American Express Green Card benefits guide

Earning points with a travel credit card is a great way to save money on airfare and hotels, and American Express Membership Rewards are more valuable and flexible than most credit card points. Such versatile points, along with solid rewards rates and perks, make Amex one of the most popular rewards card issuers.

But Amex travel cards are notoriously pricey, which can make them a poor fit for some occasional travelers.

The American Express® Green Card* is one exception. Striking a balance between practicality and luxury, the Amex Green boasts everyday bonus categories, a solid welcome offer and a few useful travel perks, all at a relatively low cost.

Whether it’s the best fit for you will depend on which perks you’re hoping to unlock and how comfortable you’d be with paying a higher annual fee (even if that came with high-value perks and rewards).

Here’s a deeper look at the Amex Green card’s benefits and value potential and how they stack up against those of other American Express credit cards.

Amex Green Card highlights

The Amex Green is a solid entry point if you’re new to travel rewards or aren’t sure you’re ready to commit to a card with a huge annual fee and premium perks.

Like the American Express® Gold Card, the Amex Green earns rewards in a few popular spending categories beyond just travel (including restaurants), making it a decent option if you’re looking for a standalone rewards card. But unlike the Amex Gold, which boasts perks geared mostly toward foodies, the Amex Green also carries a couple of useful travel perks like a credit for CLEAR Plus.

While the Amex Green card’s perks fall far, far short of the benefits you’d get with The Platinum Card® from American Express, they’re practical and easy to maximize. This could make the Amex Green worth it even if you don’t spend a ton of time or money on travel.

• Welcome offer: 40,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend $3,000 on purchases within six months of card membership
• Rewards: 3X points in an expanded travel category that includes flights, hotels, transit, taxis, rideshare services and tours; 3X points at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery; and 1X points on everything else
• Annual fee: $150

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Earning rewards

The American Express Green Card stands out for its category variety, earning rewards on a broad mix of travel and everyday purchases.

You’ll earn 3X points not only on all travel purchases, but also at restaurants and on transit purchases including trains, taxis, rideshare services, parking, subways and more.

The travel category itself is also broad, including airfare, hotels, cruises, tours, car rentals, campgrounds, travel purchases on third-party travel websites and travel purchases on amextravel.com. That sort of flexibility can be hard to find on a rewards card.

Redeeming rewards

American Express Membership Rewards points can be redeemed in all kinds of ways, including for nearly any type of travel through amextravel.com. You can also redeem your rewards for merchandise or shopping options that let you “pay with points” directly.

The Amex Membership Rewards program also has an excellent selection of airline and hotel partners, including Delta SkyMiles, Air France and Hilton Honors. Read about the current transfer partners in Bankrate’s American Express transfer partners guide.

Travel benefits

Its list of travel perks is far from exhaustive, but the American Express Green Card comes with a handful of benefits that can help you get your money’s worth.

And while a pricey luxury card like The Platinum Card® from American Express could offer even more value overall thanks to its extensive perk roster, you still may not want to commit to such a high annual fee ($695 in the case of the Amex Platinum).

$199 CLEAR Plus credit

This card gives you up to $199 in credits toward an annual CLEAR Plus membership, which allows for expedited airport security in participating airports. Note that this credit is good every calendar year.

Trip delay insurance

Customers also get trip delay insurance worth up to $300 per trip when a covered trip is delayed by more than 12 hours. A maximum of two claims is allowed every 12 consecutive months.

Secondary auto rental coverage

Your card qualifies you for car rental loss and damage insurance, which is good for damage or theft of a rental vehicle on eligible bookings. Coverage is secondary to other auto rental coverage you have.

Baggage insurance plan

The American Express Green Card baggage insurance plan is good for up to $1,250 for carry-on luggage and up to $500 for checked baggage when your luggage is lost, stolen or damaged while in the care of a common carrier.

Global Assist Hotline

Cardholders also get access to Amex’s Global Assist Hotline, which can help with medical and legal referrals and other emergencies when traveling more than 100 miles from home.

Security and protection benefits

In addition to all the travel perks cardholders receive, there are a few security and protection benefits. These perks apply when you use your Amex Green Card to make a purchase.

Purchase protection

Qualify for up to $1,000 in purchase protection per occurrence and up to $50,000 per calendar year. This coverage is good for damage or theft that occurs within 90 days of the purchase date.

Extended warranties

Items purchased with the Amex Green Card are also eligible for an extra year of warranty protection. This additional coverage applies to eligible purchases that come with a manufacturer’s warranty of five years or less.

Dispute resolution

Finally, American Express will help resolve disputes on your behalf. If there is a fraudulent or incorrect charge on your credit card statement, the issuer says it will “work with you to help resolve the issue.”

Other benefits

You’ll also enjoy a few miscellaneous perks that could help you save money when shopping online, find concert tickets and more.

ShopRunner membership

You can enroll in ShopRunner at no added cost with the Amex Green by visiting shoprunner.com/americanexpress. A ShopRunner membership gets you free two-day shipping on eligible items at hundreds of online stores, allowing you to take advantage of more sales and find more items in stock without worrying about shipping costs (terms apply, of course).

Participating retailers range from skincare companies to clothing stores and beyond, including the likes of Ulta, Macy’s, Gap, Under Armor and more.

Events with Amex™

With to this perk, you can use your Amex Gold to pay for sports, music shows, theater performances and other events and get special ticket access. This can include presale tickets available to cardholders before the general public and ticket reservations that give you access to dedicated ticket allotments for some events.

How to maximize the benefits offered by the Amex Green Card

To maximize the benefits offered by the Amex Green Card, you need to use it to pay for as many purchases as you can. After all, American Express Green Card benefits — like travel insurance, purchase protection and extended warranty — only apply when you use your Amex credit card to pay in the first place.

Fortunately, the Amex Green Card can easily be used for all your regular spending and bills. You earn rewards on everything you buy with your card, and the Amex Green Card doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees when you use it for purchases abroad.

That said, Amex offers other cards with more robust benefits, so it’s worth considering whether the Amex Green is the best value given your needs.

“I’d recommend the Amex Green if you have significant transit expenses,” says Bankrate writer Ryan Flanigan, who holds almost every Amex rewards card. “Beyond that, I don’t find it very useful compared to the rest of the Amex portfolio, especially since LoungeBuddy’s demise.”

Flanigan notes that even if you’re new to travel rewards, you may squeeze more value out of a higher-tier card like the Amex Platinum.

“If you’re considering the Amex Green for the CLEAR Plus credit, you might as well just get the Amex Platinum. It offers the same value credit, plus lounge access and a ton of other credits,” says Flanigan. “Crazy to think a card with a $695 fee can offer more value than a card with a $150 fee.”

If you’re considering the Amex Green for the CLEAR Plus credit, you might as well just get the Amex Platinum…Crazy to think a card with a $695 fee can offer more value than a card with a $150 fee.”

— Ryan Flanigan Writer, Bankrate

The bottom line

The Amex Green card’s benefits are not the most impressive, especially compared to the perks you’ll find on other Amex travel cards. However, they can certainly make the card worth it given its solid rewards rate and relatively low annual fee.

Still, make sure to compare other Amex cards to see where they fall. You can pay a higher annual fee for another card offering more Amex perks, but you can also earn Membership Rewards points on cards with no annual fee, if you prefer.

Our take? The Amex Green card’s limited perks mean it probably isn’t the best value for frequent travelers, despite its low fee. But if you have high transit expenses and are wary of paying over $200 or even $500 in annual fees, the American Express Green Card offers enough benefits to make it worth a look.

* Information about the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by Bankrate and has not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.