topic Re: American Express Green Card in Credit Cards

American Express Green Card

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 22:34:00 GMT

The AMEX Green Card doesn't get talked about much on this forum. Surely there must be a reason it still exists. Why the lack of interest from the members here?

Re: American Express Green Card

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 22:36:32 GMT

Have you used the searched feature to do a search? Because alot of people on here have it and there has been much talk about it.

Re: American Express Green Card

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 22:42:58 GMT

Yes. Not much discussion lately from what I've seen..

Re: American Express Green Card

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 22:49:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The AMEX Green Card doesn't get talked about much on this forum. Surely there must be a reason it still exists. Why the lack of interest from the members here?

As Y-I-M says, there is a lot of discussion. It is mainly somewhat negative though. People get the Amex Green generally without doing a lot of research. Often they assume that the Green is going to be easier to get than the other charge cards.

It is around because people in general like it, for its "iconic" appearance, they remember parents having it, and I think a lot of people still assume it conveys prestige. The reason that many here are against is that for many people the Green makes little sense:

a) It has an AF but its earning rate is lower than the free Amex EveryDay

b) Something like the PRG gives a much bigger bonus, $100 airfatre rebate etc, and is generally a better card for people to try out for the free first year

c) To maximize MR rewards you need to understand how to transfer them "well", using them for gift cards at 1MR per cent exposes just how poorly the Green earns.

Re: American Express Green Card

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 23:16:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The AMEX Green Card doesn't get talked about much on this forum. Surely there must be a reason it still exists. Why the lack of interest from the members here?

Nostalgia.

Re: American Express Green Card

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 23:41:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The AMEX Green Card doesn't get talked about much on this forum. Surely there must be a reason it still exists. Why the lack of interest from the members here?

Because the AMEX Green card is a pointless card to have, and anyone who applies for one has an issue with understanding why they're better off getting a revolver or Gold PR card instead.

I'm not going to pay off my balance in full every month to get 1 point per dollar spent, and 2 points for the little money I would spend at amextravel.com to plan a tripe, and then pay a $95 annual fee to recieve baggage insurance.

$95 could get me 6% back on groceries, a $150 bonus, 3% back on gas and department stores, and 1% back on all other purchaes with the Blue Preferred card--- or 4.5 ppd at supermarkets, 3 ppd at gas stations, and 1.5 ppd spend on all other puchases with 15,000 bonus points with the Everyday Preferred card.

AMEX only keeps it around because ti's been around for years and it's "prestige" is a classic, even though the card is esentially worthless. Might as well pay the extra $100 a year and get 2x points at restaurants, supermarkets, and on gas, while getting 3x points on travel with the Gold PR charge card.

Re: American Express Green Card

UncleB — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 00:30:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The AMEX Green Card doesn't get talked about much on this forum. Surely there must be a reason it still exists. Why the lack of interest from the members here?

The other posts here have pretty much answered your question, but I'll just add that I was one of the under-informed people who got a Green card... once I realized what I had done I canceled it before the AF was due and opened a PRG.

With the PRG it's trivial to get back $100 of the AF almost immediately, leaving the 'effective' AF as $95, which is the same as the Green card. Once you figure in increased MR earning potential along with the new account sign-on bonus, it makes the PRG the clear choice if you're looking for a charge card. I'll also add that the Green card charges a fee for AU cards, while with the PRG there's no additional fee (at least for the first few).

Finally, some people use the roadside assistance perk of the PRG to replace their AAA membership, saving them even more money. Personally I really like my AAA membership so I'm not going that far, but I've read several threads on here where people had a very positive experience with the PRG roadside service benefit.

All this being said, for most people the Green card just doesn't make sense when compared to the PRG. Like others, I always assumed it was easier to get and I suspect that's the primary reason it remains popular out in the 'real world' (away from myFICO).

Re: American Express Green Card

PointLager — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 00:43:08 GMT

I converted my PRG to Amex and use it to park the CL.
Senior green. $35 AF. I only use it to milk Amex offers. Averaging $80-$100/yr

Under $1k spend last year but I got a $50 retention offer. For Amex spend I use EDP or Amex plat (for expensive purchases).

I view the senior green card as a NPSL card in case I ever close my plat card. It's even more valuable given that it's no longer offered.

Re: American Express Green Card

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 02:17:02 GMT

There's 25,000 sign up bonus that was not there before. if you already have a platinum and a prg recently, that's a way to score a one way ticket in mr points. The 2015 Amex offers were really kick butt and having another account was paying back a lot of change. 2016 weak.

Re: American Express Green Card

kdm31091 — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 02:21:16 GMT

It's pretty much a useless card that has been eclipsed by many newer options. The only positive thing is that you can get Amex Offers, but you get those on any Amex, and even then, it's not like they are guaranteed to be of use to you.

If you want an Amex charge card, PRG seems to be a good compromise between rewards and not outlandish AF for what you get.

The Green isn't talked about much here because it's a fairly weak offering, but in the real world people are generally pretty ignorant about CC rewards (or just don't really care). Most people who have a Green have had it for a long time, have no clue what other cards are out there, and/or just don't care. And that's fine. You could always do worse than the Green, such as by paying debit or cash for everything, but otherwise, it's not a card I would recommend.

Re: American Express Green Card

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 02:32:04 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

It is around because people in general like it, for its "iconic" appearance, they remember parents having it, and I think a lot of people still assume it conveys prestige.

And Warren Buffett still has it in his wallet! If you google 'Warren Buffett wallet' you'll eventually find a video (on CNN I think) in which he is asked what is in his wallet, and the one credit card that he takes out is an AMEX Green.

Re: American Express Green Card

Discover2016 — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 02:49:21 GMT

I have the green and I must say I really love the card. I know I would get more points with PRG etc but I am not really a point chaser so the green works well for me.

Re: American Express Green Card

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 03:56:54 GMT

@Discover2016 wrote:
I have the green and I must say I really love the card. I know I would get more points with PRG etc but I am not really a point chaser so the green works well for me.

Can you explain more what you love about it? In particular, what justifies the AF for you.

Re: American Express Green Card

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 05:33:07 GMT

Yeah I'd love to hear why you love it?

Re: American Express Green Card

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 05:54:21 GMT

I'd love to hear it too..

Re: American Express Green Card

ddemari — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 06:25:55 GMT

When I messed up my credit at 19, I did include Amex in my bk. I had a blue credit card, gold and platinum card. Amex let me back in 10 years later but wouldn't give me a gold card but approved the green card. So I took it and then upgraded to platinum and now I downgraded to prg which I like the most. Besides the the iconic look of the green card it doesn't hold
Much value from my experience.

Re: American Express Green Card

RonM21 — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 10:31:43 GMT

From reading the threads in prior months, I knew this was a card that didn't interest me. It comes up often on the prequel site for me, as well as the mailers I get.

Re: American Express Green Card

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 17:20:57 GMT

Interesting.. it's never come up to me both in the mail & online..

Re: American Express Green Card

asphaltcowboy — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 18:25:12 GMT

Back in the day it was all they offered, it was my first big boy card

next year it will be and still is my oldest account, 40 years

Re: American Express Green Card

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 20:22:07 GMT

As everyone else has commented, the Green card is a subpar card due to its lack of earning potential.

But if you dont care about MR pts, it's not a bad card to have at $95 AF, charge card (so dont have to worry about limit), and still a part of the MR pgm if you decide to use it after you have accumulated some pts. I think it's a nice classic looking card.