American Express Green Card

The short answer

The American Express Green Card, now called the Classic Green Card, earns Membership Rewards points: 3 points per dollar on eligible travel, transit and restaurant purchases, and 1 point on other eligible spending. The annual fee is $150. As of October 2026, Amex's old Green application page redirects to its general card page, and the existing card's benefits and agreement use the Classic Green name. This article looks at whether the existing card is worth keeping.

In Julia's example, $12,000 of eligible travel, transit and restaurant spending earns 36,000 points. At 1 cent each toward an Amex Travel flight, that is $360, or $210 after the fee. No-fee Wells Fargo Autograph earns the same 36,000 points on those purchases, worth $360 in cash, so Green is $150 behind after its fee. The $219 CLEAR Plus credit changes that only if it replaces an expense you already pay.

The Studio's one-line fit is "Broad travel and transit spending, with flexible transfer options." The answer depends on something the earning rate cannot show: what you would actually do with the points.

What it costs

The annual fee is $150, and the Studio's record shows no membership cost. The comparison is Wells Fargo Autograph, a card with no annual fee that earns its own points, with bonus categories that include eligible travel, transit and restaurants at 3 points per dollar. Julia's point is that you do not need to pay a yearly fee just to earn extra rewards on these categories.

Green has no foreign transaction fee. That can help on an overseas trip where Amex is accepted, but it is not extra cash back, and Julia would still carry another payment option.

What it earns

• 3 points per dollar on eligible travel, transit and restaurant purchases.
• 1 point per dollar on other eligible spending.

Travel includes flights and hotels, and also eligible vacation rentals, cruises and campgrounds. Transit includes trains, rideshares, tolls, parking, buses and subways. You do not have to book every qualifying trip through Amex Travel to earn the travel rate.

How the charge comes through matters. The merchant's classification decides the rate: a restaurant inside another business may not earn restaurant points, and a meal charged to a hotel room can be treated differently from paying the restaurant directly.

The credits, used honestly

The card's main credit is up to $219 in statement credits each calendar year for a qualifying CLEAR Plus membership charged to the card account. CLEAR Plus handles the identity check at participating airport checkpoints, and the membership renews automatically unless you cancel. The allowance is one per card account, including additional cards, so adding family does not multiply it.

The credit is worth $219 only if it replaces a bill you were already going to pay. If you are already paying $219 for an eligible membership, count the saving. If you would not buy CLEAR Plus without the credit, it is not all money saved, and if another card already covers the membership, you cannot count the same saving twice. The Studio's score gives CLEAR no assumed value ("CLEAR has no assumed value in this test").

The protections need the same care. The included rental-car damage coverage is secondary, excludes liability and does not cover every rental or country. Trip-delay coverage applies to qualifying round trips delayed more than 12 hours by a covered cause, and you need to know which expenses are eligible and keep receipts. Julia compares them with protection she already has; an insurance limit is not another amount to subtract from the annual fee.

The catch

The redemption decides the value. Using Membership Rewards to cover eligible card charges generally gives 0.6 cents per point, so 36,000 points would cover $216, and $66 would remain after the fee, before any CLEAR credit. The Studio values points through a fixed 1-cent flight booking, so an unusually good transfer does not inflate the result.

Transfers to an airline or hotel partner can produce a different result. Find an available booking first, check the transfer ratio and subtract taxes and fees from the cash price the points would replace. Transfers are final. The Studio's limitation says transfers "may add value, but depend on finding a useful award."

Ordinary purchases earn 1 point, which keeps the grade down. And before changing or closing the account, check what happens to your existing Membership Rewards points. If you wanted to switch another Amex to Green, ask Amex which options your account has.

Who it fits

It fits a household with broad travel, transit and restaurant spending that will use the CLEAR credit for an expense it already pays and will redeem points for travel it wants. A year with more train platforms than departure gates counts. It fits less well a household whose points would mostly become statement credits, whose CLEAR membership would go unused, or whose no-fee card already rewards some of the same spending.

On the Studio's everyday card test, Green scores 52 out of 100. The scale gives 55 points to value after costs across 3 household budgets, 20 to using rewards, 15 to effort and 10 to 2 specific protections. The broad travel categories help, but the fee and the ordinary 1-point purchases keep the grade down.

The arithmetic

Julia's eligible spending is $4,800 on travel, $2,400 on transit and $4,800 at restaurants, $12,000 in all, paid in full so interest does not take away the rewards.

• Green: 3 points per dollar earns 36,000 points. At 1 cent each toward an Amex Travel flight they cover $360 of airfare, or $210 after the $150 fee.
• Wells Fargo Autograph: the same purchases earn 36,000 points, worth $360 as cash at 1 cent each, which leaves Green $150 behind after its fee.
• With CLEAR: if the $219 credit replaces an expense you were already paying, $210 becomes $429, which is $69 ahead of the Autograph cash redemption.
• Against card charges at 0.6 cents per point: 36,000 points cover $216, and $66 remains after the fee, before any CLEAR credit.

Before you apply

For a renewal, Julia asks three questions: are the purchases earning the expected rate, are the points going to travel she wants, and does the CLEAR credit replace something she pays for? If the points mostly become statement credits and CLEAR goes unused, she would look for a simpler fit. Check Amex's page for the current Classic Green terms and the card's benefit guides. The Studio checked these terms on October 6, 2026.