American Express cards are some of the most valuable travel cards out there … but they also come with more convoluted rules and hoops to jump through to get approved than virtually any other bank.
And if you don't understand those rules before you apply, it could be too late: Make the wrong move at the wrong time, and you could miss out on a welcome bonus altogether.
In this video, we break down the American Express travel card rules you actually need to know, including the confusing “family rules,” once-per-lifetime bonus language, and why applying for Amex cards today is much lower risk than it used to be.
- 0:00 – Why Most People Apply for Amex Cards the Wrong Way
- 1:29 – Apply With Confidence Explained
- 3:45 – Amex Family Card Rules
- 4:57 – Delta SkyMiles Card Rules
- 5:38 – Hilton Card Exception
- 6:16 – Once-Per-Lifetime Rule
- 7:58 – Why Applying Is Now Low Risk
Applying for Amex Cards Is Safer Than You Think
For years, applying for an Amex card felt like a gamble. You never knew whether you’d be approved – or worse, whether you’d actually qualify for the welcome bonus after your credit was already pulled.
That’s no longer the case.
Thanks to Amex’s Apply With Confidence feature and its welcome bonus eligibility pop-up, American Express now tells you whether you’re approved and whether you’re eligible for the bonus before your credit is pulled. If you’re not eligible, you can simply back out of the application with no harm done.
That one change alone has completely reshaped how smart travelers should approach Amex applications.
The Amex “Family Rules” Explained
The most confusing – and most important – Amex rules are its so-called family card rules. These determine whether you can earn a welcome bonus based on which other cards you’ve already had.
For Membership Rewards® cards, you must work your way up the ladder:
- Amex Green® Card
- American Express® Gold Card
- American Express Platinum Card®
If you start at the top with the Platinum Card, you may lose the ability to earn welcome bonuses on the Gold or Green cards later.
The same concept now applies to Delta SkyMiles® cards, where you can only move up. Once you earn a bonus on a higher-tier Delta card, lower-tier bonuses may become unavailable.
Hilton Cards Are the Big Exception
Not all Amex cards follow the same rules. As of publication, Hilton Honors® credit cards are not impacted by family rules, meaning you can earn welcome bonuses in any order. That makes Hilton cards one of the most flexible Amex card families … at least for the time being.
What About the “Once Per Lifetime” Rule?
On paper, Amex only allows you to earn a welcome bonus once per lifetime. While that rule technically still exists, it’s far less ironclad than it used to be.
Amex has softened its language from “you are not eligible” to “you may not be eligible,” and we’re increasingly seeing approvals that wouldn’t have been possible in the past. Combined with Apply With Confidence, there’s no longer any need to guess – Amex will tell you upfront whether you qualify.
