just before final payment, pay $1,000 and get 25,000 points + another almost 25K points for the 3x payment. That offer posted the next day after payment. I'd say pretty good from IMO...
Sometimes better offers. Example, just completed payment on a cruise. From booking to final payment a span of two years, I had four offers applied to fare. Three were on my Green card. Two pay $1,000 get back $300. The last one just before final payment, pay $1,000 and get 25,000 points + another almost 25K points for the 3x payment. That offer posted the next day after payment. I'd say pretty good from IMO the best all around travel card out there including its two big brothers - Platinum & Gold. I know as I have all three.
Thanks for the timing of this "heads-up." Just today got notice that Wells Fargo is cancelling all their joint AMEX cards! So, I will give this yearly-fee AMEX card a chance through the next 12 months to see if it is worth it. Never paid for a charge/credit card before this.
Happy that I applied through Ben's link and was approved.
@ Dr. Stan -- Thanks for the support, and congrats on the approval!
Had PRG gold $95 in 2017 and closed after 2 years, then applied the new version of gold card $250 in 2022 and got the SUB again.
Also got old version green card $95 in 2019 and closed it in mid 2020. Wondering if I could still apply this new version of green card $150 and get this new SUB again?
@ EL -- The terms say that you're not eligible for this card if you've had this card in the past, or a previous version of the card. So I suspect you may not be eligible for the bonus. However, keep in mind that Amex has a warning pop-up that typically appears if you're not eligible, so you could always give it a shot, if you wanted.
Used your link , and approved - great offer - especially with the 20% ($200) back on transit! About to by the JR pass for 14 days so that like free money, Thanks Ben!
@ Andy -- Thanks for the support, and congrats!
This statement:
"You are eligible for the bonus on this card if you’ve had any other Amex card, so you can apply for this card even if you have cards like.."
is not the same as saying:
"You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card or previous versions of this Card."
If I previously held the Amex Green card, I'm not eligible for the bonus regardless of whether I had any other Amex card.
@ Nate nate -- Sorry for any confusion. I think I covered that a couple of sentences ahead of what you quote, when I talk about the once in a lifetime rule, no?
So glad I got the card 4 months ago, 40k seemed a decent bonus for it
@ Matt -- Hah, I also picked up this card with "only" a 40K bonus, quite some time ago.
I applied for the Green Card last night and was approved. This will a) give me the Amex Charge/Hybrid card “trifecta”, and b) keep me in Chase Jail until December. The 60K welcome bonus was compelling. I’ll bounce in between this and the Gold Card for MR points on dining, which will garner points, albeit at 3x. I’m looking forward to receiving my card!
The Green card is travel - anything that's anything to do with travel. From taxis to cruises. Of course better cards for air.
Ben,
While it is good to point out the good bonus categories for spend, i think it is also important to clearly qualify that the Clear and loungebuddy credits are not for everyone and may only provide incremental value. The Clear credit is only valuable to someone who does not have a Platinum card and the loungebuddy credit is for the most part useless (some people may be able to use it but its...
Ben,
While it is good to point out the good bonus categories for spend, i think it is also important to clearly qualify that the Clear and loungebuddy credits are not for everyone and may only provide incremental value. The Clear credit is only valuable to someone who does not have a Platinum card and the loungebuddy credit is for the most part useless (some people may be able to use it but its good to provide those details).
Without that, it just seems more like an advertisement for the card instead of an informed article
"Without that, it just seems more like an advertisement for the card instead of an informed article"
You must be new here! Welcome!
It doesn’t seem like you are eligible for the welcome bonus if you have had an Amex MR earning card within 24 months. Don’t know when that rule change happened.
@ M a -- I might be missing something, but where are you seeing this?
My apologies. I went searching for eligibility criteria after getting the dreaded pop up telling me I am ineligible (and reading on several sites that other people are having the same experience). I came across the state on the Amex website. But I realized later that it was the UK website. It doesn’t apply to US cards. I called Amex to confirm. Maybe Amex is just getting more stringent with bonuses. I guess I just need to work my way out of ‘Amex jail’ now.
What?! Yeah you can't just say this without providing any proof as this changes the decision to get the card.
There might be some truth to this. I've received MR sign up bonus on both Business Platinum card and Business Gold card in the past 4 months. And when I applied for this card, I got a message saying I am not eligible for the welcome bonus. And I get that message no matter which Amex card I do a pre-approval for. I get the same "Not Eligible for Welcome Bonus" message on all.
Comments on DOC and other sites also indicate that many are getting the "not eligible" pop-up for the first time in their Amex history of applications. These are people who have never had the Green card previously.