Earn 40K Points on the American Express® Green Card

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The American Express® Green Card has long sat in the shadow of more popular cards like *Amex Platinum Card* and the *Amex Gold Card*. But thanks to its lower annual fee and solid welcome offer bonus, it is worth your attention.

You can currently earn 40,000 Membership Rewards Points after you spend just $3,000 in the first six months of card membership.

Add in the ability to earn 3x points per dollar spent on all travel and dining expenses, up to a $189 annual credit to cover the cost of a CLEAR® Plus membership, and up to a $100 credit to use on airport lounge access purchased through Lounge Buddy each year, it's an incredibly well-rounded travel card with a reasonable annual fee.

Even if you already have the Amex Platinum or Gold cards, you are still eligible to apply for the American Express® Green Card, thanks to Amex's welcome offer eligibility rules. Better yet, thanks to Amex's new Apply with Confidence tool, you can see if you'll be approved for the card before you actually submit your application and take a hard credit pull.

But remember: Credit cards are serious business. If you're unable to pay your statement balance in full each month, no perks or points are worth the burden of credit card debt.

Keep reading for our breakdown of the Amex Green Card and this great new welcome offer bonus.

Learn more about the American Express® Green Card.

All information about the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler.

Full Benefits of the American Express® Green Card

Welcome Offer Bonus

You can now earn 40,000 Membership Rewards Points after you spend just $3,000 in the first six months of card membership.

$189 Credit Towards a CLEAR Plus Membership

The Amex Green Card also provides card members with an annual $189 credit for a CLEAR® Plus membership to help you speed through airport security faster.

Aside from *Amex Platinum Card* – which has a much larger annual fee of $695 (see rates & fees) – it's the only card that will completely reimburse the cost of CLEAR® Plus program.

If you are already paying for a CLEAR® Plus membership, this benefit alone can easily justify the Green card's $150 annual fee.

CLEAR airport locations — *Image courtesy of CLEAR*

See our guide on which airports currently offer CLEAR service.

$100 Credit on Lounge Buddy (Airport Lounge Access)

The *Amex Green Card* also offerings an annual $100 credit to use on Lounge Buddy, a Priority Pass competitor.

Lounge Buddy offers single-use airport lounge access passes starting at just $25 each. That means, the credit can get you into lounges up to four times each year at no additional cost. That makes it a decent option if you don't have any airport lounge access from another credit card.

American Express acquired Lounge Buddy back in 2019, but to date, the Green Card is the only American Express card with Lounge Buddy benefits.

Earn 3x Points on Travel and Dining

The Amex Green Card earns 3x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on all travel and dining purchases.

Consider this: the Amex Platinum Card earns 5x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline on up to $500,000 spent each calendar year while the Amex Gold Card earns 3x Membership Rewards points on the same categories. But neither card offers bonus points on other travel spending like hotels or rental cars. The Green Card fills that gap.

And while you would be better off using the *Amex Gold Card* for dining purchases as it earns 4x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent, earning 3x per dollar spent on dining on the Green Card is solid. It's on par with cards like the *chase sapphire preferred* and the *chase sapphire reserve*.

You'll earn 3x points per dollar in both categories both in the U.S. and abroad.

Annual Fee of $150

The Annual Fee on the Green Card is $150 per year. This puts it well below both the Platinum ‘s $695 annual fee (see rates & fees) and the Gold's $250 annual fee (see rates & fees) in terms of out-of-pocket costs each year.

But if you can take advantage of the statement credits for travel and transit in your first year, you'll more than take care of that fee. Plus, if you are already paying for CLEAR® Plus this card will pay for itself quickly.

Amex Green Card Application Restrictions: Who Can Apply?

American Express allows you to earn a welcome bonus on each of their cards once per lifetime.

So as long as you haven't had the Amex Green Card in the past, you should be eligible to apply. That said, Amex has been making it harder and harder for travelers who have opened multiple cards (and earned several bonuses) to get approved again.

Luckily, Amex has made it easier than any other bank to know if you'll be approved for a card. They call it their Apply with Confidence tool, which allows you to see if you'll be approved before you actually submit your application for an Amex card.

American Express simply performs a soft pull on your credit through this tool to determine whether or not you will be approved for the card. This won't have any impact on your credit score. You have nothing to lose by seeing if you're eligible.

Bottom Line

You can currently earn 40,000 Membership Rewards Points after you spend just $3,000 in the first six months of card membership on the American Express Green Card.