Why I love the American Express Green Card
Key takeaways
- The American Express Green Card is a mid-tier rewards card that’s great for everyday purchases.
- Much of the card’s features focus on rewards for dining and flexible travel purchases, including earning rewards on restaurants and deliveries as well as the Clear Plus statement credit.
- Due to it earning American Express Membership Rewards, it can be smart to pair this card with another Amex card.
- The card’s $150 annual fee may be difficult to offset if you don’t often travel or dine out.
This page was originally published in early 2022 and reflects the interviewee’s views at the time. The rest of the article has since been updated.
American Express Membership Rewards points can offer excellent rewards redemption value — but oftentimes with a hefty annual fee. High annual fees of up to $695 grant access to numerous perks and benefits, but their best rewards-earning categories typically reward travel purchased through the Membership Rewards portal. So you won’t enjoy much flexibility or lucrative rewards for either everyday purchases or general travel purchases.
The American Express® Green Card*, though, comes in as a mid-tier card with a reasonable annual fee ($150), flexible spending options and ample opportunities to earn top rewards in several common everyday spending categories.
If you’re on the hunt for a card that earns American Express Membership Rewards points, the American Express Green Card should be on your list. Here’s why one business owner fell in love with this card — and how he uses it to maximize his rewards.
American Express Green Card highlights
Before we dive into the reasons to love the American Express Green Card, here’s a look at the current welcome offer, earning rate and annual fee as of February 2025:
- Welcome offer: 40,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend $3,000 on purchases within six months of account opening
- Annual fee: $150
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Rewards:
- 3X points at restaurants worldwide (including takeout and delivery in the U.S.)
- 3X points on transit (includes trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses and subways)
- 3X points on travel (including airfare, hotels, cruises, tours, car rentals, campgrounds, vacation rentals, travel purchases on third-party travel websites and travel purchases on amextravel.com)
- 1X points on all other purchases
5 reasons to love the Amex Green Card
James Pollard, marketing expert and founder of The Advisor Coach, uses the American Express Green Card as his main card for everyday purchases. We asked Pollard why he chose the Amex Green Card over other American Express credit cards, as well as how he uses it to improve his everyday life. Here’s what he had to say.
Everyday rewards potential
Pollard says he uses the Amex Green Card for some of his regular spending as well as restaurant purchases and travel. This makes sense, considering he earns 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide and on travel purchases like airfare, hotels and cruises. Also, unlike other Amex cards, the American Express Green Card offers 3X points on travel wherever you book it — not just on travel booked through the Amex travel portal.
On the dining out front, Pollard said he eats at restaurants three or four times per week, so his rewards add up.
And since there’s no spending caps on rewards, Pollard can make the purchases he needs without worrying about reaching a limit in the bonus categories.
Flexible payment options
The Amex Green Card offers a few ways for cardholders to manage paying for their purchases. Ideally, you pay off your balance in full every month and treat the card as a charge card rather than a credit card. But if that isn’t possible every once in a while, it’s helpful to have the option to carry a balance.
The Pay Over Time feature allows cardholders to carry a balance, with interest charges, from one month to the next. Amex will limit the amount you can carry as a revolving balance. Still, Pay Over Time provides the flexibility for cardholders to pay less than their full balance in billing periods when cash flow is tight (or they want more wiggle room in their monthly budget).
Another payment flexibility feature Amex offers is Pay It Plan It. Cardholders use Pay It to make unlimited payments under $100 throughout the month to reduce their balance and chip away at the minimum payment due in a billing cycle.
With Plan It®, cardholders can combine up to 10 purchases of $100 or more into a single plan and select a period of time over which to pay off that plan with fixed payments. You don’t pay interest on your plan, but instead pay a monthly fee. Cardholders can see the fixed monthly plan fee upfront so they can make an informed decision. You can also use the Plan It Calculator for more information.
Generous cardholder perks
The American Express Green Card’s main travel perk is the $199 Clear Plus statement credit that Pollard likes to use, even though he mainly flies out of Philadelphia International Airport (PHL).
“[Baltimore/Washington International Airport] has Clear, and I use it when I’m there,” he says.
Other notable Amex Green Card benefits include trip delay insurance, a baggage insurance plan, secondary auto rental coverage, purchase protection against damage or theft and extended warranties.
Remember, however, that simply taking advantage of the Clear Plus credit each year will more than offset the card’s annual fee.
Flexible redemption options
The American Express Membership Rewards program is among the most flexible and valuable on the market. Pollard says he booked a trip to Las Vegas and used Amex points to cover 100 percent of his hotel and airfare costs. This was possible because Amex lets you use Membership Rewards points for airfare, hotels and more through AmexTravel.com, yet you can also transfer points to American Express airline and hotel partners.
Pollard says he doesn’t always redeem his rewards for travel, though, and likes having multiple options.
“In the past, I’ve redeemed them for Home Depot gift cards to purchase patio furniture,” he says. “I’ve also used them to purchase gift cards for people as holiday gifts.”
Bankrate insight
Pairs well with other Amex cards
A final selling point of American Express cards is that you can pool all your Membership Rewards points into one account. This makes sense if you want to juggle multiple Amex cards for your personal spending, or if you want to pick up a business credit card from the issuer.
Pollard says he spends a lot of money on ads for his business, so he pairs the American Express Green Card with the American Express® Business Gold Card. He does this to keep business spending separate from personal purchases. His ad spending is routinely among his top two spending categories in a billing cycle so he earns 4X Membership Rewards points on those purchases (on up to $150,000 per calendar year in your top two eligible categories, then 1X points; only the top two categories each billing cycle will count toward the $150,000 cap).
The bottom line
The American Express Green Card may not be as popular as some other American Express credit cards, but it offers a ton of value thanks to its welcome offer and ongoing rewards. With 3X points in several popular categories, helpful benefits for travel and the ability to pair with other cards, what’s not to love?
That said, the Amex Green Card may be exactly what you need, but it never hurts to compare other travel credit cards or rewards credit cards to find the best option for you.
*All information about the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com and has not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.
