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American Express Membership Rewards is one of the best flexible rewards programs available. You can earn Membership Rewards via a slew of different credit cards — which you can then combine into a single account and transfer to over 20 different airline and hotel Amex transfer partners.
Each card features a different set of high-earning bonus categories, and Membership Rewards points convert to (most) airline partners at a 1:1 ratio. With the right Amex card combo, you can earn airline miles faster using Membership Rewards earning cards than traditional co-brand airline cards. That makes these card combos especially good for fans of British Airways Avios, Flying Blue, ANA Mileage Club, Delta SkyMiles, and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.
Amex also offers more Membership Rewards earning cards than Chase or Citi do for their rewards programs. That allows you to stack a bunch of cards together and build a high-earning combo of credit cards that also feature some excellent perks and benefits.
Here are some of our favorite Amex card combos.
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Membership Rewards Earning Credit Cards
Amex provides three personal and three business Membership Rewards earning cards that we think offer top value.
Consumer Membership Rewards Cards:
Small Business Membership Rewards Cards:
- The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
- American Express® Business Gold Card
If you maximize bonus categories using a combination of Amex cards, you can easily double or triple the points you would earn if you were to keep swiping a single card.
It’s worth noting that some of the best Membership Rewards earning cards are business cards, and while more people than ever before now qualify for business cards, there are plenty of folks who will only be approved for personal cards. With that in mind, where we add business cards to the mix, we also try to provide an alternative from Amex’s lineup of consumer Membership Rewards cards.
Membership Rewards Two Card Strategy
A profitable but straightforward two-card combo can be achieved by combining the Amex Green Card and Amex Gold cards.
The Amex Green Card earns 3X Membership Rewards® points on all eligible travel, plus 3X Membership Rewards® points at restaurants worldwide. Travel includes hotels, rental cars, cruises, airfare, and even tours. Members earn one point for every dollar spent in all other categories.
The Amex Gold card earns 4X points at at restaurants worldwide (on up to $50,000 per year, then 1X), 4X at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year, then 1X), 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com, and 2X points on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com., and 1 point for every other dollar spent using the card. While the bonus categories overlap somewhat, you can earn a ton of Membership Rewards with a basic two-card combo.
- Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an American Express Card for your transaction. That's up to $120 Uber Cash annually. Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards® points for Uber Eats purchases made at restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: With the $84 Dunkin' Credit, you can earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations.
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. 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, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
- Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- Annual Fee is $325.
- Apply with confidence. Know if you're approved for a Card with no impact to your credit score. If you're approved and you choose to accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
- Terms Apply.
- Rates & Fees
- 4X Membership Rewards® Points at restaurants worldwide, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S. (on up to $50,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
- 4X Membership Rewards® points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
- 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
- 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotels and other eligible travel booked on amextravel.com
- 1X on other eligible purchases
This combo earns:
- 4x Membership Rewards at U.S. Supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year)
- 4x Membership Rewards at restaurants worldwide
- 3x Membership Rewards on all travel
- 3x Membership Rewards on all transit
- 1x Membership Rewards on all other eligible purchases
Maximize your Earnings:
Make sure to use your Amex Gold for all grocery purchases and restaurants and your Amex Green Card for all travel and transit purchases.
If you qualify for business cards, you can replace the Amex Green Card with the Blue Business Plus, which earns 2x points on all eligible purchases for the first $50K each year, then 1x.
If you're hunting perks over points, you could swap the Amex Gold with the Amex Platinum.
Total Annual Fees:
- Amex Gold: $325 (Rates & Fees)
- $150
Membership Rewards Three Card Strategy
Taking on a three-card strategy, we’re assuming you have a higher annual spend and you’re hunting for more than just points, which is why we recommend adding the Amex Platinum to your Membership Rewards earning combination.
You’ll take a small hit on the points earning side, but pick up what we think is one of the best lounge access available, a bigger airline incidentals credit, monthly Uber credits, and complimentary elite status across a bunch of rewards programs.
The Amex Platinum earns 5x points (on up to $500,000 of airfare purchases per calendar year booked directly with airlines), plus 5x points on prepaid hotels and flights booked on amextravel.com; Otherwise, cardholders receive 1 point per dollar on all purchases.
We’ve also added the Blue Business Plus over the Amex Gold card. This helps to keep the annual fees down but still allows you to earn 2x points on every purchase, and you can utilize the bonus categories on the Amex Green Card to maximize the number of points earned on everyday purchases.
This combo earns:
- 5x Membership Rewards on flights booked directly with the airline and on prepaid hotels and flights booked on amextravel.com
- 3x Membership Rewards on all other travel
- 3X Membership Rewards at restaurants worldwide
- 3X Membership Rewards on transit
- 2x Membership Rewards on non-bonus purchases up to $50K per year
- 1 Membership Rewards on all other purchases
Total Annual Fees:
- Amex Platinum: $695 (Rates & Fees)
- $150
- Blue Business Plus: No annual fee (Rates & Fees)
American Express Application Restrictions
Due to Amex’s no-nonsense approach to welcome offers, you can only receive the welcome offer on each individual card product once per lifetime, so we recommend researching the best offers available for each card before you pull the trigger on an application.
Amex has also introduced new language, stating it will take into account your history of applying for Amex cards when deciding if new cardmembers are eligible for the welcome offer:
“Welcome offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product. We may also consider the number of American Express Cards you have opened and closed as well as other factors in making a decision on your welcome offer eligibility.”
The good news is that Amex offers more cards that earn its in-house rewards than the competition, so you have plenty of opportunities to pocket a substantial balance of Membership Rewards points.
Note that Amex has updated the application restrictions on their Membership Rewards cards to now include rules based on the family of cards. The application for the Amex Green Card states:
“You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Platinum Card®, The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the American Express® Gold Card or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.”
It is often advised that you apply for the Amex Green Card first before getting an Amex Platinum or Amex Gold. Otherwise, you may not be eligible for the bonus.
Unlike building out an Ultimate Rewards earning combo of cards, there is no 5/24 policy restricting Amex card applications. If we had to nail down the order to apply for different card combos, we’d recommend filling out your UR earning cards before putting together an Amex combo like the one above.
Final Thoughts
Putting together the right combo of cards means researching where you spend enough to maximize each card's bonus categories. This allows you to build out a set of cards offering the highest number of points on each dollar spent while managing the out-of-pocket expense of the combined annual fees.
You also need to examine how you travel and if you can take advantage of the huge number of perks available on a card like the Amex Platinum. Because if you don’t use all the perks, it is hard to justify the premium annual fee, and you may be better with the Amex Gold or the Amex Business Gold.
Have a favorite set of Membership Rewards earring cards? Let us know in the comments below!
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: American Express® Gold Card (Rates & Fees), The Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
