Approval Rules Amex Family
One Sentence Summary
If you have received a signup bonus from a higher tiered card, you are ineligible to receive a bonus from a lower tiered card in that same card family
Deep Dive into the Amex Family Rule
You have to get certain American Express cards in a specific order to be eligible for signup bonuses on all cards within that family. This rule becomes more important because of Amex’s 1/10 rule, stating you will only be eligible for a signup bonus on a card once per lifetime (usually 7-10 years in practice). If you aren’t aware of this American Express Family rule, you could miss out on a big signup bonus by simply applying for certain Amex cards in the wrong order.
American Express has two separate families of cards that this rule applies to:
Membership Rewards Cards
- American Express Green
- American Express Gold
- American Express Platinum
Cash Back Cards
- American Express Blue Cash Everyday
- American Express Blue Cash Preferred
Note that this same rule applies to co-branded Delta Airlines cards that are also backed by American Express. We have a separate rule for those four cards, though.
Important to know:
In order to be eligible for the signup bonuses on each of the above cards, you have to get them all in order. For example, in the Membership Rewards category of cards, you’d first have to get the American Express Green, then Gold, then Platinum to earn the welcome offer on each. If you get the Platinum first, then you will not be eligible for the Gold or Green welcome offers if you want to get those down the line.
The following language is in the terms and conditions for the American Express Green card:
The same language is in each of the above cards’ terms and conditions and the same rules apply, but only to each family. You’ll also notice two other cards mentioned (the Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab). These are older cards not available to new applicants, but if you have held those, you are also ineligible to receive the signup bonus on the Green card.
For the two cash cards, you have to get the Blue Cash Everyday before the Blue Cash Preferred. Fortunately there is no crossover between families, so getting a higher tiered card from one family does not impact your eligibility for another family.
Related Rules
How Does This Affect Your Credit Card Strategy?
Once you know and understand this rule, you simply have to apply for these cards in order. It’s a pretty simple rule to understand and implement. When it comes to card strategy, most people start with Chase cards as they have the most valuable rewards currency. Many in the hobby get their first American Express card after they’ve already gotten several Chase cards and maybe even a Capital One and/or Citi card.
If you have been denied a Chase card or want to diversify your points game to give yourself the best chance of not getting denied for a card, then getting into American Express Member Rewards is a good idea. But you need to have a strategy to best maximize your points and make sure you don’t miss out on a signup bonus for a specific card.
Important to know:
When it comes to American Express, we typically recommend starting with one of the Membership Rewards cards unless you are extremely loyal to Delta, Hilton, or Marriott. Below are the categories of ALL American Express cards on offer, and why we suggest starting with Membership Rewards.
The first three have the Family Rule while the last three do not.
- Membership Rewards: These cards are most flexible as the points can be transferred to any of American Express’ airline or hotel partners.
- Delta: Only offers points to be used with Delta - these offer value for those loyal to Delta or will be flying Delta for a trip in the upcoming year.
- Cash Rewards Only: The two cash cards that are part of this rule are low on our rankings of cards because they only offer cash back in the form of statement credits and can’t be transferred to a partner.
- Hilton co-branded cards: Hilton has its own set of co-branded cards from American Express as well, but as of now, they don’t have the same family rules as the Delta or Membership Rewards cards
- Marriott co-branded cards: Marriott also has co-branded cards - 3 offered by Amex (including a business card) and 3 offered by Chase. Marriott has its own set of rules regarding these cards and the bonuses you can earn, and because of the complicated nature of these rules, we have a completely separate rule page breaking those down.
- Business cards: American Express has business cards of the same exact names as the Membership Rewards cards - Green, Gold, and Platinum. You can get those in any order, though, and still be eligible for the signup bonus on each. Delta also has two business cards, and they are exempt from this rule as well.
Knowing all this, logic might dictate that you begin with the American Express Green card. But it’s not always that simple in the points and miles world. There is nuance to everything, and there are also other rules at play that you have to consider.
The regular signup bonus for the American Express Green card is 40,000 points, which isn’t nothing but it’s also not very high. It has a $150 fee attached to it (but it does also offer a $199 Clear Plus Membership credit that essentially cancels out that fee if it’s a credit you can use). Some people don’t think a card with a 40k point welcome offer is worth the spot on your 5/24, so they just skip to the American Express Gold card and start there. Some find it plenty valuable, and knowing that they won’t be able to get the bonus on the Green card if they get the Gold or Platinum, they logically start with Green. A lot depends on your 5/24 status as well, so many people in the hobby don’t want to “waste” a 5/24 spot on a card with a low signup bonus that still has an annual fee. As always, it all depends on your specific situation.
Importance of this Rule
* * * *
Like the American Express 1/10 Rule, this is an important rule to know and be aware of, but the Chase 5/24 rule is really the only rule that will impact nearly every card you apply for. You will miss out on a bevy of bonus points if you don’t know this rule and apply for the American Express Platinum card before any of the other ones. Fortunately, if you sign up and load all your cards into the Points Navigator, we’ll warn you of this and all the other complicated credit card rules so this doesn’t ever happen to you.
Cards Subject to This Rule
FAQs
Are there exceptions to this rule?
Yes, there are Membership Rewards business cards that mirror the personal ones. There are Green, Gold, and Platinum Business cards, but these don’t have the same set of rules. Same with cash cards - there is also a Blue Business Cash And Blue Business Plus card that also doesn't abide by these rules. Delta has several business cards as well - the Delta SkyMiles Gold, Platinum, and Reserve. You can apply for any of these cards in any order and still be eligible for the signup bonus on each. And because all of the above are all business cards, they also don’t count against your 5/24.
How do I check my status?
Once you are in the hobby for a while, you need to be organized with your cards and know which ones you’ve gotten and when. There are a lot of rules you have to be aware of, so organization is key. That’s the reason we built the Points Navigator. You can load all your cards into our system, and we’ll keep track of all the rules for you and alert you of any that you have tripped or are about to trip.
Do business cards count for this rule?
They do not. See “Are there exceptions to this rule?” above for a more detailed answer.
Do product changes on existing cards count for this rule?
Kind of. If you have an American Express Gold card and you don’t want to pay the $350 annual fee anymore, you could downgrade to the American Express Green card, which has a lower, $150 annual fee. When you downgrade a card, you aren’t generally eligible for a signup bonus anyway. Even if you were, you would not be eligible for the welcome offer because of this family rule. In the above scenario, you wouldn’t be eligible for the welcome offer on Green card anyway because of already having the Gold. This point is kind of moot, though, because of one of American Express’ other rules, the 1/10 rule. This rule says that you are only eligible for a signup bonus on an Amex card once every ten years, and because of this, we rarely recommend downgrading or product changing an Amex card since you generally can’t get a signup bonus on a product change.
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.