American Express Membership Rewards is the rewards currency for American Express. Points are worth $0.01 or less for non-travel redemptions but are most valuable when redeemed for travel. Like with Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express has a number of hotel and airline partners to which you can transfer points. The flexibility of these points is what makes them so revered. Here’s a list of credit cards that earn American Express Membership Rewards points.
American Express Membership Rewards Card Overview
There are 6 personal and 4 business cards that earn American Express Membership Rewards. Regardless of the number of cards you have, all of your points are saved under a shared Membership Rewards account. In order to keep your points active, you must always have at least one Membership Rewards-earning card open.
Unlike Chase Ultimate Rewards, all cards have the ability to transfer points to travel partners. If you do not want to pay an annual fee but want to maintain your points balance, you should open the Amex EveryDay credit card.
Since you can only get the bonus on American Express cards once per lifetime, I recommend getting all of the cards that offer a decent sign-up bonus at some point. You can prioritize what card to get based on the spending requirement, annual fee, and most importantly, the sign-up bonus. If you haven’t had an American Express card yet, you may receive a targeted offer in the mail. These are generally the best possible offers. American Express is also known for their “incognito offers” so try clearing your cookies and opening an incognito browser window to see if you can pull up a better offer. Here are some past incognito offers to give you a sense of how much better the offer can be than what Amex publicly advertises.
Personal Cards
Platinum Card
The Platinum Card is American Express’s luxury travel card. For a $550 annual fee, you’ll receive the following benefits:
- $15 Uber credit per month plus a bonus $20 in December
- $100 annual credit to Saks
- $200 annual airline fee credit
- $100 fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
- Access to airport lounges including Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Clubs, and Priority Pass
- Hilton and Marriott Gold status
You can also add up to three authorized users for $175. These authorized users get access to Centurion Lounges, Delta SkyClubs, Priority Pass lounges, a TSA Precheck or Global Entry fee credit, and Hilton and Marriott Gold status. You can also add Gold Card authorized users for free though these cardholders are not entitled to the same benefits.
The Platinum card earns 5x Membership Rewards points on flights purchased directly from the airline and hotels booked on amextravel.com. All other purchases earn 1 point per dollar spent.
Gold Card
The Gold Card has a $250 annual fee which gets you two main benefits:
- $120 annual dining credit to Grubhub, Seamless, the Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Boxed, and Shake Shack
- $100 annual airline fee credit
You can earn 4x Membership Rewards points at supermarkets (on up to $25,000 in purchases per year), 4x points at restaurants, 3x points on for airfare purchased directly from the airline or from amextravel.com, and 1x points on all other purchases.
Green Card
The Green Card has a $150 annual fee and offers a few benefits:
- $100 annual credit for CLEAR membership
- $100 annual credit for lounge access through Lounge Buddy
You can earn 3x points at restaurants, on transit, and travel and 1x points on all other purchases.
Blue Card
The Amex Blue Card is one of two no annual fee cards that earn Membership Rewards points. All purchases earn 1x points with the exception of purchases through amextravel.com which earn 2x points. This card doesn’t have any benefits so I don’t really recommend it. It also doesn’t have a sign-up bonus so there’s really no benefit in opening this card.
Amex EveryDay Credit Card
With the Amex Blue Card, the Amex EveryDay Card is the only other no annual fee card that earns Membership Rewards points. This is the best one to hold onto to keep your Membership Rewards points active. You’ll earn 2x points at supermarkets, 1x points on all other purchases, and 20% more points if you use your card 20 or more times in a billing period.
Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card
The Amex EveryDay Preferred is a beefed up version of the EveryDay credit card. For an annual fee of $95, you’ll get 3x points at supermarkets, 2x points at gas stations, 1x points on all other purchases, and 50% more points if you use your card 30 or more times in a billing period.
Business Cards
Business Platinum Card
For a $595 annual fee, the Business Platinum card offers the following:
- $200 annual airline fee credit
- $100 fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
- Access to airport lounges including Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Clubs, and Priority Pass
- Hilton and Marriott Gold status
- 35% points rebate when you use points to pay for first or business class airfare or any fare class on your selected airline
The Platinum card earns 5x Membership Rewards points on flights purchased directly from the airline and hotels booked on amextravel.com, 1.5x points on purchases of $5,000 or more, and 1x points on all other purchases.
Business Gold Rewards Card
The Business Gold Rewards card has a $295 annual fee. With this card, you’ll earn 4x points on two of the following categories of your choice:
- Airfare purchased directly from the airline
- Advertising in select media
- Gas stations
- Restaurants
- Shipping
- Computer hardware, software, and cloud computing purchases
You’ll earn 1x points on all other purchases.
This card also offers a 25% points rebate when you use points to pay for first or business class airfare or any fare class on your selected airline
Business Green Rewards Card
The Business Green card has a $95 annual fee that’s waived the first year. The only main benefit is 2x points on travel booked through amextravel.com. This card kind of sucks, but it’s still worth opening it for the sign-up bonus. The sign-up bonus is usually small, but it’s better than nothing!
Blue Business Plus Card
The Blue Business Plus card is one of my favorites. This card offers 2x Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 spent each year and 1x points after that. This is officially the highest Membership Rewards-earning card for everyday spending.
American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card Summary
| Card | Type | Annual Fee | Bonus Categories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platinum Card | Personal | $550 | 5x points on airline tickets and hotels booked on amextravel.com; 1x points on other purchases |
| Gold Card | Personal | $250 | 4x points on restaurant and supermarket purchases; 3x on airline tickets; 1x points on other purchases |
| Green Card | Personal | $150 | 3x points on travel and restaurants; 1x points on other purchases |
| Blue Card | Personal | No annual fee | 1x points on all purchases |
| Amex EveryDay Card | Personal | No annual fee | 2x points at grocery stores (up to $6,000 per year); 1x points on other purchases |
| Amex EveryDay Preferred Card | Personal | $95 | 3x points at grocery stores (up to $6,000 per year); 2x points at gas stations; 1x points on other purchases |
| Business Platinum Card | Business | $595 | 5x points on flights and hotels book on amextravel.com; 1.5x points on purchases of $5,000 or more; 1x points on other purchases |
| Business Gold Card | Business | $295 | 4x points on the two categories from the following list (up to $150,000 in combined purchases each calendar year): Airfare purchased directly from airlines, U.S. purchases for advertising in select media, U.S. purchases at gas stations, U.S. purchases for shipping, U.S. computer hardware, software, and cloud computing purchases made directly from select providers; 1x points on other purchases. |
| Business Green Card | Business | $95, waived first year | 2x points on travel booked through amextravel.com; 1x on all other purchases |
| Blue Business Plus Card | Business | No annual fee | 2x points on the first $50,000 in purchases each year; 1x points for all other purchases |
See here for the latest sign-up bonuses.
