Best Amex Credit Cards | Ranking American Express Membership Reward Cards – Waller’s Wallet

Man. I agree with your assessment. But imagine if Amex allowed the Wellsfargo Amex propel to merge points into the MR ecosystem? This would change everything!!!!

Hi Dustin, another great video! I think the EveryDay (non-preferred) is way underrated, not by you in this ranking but by everyone (YMMV of course). 20 transactions to a 20% bonus for a non-AF card is great 👍🏼. The problem I have with Amex is the categorization of stores which excludes me from benefiting from the 4x on my Gold card. Living in a small town I have two grocery stores, a local grocer and Walmart. Shopping at the local grocery store is far more expensive which would negate any rewards earned. The local KFC does Grubhub now, so I’m finally able to benefit from the dining credit; that’s helped me justify keeping my Gold. Now, since I have the Hilton Honors, I gotta figure out how to use the airline credit.

Next year I’m considering getting the Amex Plat but I’m not sure if I can make the numbers work for me. I love how the Hilton Honors has Priority Pass; that alone is worth the $95 AF. But now I’d like to find a card that pays for GlobalEntry, I’m thinking the Cap1 Venture. (Video Idea 💡) a video where maybe a combination of cards gives the same perks for a lower AF

I was multitasking this morning so I hope my message makes sense…lol

Because the platinum isn’t for everyone doesn’t mean that it should be that low on the list… at least that’s my opinion.

I think the rankings you made are fair – a few things that I think will affect how these rankings a little is if you consider how much referral bonuses are worth on each of the cards. Business amexes give higher referral bonuses, for example, the Business gold card offers 25k points per referral vs the 10k referral bonus from the gold card, so if you value MR points at 2 points per dollar, that extra 15k points from a single referral each year is pretty much the entire annual fee.

Regarding the business platinum, while i agree with its ranking relatively speaking, I will say that I was able to book roundtrip to Hawaii for my family of 4 for 28.8k points per ticket without needing to transfer due to the 35% points back feature which is not bad… I think the platinum cards need some new benefits though I agree, especially with the wework benefit going away, and the airline incidentals credits are a little too hard to use for most people.

Gold! Winner, Winner!

I just wish amex add 5x worldwide dining to platinum.

Got approved over the Weekend for the Amex Blue Cash Preferred ; it definitely fits my lifestyle and spending categories. Going to combine this card with my Quicksilver card .

Shame you limited it to MR cards. You could have had a lot of fun with the Plum card.

Well thought out list Dustin. I love my Gold Card and on track to get about 70,000 MR points on top of the 50,000 sign up bonus. I really wish the Platinum Card had better bonus categories. Have you found a replacement for your dining card yet?

Nice list my man, personally for me it's looking like I'll probably just keep my blue business plus long term, close the rest of my MR cards, and supplement that with the Sapphire Reserve/Freedom/Ink Cash trifecta. Beyond that, for me it's mostly the penfed Pathfinder and basically every 5% cash back card I could get (I was even able to lock down the vantage west connect rewards card)

#6 at platinum Hahahaha

So the Optima Card is not a good card?

Personal Platinum needs 2X base.

The first two cards are pretty much only for churning, as is the EDP if you have a Gold. The business platinum now has a ridiculous $10k MSR for 50k points, plus an additional $10k MSR for 25k points. Clearly unsuited for personal churning, and I see little to recommend the card. I agree about the personal platinum, not really a keeper for most, against most suited to churn.

I'm a bit surprised you have the Amex Green rated so low, it's a much better general travel card than, say, the Platinum and pairs well with the Gold (with the exception of their redundant dining category, as you note). You still need a backup Visa though. I rather like the BoA Premium Rewards for that role, since its Global Entry credit isn't redundant with the Green's Clear credit, and it has a number of obscure bonus travel categories (amusement parks!) to round out your earning potential.

Another thing that bugs me about Amex credits is that for most of their cards the credits will be in 1x earning categories, forcing a certain amount of 1x spending on the card holder. I think the restaurant credit on the Gold is the only one that isn't a 1x category credit.

Thanks for introducing me to the AMEX Blue Business® Plus Credit Card. I just opened it few minutes ago. I didn't even know this card existed. This might be the best way to earn MR points without annual fees for low spenders like myself.

Excellent video.