American Express® Green Card Review
A great option for people that dine at restaurants, travel, and make use of transit.
By Sebastian F.|Updated on 7/26/2024
BackThe American Express® Green Card is one of the best all-around earners within the American Express ecosystem. It also features a host of benefits to help offset the annual fee but is targeted toward people who travel at least once per year.
Terms apply to Amex offers and benefits. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
All information about the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by Cardonomics.com.
Point Multipliers
The American Express® Green Card earns Membership Rewards points and has competitive multipliers:
- 3X on travel (including hotels, flights, and more)
- 3X on transit (including trains, subways, and more)
- 3X on dining (including takeout and delivery)
- 1X on everything else
If you prefer buying groceries instead of eating out, then it makes sense to add a secondary card to help with that category.
Membership Rewards Points
With the American Express® Green Card, you are earning American Express Membership Reward points (”MR points”) which may have more value for travel.
The base value (redeeming as a statement credit against charges) is only 0.6 CPP (”cents per point”), meaning that 3X is only 1.8% cash back.
The main draw of MR points is their ability to transfer to airline and hotel partners like ANA, Singapore, and Hilton for aspirational travel. For many people, this is one of the few ways to unlock these experiences.
Annual Fee and Credits
The Amex Green has a $150 annual fee and is the cheapest within the core Amex Green/American Express® Gold Card/The Platinum Card® from American Express ecosystem.
To help offset this fee, the Green provides two credits.
Up to $189 CLEAR Plus Credit
CLEAR allows you to digitally verify your identity to move faster through security at select airports and sporting/music venues nationwide. The $189 credit covers the general CLEAR membership and can offset the Green card by itself if you value the perk.
A key consideration is that you can buy CLEAR at a discounted price if you have airline status.
United and other airlines have similar discounts for their elite members. For example, Delta offers discounts for CLEAR:
- General member (no status) = $10 off ($179 total price)
- Silver/Gold/Platinum status = $40 off ($149 total price)
- Diamond status = $189 off (free)
United and other airlines have similar discounts for their elite members.
This discount — in addition to how you value this perk — impacts the value of the credit.
A good question to ask yourself is: “How much would I be willing to pay for this perk if I didn’t have a credit?”
Up to $100 LoungeBuddy Credit
This credit allows you to purchase lounge access through the LoungeBuddy app, and you receive up to $100 in statement credits.
How valuable this is depends on the following:
- Whether you would use the perk/credits (i.e., whether you like lounges at all)
- How you value the lounge experience (i.e., it’s $40, but you would otherwise only pay $20 to get in)
For some people, this credit may be worth up to the full $100. For others, it’ll be worth $0, and for most, probably something in the middle.
Effective Annual Fee
Given the $150 annual fee and the $289 in total credits, you may have a lower “effective” annual fee.
Put another way, if you value the credits at ~50% of their value, then the effective fee may be $0, and you break even.
If you value the credits at ~25%, then the effective annual fee is about $78.
Downgrade Paths
The Amex Green is part of the core Amex family of:
- American Express® Green Card
- American Express® Gold Card
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
Given this, no downgrade path from the Green to a no-annual fee card exists. This is a “cancel, keep, or upgrade” card.
Not bad necessarily bad, but a factor, especially if you are building out your credit card foundation.
Alternatives
If you are in the earlier stages of your credit career, consider a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, which focuses on travel and dining as well, but has more optionality with downgrade paths.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Get up to $1,050 in Chase Travel℠ value. Earn 60,000 bonus points after $4,000 in purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel purchases within your first year.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is ideal for those optimizing for cash back or travel. Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards for cash back at 1.25x on select categories through Pay Yourself Back or travel via Chase Travel℠. The card is also a basic travel card with good spend multipliers and benefits like no foreign transaction fees and primary collision damage waiver (terms apply).
Even within American Express, there might be a better option. The Amex Gold offers some overlapping multipliers but at a higher rate (4X instead of 3X). Note that the Gold doesn’t cover travel benefits as broadly as the Green. For example, transit does not qualify. Given this, some strong arguments exist for the Green and the Gold together as a setup.
American Express® Gold Card
Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
The American Express® Gold Card offers competitive point multipliers when it comes to purchases at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, and it also has a handful of other benefits offered by Amex that make it stand out compared to other premium cards.
Main Takeaway
The Amex Green is a strong workhorse card within American Express, covering key categories like dining, but also including categories that are generally weak within Amex cards, such as transit and travel as a broad category (many other cards specify only hotels or airlines).