Amex Green vs. Gold

[myjourney]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

Dont think most people here suggest the Regular Gold card at all, it's the PRG that is liked.   This however has a high annual fee ($175) waived for the first year.   At that level of spending, the AF wouldn't be justified, so you may want to get it for just the first year, if you can spend enough to get the sign up bonus.

This card has another bonus if you spend more than $30K in a year, which is above your stated spending.

As for other cards, all depends on:

1) What rewards you want, e.g. cash back, travel rewards (and what airlines/hotels)

2) What you spend on (groceries/gas/green and black hamsters etc)

and then once we have some candidate cards, people will want more credit history to evaluate liklihood of getting that card.  I don't play in that space (as banks keep failing to employ me as an underwriter) but many people here do

ETA: e.g. myjourney!

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LMAO nice Lol

[asulaw]

Honestly, if you are getting to the point where you are ready to pull the trigger you can go for whatever works best for your spending. But, I see a lot of people being much happier with a bonus offer on a PRG. In my opinion, the PRG is worth the $175 even if you can't hit the $30k spending. It's a reliable card, and as your spending changes you have the card ready to go. A 50k bonus and first year waived fee will easily pay for a couple of years of AF on it's own. I've never really found a reason to justify a Green or Gold for that matter, especially since the PRG can give you nice travel bonus points. It really all dependong on what you really want from your points.

As for the score, my girlfriend got accepted after only having 1 credit card with a low limit and her scores were in the low 700's at the time. She got a PRG and waited until they sent her a 50k bonus letter.

[Lin55]

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@Stralem wrote:

I got my PRG with a 652.

Yeah.

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Got instantly approved for the Amex Plat in the 650s (2 years ago). Charge cards are super (relatively) easy to get.

[jmcmillan]

How do you get the 50k bonus??

[longtimelurker]

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@asulaw wrote:

Honestly, if you are getting to the point where you are ready to pull the trigger you can go for whatever works best for your spending. But, I see a lot of people being much happier with a bonus offer on a PRG. In my opinion, the PRG is worth the $175 even if you can't hit the $30k spending. It's a reliable card, and as your spending changes you have the card ready to go. A 50k bonus and first year waived fee will easily pay for a couple of years of AF on it's own. I've never really found a reason to justify a Green or Gold for that matter, especially since the PRG can give you nice travel bonus points. It really all dependong on what you really want from your points.

As for the score, my girlfriend got accepted after only having 1 credit card with a low limit and her scores were in the low 700's at the time. She got a PRG and waited until they sent her a 50k bonus letter.

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Yes, providing you don't need to watch INQs, there is no problem with getting the PRG for a year.  I sort of disagree that it is worth keeping if you can't meet the spend threshold.  It partly depends on how you value MRs I guess, but with low spend you are not getting all that many, and you have to compare it to other possible cards, now including the Everyday Preferred, and cards from other issuers, such as the UR series and even pseudo-cash-back like Barclays Arrival.

Many cards, with a big bonus and AF waived are attractive the first year, but many of them are not keepers if your spend is low or not in the right categories.

[asulaw]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@asulaw wrote:

Honestly, if you are getting to the point where you are ready to pull the trigger you can go for whatever works best for your spending. But, I see a lot of people being much happier with a bonus offer on a PRG. In my opinion, the PRG is worth the $175 even if you can't hit the $30k spending. It's a reliable card, and as your spending changes you have the card ready to go. A 50k bonus and first year waived fee will easily pay for a couple of years of AF on it's own. I've never really found a reason to justify a Green or Gold for that matter, especially since the PRG can give you nice travel bonus points. It really all dependong on what you really want from your points.

As for the score, my girlfriend got accepted after only having 1 credit card with a low limit and her scores were in the low 700's at the time. She got a PRG and waited until they sent her a 50k bonus letter.

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Yes, providing you don't need to watch INQs, there is no problem with getting the PRG for a year.  I sort of disagree that it is worth keeping if you can't meet the spend threshold.  It partly depends on how you value MRs I guess, but with low spend you are not getting all that many, and you have to compare it to other possible cards, now including the Everyday Preferred, and cards from other issuers, such as the UR series and even pseudo-cash-back like Barclays Arrival.

Many cards, with a big bonus and AF waived are attractive the first year, but many of them are not keepers if your spend is low or not in the right categories.

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To be honest, the EveryDay Preferred is actually way better for low spenders, you're absolutely right. New strategy for a MR bonus boost would be to get a 50k PRG and the EveryDay Preferred Bonus, then get rid of the PRG after a year  

[saving_grace16]

I currently have the PRG and love it.  I originally opened it for the 50k MR points I was targeted for - but after having it for a month, I basically put all of my everyday spend on it.  I know that others might disagree - but I don't think that you need to spend the $30k a year in order to make this card worth it.  With AmEx offers (credits for certain purchases) you can earn back that AFeasily within the year (although the AF is waived the first year).

If you want to earn MR points and pay a lower AF, the AmEx everyday preferred might be a good option for you as well.

Good luck! 

[Josh2942]

I think they are both sub par because I have them both and will close them after a year. It's basically a 1x cash back and 2x for travel booked thru American Express. Worst reward cards in my opinion. It's all about the Chase Triple threat. Chase Checking/Freedom/CSP! You will maximize your rewards with that. So far I just have the Chase checking and freedom but I'm working on that CSP!