American Express Green Card Benefits Guide

The American Express Green Card®* strikes a rare balance between value and versatility, making it a strong contender for anyone exploring travel rewards. With a modest annual fee and flexible everyday bonus categories, it offers a lower-commitment alternative to Amex’s more premium cards, without sacrificing meaningful benefits.

While Amex is known for high-end travel credit cards, many come with steep price tags that aren’t ideal for casual travelers. The Green Card stands out by offering useful perks — like a CLEAR Plus credit and a free ShopRunner membership — alongside valuable American Express Membership Rewards points.

You’ll earn 3X points on both dining and a wide range of travel purchases, including transit, rideshares, flights and hotels, giving it strong standalone value even if you don’t travel frequently.

Here’s a deeper look at the Amex Green card’s benefits and value potential and how they stack up against those of other American Express credit cards.

Earning rewards

The American Express Green Card stands out for its category variety, earning rewards on a broad mix of travel and everyday purchases.

You’ll earn 3X points not only on all travel purchases, but also at restaurants and on transit purchases including trains, taxis, rideshare services, parking, subways and more.

The travel category itself is also broad, including airfare, hotels, cruises, tours, car rentals, campgrounds, travel purchases on third-party travel websites and travel purchases on amextravel.com. That sort of flexibility can be hard to find on a rewards card.

Redeeming rewards

American Express Membership Rewards points are highly flexible and can be redeemed for:

• Travel booked through the Amex Travel portal
• Cash back
• Gift cards
• Merchandise
• Purchases with select merchants 

For the best value, consider transferring points to an Amex partner airline or hotel program — especially for international travel or premium cabin redemptions. Your points don’t expire as long as your account remains open and in good standing.

Travel benefits and protections

Its list of travel perks is far from exhaustive, but the American Express Green Card comes with a handful of benefits that can help you get your money’s worth.

And while a pricey luxury card like The Platinum Card® from American Express could offer even more value overall thanks to its extensive perk roster, you still may not want to commit to such a high annual fee ($695 in the case of the Amex Platinum).

• $199 CLEAR Plus credit
  

  This card gives you up to $199 in credits toward an annual CLEAR Plus membership, which allows for expedited airport security in participating airports. Note that this credit is good every calendar year.

• Trip delay insurance
  

  Customers also get trip delay insurance worth up to $300 per trip when a covered trip is delayed by more than 12 hours. A maximum of two claims is allowed every 12 consecutive months.

• Secondary auto rental coverage
  

  Your card qualifies you for car rental loss and damage insurance, which is good for damage or theft of a rental vehicle on eligible bookings. Coverage is secondary to other auto rental coverage you have.

• Baggage insurance plan
  

  The American Express Green Card baggage insurance plan is good for up to $1,250 for carry-on luggage and up to $500 for checked baggage when your luggage is lost, stolen or damaged while in the care of a common carrier.

• Global Assist Hotline
  

  Cardholders also get access to Amex’s Global Assist Hotline, which can help with medical and legal referrals and other emergencies when traveling more than 100 miles from home.

Shopping protections and additional services

In addition to all the travel perks cardholders receive, there are a few security and protection benefits. These perks apply when you use your Amex Green Card to make a purchase.

• Purchase protection
  

  Qualify for up to $1,000 in purchase protection per occurrence and up to $50,000 per calendar year. This coverage is good for damage or theft that occurs within 90 days of the purchase date.

• Extended warranties
  

  Items purchased with the Amex Green Card are also eligible for an extra year of warranty protection. This additional coverage applies to eligible purchases that come with a manufacturer’s warranty of five years or less.

• Dispute resolution
  

  Finally, American Express will help resolve disputes on your behalf. If there is a fraudulent or incorrect charge on your credit card statement, the issuer says it will “work with you to help resolve the issue.”

Other cardholder benefits

You’ll also enjoy a few miscellaneous perks that could help you save money when shopping online, find concert tickets and more.

ShopRunner membership

You can enroll in ShopRunner at no added cost with the Amex Green by visiting shoprunner.com/americanexpress. A ShopRunner membership gets you free two-day shipping on eligible items at hundreds of online stores, allowing you to take advantage of more sales and find more items in stock without worrying about shipping costs (terms apply, of course).

Participating retailers range from skincare companies to clothing stores and beyond, including the likes of Ulta, Macy’s, Gap, Under Armor and more.

Events with Amex™

With this perk, you can use your Amex Gold to pay for sports, music shows, theater performances and other events and get special ticket access. This can include presale tickets available to cardholders before the general public and ticket reservations that give you access to dedicated ticket allotments for some events.

Maximizing rewards on your Amex Green Card

The Amex Green Card offers straightforward rewards and perks, but using it strategically can help you unlock even more value. Here are a few tips to help you make the most of the card’s features:

• Use the card for travel, dining and daily spending. The Amex Green earns 3X points on travel — including transit, rideshares, flights and hotels — and restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery. These rewards, combined with benefits like travel insurance, purchase protection and extended warranties, only apply when you use the card to pay. “I’d recommend the Amex Green if you have significant transit expenses,” says Bankrate writer Ryan Flanigan. “Beyond that, I don’t find it very useful compared to the rest of the Amex portfolio, especially since LoungeBuddy’s demise”
• Leverage it for international travel. With no foreign transaction fees, the Green Card is a solid companion for trips abroad. Use it to book international hotels, tours, and transportation to rack up rewards while avoiding extra costs.
• Evaluate if it’s the right fit long-term. While the Amex Green offers a solid foundation, some cardholders may benefit more from a premium option.

If you’re considering the Amex Green for the CLEAR Plus credit, you might as well just get the Amex Platinum … Crazy to think a card with a $695 fee can offer more value than a card with a $150 fee.”

— Ryan Flanigan
Writer, Bankrate

The bottom line

The Amex Green card’s benefits are not the most impressive, especially compared to the perks you’ll find on other Amex travel cards. However, they can certainly make the card worth it given its solid rewards rate and relatively low annual fee.

Still, make sure to compare other Amex cards to see where they fall. You can pay a higher annual fee for another card offering more Amex perks, but you can also earn Membership Rewards points on cards with no annual fee, if you prefer.

Our take? The Amex Green card’s limited perks mean it probably isn’t the best value for frequent travelers, despite its low fee. But if you have high transit expenses and are wary of paying over $200 or even $500 in annual fees, the American Express Green Card offers enough benefits to make it worth a look.

*Information about the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by Bankrate and has not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.