WHAT IS THE BEST AMERICAN EXPRESS CREDIT CARD REVIEW IN 2023

December 06, 2022 GOOD BEGINNER CREDIT CARDS , HISTORY OF CREDIT CARD , WHAT IS A CREDIT CARD , WHAT IS THE BEST AMERICAN EXPRESS CREDIT CARD 0 Comments

WHAT IS THE BEST AMERICAN EXPRESS CREDIT CARD REVIEW IN 2023

WHAT IS THE BEST AMERICAN EXPRESS CREDIT CARD

WHICH IS THE BEST AMERICAN EXPRESS CREDIT CARD

So, I thought it'd be a good idea in this article to share with you some of the best of the best from American Express.

I'm going to be talking about a card that's quite literally going to put 335 Sweet, sweet dollar bills back in your pocket just for having a card.

That's right cash in your pocket for having a credit card. So your interest free money, or at the very least shiny metal credit cards, this article is for you.

Now for those of you who might not know me as well, I want to let you in on something I've been in the credit card game for close to 10 years now.

Over that period, I've had over 40 credit cards, and I've had some that are amazing. others not so much in probably everything in between.

Now the rankings aren't in a particular order. What I did end up doing is grouping them into personal cards, business cards, and honorable mention slash Astrix that I want to comment on at the end.

In the first segment, I have three personal cards from American Express. Now, full disclaimer, this isn't an end all be all list.

If you have suggestions for better cards, drop them down in the comment section below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

For me though, I pick these cards out as giving you the most bang for your buck because that's what we're all about here on this channel.

#1- AMERICAN EXPRESS BLUE CASH

So the first personal card that I want to call out is the American Express blue cash every day. If you haven't yet seen the article, there's a breakdown I'm going to leave up here.

This card recently got revamped and it is amazing. So the signup bonus is going to come with a $200 signup bonus after spending $2,000 Within the first six months, pretty easy to make.

Next, as far as earnings this is where this card really shines. This card will earn 3% cash back on grocery gas as well as online shopping for up to the first $6,000 spent in each respective category.

You will then earn 1% cash back once you go over the 6000 annual and 1% cash back for any other spend category outside of those.

Three, what I think makes this card really stand out, especially in an entry-level category is the fact that you have credits.

So you'll get a $7 Monthly Statement credit if you use this card to purchase a Disney bundle.

You can think of it basically as a 50% off Disney plus you will also get a $15 a month credit for purchasing home chef through the American Express blue cash every day.

This card comes with an annual fee of $0. So my verdict, in conclusion, is that this is an absolute winner.

It is in my top three for Cashback Cards, as well as my top three for gas and grocery cards because again, it's so easy to pull the value off these cards.

And the thing that I really want you to pay attention to is the fact that you get credits for a card that has no annual fee. That's absolutely insane.

2#- AMERICAN EXPRESS BLUE CASH

The second personal card on the list is the American Express blue cash preferred. Now this one I think has been a perennial favourite of a lot of folks mine as well.

The signup bonus for this card comes in at $300. After spending $3,000 In the first six months this card has really strong earnings.

You will earn 6% cash back for spending at grocery stores with a limit of $6,000 per year you will earn 6% cash back for streaming 3% cashback for transit 3% cash back for gas in 1% cashback for all other categories.

Similar to his younger brother the blue cash every day. This card will also give you a $7 monthly credit when you use this card to purchase or subscribe to Disney bundle and you will get a $10 a month credit to Equinox plus.

Now as far as annual fee, this card comes with a $95 annual fee. But these are finance tips.

I got you, you're one it's way awesome. You're too if you're using the Disney bundle credits, which is going to give you $84 annually, what's only five minus 80 for $11. You're effectively paying $11. For this card, which is what that's chef's kisses.

#3- AMERICAN EXPRESS GOLD

And we love that the third personal card that we're going to talk about is the American Express gold.

Now this card is pretty different from the first two we just talked about on two fronts.

1- The American Express gold is actually a charge card meaning that you can't hold a balance.

You have to pay it off in full, you're probably thinking but John, aren't we always supposed to pay it off in full?

Yes, back in the day, this was a bigger deal than it used to be because people didn't know how to manage their credit.

we don't care what the interest rate is. We don't care if it's a credit card or charge cards we do not carry a balance we pay on time and in full.

However, it is just interesting to know that it's a charge card. The other thing we charge cards is they don't typically have a credit limit.

So, usually a Maxis how much you spend against it and you kind of have a quote unquote limit list limit though. There is technically a limit but it's not really put on the card.

2- The second thing we want to note about the American Express gold is the fact that this card instead of earning a pure cashback percentage, you're actually going to earn what's called membership reward points.

Now the value of membership reward points is the fact that you can then take these points and transfer them say to a flight partner and fly in the front of the plane for a five or 10,000 on first-class flight.

And you might be only paying, you know, 50,000, 60,000, 70,000 points and maybe a couple of $100, which is an incredible value.

So we're gonna keep those two things in mind, as we talked about the American Express gold is going to come in with a signup bonus of anywhere from 60,000 to 90,000 points after spending about $4,000.

In the first either three or six months, there's a lot of variability depending on where you find the signup bonus.

The earnings for the American Express gold is phenomenal. This card will earn for membership reward points for every dollar that you spend on grocery as well as dining out.

And you will also get three membership reward points for every dollar that you spend booking flights directly or through a mixed of travel and of course, one point per dollar spent everywhere else.

And don't forget to note there is a $25,000 limit cap on the 4x on groceries. So once you go over the $45,000 spent on groceries, you will only earn one point per dollar spent now benefits.

AMERICAN EXPRESS GOLD BENEFITS

This is where I think the American Express gold really shines.

This card will earn a $120 Uber credit per year, which can be used for Uber rides or Uber Eats you will also get a $120 dining credit which can be used for a lot of places though my preference would be GrubHub.

Now these are split out into monthly credits. So you can effectively think about it as $240 worth of total dining credits across two platforms basically 20 bucks a month that you can use for dining out for someone who is in a city and doesn't cook a lot for someone who just wrapped up school is probably a Nakajima or for anybody who is not cooking a lot, this is an incredible dining credit.

In addition to the credits, you also get some pretty standard top-to-your Amex benefits. My two favourite are return protection and purchase protection, return protection pretty straightforward.

You buy an item, you tried to return it the retailer says no because of XYZ reason, a max will actually like to file a claim with them and reimburse you for whatever that claim is up to a certain threshold amount, usually around $300 purchase protection will basically ensure your item against theft, damage or loss it No seriously.

Like if you bought air pods with an Amex gold and one of your air pods fell out within the term length, which is about 90 days of purchase, you can literally file a claim with American Express and they will most likely reimburse you for losing your iPods.

It's pretty incredible. As far as the annual fee, this card does come with a $150 annual fee. Yikes.

But remember $240 worth of dining credits. So if we do the math 250 minus 240 you're only paying dollars $10.

For this absolute top-to-your-card dimension. It's very very golden very very shiny. The American Express gold for me personally as far as verdict is a one of my top travel cards as well as one of my favourite cards for 2023.

 

3 BUSINESS AMERICAN EXPRESS CARDS

We're going to talk about three business American Express cards. Now the one thing I want to do make clear about business cards is the fact that you don't really need a business to open them.

Which I know sounds super weird. But here's what I mean by that. When I say you don't need a business, what I mean is you do not need an LLC or corporation, none of that really you can just be a Social Security operating as a sole prop and just apply for a business card.

A lot of the benefits of business cards come from the fact that a they don't show up on your personal credit report.

And you're building business credit and you're getting a bonus effectively quote unquote twice, right?

A lot of personal cards with heavy business flavor to kind of double up the number of points you earn.

So don't feel like oh, you know if I've only ever sold things on eBay and my real business like yeah, you're a business or, I drive for Uber and DoorDash you know, can I be considered a business like no way you can.

 

AMERICAN EXPRESS BUSINESS CARDS LIST

So, let’s see what are the best trending business cards. A complete list will be given for beginners.

 

1#- AMERICAN EXPRESS AMAZON BUSINESS PRIME

 

The first business card on the list is the American Express Amazon business prime.

This card comes with a phenomenal signup bonus you get $125 gift card to amazon.com just for signing up.

And as far as earnings, this card earns you cashback. You will earn 5% cashback for purchases made at Amazon businesses.

What does that mean? AWS amazon.com Whole Foods earning 5% cash back for a limit of $120,000 of spend in one year.

You will also earn 2% cashback on restaurants, gas stations, and wireless phone services and 1% cashback on all others.

As far as benefits for this card, you get things like purchase protection, an extended warranty, which a lot of American Express cards come from and the annual fee for this card is $0 a year where I really see the benefit of this card is the fact that you can get an Amazon card without having to burn one of your Chase 524 slots.

See on the personal side. The only way to get an Amazon card is actually through Chase.

A lot of people when they get into the credit card games, they really want to preserve their 524 slots basically meaning you're having less than five cards opened in the past 24 months.

If chases you've had more than five cards open 24 months, they're gonna automatically deny you.

So if you open up this card, Chase can't see that and you still get all the benefits of an Amazon card. Hopefully, that made sense.

 

#2 -AMERICAN EXPRESS BLUE BUSINESS

Next up, we have the American Express blue business. Plus this card comes with a 15,000 points signup bonus after spending $3,000.

In the first three months, as far as earnings, this card is super straightforward. 2% cash back everything up to $50,000 in one year.

Benefits for American Express blue business card are kind of the standard AIMEX benefits, right things like the purchase protection and so forth.

But really where this card shines is the fact that it's a 2% cashback hedge-all card. Meaning if you're thinking about building something like it American Express trifecta, right where you having an American Express platinum, gold.

The blue business Plus is a phenomenal catch-all at 2% for everything. The other reason I like this card is the fact that American Express is actually pretty easy to get approved for small businesses.

So if you're looking for your first business card, and you're thinking, oh, you know, should I get a chase Inc.

So on and so forth, it can be a little bit challenging. So I always say go the path of least resistance, get an Amex business card, you know, kind of build your credit, figure out how you're using it for your small business and kind of once you get good at that, then go ahead and scale up and get a better or a top tier business card. And with that, let's transition into a top tier business card.

3#- AMERICAN EXPRESS BUSINESS PLATINUM

And the third business card we have on the list is the American Express business platinum.

This one is an absolute doozy. Now you're going to see a signup bonus anywhere from 100 to 125, all the way up to $150,000.

After spending $15,000 Within the first sometimes three, sometimes I've seen extend up to six months, whatever it is, you're spending a lot of money for that signup bonus, but it is a pretty big signup bonus.

Now as far as earnings, the American Express business platinum is going to earn membership reward points, not cashback.

So you will earn five membership reward points for every dollar you spend booking travel or hotels directly with Amex travel, you also earn 1.5 membership reward points for every dollar that you spend at US construction material and hardware suppliers, US electronic goods retailers and software and cloud system providers, you will also earn 1.5 membership reward points for every single purchase over $5,000. And one point per dollar spent everywhere else.

BENEFITS OF THE AMERICAN EXPRESS BUSINESS PLATINUM

Next up we have benefits now with the American Express business platinum there are but tonne of benefits.

So we're gonna start first with the credits. So business credits, you're gonna get a $400 credit to doubt every year a $360 credit to indeed a $150 credit to Adobe in a $120 wireless credit that you can use against your phone bill.

You will also get travel credits, you get a $200 airline incidental credit, which arguably I don't really think is that useful, you will also be getting a $189 credit to clear.

In addition, you'll get a $100 credit to Global Entry slash TSA PreCheck I recommend getting Global Entry, which gives you TSA PreCheck.

I know people in the comment section gonna say Oh, but the interviews are so long meaning the wait times for interviews, what I recommend is I think you can do interviews upon arrival in the United States.

That's just a little pro tip, you'll also get 35% of the points that you spend back if you redeem for travel through the AMEX travel portal using your membership reward points.

So if you use the 100,000 points to book a trip, you will get 35,000 of those points back. This card will also give you gold status at Marriott as well as Hilton Hotels.

In addition to all of those credits, there is kind of the standard par for the course AIMEX benefits we've talked about previously, such as purchase protection, right that covers things like loss items, return protection when someone's just not going to take back the returned item or things like an extended warranty that extends your standard manufacturer warranty by up to one year.

And so this all gets neatly wrapped into an annual fee of $695. Ouch. But remember, we've got so many credits to offset it.

And honestly, I think these credits are actually useful if you actually running a business using the American Express business platinum.

So the credits that we're going to use to offset it are the $40 from Dell, the $360 credit from indeed the $150 credit from Adobe as well as the $120 Wireless credit, you subtract all of that, and guess what you end up with $335 net positive back in your pocket in a year.

You just got paid 335 Shiny dollars to have an American Express business platinum. Not to mention this card is gonna give you lounge access to Centurion lounge access the Lufthansa lounge.

It's an incredible card and the fact that you're gonna get paid for it is amazing.

Alright, so those are all the business cards. So what's the next category we have? Thanks category we have is just kind of honourable mentions but not really honourable mentions but I do want to call them out as being halfway decent American Express cards. So the first two I'm gonna wrap them together are going to be the American Express as Marriott cards.

MARRIOTT BUSINESS BOND BOY CARD

There's a Marriott bonvoy. Brilliant, as well as the Marriott business bond boy card.

Now both these cards are useful for one thing and one thing only getting you 30 elite night credits to Marriott.

So I actually have both of them. And so every year to qualify for Marriott platinum status, which is really where you started seeing benefits, you need to stay 50 Nights.

Guess what, by having both American Express's personal as well as business Marriott card, you automatically get 30 elite night credits, meaning you only have to spend 20 nights to qualify for Marriott platinum status.

The next card I think is an honourable mention. Again, not really, it's gonna shock some of you is the American Express Platinum, but the personal flavour of it.

The reason I think the personal flavour is just really not that worth it. But I should mention it largely due to the fact that you get a signup bonus of anywhere from 100 to 125,000 points because it takes so much to extract value out of the card.

Unlike the business platinum where I think the value is upfront for those credits. The personal platinum is honestly a little bit like an overweighted coupon book that I don't think you're going to get much value out of, but I have to mention it because for select users, those who are travelling through Centurion lounge airports, those who are business travelers.

That are booking flights with their card, and of course those who are just looking for that first year signup bonus, it is worth it.

But for year two and three, it's probably not a card that I would hang on to if I don't fall squarely into one of those categories I described above.

And I believe that wraps the article, I hope you took something away from this article. Maybe you saw an Amex card that you might be interested in.

Maybe you saw all the cards that you already have, and you're well on your way. Well, congratulations on that respect for all the cards that I talked about today.

Conclude – Here, I have explained in full detail which is the best American Express credit card personal card, and business card in 2022-2023 for all with its hidden signup bonuses, and benefits.   

Thanks for reading.

God bless you.