The American Express Membership Rewards program is one of my all-time favorite programs because of its exceptional airline transfer partners, such as ANA, Iberia Avios, and Air Canada’s Aeroplan.
If you’re looking to earn Membership Rewards, Amex offers a great selection of credit cards, which I’ve ranked to help you decide better.
Piece of advice for frequent travelers – I suggest picking up either the personal or business Platinum Cards for the great airport lounge access and lots of extra points when booking flights.
Best for Airport Lounge Access: The Platinum Card® from American Express (review)
Best for Shopping and Dining: American Express® Gold Card (review)
Best for Everyday Spending: Amex EveryDay® Preferred (review)
1. The Platinum Card® from American Express
Best for Airport Lounge Access
The Platinum Card® from American Express (review) is a great premium travel rewards card for travelers who want airport lounge access, including Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Clubs (when flying Delta), Escape Lounges, Priority Pass lounges.
The American Express Platinum has a $695 annual fee, but you receive many annual statement credits when you enroll your card to offset the fee, including:
- $200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to your Card.
- $200 Hotel Credit: Get up to $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings with American Express Travel when you pay with your Platinum Card®.
- $240 Digital Entertainment Credit: Get up to $20 in statement credits each month when you pay for eligible purchases with the Platinum Card® at your choice of one or more of the following providers: Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, SiriusXM, and The Wall Street Journal. Enrollment required.
- $200 Uber Cash Credit: Enjoy Uber VIP status and up to $200 in Uber savings on rides or eats orders in the US annually. Benefit renews annually.
- $155 Walmart+ Credit: Use your Platinum Card® to pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) and receive a statement credit that covers the full cost each month.
- $189 CLEAR® Plus Credit: Breeze through security with CLEAR® Plus at 45+ airports nationwide and get up to $189 back per year on your membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Platinum Card®.
You also earn 5x Membership Rewards points when booking flights directly with airlines or with American Express Travel (up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year) and 5x Membership Rewards points when booking prepaid hotels with American Express Travel.
On top of that, you automatically earn Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite and Hilton Honors Gold statuses, which offer points bonuses, room upgrades, late check-out, and other premier benefits.
2. American Express® Gold Card
Best for U.S. Supermarkets and Restaurants
The American Express® Gold Card (review) is one of my favorite cards because it earns:
- 4x Membership Rewards® points at restaurants, including takeout and delivery in the U.S.,
- 4x Membership Rewards® points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1x).
- 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
Plus, card members get nice credits when you enroll your Gold Card to offset the annual fee:
- $120 Uber Cash: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account, and each month automatically get up to $10 in Uber Cash for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides in the U.S.
- $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings and earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar and select Shake Shack locations.
3. The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Best for Business Travelers
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (review) is an outstanding choice for business owners who want airport lounge access including the American Express Global Lounge Collection, Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Clubs, Escape Lounges, Priority Pass lounges, and more.
The Business Platinum card also offers several statement credits to offset the $695 annual fee:
- $200 Airline Fee: Annual airline fee credit of up to $200 on charges by the airline you select per calendar year.
- $400 Dell: Annual statement credit on all U.S. Dell purchases, up to $200 semiannually.
- $120 Wireless Phone Services: Annual statement credits for purchases made directly with any U.S. wireless telephone provider, up to $10 per month.
- $189 CLEAR® Plus Credit: Breeze through security with CLEAR® Plus at 45+ airports nationwide and get up to $189 back per year on your membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Business Platinum Card.
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck: Statement credits for Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) every four years (4.5 years for PreCheck).
You can also earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com, and 1.5x points on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else, on up to $2 million of these purchases per calendar year
The American Express Business Platinum comes with automatic Hilton Honors Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold so that you can enjoy perks like room upgrades, late check-out, and a points bonus.
Additionally, the points you earn can be transferred to several Amex transfer partners such as Air Canada Aeroplan, Delta SkyMiles, and Marriott Bonvoy. This potentially increases the value of your points depending on how you redeem them.
4. The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
Best for Daily Business Expenses
- 2 Points Per Dollar on the First $50,000 in Purchases Each Calendar Year (1x Points thereafter)
- 0.0% Intro APR on purchases for the first 12 months. After that, reg_apr,reg_apr_type APR. APRs will not exceed 29.99%
- No Annual Fee (rates & fees)
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (review) is one of my favorite cards because it has no annual fee and earns 2x Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 in purchases every year. After that, you will earn 1 point on all other eligible purchases.
You can transfer Membership Rewards to 18 airlines and three hotel points programs, with several great sweet spots to travel in business class to anywhere in the world.
I put all of my everyday business spending on my Blue Business Plus because it is a quick way to rack up points for my next trip.
5. American Express® Business Gold Card
Best for Flexible Rewards
- bonus_miles_full
- 4X Points on Purchases in Your Top 2 Business Categories (up to $150,000 in Combined Purchases Per Calendar Year)
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- $295 Annual Fee (Rates and Fees)
The American Express® Business Gold Card (review) is a good fit for business owners who want to earn much-coveted Membership Rewards points from business spending.
For a $295 annual fee, this card earns 4x points on up to $150,000 in combined purchases per year in your top two spending categories, with options including eligible airfare, U.S. advertising, U.S. shipping, U.S. cloud, software, and hardware, U.S. gas, and U.S. dining purchases.
You can also receive 25% points back after you use points for all or part of an eligible flight booked with Amex Travel, up to 250,000 points back per calendar year.
6. American Express® Green Card
Budget Travel Card
- Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 within the first 6 months.
- 3X Points at U.S. Restaurants, Transit, and Travel
- Annual Statement Credits for CLEAR® Plus and LoungeBuddy
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- $150 Annual Fee
The American Express® Green Card (review) is a nice mid-tier travel card offering 3x Membership Rewards points on travel, restaurants, and transit, along with a $189 statement credit for $189 CLEAR® Plus credit and a $100 LoungeBuddy Credit.
7. Amex EveryDay® Preferred
Best for Everyday Purchases
- Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards Points After Spending $2,000 in the First 6 Months.
- 3X Points at U.S. Supermarkets Up to $6,000 Per Year
- 2X Points at U.S. Gas Stations
- 50% Extra Points with 30+ Monthly Transactions
- $95 Annual Fee (Rates & Fees)
The American Express EveryDay Preferred is a decent card if you want to rack up more Membership Rewards points for grocery, gas, and travel purchases.
For a $95 annual fee, this card comes with 15,000 Membership Rewards bonus points and earns 3 points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 in purchases per year and 2 points per dollar at U.S. gas stations and travel booked through American Express Travel.
The EveryDay Preferred card rewards loyalty, giving you 50% additional points when you use your card at least 30 times for purchases within a billing period.
8. Amex EveryDay® Credit Card
Best for Zero Annual Fees
- Earn 10,000 Membership Rewards® Points after Spending $2,000 in your first 6 months.
- 2X Points at U.S. Supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year)
- 20% Extra Points When You Make 20 or More Purchases
- 0% Intro APR for 15 Months (thereafter, a variable rate of 17.99% to 28.99%)
- No Annual Fee (Rates and Fees)
The American Express EveryDay is a zero-annual-fee card that earns 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets, and 1 point per dollar on all other spending.
Plus, you can score 20% additional points when you use your EveryDay card at least 20 times within a billing period.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, please click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, please click here.
For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, please click here.
For rates and fees of The Blue Business Plus® Credit Card from American Express, please click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Business Gold Card, please click here.
For the rates and fees of the American Express® Green Card, please click here.
