Greetings! Today is part two of my previous post related to understanding and applying for American Express credit cards to earn large amounts of points and miles. The last post discussed how to locate and earn a higher sign-up bonus when you are in the market for a new credit card. This post is going to add a new wrinkle into the process by reviewing American Express card families and why this is critical to know when applying for a new American Express credit card.
First, let’s go over the concept of a “card family.” A card family is a group of credit cards that have similar marketing or branding, but may vary in their benefits, rewards structure, and annual fees. One of the purposes of creating a card family is to target different market segments. Big spenders may be more comfortable with an annual fee credit card while smaller spenders may not. Banks can capture and appeal to customers at all levels by offering similar versions of a product while maintaining a consistent brand.
Why You Should Care
Why do American Express credit card families matter when considering your next credit card choice? American Express has now added language in their terms and conditions that would exempt you from future sign-up bonuses if you have already earned a bonus within that card family.
This makes the order in which you apply for cards critical if you are looking to earn as many sign-up bonuses as possible over several years.
An easy rule of thumb to remember: apply for the lower tier, no-annual fee cards first and work your way up the ladder within a card family over an extended period of time.
Credit Card Family Example: American Express Charge Cards
The best way to flesh out this topic is to walk through an example. Let’s take a look at the card family that American Express is most famous for – their charge cards with the most famous being the Platinum Card.
For those that don’t know, charge cards are similar to credit cards with the main difference being you are required to pay your bill in full each month. There are some exceptions to this rule, but for this is the easiest way to distinguish between the two. Below is an overview of the three personal charge cards that belong to the same card family.
American Express Platinum Card
$695 Annual Membership Fee
5x Membership Rewards Points on flights booked directly with airlines
5x on travel booked through the American Express travel portal
$240 digital entertainment credit per year
$200 hotel credit at Fine Hotels & Resorts and The Hotel Collection per year
$200 Uber cash per year
$200 airline credit per year
$100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit per year
$199 Clear Plus credit
Walmart+ Membership
The Global Lounge Collection
Hilton Honors Gold Status
Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status
American Express Gold Card
$325 Annual Membership Fee
4x Membership Rewards Points on restaurants worldwide up to $50,000
4x Membership Rewards Points at U.S. supermarkets up to $25,000
3x Membership Rewards Points on flights booked directly with airlines
3x on flights booked through the American Express travel portal
$120 Uber cash per year
$120 Dining credit per year
$100 Resy credit per year
$84 Dunkin credit per year
American Express Green Card
$150 Annual Membership Fee
3x Membership Rewards Points on travel and transit
3x Membership Rewards Points on restaurants worldwide
$199 Clear Plus credit
As you read through all three cards, notice how the annual fee gets lower as you go down the list along with the list of major card benefits. This is what I refer to as a credit card ladder. The cards are within the same American Express card family however they have different benefits depending on how high of an annual fee you want to pay.
If you want to earn a sign-up bonus on all three you need to start at the bottom of the ladder and work your way up over a period of time. You do not have to do this, however if you apply for the Platinum card first you will not be able to earn a sign-up bonus on the Gold or Green card. You would still be welcome to apply and use both of those cards; you would just be leaving sign-up bonuses on the table.
I applied for the Gold card in 2018 and the Platinum card in 2021 before American Express implemented this rule. Since this has now been established within the terms and conditions recently I would not earn a sign-up bonus on the Green card if I decide to apply for it someday.
If I were to start today I would start at the bottom of the ladder and work my way up over a number of years to earn more American Express sign-up bonuses. I would start with the Green card and try to find the highest sign-up bonus available for it. Then after earning the sign-up bonus I would use and keep the card for at least one year before moving to the Gold card.
It’s important to keep your new card for at least one full year before canceling. Canceling before the full year will result in American Express taking back the sign-up bonus points earned on the card, and will risk your ability to get approved for cards in the future.
This is another critical step in the process. American Express, along with all banks, do not want you to churn the card by spending on it for the sign-up bonus and then getting rid of the card right away. Do not close your card until you have had it for at least one year! At that time you can decide if you want to cancel, request a product change, or ask American Express for a retention offer to offset the annual membership fee in year two.
If the Green card was my first and only American Express card I would need to keep the account open at least until I decide to apply for the next card on the ladder. This is because all of the Membership Rewards points I have earned and not used yet would be gone if I closed the account.
You need to keep at least one Membership Rewards earning American Express card open at all times to keep all of your hard earned points.
In this scenario what I would do after one year of having the Green card is ask American Express for a retention offer to help offset the $150 annual membership fee in the second year. This will require additional spending on my Green card, but will result in a boost of Membership Rewards points. I have written a separate post on asking for retention offers and have included a sample script.
After earning the retention offer at the beginning of year, which could take up to three months, I would then keep my eye out for elevated sign-up bonuses on the Gold card. Once I find an appealing sign-up bonus on the Gold card I would apply for it and meet the minimum spend requirement to earn the bonus.
I would not close my Green card until after the end of year two if I have earned a retention offer. A retention offer is treated similar to a sign-up bonus in terms of keeping the earned Membership Rewards from the offer. American Express will not want to see you churn the retention offer so it needs to remain open for at least another year. After earning the retention offer it is okay to quit spending on it, but be sure to not cancel the card until a year after the retention offer is earned.
After earning the sign-up bonus on the Gold card I would repeat the same process as I did with the Green card while continuing to move to the top of the ladder for the Platinum card. The Gold card is one of my personal favorites because of the various credits that more than offset the annual membership fee. In this scenario I would still ask for a retention offer, however I would be okay keeping the card regardless of the offer due to all of the benefits I use. If you currently have the Gold card here are some tips on how to naturally use some of the benefits.
Putting It All Together
Since this is part two of the series I want to do a quick recap of part one. In part one I discussed methods of how to get a higher American Express sign-up bonus when you are in the market for a new card. This involves looking at the American Express website in private mode, trying multiple browsers in private mode, or using a VPN. Other methods are using a referral link and checking your mail for elevated offers.
The methods I mentioned in part one apply to any American Express card whether it is a Membership Rewards earning card, cash back card, or co-branded card. It works for cards in various market segments from no-annual fee cards to cards with high annual fees.
Part two of this article discusses the order in which you should apply for American Express credit cards if you want to earn a sign-up bonus on as many cards as possible. When you are starting at the bottom of a credit card ladder within a card family you can use the methods in part one to find the highest possible offer at the bottom of the ladder, and then repeat these steps as you move up each rung to the top!
List of American Express Credit Cards By Card Family
Here is the full list of American Express cards by card family in ladder form. I have included the annual fee for each.
American Express Platinum Card $695
American Express Gold Card $325
American Express Green Card $150
Blue Cash Everyday Preferred $95
Blue Cash Everyday $0
Delta Skymiles Reserve $650 (all Delta cards earn Delta Skymiles)
Delta Skymiles Platinum $350
Delta Skymiles Gold $150
Delta Skymiles Blue $0
Amex Everyday Preferred $95
Amex Everyday $0
Hilton Honors Aspire $550 (all Hilton cards earn Hilton Honors Points)
Hilton Honors Surpass $150
Hilton Honors $0
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant $650 (all Marriott cards earn Marriott Bonvoy Points)
Marriott Bonvoy Bevy $250
Final Thoughts
I know this is a lot of information to take in, but hopefully you have a better understanding of HOW to find a good sign-up bonus on American Express cards, and which ORDER you should apply. It can seem overwhelming if you are a newbie, but please do reach out if you have any questions. The more questions you pose the more I know on what to focus on going forward!