American Express Green card is the card most of us never considered applying for. I was one of them as well until I recently reviewed the card benefits added by American Express after they increased the annual membership fee from $95 to $150.
Paying $150 for a card clicks the very first question: “Is it worth it? “and if you go through the complete review you surely will agree to me that it is a worthy card with the new included benefits.
It is a mid-travel card that comes with many benefits like 3x reward points on Travel, transit, restaurant, the annual statement credit for Clear and Lounge Buddy using which you get more value in statement credit than the annual fee you pay on the card.
| Pro’s | Con’s |
|---|---|
| No Annual Membership Fee | Less option for reward redemption |
| Flexible Payment option | Less welcome Bonus points offer |
| High Rewards on Dining and Travel | No offer for Balance Transfer |
| Promotional APR offer |
American Express Green card Overview
In Mid-2019, American Express decides to bring a major reform into one of their least used card added so many travel benefits that it is currently one of the most benefited cards in the US market for travel with the least Annual membership fee.
Although benefits like Lounge access or Baggage check features are not available like the Platinum card its prime focus is providing features like Lounge Buddy and Clear credit.
The American Express Green Card’s prime benefit is to get 3x reward points on Travel charges. Be it a booking of a Flight, or any Air purchase with the Airline directly the reward multiplier is applicable on the charge.
The American Express Green Card’s major benefit is the reward earning on the card like 3x points on every eligible $1 spent on Airfare and Airline purchase during travel.
You also get 3x for the charges with restaurants on both dine-in and takeaway, with transit be it Ridesharing or Taxi like Uber, Lyft, and Grab, and with a wide variety of travel categories including car rentals and travel booked through travel agents.
Be it a charge for Parking, toll, Metro, or Subway this card covers all the aspects of Travel.
Apart from the major bonus points on travel charges, the American Express Green Card also offers additional benefits for members who prefer traveling a lot a $100 annual credit for CLEAR membership charges and a $100 credit for lounge access through Lounge Buddy.
Major Highlights
- 50,000 Reward Bonus Points as a welcome offer after spending $2000 in 6 Months.
- 0% APR for 12 Months
- 15.99% to 22.99% variable APR after the offer ends
- $150 Annual membership fee
- No Pre-set spending Limit
- Pay Over Time
- $100 Clear Credit
- $100 Lounge Buddy Credit
- Reclaimed Plastic
Welcome bonus
Planning to apply for a Travel Card, go with an American Express Green card. As an intro offer, you get the option to earn 50,000 bonus points when you make the spending of $2000 within 183 days of card approval.
What else we can ask for is when you can easily redeem the rewards for a travel charge and can get the cashback value of $500.
Along with that, you will not have to worry about paying the charges monthly, because for the first time American Express has made the 0% APR offer available on American Express Green card.
All you have to pay is the minimum due each month and you will not incur any interest charge for the first 12 months.
Once the existing offer ends, make sure you pay the balance by that time as the new APR may range between 15.99% to 22.99% depending on your Credit score.
Pay Over Time
The Pay Over time feature was recently added by American express on all the Major Charges cards. Using Pay Over time, you get the freedom to make charges above $100 without worrying about paying them on as you can select these charges.
You can log in to the American Express website and can submit a request stating you wish to pay the balance over time and not by this due date.
Pay Over Time gives you the wings to spend more and pay them partially, however with Pay Over time you also are charged with interest on the unpaid balance.
Enrolment is required, so please reach customer support on time to confirm that you are enrolled well before the payment due date on your account.
Pay Over Time by American Express on Green card is more of an extended payment plan option offered to cardmembers.
It gives you more flexibility on your bill due date by providing you the option to pay the minimum due balance.
$100 Clear Credit
American Express Clear benefit was a recent benefit added to the Card. Clear helps you to get through Security faster at Major US Airports, at prime venues like stadiums, and other venues within the US.
The clear feature helps you avoiding the hassles like all the paper documents to confirm your identity as this uses your Biometric to confirm your identity.
The annual fee is $179 for Clear, so the $100 credit will not be covering the charge in full but it’s always better to have something rather than nothing.
All you need is to pay the Fee using the Green card and you will be eligible for the $100 Clear credit within 2-4 weeks from charge post date (Like most credit benefits with American Express where they take 4 weeks to post any credit) making sure you are enrolled in this benefit.
You can go to Clearme.com for more details on the benefits you can get with them.
$100 Lounge Buddy Credit
Although, with Prime travel cards like Platinum and Aspire Card from Hilton where you get the Priority pass card which gives you unlimited lounge access, the American Express Green card takes a different route where you can buy the day passes via the Lounge Buddy website or from their app.
The starting fee or most of the Lounges starts from $25, so you can buy the day pass upto 4 times on Green to be reimbursed from American Express which makes it upto $100 credit.
You can go to Loungebuddy.com for more details on the benefits you can get with them.
Reclaimed Plastic
American Express has always considered taking care of the environment like providing the card members access to their digital statement or sending information related to any offers via email.
This time they also made the American Express card using 70% Reclaimed Plastic and it is helping protect the environment using sustainable material sources.
Membership reward Information
You get 3x Points on Travel.
- Flight Fare and all the purchase with Airline directly.
- At Hotels and Home shares like AirBnb.
- Online Travel Agencies like Expedia.
You get 3x points on Transit.
- Parking, Tolls
- Metro and Subway passes
- Sharing rides and Taxies
- Ferries and Train Tickets.
You get 3x Points on Restaurants dine-in and Take Out.
You get 1x on all other charges as per charge eligibility.
American Express Green card Additional benefits
- Baggage Insurance Plan
- Extended Warranty
- Global assistance hotline
- Purchase protection
- Car Rental Insurance
Support services
The American Express customer service is available 24/7 via Chat, Phone, and social media. So, you can reach customer service 24/7 by phone at 1-800-528-4800.
You can log in online via a website or app and can click on chat to reach them as well. You can also tweet them at @AskAmex.
Conclusion
The American Express Green Card is worth applying for being a travel card with such low annual membership and with such high rewards and additional benefits which is way more competitive with all other travel cards after new benefits. Getting $200 credit towards travel and 3x bonus points for dining and traveling makes it more appealing for frequent travelers with tight budgets.
The annual fee on the card can easily be offset for the first year with the welcome bonus points which the American Express card is offering and all the respectable rewards on everyday charges.
However, if you can afford a little more annual fee you can also opt-in for The American Express Gold card which has higher rewards and more cash backs.
