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All points and miles enthusiasts have come to understand that banks consistently revamp their suite of credit card benefits. Sometimes, a perk is added that attracts new cardmembers. Sometimes, a benefit is dropped for reasons undisclosed. The latter can be frustrating news; the card you now have isn't quite the same card you signed up for!
And that's what this news is about. If you have the American Express® Green Card, you may be disappointed to learn that your card is losing an important benefit next year. Come January 13, 2025, the $100 LoungeBuddy credit is going away. Here’s what you need to know.
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What Is LoungeBuddy?
LoungeBuddy is a great tool for quickly finding lounges you can access in airports worldwide. In its heyday, both the website and the app allowed you to input your flights and class of service, rewards cards, and more details to see a list of accessible lounges. If you have a Priority Pass membership, LoungeBuddy can help you look for these outposts as well.
In addition to showing you where to relax on your layover, LoungeBuddy features traveler reviews, ratings, and a list of lounge amenities to help you decide which one is best for you. Sadly, the mobile app is no longer available, and the LoungeBuddy.com website will be retired by its parent company, American Express, on January 30, 2025. You can still use the website to purchase passes (exclusively with an Amex card) and peruse lounges, but the app is now defunct.
Fortunately, AwardWallet has you covered. Just add your travel plans to your AwardWallet travel timeline, and you'll find a list of lounges for each airport you visit in our mobile app.
Amex Green Card LoungeBuddy Credit To Disappear in 2025
One of LoungeBuddy's most useful features was (or, is, until it's completely retired) that it sold day passes to select lounges. This allows you to access certain lounges when you don't have other means of accessing them. To defray the cost of these passes, the Amex Green Card has offered cardholders up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year. Effective January 13, 2025, this credit will no longer be available.
In other words, you have the rest of this year to use your credit. Additionally, you'll have 13 days next year to try to extract more value from it after it resets on January 1, 2025.
The loss of this benefit is a significant blow to the card's value proposition. It's long been one of the key benefits of the card. Yes, the Amex Green Card still offers up to $199 in statement credits when you use your card to pay for a CLEAR® Plus Membership, but this benefit may be harder to extract value from than the LoungeBuddy credit.
Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
Related: Best Credit Cards for Airport Lounge Access
Will Amex replace the Amex Green Card LoungeBuddy credit?
American Express has yet to tip its hand about whether something is in the cards to replace the lost benefit. Hopefully, Amex will be introducing an additional benefit or two in 2025 that will make it easier to justify paying the card's $150 annual fee. If that doesn't happen, the value proposition for the card could be permanently changed.
Thinking of Applying for the Amex Green Card?
In recent history, American Express began imposing restrictions on card families. Since then, points pros have recommended new cardmembers start by applying for “lower level” Amex cards first. In other words, apply for an Amex Green Card, before applying for cards such as the Amex Gold or Amex Platinum. If you don't, you may not be eligible for the Amex Green Card‘s sign-up bonus at a later date. So, it's reasonable if this “entry level” Membership Rewards-earning card is on your radar.
If you go to the application page, the benefit of a LoungeBuddy credit has already been removed from new applications. In the fine print, you can see the following language: “Effective January 13, 2025, the $100 LoungeBuddy Credit benefit will no longer be available.”
Until (and that's assuming if) a new benefit is announced, potential applicants should weigh the benefits of the welcome offer and the CLEAR Plus membership with the cost of the annual fee before deciding whether to apply.
Related: Amex Green Card Full Review
Bottom Line
The Amex Green Card‘s $100 annual LoungeBuddy credit is going away on January 13, 2025. It's a big loss, as this is one of the card's key benefits. If you have the Amex Green Card, be sure to use your credit before the year ends. And if you're traveling in the first two weeks of 2025, you should be able to use a good bit of what you'd be apportioned for next year before the benefit takes flight. Doing so is an easy way to justify your card's annual fee.
Whether you decide to keep the card long-term will depend on whether you value the other benefits, namely the CLEAR Plus membership, enough to justify the $150 annual fee. We're certainly hoping that American Express announces a replacement benefit. This is quite a blow to the value of this card. But as of now, there's nothing official on the way.
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