Thinking about Amex Green

[MrDisco99]

There have been some rumors flying around about changes coming to the green card. I had the card last year but closed it. I’m thinking about getting it again to get in on the new card while it’s still sure to have no fee for the first year.

A couple questions...

I know I won’t be eligible for any welcome bonus. I’m on their no bonus blacklist already anyway. However would I still be eligible for no fee the first year even though I had the card before?

How reliable are the rumors about the new card? And how likely is it that the new product will charge a fee for the first year?

[NRB525]

What do you expect the Green to provide you which your Gold does not already?

If you get it now, no AF for 12 months, and nothing comes of the rumor mill, when the AF posts next January what would you do?

[MrDisco99]

If nothing changes then I’d probably close it again. Which is why I ask how reliable the rumors are.

Rumor has it the green would offer 4x on gas purchases and 3x on streaming, and another rumor said free (or reimbursed) Amazon Prime which I already pay $120 for per year. If these are true, and the fee doesn’t go up by much (say to $150 or so), then this would be a keeper card for me.

[kdm31091]

Personally I would just wait. Plenty of rumors end up not being true or end up significantly different than what was stated. No point in applying for a card that gives you no current benefit.

[jb1280]

There’s enough smoke that there will probably be a Green Card refresh in Q1 2019, but not enough fire in terms of nailing down what the refresh will look like. I’d imagine those details will come out in the coming weeks.

There’s something to be said about applying in advance of the refresh if you’re preapproved and get the introductory annual fee, but probably no immediate rush unless you really have an itching to do so.

[pinkandgrey]

I’d hold off until after this supposed refresh happens. If it doesn’t happen, you’ve lost nothing. If it does, apply then and get that whole year of no AF! I hope it happens too though. 

[jdbkiang]

I FEEL that the $0 AF will go away when it’s refreshed, but who knows. I do think that it’s pretty much a guarantee that it’ll be changed, though I have no idea how.

Anyway, I did do the same for the Gold card though. Applied just before it was refreshed, so got the $0 AF first year, but still got the new benefits.

[MrDisco99]

Yeah if any of those rumors are true, I expect no fee for the first year will almost surely go away. That’s why I’m thinking of preempting that.

However I agree that there’s not enough substance behind the rumors right now to rush into applying just yet.

[wasCB14]

Keep in mind that when you get any card...but especially an AF card...without a bonus it takes a lot of spend to out-earn something with a healthy bonus (as in 50k - 70k miles).

Prime would be nice (no guarantee it will happen or that Prime itself won't be nerfed), but how much does anyone really spend on gas and streaming content?

4x MRs sounds nice...but the margin beyond BBP/BofA/Premier may not be worthwhile.

[kdm31091]

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@wasCB14 wrote:
Keep in mind that when you get any card...but especially an AF card...without a bonus it takes a lot of spend to out-earn something with a healthy bonus (as in 50k - 70k miles).

Prime would be nice (no guarantee it will happen or that Prime itself won't be nerfed), but how much does anyone really spend on gas and streaming content?

4x MRs sounds nice...but the margin beyond BBP/BofA/Premier may not be worthwhile.

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Pretty much this. Not only that, but gas is an extremely common bonus category. Most people who have many cards have one or two or six that already cover gas. So you're left with streaming. Even if you have several services (on top of Amazon Prime) you're looking at maybe $30-40 a month. Not going to rack up a huge amount of points and you have an additional fee to pay. I don't know, I'm not convinced. I think even with the (rumored) refresh the Green will remain a "starter card" and not really the best out there.

Also, good comment about Prime itself being nerfed. You may decide Prime no longer makes sense for you whether the card provides it or not. Either way you're going to still be paying for it, whether it's via the Prime fee or the Green fee. So I'd evaluate how much use you get out of Prime and expected continued usage.