Best American Express Cards
Who’s this for? If you’re whipping up a new recipe, refueling your car or streaming your favorite TV show, it’s a good idea to consider a card that rewards those purchases. The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express is a great choice for anyone who regularly stocks up on groceries or pays for streaming subscriptions since the cash-back program is tailored to those purchases.
The card’s spending categories are:
- 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases
- 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions
- 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations
- 3% cash back on transit
- 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases.
The list of eligible streaming subscriptions is longer than most cards and includes Netflix, Spotify, Disney+ and more. Learn more about how Amex classifies bonus category purchases.
In addition to rewards, you can take advantage of a 0% intro APR for 12 months from the date of account opening, then a 15.49% – 25.49% variable APR applies. .
This card has $95 annual fee , but it can be offset by the cash back you earn and discounts you can get through the Amex Offers. There’s also a no-annual-fee version, the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express.
Is It Worth Getting A Southwest Credit Card
Getting a Southwest credit card can be worth it when you fly Southwest Airlines on a regular basis. Each purchase earns Rapid Rewards points. You redeem these points for Southwest award flights.
There are three different personal Southwest credit cards. The top-tier Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card has a $149 annual fee. Although this fee is relatively steep, its worth it if you use the $75 annual Southwest travel credit and the 4 Upgraded Bookings. You also get 7,500-anniversary points each card renewal.
The other two Southwest credit cards are good if you only want a card that earns Rapid Rewards points or has an annual fee below $100. Keep in mind that your effective annual fee with the Priority Card can actually be less once you redeem the $75 annual Southwest travel credit.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card $69 annual fee and 3,000-anniversary points
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How We Chose The Best Amex Credit Cards
After going through details for each specific card, lets now discuss our overall approach to this analysis and how we chose the best Amex cards. I started by selecting what I believe to be the best American Express credit cards on the market today based on the type of card, the benefits offered, the cost of card membership and more. Then I divided those cards into four categories:
Then, within each category, I broke down the individual perks of each card using the following criteria:
- Welcome offer.
- Annual fee.
- Temporary benefits .
Finally, I tried to provide some context for each card and suggest to whom it might appeal based on a variety of factors, including spending habits, travel patterns and desired rewards. As always, you likely have your own criteria for these decisions, but hopefully, this analysis helps you get a jump start on your research for choosing the right card for you.
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Best Travel And Luxury Card
Who’s this for? If you’re looking to travel in luxury and benefit from high rewards on eligible airfare and hotel expenses, consider The Platinum Card® from American Express. This card offers 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel , 5X points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel and 1X points on all other purchases.
In addition to rewards, cardholders can benefit from up to $200 in annual airline fee credits to cover incidentals, such as baggage fees, seat upgrades and in-flight purchases. If you fly often, there’s another money-saving perk that can allow you to speed through security an application fee credit for Global Entry every 4 years or TSA PreCheck every 4.5 years. And if you want even more flexibility to choose between expedited security programs, the card also comes with a $189 annual credit to enroll in CLEAR®.
You can take advantage of Global Lounge Collection access with more than 1,200 airport lounges across 130+ countries and special benefits at Fine Hotels & Resorts properties, such as up to a $100 hotel property credit, complimentary room upgrades when available and free Wi-Fi. The card even offers $200 back in statement credits each year on select prepaid hotel bookings.
Citi Credit Score Requirements:

If youre not sure which Citi credit card youll be able to qualify for, its easy to get pre-qualified for a credit card online. Citi might also send a pre-qualified credit card offer to potential customers. But while this increases your chances for approval, it does not guarantee it. If you have received such an offer, visit Citis web page and enter your invitation code and last name to apply.
Also, keep in mind that applying for a Citi or any other credit card triggers hard inquiries and can temporarily lower your score – the more inquiries over a short period of time, the more damage to your score. So its best to know where you stand before applying for any credit card. You can check your credit score and track your progress for free, right here on WalletHub.
Does Citi do a hard pull?
A Citibank credit card application is always succeeded by a hard inquiry on your credit report. This will cause a slight dip in your credit score, but if you keep making the minimum monthly payments and you maintain a low credit utilization, it should bounce back in no time.
You can track the changes of yourread full answer on WalletHub, and you can learn more about soft and hard inquiries and their impact on your credit score here.
What credit bureau does Citi use for approval?
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Does American Express Do A Hard Pull For Existing Customers
Most of the time when you apply for a new line of credit, American Express or any other lender you apply to will pull your most recent credit history. This is known as a hard pull and can temporarily ding your credit score.
Some issuers, including American Express, offer a pre-qualification tool to see if youre likely to qualify based on a softcredit check. Amex will review your credit history and income to see if you fit the target market for a particular card. If you arent going to fit their criteria, they will let you know without affecting your credit.
Know that prequalifying is not the same as preapproval and youll still have to apply for a card even if you prequalify. Applying may impact your credit score if the issuer does a hard pull of your credit.
Check For Offers On Cardmatch
One place to check for American Express prequalified and preapproved offers is on CardMatch, a tool offered here on CreditCards.com. You just need to enter basic personal information such as your name and address, as well as the last four digits of your social security number to check your offers.
When you check for prequalified card offers on CardMatch, it does not trigger a hard pull to your credit. Instead, offers are extended based on a soft pull meaning you dont have to worry about hurting your score.
Once you enter the requested information, youll be able to view a full list of prequalified and preapproved card offers plus other suggestions for you from American Express, as well as many other card issuers.
Tip: You might be able to qualify for a targeted offer for a higher introductory offer when you apply for an American Express card through CardMatch.
Many card issuers use the terms prequalified and preapproved interchangeably, but Amex distinguishes between the two. When you check CardMatch, you might see a banner that refers to an offer as either prequalified or preapproved.
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A Featured Credit Card For Non
If you prefer dining out or are frequently on the road, the American Express® Gold Card has rewards that will align with your usual spending. Youâll earn Membership Rewards points with your purchases, which you can redeem in a variety of ways, such as for cash back, gift cards, or to book travel. The options are usually using your points to book travel through American Express or transferring your points to airline or hotel loyalty programs.
What Is An Incognito Offer
Occasionally, American Express will target first-time visitors to their website with a bigger welcome bonus. You can try to trigger these offers by using a new web browser session, device, or IP address. Incognito offers are very common in the US, and theyve recently started to make appearances in Canada.
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Try For The Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Instead
If your score is near or above 670, you can also consider trying for the mid-tier Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card. This card has a $99 annual fee and has a 6,000-point anniversary bonus. The other card benefits are similar to the Plus card. You will need to decide if the extra 3,000 points are worth the additional $30 fee.
One data point for the Premier from November 2019 states an application was approved with a 660 credit score. Their initial card limit was $9,500.
What Makes A Credit Card Easy To Get
Secured cards are the easiest category of credit to be approved for because of their required security deposit. The deposit protects the card issuer if you miss a payment.
Some secured cards can be obtained without a credit check, providing nearly instant approval for anyone who meets the basic eligibility criteria. Two secured cards that dont run a credit check include the Secured Sable ONE Credit Card and OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card.
Sable is a cash rewards credit card, which means eligible purchases earn cash back rewards, and it also offers one of the lowest APRs of any credit card.
This is in stark contrast to unsecured cards for bad credit, which are not only harder to get approved for, but they charge excessive fees and offer few perks you wont see any balance transfer or intro APR deals with these cards.
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The Platinum Card From American Express: Best For High
Welcome offer: Earn 100,000 points after you spend $6,000 on purchases on the card in the first six months of card membership.
Select applicants may be targeted for an incredible 125,000- or 150,000-point welcome offer by checking the CardMatch Tool .
Earning rate: Earn 5 points per dollar on flights booked directly with airlines or with Amex Travel , 1 point per dollar everywhere else.
Annual fee: $695 .
Why we chose it: The Amex Platinum was the original premium travel rewards card, although this landscape is now quite competitive especially since the annual fee is now $695 Nevertheless, the card does offer solid value that even a semifrequent traveler can appreciate. Additionally, unlike typical cards, the card allows you to carry a balance for certain charges, but not all. The up to $1,400+ in annual credits for prepaid hotels,Equinox,Clear membership, select digital entertainment programs, incidental fees on airlines, Uber trips and more effectively reduce the annual fee, and the earning rate on tickets booked directly with an airline makes it an attractive card for airfare purchases, especially given that TPG values Amex points at a solid 2 cents apiece. .
*Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
Platinum Card From American Express

The Platinum Card® from American Express is a favorite among travelers, and for good reason. It has a luxurious lineup of benefits and rewards, which makes up for the eye-popping $695 annual fee.
For starters, youll earn a welcome bonus of 100,000 Membership Rewards points after spending at least $6,000 on purchases within the first 6 months of account opening.
Plus, the rewards rate is pretty good youll earn
- 5 points per $1 spent on flights booked through an airline or at AmexTravel.com on up to $500,000 spent per calendar year
- 5 points per $1 spent at prepaid hotels booked on AmexTravel.com
- 1 point per $1 spent on purchases elsewhere
You can redeem points for travel purchases, statement credits, gift cards and more.
Even if you dont spend a lot on travel, you can still get a lot of value out of the cards other benefits, such as up to $200 annually in Uber Cash credits for U.S. Uber rides or Uber eats orders and access to more than 1,300 airport lounges worldwide through the Global Lounge Collection.
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Find Out Which Cashback Or Rewards Credit Card Is Best For You
Money to the Masses has teamed up with GoCompare to help find the best credit card for you. By entering a few simple details, you’ll be provided with a tailored list of the best credit cards based on your own preferences, including whether you would like to earn points or cashback. To make things even easier, the credit cards that have been pre-approved will be highlighted, meaning you can be confident that you’ll be accepted should you apply. Your details will be used for a soft credit search meaning your credit score will not be impacted. .
Which American Express Credit Card Has Easiest Approval
What credit score is needed for a American Express card?
There is no definitive answer to this question since credit scores vary from person to person. However, in general, you will likely need a credit score of at least 700 in order to be approved for an American Express card.
What is the minimum income for American Express?
There is no specific minimum income requirement for American Express cards. However, the company typically looks for applicants with good credit histories and incomes that can afford to make monthly payments on their credit card balances.
What FICO score does American Express use?
American Express typically uses a FICO score of 850 when considering a credit card applicant.
Can I get an Amex card with a 650 credit score?
You can get an Amex card with a 650 credit score, but you may not be approved for the best Amex cards if your score is that low. You may be able to get a card with a lower credit limit or a higher interest rate.
What credit does discover pull?
Discover pulls your credit report from all three of the major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. This is so they can get a complete picture of your credit history and score. This helps them determine whether or not you are a good candidate for one of their products.
What is a black card limit?
A black card limit is the maximum amount that can be charged on a black card.
Does applying for American Express hurt your credit score?Does Amex verify income?Why is my Amex declined?
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What Is The Easiest Credit Card To Get With Fair Credit
If you have fair credit, rather than no credit or bad credit, then you might have a different range of credit card options to choose from. Fair credit on the FICO credit scoring scale generally means a score between 580 and 669.
Here are some of the easiest credit cards to get with fair credit:
- Capital One Platinum Mastercard:The Capital One Platinum Mastercard is geared toward people with fair credit who are interested in improving their credit. This card has a $0 annual fee and includes access to CreditWise credit monitoring.
- Discover it Secured Card:The Discover it Secured Card can help with building or rebuilding credit. A security deposit is required, but it’s refundable. This card also has a cash-back rewards program.
- The Credit One Platinum Rewards Visa is designed for people with fair credit who are interested in earning rewards on purchases. Keep in mind this card does have an annual fee and a higher APR, which could make carrying a balance expensive.
Chase Freedom Flex And Chase Freedom Unlimited Accept Good Credit
When it comes to cards youll want to use every day, the Chase Freedom Flex card and its sibling, the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, have a lot going for them. Not only do the cards charge no annual fee, but they also earn solid rewards, come with attainable signup bonuses, and offer introductory 0% APR offers all in the same good-credit-friendly packages.
The simpler of the two cards, the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, offers a tiered cash back rewards system on travel, dining, and drugstore purchases plus a single flat-rate cash back reward on all other purchases, regardless of the category. Since the flat-rate rewards of the Chase Freedom Unlimited® are, well, unlimited, the card can be a good choice for those who dont make a lot of purchases in common bonus categories or who are looking for a higher flat rate on non-category purchases.
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Category purchases made with the Chase Freedom Flex over the quarterly purchase limit and all non-category or tiered purchases will earn an unlimited 1% cash back rewards. Additionally, while each quarter offers a main bonus category, several more niche categories may also be included. For example, Q1 of 2018 offers bonus rewards for gas station purchases, but also provides bonus rewards for certain utilities and digital payment services.
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