The Old $95 Annual Fee Amex Green Card Still Exists
The American Express Green Card was the original Amex charge card that was introduced back in 1958. It is still relevant and a good product, even though it doesn’t have the same status. The Amex Green card was refreshed in 2019. The annual fee went up to $150. The card earns now 3x on travel and restaurants and has some other benefits as well.
But apparently the Traditional Green Card is still available and it is a different card than the current Amex Green Card you can apply for. I was given the option to downgrade to the Traditional Green Card during a retention chat for my current Amex Green Card. It still has a $95 annual fee, but with a twist.
“There is always an option to change the card product to a lower annual fee traditional green card,” the rep said. It has a “$55 annual fee with the option to add the Membership Rewards Program for an additional $40 per year.” The extra $40 would let you enroll in the Individual Membership Rewards program and earn points for all eligible purchases. Otherwise the card would just earn cashback.
How much it earns? It’s 1X on all purchases and 2x through Amex Travel. As for benefits, you don’t get much either besides some purchase protections. So the existence of this card is just interesting, but not really exciting. Even before the refresh to the current Amex Green Card, it was really just a downgrade option, and not much else. Rarely we saw a 25,000 Membership Rewards bonus as well.
Guru’s Wrap-up
I was given the option to downgrade my Amex Green Card to the Traditional Green Card which is apparently still available in two versions. The other offer I was given during my retention chat was $125 credit with $2,000 spending. I turned them both down and closed my card since I haven’t used it in a while now.
