Opinion: Why I Canceled My AMEX Green Card

The American Express (AMEX) Green Card was revamped in late 2019, it was a promising product. The newly renovated Green Card targeted young professionals and millennials by focusing on travel and restaurant expenses. It deserved a spot in your wallet based on your spending patterns. However, 2020 threw a curveball at AMEX (and everyone), and I was no longer able to justify the $150 annual fee, regardless of AMEX’s attempts to alleviate the financial emcumbrance.

The AMEX Green Card could be a decent workhorse credit card, but I decided to cancel it. Photo credit: www.americanexpress.com

Current Bonus: Worth Up to $900

The AMEX Green Card has been traditionally offering a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Membership Rewards (MR) points after spending $2,000 in the first three months of account opening. I personally value MR points at 2 cents per point, valuing this “normal” sign-up bonus at $600. However, if you use a referral link or search for the offer using Google’s Incognito Mode, you may be able to find a bonus offer of 45,000 points within the same spending stipulations, elevating its value to $900. I used Safari at the time of writing this article and was able to pull the 45,000 MR point offer.

The 45,000 MR point offer is the historic high offer for the Green Card. Get it before it disappears! Photo credit: www.americanexpress.com

The Green Card earns 3X MR points per dollar at restaurants worldwide and on travel including flights, hotels, transit, taxis, tours, and ride-sharing services. 3X MR points translate to a 6% return on your dollar. I appreciate how extensive the transit and travel categories are, similar to the Citi Premier and Chase Sapphire Preferred. The transit category covers tolls and public transportation passes, while the travel category includes expenses related to travel agencies and campsites. All other purchases earn 1X MR points. With the vast array of dining and travel spend that fall under its multipliers, the Green Card can cover a lot of ground in racking up MR points for a relatively low annual fee.

If you’d like to apply for the American Express Green Card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! Click HERE to access my referral link!

Annual Fee and Benefits

The Green Card is the cheapest charge card in AMEX’s lineup, but still has an annual price tag of $150. This fee isn’t waived during the first year but does come with some benefits to offset the expense. The two main perks are annual statement credits toward CLEAR membership and LoungeBuddy passes.

$100 Annual Statement Credit Towards CLEAR Membership

CLEAR is a biometric screening membership that scans and stores your irises and fingerprints to dramatically reduce the time you spend waiting in airports, sports stadiums, and event venues. The enrollment process only takes about 10 minutes to save your biometric data, which is securely encrypted. CLEAR can even be a useful perk for those who are enrolled in TSA PreCheck or Global Entry. As more premium travel cardholders receive a statement credit for these travel benefits, TSA Pre lines grow longer and more inconvenient at crowded airports like SFO and ATL. With CLEAR membership, travelers can bypass all TSA Pre passengers and CLEAR personnel will escort you straight to a TSA agent. Today, CLEAR is available in 34 airports and 31 stadiums across 21 states, as well as Washington D.C.

CLEAR can save you a significant amount of time when traveling, but it is only available at major airports.

The convenience of skipping almost everyone in line comes with a price tag. CLEAR’s default annual rate is $179, but with frequent promotions, this can be lowered to $149. Additionally, Delta and United members receive substantial discounts: Delta Diamond Medallion members receive complimentary membership, while Platinum, Gold, and Silver Medallion members, as well as cardholders of AMEX Delta co-branded cards, pay $109 a year. General SkyMiles members pay $119. The same rules generally apply to United members: United 1k members receive complimentary membership, while Platinum, Gold, and Silver members and cardholders of Chase United co-branded cards pay $109. General United MileagePlus members pay $119 annually. Given that Delta SkyMiles and United MileagePlus memberships are free, AMEX Green cardholders can easily reduce their out-of-pocket costs to at most $20 a year.

As a Delta Gold Medallion member and an AMEX Green Card user, I only paid $9 for my CLEAR membership.

Another caveat is that, as a relatively newer program, CLEAR is not available at all airports. Potential cardmembers should see if CLEAR is available at their home airports by visiting CLEAR’s website. I still think it makes sense for most people due to its growing presence, current availability in most major airport hubs, and immense value in saving time through security screening.

$100 Annual Statement Credit Towards LoungeBuddy

Unlike premium travel cards with higher annual fees, the Green Card doesn’t come with Priority Pass Select lounge membership; instead, it offers up to $100 in statement credits towards LoungeBuddy every calendar year. Cardmembers need to directly purchase lounge passes in advance using LoungeBuddy’s app or website. LoungeBuddy offers single-use passes starting at $25, but some travelers, myself included, may prefer to access premium lounges such as those offered by Luftansa, which may cost up to $50 per visit. With the Green Card’s $100 credit, you can squeeze anywhere from 2 to 4 lounges per year based on your comfort preferences.

Don’t be this guy and use the LoungeBuddy credit!

Although LoungeBuddy is owned by American Express and this perk is a bit of self-promotion, I do like how they’re adding an original benefit. Priority Pass has lost its former luster as it quickly grew into a must-have perk for almost all premium travel credit cards. Their lounges have become very crowded, and the quality of service compromised with the influx of users during peak hours at busier airports. There certainly are limitations to how far the LoungeBuddy statement credit can take more frequent travelers.

Aside from those two primary benefits, the Green Card is also equipped with baggage insurance, purchase protection, extended warranty, car rental loss, damage insurance, and trip delay insurance.

Temporary Relief Measures

For a limited time, AMEX Green cardmembers can receive up to $80 in statement credits when they use their card for select wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers. The statement credit earnings are maxed at $10 per month and valid from May through December 2020. Though the Green Card’s relief measures aren’t as lucrative as those of other AMEX offerings, including the Platinum and co-branded airline and hotel cards, it scales accordingly with its comparatively lower annual fee. I appreciate AMEX stepping up to expand different bonus categories and statement credits to a wide variety of cards and accommodate members in need. If you’d like to learn more about temporary relief measures for other AMEX credit cards, check out our detailed article here.

The relief package of $80 came in handy and went towards my monthly cell phone bill.

Retention Offer & The Decision to Cancel

When my annual fee came due in October, I called AMEX to see if they could give me a retention offer, so I could keep my Green Card for another year. I explained that I didn’t really get to fly much since March and could not use the $100 LoungeBuddy credit at all since almost all lounges have been closed due to COVID. The representative kindly explicated that AMEX offered the $80 COVID-relief measure and offered me 7,500 MR points as a retention offer. Because I value the $100 CLEAR membership credit at 100%, I almost took the offer.

I re-evaluated the Green Card’s benefits and decided to forgo its spot in my wallet.

However, because of COVID, I value the LoungeBuddy credit at 0% and the CLEAR credit at maybe 50%, the Green Card’s value proposition is not as strong as before. Furthermore, I already have strong MR earning cards like the AMEX Gold Card and the Amex Platinum Card as they will cover my dining and airfare spending. The rest of my other travel expenses can be put towards my Citi Premier Card which earns 3X ThankYou points at gas stations and towards my Wells Fargo Propel Card which earns 3X Go Far Rewards points on ride services, car rentals, and hotels. Since the Green Card is the cheapest option you can have among AMEX’s charge card lineup, I, unfortunately, had to close the account. Because it does “not” have a credit limit, it only lowered my FICO score by two points.

Summary

The Green Card was the first charge card offered by American Express, and since its much-needed revamp in late 2019, it has become more attractive for young professionals and beginner travelers. The card offers a sign-up bonus worth up to $900 and earns 3X MR points on broad dining and travel categories. It comes with a relatively low $150 annual fee, which can be effectively lowered if cardholders fully utilize the statement credits toward CLEAR and LoungeBuddy. However, with the year 2020, the Green Card failed to accommodate my needs, and it was difficult for me to justify the annual fee when I could hardly utilize the primary benefits of the card. I hope AMEX introduces more permanent, useful benefits to the card, and perhaps the card will earn its spot back in my wallet.

If you’d like to apply for the American Express Green Card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! Click HERE to access my referral link!