topic Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold in Credit Cards

AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

QuakerOatmeal — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 20:51:31 GMT

My AMEX Portfolio is as follows:
Platinum
Gold
Everyday Preferred 15K CL
HHonors Aspire 6k CL
Marriot Bonvoy 1k CL (small because I've moved around the CL to reflect usage, this one is rarely used, if ever)

I'm considering getting the Green card, with it's revamped point structure.

I RARELY use the Gold card, and usually use the everyday preferred for daily spend, and platinum for travel purchases.

Could I get the Green card to replace the Gold card?

I really don't make much use of the Grubhub benefit, or the 4x points at Restaurants.

Both cards seem to cannibalize into eachother, unless I'm missing something.

Also, yes I am leary about how much I am paying in AF, so that is something to consider...

Does AMEX have a trifecta like chase?

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

MrDisco99 — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 21:27:32 GMT

I think the Green + EDP + BBP would make a pretty impressive combo for $245 combined AF.

3x travel/transit

3x restaurants

3x gas

4.5x groceries

2x everything else

Would work well for anyone who has a decent amount of travel spend.

I seriously considered shifting to this setup, but I decided I would stick with Gold+BBP. The AF is about the same and I spend more on restaurants than groceries, so I come out slightly ahead. I don't spend much on travel, except when it's time to cash in points, and then I do it for free. I live in a small city so I drive everywhere, but gas spend is small enough that missing an extra point there is no big deal. And I don't have to play any of the EDP purchase count shenanigans.

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 21:38:04 GMT

If you rarely use the Gold card and don't use the dining credit. I would app for the Green card with the 45k MR SUB and then close out the Gold card when the next AF hit.

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 23:16:29 GMT

If you really don’t like the Gold, I would cancel it and go for the Green. Depending on when you opened though, because if it’s before that second AF, you could get some points clawed back.

Jesus, an AMEX Bonvoy with a 1K credit line is rough lol

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 00:02:15 GMT

@MrDisco99 wrote:
I think the Green + EDP + BBP would make a pretty impressive combo for $245 combined AF.

3x travel/transit
3x restaurants
3x gas
4.5x groceries
2x everything else

Would work well for anyone who has a decent amount of travel spend.

I seriously considered shifting to this setup, but I decided I would stick with Gold+BBP. The AF is about the same and I spend more on restaurants than groceries, so I come out slightly ahead. I don't spend much on travel, except when it's time to cash in points, and then I do it for free. I live in a small city so I drive everywhere, but gas spend is small enough that missing an extra point there is no big deal. And I don't have to play any of the EDP purchase count shenanigans.

I think the Green + EDP + BBP is a bad combo because IMO the EDP + BBP will confilict each other a lot. EDP is only worth it if you can hit 30+ transactions monthly with the card in order to get the 50% extra MR points. Depending on the spend it might be better just do Green + EDP or Green + BBP.

I just got my Green Card about a week ago and I'm also looking to get another card for a MR combo. While I thought the EDP was very tempting, my spend is pretty much stated that I'll gain an extra 10,000 MR points but paying for them with an AF. Since there's no way to make the $95 AF become an effective AF, I found the BBP to be a better card overrall without the 30+ transactions requirement of the BBP and a very solid 2x on everything.

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

MrDisco99 — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 01:40:31 GMT

It wouldn't be that hard. Just use the EDP for some small transactions along with the gas and groceries, whatever it takes to get it up to 30 swipes. Once you're sure of that, you can do the BBP for 2x on all miscellaneous spend after that and just use the EDP for gas and groceries. They actually could complement each other pretty well for optimizing point earnings.

The only tricky part would be getting 30 swipes in. I have a break room vending machine at my office that takes credit cards, so that makes it easy. I'd rather not have to worry about it, though, so I don't.

Also, it would only make sense to do it that way if your grocery/gas spend is high enough to merit spending $95 per year to get 4.5x/3x back. Otherwise ditching the EDP and just doing the BBP for those categories (or just doing Gold+BBP like I do) may work out better.

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

kdm31091 — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 02:30:30 GMT

Amex has purposely designed their cards to not really work super well together IMO. They want to encourage people to pick one that's "good enough" and use it for everything, not maximize rewards. Having both the Green and the Gold would be redundant IMO. If you aren't getting huge out of the 4x dining, I'm not sure how 3x dining is going to serve you much better. The AF is only $100 less. The Green does have 3x on a wider range of travel. Don't ignore other options out there, too, unless you really wanted to stick with Amex. Maybe their lineup just doesn't completely suit your spend and that's fine too.

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 03:27:28 GMT

@MrDisco99 wrote:
It wouldn't be that hard. Just use the EDP for some small transactions along with the gas and groceries, whatever it takes to get it up to 30 swipes. Once you're sure of that, you can do the BBP for 2x on all miscellaneous spend after that and just use the EDP for gas and groceries. They actually could complement each other pretty well for optimizing point earnings.

The only tricky part would be getting 30 swipes in. I have a break room vending machine at my office that takes credit cards, so that makes it easy. I'd rather not have to worry about it, though, so I don't.

Also, it would only make sense to do it that way if your grocery/gas spend is high enough to merit spending $95 per year to get 4.5x/3x back. Otherwise ditching the EDP and just doing the BBP for those categories (or just doing Gold+BBP like I do) may work out better.

I'm not really seeting that with regards to the EDP. I only charge three-five times a month for gas and groceries I go to Wal-Mart (which doesn't really count as a Supermarket). I think it is a spend problem. For supermarkets if Wal-Mart was included I can do $4500 a year on it plus $500 a year on gas. I just don't think the ROI would be enough for me to do the EDP and use the BBP for everything else. Just for me it is easier to do Green + BBP and call it a day.

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

NRB525 — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 04:12:21 GMT

I had the EDP for a couple of years, starting in 2015. I have several other cards, so when I was heading toward a month I knew I would have a significant non-cat spend, I would purposely use the EDP to ramp up to the 30 swipes. It was a chore. So I closed it.

Soon after I PC'd a Slate to CFU, and that was sweet. No sweat.

I also use cards in the vending machines, with the idea of keeping the cards busy. It's actually more expensive than if one ( me ) was to plan better and get the snacks less expensive elsewhere, but it keeps my cards happy, and does feed the EDP well.

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

mongstradamus — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 05:28:37 GMT

My story with edp while it’s a good card the thirty swipes was annoying and if freedom had gas or groceries one quarter would be used not as much. I ended up switching to gold for 4x restaurant and groceries Didn’t have to worry as much about groceries cap like I did with edp. Moved gas spend to my citi premier , for right now just using chase fu for uncategorized spend. May move to bbp in the future

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

kdm31091 — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 11:17:54 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
It's actually more expensive than if one ( me ) was to plan better and get the snacks less expensive elsewhere

I think this is the problem with EDP or Rewards+ or any of those "frequent use" type of cards. If you aren't careful you can end up overspending just to reach the transaction limit (or for Rewards+, to get more round up). Obviously a daily vending machine habit is more expensive than the value of the points you are recieving. Relying on purchases like that to reach the transaction threshold is probably going to cost more than you gain.

EDP is great for someone who only wants to use one card, but for anyone around here who juggles cards and maximizes categories, you can often end up making unnecessary or overpriced purchases to hit the 30.

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 11:53:57 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
I had the EDP for a couple of years, starting in 2015. I have several other cards, so when I was heading toward a month I knew I would have a significant non-cat spend, I would purposely use the EDP to ramp up to the 30 swipes. It was a chore. So I closed it.

Soon after I PC'd a Slate to CFU, and that was sweet. No sweat.

I also use cards in the vending machines, with the idea of keeping the cards busy. It's actually more expensive than if one ( me ) was to plan better and get the snacks less expensive elsewhere, but it keeps my cards happy, and does feed the EDP well.

Indeed, using amex card is like a third job you have that doesn't pay much.The end result typically is that one thinks s/he got "good reward" while actually spent more than they would otherwise.

I am trying to not overspend on my gold, and it isn't easy.

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

MrDisco99 — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 13:19:16 GMT

I think this is all with the understanding that you only spend what you would have done anyway. Isn't that like the first rule of earning CC rewards? Obviously if you're buying stuff you wouldn't normally buy you're spending dollars to earn pennies which is silly.

Fair point, though... I can see how the EDP would encourage you to do that, which is part of why I closed mine.

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

QuakerOatmeal — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 15:49:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If you really don’t like the Gold, I would cancel it and go for the Green. Depending on when you opened though, because if it’s before that second AF, you could get some points clawed back.

Jesus, an AMEX Bonvoy with a 1K credit line is rough lol

I rarely if ever use the Bonvoy. At this point I just use it for the anniversary night, and even that rarely if ever gets used. So I moved the credit line from the Bonvoy to my EDP since I actually use that card. If I could, I would just close it and move that 1k to the HHonors, but AMEX won't let me move it over.

I probably should just close it at this point though... Plus the "baby" Bonvoy isn't available anymore, I don't think?

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

Stralem — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 16:42:01 GMT

@QuakerOatmeal wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
If you really don’t like the Gold, I would cancel it and go for the Green. Depending on when you opened though, because if it’s before that second AF, you could get some points clawed back.

Jesus, an AMEX Bonvoy with a 1K credit line is rough lol
I rarely if ever use the Bonvoy. At this point I just use it for the anniversary night, and even that rarely if ever gets used. So I moved the credit line from the Bonvoy to my EDP since I actually use that card. If I could, I would just close it and move that 1k to the HHonors, but AMEX won't let me move it over.

I probably should just close it at this point though... Plus the "baby" Bonvoy isn't available anymore, I don't think?

You can't apply for it, but you can downgrade to it last I checked. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 17:11:14 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:

I also use cards in the vending machines, with the idea of keeping the cards busy. It's actually more expensive than if one ( me ) was to plan better and get the snacks less expensive elsewhere, but it keeps my cards happy, and does feed the EDP well.

For my various reward checking accounts, I have to do a total of 36 "swipes" a month. I am able to do this in about 20 minutes reloading Amazon gift card balance. This does have some cost (I could be getting 5% on the amount spent, so losing about $1) but is well worth the tradeoff. I assume doing this is a short period might annoy Amex, but isn't it possible to do that over a month if necessary. Potentially healthier than vending machines (depending what you buy on Amazon!)

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

NRB525 — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 18:43:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:

I also use cards in the vending machines, with the idea of keeping the cards busy. It's actually more expensive than if one ( me ) was to plan better and get the snacks less expensive elsewhere, but it keeps my cards happy, and does feed the EDP well.
For my various reward checking accounts, I have to do a total of 36 "swipes" a month. I am able to do this in about 20 minutes reloading Amazon gift card balance. This does have some cost (I could be getting 5% on the amount spent, so losing about $1) but is well worth the tradeoff. I assume doing this is a short period might annoy Amex, but isn't it possible to do that over a month if necessary. Potentially healthier than vending machines (depending what you buy on Amazon!)

Nope, still not planning to get EDP again

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 19:38:00 GMT

Yeah the multiple swipe cards in a cycle are too much hassle for me, with other cards to needing be used for rewards. It further compounds the problem when the cycles start and stop at various times of the month, not having from the first to the last day of the month.

If the rewards on Green were somewhat differnt, maybe then it would appeal to me. But for now the Gold/BCP makes the most sense for me.

Rough ballpark figure what would 45K points be worth, does it justify the immediate $150 AF?

This is one reason why I liked the waived AF's, gave a person a free chance to test drive the cards.

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

MrDisco99 — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 20:19:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Rough ballpark figure what would 45K points be worth, does it justify the immediate $150 AF?
This is one reason why I liked the waived AF's, gave a person a free chance to test drive the cards.

Even if you use points for statement credit, one of the worst value redemption options, 45K points is still worth $270.

A better way to redeem is to transfer to airlines where you can get 2cpp or better, so 45K points would be worth $900+

Re: AMEX Green vs AMEX Gold

budugu — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 22:22:26 GMT

I'm not really seeting that with regards to the EDP. I only charge three-five times a month for gas and groceries I go to Wal-Mart (which doesn't really count as a Supermarket). I think it is a spend problem. For supermarkets if Wal-Mart was included I can do $4500 a year on it plus $500 a year on gas. I just don't think the ROI would be enough for me to do the EDP and use the BBP for everything else. Just for me it is easier to do Green + BBP and call it a day.

For low spends it is hard to beat 2% or BBP type of cards. Because even for BBP+ Green ~ you need 15K of travel + restaurant spend to break even. THe most annoying thing is that amex has super narrow definition of "restaurant" is. I went to steak and sushi place the other day it is classified as Bar and no 2x argh.