Amex 5 Credit
American Express generally limits you to five open credit cards at a time (and 10 charge cards)
Deep Dive into the Amex 5 Credit Rule
American Express generally limits you to five open credit cards at a time. Personal and business credit cards both count toward this limit, while charge cards are tracked separately.
This is a holding limit, not an application-velocity rule. In other words, the issue is how many Amex credit cards you currently have open, not how many you have opened within a specific period of time.
What does this mean?
- Personal and business Amex credit cards count toward the same five-card limit.
- Charge cards such as the American Express Green, Gold, Platinum, Business Gold, Business Platinum, Business Green, and Plum generally do not count toward the five-credit-card limit.
- If you already have five Amex credit cards open, you should generally expect to need to close one before being approved for another.
There have been occasional data points of cardholders being approved for a sixth credit card, so five appears to be Amex's standard limit rather than an absolute ceiling in every case. We still recommend planning around five rather than assuming you will be an exception.
Charge Card Limit
American Express separately allows up to 10 charge cards. Because Amex currently offers far fewer than 10 standard personal and business charge card products, most cardholders are unlikely to run into that limit. However, even with Amex's 1/7 Rule, some cardholders are targeted for welcome offers on the same card, so having 10 charge cards is possible in certain situations.
The distinction between credit cards and charge cards is important because several American Express application rules treat them differently. The Amex 2/90 Rule, for example, generally applies to credit card approvals but not charge cards.
Related Rules
How Does This Affect Your Credit Card Strategy?
This rule is important to your overall card strategy because you will most likely collect more than five American Express credit cards over the course of your points and miles hobby. Being aware of where you stand regarding this rule is important because you will eventually have to close some cards to make room for new ones. Having a strategy for which cards to close and when is crucial to your overall plan, especially since your options are always a moving target because of the various rules put into place by the banks and the speed with which many of these rules change.
As always, we recommend diversifying when it comes to strategy. The more you switch between banks, personal and business cards, credit and charge cards, and leave time between applications, the better off you'll be in the long run. Keeping this general approach in mind will give you the best opportunity to avoid unnecessary denials and preserve your options moving forward.
Once you've been in the hobby for a while, a lot of thought and strategy goes into choosing your next card. You don't want to decide on an American Express card, go to apply, and then discover that you can't get it because you already have five Amex credit cards open. Being surprised by that information at the time of application is never fun.
If you use Points Navigator, we'll keep track of this rule and the other eligibility rules that affect you, letting you know when you've reached a limit before you apply.
Importance of this Rule
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American Express is an important player in the points and miles hobby, and you're going to dip your toes into their waters sooner rather than later. Any rule having to do with their cards is going to be one to pay attention to. When you combine the various rules American Express has put into place, it becomes even more important, as there are a lot of moving parts to consider.
Making sure you never have more than five credit cards with the bank should be easy enough, but it becomes more complicated when you also have to consider other rules. The Amex 1/7 Rule means you may not be eligible for the signup bonus on a card if you have had that card before, with many cardholders becoming eligible again after roughly seven years in practice. So you have to factor that rule into your decision making while balancing this five-credit-card limit.
You never know when you're going to come across an elevated or targeted signup bonus that you want to jump on. Staying below the five-credit-card threshold gives you more flexibility to apply quickly when a strong welcome offer appears.
Cards Subject to This Rule
FAQs
Are there exceptions to this rule?
Yes. Just like the American Express 2/90 Rule, this rule excludes the seven charge cards offered by the bank. You are allowed to hold up to ten charge cards but generally only five credit cards.
How do I check my status?
While you can track all this yourself, why do that when you have a much better option? Let us keep track of all these rules for you. If you load all your cards into Points Navigator, we can organize everything for you and let you know when you've triggered the five-credit-card limit.
Do business cards count for this rule?
Yes, business credit cards do count for this rule. Business charge cards do not. The American Express Business Green, Business Gold, Business Platinum, and Plum cards are the four business cards that are exempt from the five-credit-card limit.
Do product changes on existing cards count for this rule?
No. A product change does not create a new account, so upgrading or downgrading an existing American Express credit card does not add another card toward your five-credit-card limit.
About Approval Rules
Collecting credit card points is largely driven by understanding and abiding by bank rules regarding approval (or disapproval) of cards. So here's what you need to know:
- Approval rules are rarely fully publicized by the banks
- We use our own research and data points from other users in creating the rules listing
- Our goal in sharing/using the rule listings is to provide you guidance to avoid getting declined
- There can sometimes be exceptions to the rules, but we try to take a more cautious approach in advising you.