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You want the upgraded travel experience, the quiet airport lounges, the room upgrades, and the priority boarding, but the high cost of luxury travel usually makes it feel out of reach for your budget. You know credit card points are valuable, but you’re worried the cost of entry will outweigh the rewards you actually earn.
The right American Express card can be a solution. By choosing a card that pays for itself through credits you already spend, you unlock a premium travel lifestyle that actually costs you less. Here is your guide to the American Express.
Types of Cards
American Express cards fall into three clear buckets- Membership Rewards cards, Co-branded cards, and Cash-back cards. Each bucket serves a different purpose.
Charge or Credit Card
If you ever want to benefit from this hobby, never ever carry a balance. Treat your credit/charge cards as debit cards.
American Express offers both charge cards and credit cards. They are slightly different in theory. Charge cards must be paid in full every month. You cannot carry a balance. There is no traditional credit limit, but spending power is adjusted based on income, usage, and payment history. On the contrary, you can carry a balance on your credit card and pay it over time.
All MR cards are charge cards – they currently may allow you to carry a balance.
Charge card examples:
– American Express Platinum
– American Express Gold
Amex’s co-branded credit cards and cash back cards are credit cards. These cards work like normal credit cards. You have a fixed credit limit. You can carry a balance and pay interest. Minimum payments are allowed.
Credit Card Examples
– Blue Cash Everyday
– Blue Cash Preferred
– Delta SkyMiles credit cards
Membership Rewards Cards
Membership Rewards points are AMEX’s flexible currency. Here are some American Express cards that earn Membership Rewards (MR) points. You can read our reviews below.
• American Express Platinum Card – Premium travel rewards and credits.
• American Express Gold Card – Strong dining and grocery earning.
• American Express Green Card – Simple travel-focused earn.
• Amex EveryDay Credit Card – Everyday spend with bonus for frequent use.
As you spend on your card, you earn MR points. They sit in your account until you decide how to use them.
There are several ways you can spend your MR points.
Transfer to airlines: You can move MR points into frequent-flyer programs. Once transferred, points become that airline’s miles. This is how many people book long-haul flights and premium cabins at much lower cash cost than buying tickets with cash.
Transfer to hotels: Points can also go into hotel loyalty programs. This helps cover nights when cash prices are high or when you need just a few extra points for an award stay.
Book through American Express Travel: MR points can pay for flights and hotels directly through the Amex Travel portal. Prices are set by the booking system, not by transfer partners. It is straightforward but generally less value per point than transfers.
There are other ways you can use MR points but they almost always yield lower return. Some of these ways are redeeming points to offset charges, buying gift cards.
Co-Branded Cards
Co-branded cards are American Express cards tied to a single airline or hotel program. Instead of earning flexible points, spending earns miles or points directly in that brand’s loyalty account. These cards are built for people who already know which airline or hotel they use most. A great example of such a card is the Hilton Aspire Card, which pays for itself and then provides more value.
Common examples
– Delta SkyMiles American Express cards
– Hilton Honors American Express cards
– Marriott Bonvoy American Express cards
Spending earns miles or points in the partner program. Bonus categories usually align with the brand: flights on Delta, stays at Hilton or Marriott properties, and sometimes dining or everyday spend.
What you get beyond points
The real value is in the perks, though points can be valuable if you can find the right redemption. Free night certificates, checked bags, priority boarding, hotel elite status, late checkout, room upgrades, and annual free night certificates often justify keeping the card even if you barely use it for spending.
How redemptions work
Redemptions happen inside the airline or hotel program. You book award flights or hotel nights using that program’s rules, pricing, and availability.
Co-branded cards work best for loyalists. If you consistently fly one airline or stay with one hotel chain, these cards integrate cleanly into your routine and simplify benefits. If your travel habits change or you value flexibility, you might be better off looking at MR cards.
Cash Back Cards
Cash-back cards are the least complicated cards American Express offers. You spend money and get some of it back, usually 2-6%, but often capped to a limit and often offset by annual fees.
For example,
– Blue Cash Everyday: typically earns 3% back in select everyday categories, 1% elsewhere
– Blue Cash Preferred: earns up to 6% back on groceries up to $6000 annually, with a higher annual fee
You can redeem cash backs as statement credits or apply them to eligible purchases. $25 in rewards reduces your bill by $25.
Preapproved tools
Amex offers a pre-approval tool.
The steps are simple – you enter your information, Amex runs a soft pull. If you qualify, you see an offer and can choose to accept it. If you do, AmEx then runs a hard credit check, otherwise you can just walk away with no credit damage occurs.
It uses a soft credit check to show whether you are likely to be approved and what welcome offer you qualify for. In theory, it lets you check eligibility without risk. In practice, it comes with some quirks you need to understand.
When Amex shows you a preapproved offer, it often treats that offer as “pending” until it expires. During that window, you may be blocked from applying for other Amex cards. Even if you never clicked accept, the system may still see an open application.
If you check preapproval for Card A and later try to apply for Card B, Amex may deny the second application because Card A is still pending. Canceling or withdrawing the offer is not always possible. Sometimes you must wait for the offer to expire, which can take several days.
Only use the preapproval tool when you are ready to apply for that specific card. Do not browse offers “just to see.” If you are comparing cards or planning a sequence of applications, skip preapproval and apply directly when ready.
Annual Fees
American Express uses annual fees as a filter. You either get value from the card or you don’t.
Amex offers some no-annual fee cards. These are entry-level or everyday cards. They focus on simple rewards and broad use. Examples include Blue Cash Everyday and some co-branded cards at the lowest tier. If you want rewards with no pressure to “use benefits,” this is where you look.
Card Types
Then there are mid-tier cards with some benefits. These are co-branded credit cards with annual fees from $95-$250. You usually get higher earning rates, limited credits, or some travel perks such as lounge access. Examples include the some Delta Amex cards and other airline or hotel cards. Value of these depend on spending in bonus categories, and add-ons, and you might be able to break even.
Finally, you have Amex premium cards, which come with premium annual fees. These cards need engagement. Credits, lounge access, elite status, and perks are baked into the price. For example, the Amex Platinum card comes with a $895 annual fee. You do get $600 in Fine hotel stay, $200 in airline credits, and $400 in Resy dining. At the face value, you get more than the annual fee through hotel credits and other incidentals such as wireless credit. Keep it mind these are not straightforward though – Fine hotels often cost more that $300/night, which means you do get a $300 discount if you were already planning to stay or explore. They can be very nice properties and you almost always break even with the breakfast and other credits. See our review of Nobu Hotel that we booked using Amex Platinum Credit. But if you weren’t planning to stay, you spend even more money on top of the annual fee to get the benefits you didn’t need.
Some cards, like the Hilton Aspire Card, can pay back more than the annual fee.
Always do your cost analysis (can be pretty simple: money saved minus money spent) before you sign-up for these cards. People focus on the headline fee and ignore break-even math. A $695–$895 card can be cheaper than a $95 card if you naturally use the credits. On the other hand, if you do not actively use the credits, the fees are not worth it. These cards punish passive users.
Keeping Track
All these offers can be very difficult to keep track of. However, you should check our checklist on keeping track of Amex offers and credits. We keep it updated every month. You do need to stay on top of these credits if you want to come ahead in this hobby.
Signing-up and bonus
How many cards can you have?
You can typically have 5 personal and 10 charge cards. Some of the cards (such as the Platinum and Gold) falls in between and does not count towards your five cards.
Amex 2-in-90 days and 1-in-5 days rules
You can apply for 2 new cards every 90 days. You are also limited to 1 new card every 5 days. You might get automatically rejected if you don’t follow these rules.
Once-in-a-lifetime signup bonus
American Express generally limits welcome bonuses to one per lifetime per card product. That rule affects how and when you earn the bonus, and it’s stricter than most people expect.
When you apply look for a version of this in your terms (from the platinum card): “You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards.”
Examples
• If you earn the Platinum card’s welcome bonus once, you typically cannot earn it again even after closing the account.
• If you had the Gold card years ago, you likely cannot earn the new Gold welcome bonus now.
Strategy
Because welcome offers are usually limited to once per lifetime, you want to apply in a sequence that makes sense for you. Most people start with lower-tier cards and move up. Once you take a bonus, that door usually closes, so timing matters more than speed.
Card Family
Some cards belong to the same family and can affect other card’s sign-up bonus. For example, if you received the Morgan Stanley Platinum card, you may not receive the sign-up bonus for the normal platinum card.
Memory resets (the 7-year idea)
Amex says “lifetime,” but in practice their system does not remember forever. Many data points suggest eligibility can reset after about seven years from when you last held the card. This is not guaranteed and not documented, but it happens often enough to matter. Treat it as a possibility, not a rule.
Using the pre-approval tool
The pre-approval tool is the easiest way to check bonus eligibility. If you are eligible, the offer will usually show there. If you are not eligible, it often will not. This makes the tool useful for confirmation, but risky for browsing, since pending offers can temporarily block other applications.
Pop-up jail
Pop-up jail is AmEx’s way of stopping bonus abuse. During an application, a pop-up may warn that you are approved for the card but not eligible for the welcome offer. This usually happens due to recent cancellations, low spend, or too many bonuses in a short period. If you see the pop-up, stop. Accepting the card without the bonus almost never makes sense.
Amex Financial Review
A financial review is American Express checking whether your spending still matches your ability to pay. A financial review usually starts after your spending jumps faster than your reported income can support. This happens often with new American express credit cards charge cards, especially when someone pushes large purchases early to hit welcome bonuses. When the review starts, AmEx can freeze your cards immediately. You can still make payments, but new charges may be declined.
Amex then asks for proof they seem necessary. This can include pay stubs, W-2s, bank statements, or tax documents. They want to see whether your income and cash flow reasonably support your spending, even if you paid everything off quickly or were reimbursed. Amex looks at your ability to pay, not who ultimately covered the charge.
The review window is usually up to two weeks. If documents are submitted incorrectly, the clock can reset. Outcomes vary – some accounts are restored fully, some come back with lower limits, and some time all accounts are permanently closed. You want to avoid these – be conservative with your Amex applications and spending.
Which card should I apply for?
Think of your goals and then look at our page for best Amex sign-up Offers.
