Compare the Features and Benefits of American Express® Green Card and
Bilt Palladium Card

American Express seems to have positioned the Green Card to more directly compete with high performing mid-tier cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Citi Strata Premier® card, offering a few more direct benefits than each of them in exchange for a $150 annual fee (vs. $95 on those other cards). (Rates and Fees)

The American Express Green Card is a Powerhouse for Travel, Transit and Dining

Whereas the American Express Platinum Card® is all about the benefits (elite statuses, statement credits galore, etc), the American Express® Green Card is all about the 3X Membership Rewards points on all things travel (including Transit!) plus 3X on dining – all for a relatively low annual fee of just $150 (Rates and Fees). It’s great for frequent travelers, especially if you don’t already have a card that earns at least 3X on travel purchases.

And it does have a benefit that can cover the annual fee. If you don’t have access to CLEAR (which lets you go ahead of most other people at airport security in select airports / terminals), this card will cover $209 in CLEAR fees.

It’s worth considering this card in combination with other American Express cards. One solid Trifecta that maximizes points would be an Amex Gold Card, an Amex Green Card, and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. You’d use the Gold for restaurants worldwide (4X up to $50,000 a year; 1X thereafter) and U.S. Supermarkets* (4X up to $25,000 a year; 1X thereafter) the Green for 3X points on travel and transit, and the Blue Business Plus for 2X on other eligible purchases (up to $50,000 a year; 1X Membership Rewards points per dollar thereafter).

In another Trifecta replace the Gold Card with a Platinum Card and enjoy all the perks and benefits of the Platinum card while putting all non-airfare travel and transit charges on the Green Card and the rest on your Blue Business Plus.

In short, I don’t think anyone should have the Green Card as their sole credit card, but I do think it has a nice place among a handful of American Express cards that earn Membership Rewards points.

Keep in mind that American Express Membership Rewards points never expire and combine among all of your Membership Rewards-earning cards. All points earned from various American Express cards have the same transfer partners.

The Amex Green Card Functions as a Credit Card

The Amex Green card is part of the same family of Amex proprietary cards formerly referred to as charge cards. However, the Green Card has a built-in Pay Over Time feature, making it function in many ways as any other standard credit card. Unlike a typical credit card, the Green Card allows you to carry a balance for certain charges, but not all.

What this means: Amex generally limits a cardmember to 5 credit cards (personal and small business combined), while they have a limit of 10 on proprietary Amex cards (formerly known as Charge).  This means that even if you already have 5 Amex credit cards, you would still be eligible for a Green Card.

Bonus Eligibility: They still state that if you had the Green Card before, you are not eligible for a welcome bonus on this card. So you’ll be eligible if you have less than 10 Amex charge cards and have never had the Amex Green card before.

Rates and Fees for the American Express® Green Card

The Bilt Palladium Card is designed to be the only card you need, and while some people carry lots of credit cards with various bonus categories, some people prefer simplicity and this card is easily one of the most rewarding cards for all spend with no bonus categories to think about.

Your Best Credit Cards values Bilt Rewards points at 1.8 cents each, although the personal value you get from each point may be higher or lower. With 2X points earned on all eligible purchases, you are earning an approximate value of 3.6% worth of Bilt Rewards plus another 4% in Bilt Cash on top.

Of course, most know Bilt for the ability to pay your rent and mortgage with the card. You’ll be able to earn points for paying any personal rent or mortgage with this card. Simply redeem the Bilt Cash you earn from all of your non-rent spend to earn 1X points on  your rent or mortgage payment, which has no transaction fees. Applying $30 worth of Bilt Cash for every $1,000 in rent or mortgage payments paid will earn you points on that portion of the rent or mortgage payment, up to the full amount. You can redeem Bilt Cash for all or part of your payment.

Bilt Palladium Card

Although there is a $495 annual fee, it’s hundreds of dollars less than some other premium credit cards and you can full offset the annual fee using the annual credits:

• $400 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. Applied twice a year, as $200 statement credits, for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.
• $200 Bilt Cash (awarded annually). At the end of each calendar year, any Bilt Cash balance over $100 will expire.

You can use that Bilt Cash towards transaction fees on rent or mortgage, but you have options. You can also redeem Bilt Cash for dollar-for-dollar value toward fitness classes, hotel bookings, Home Delivery orders, Lyft rides, and more.

Bilt Point redemptions include airlines, hotels, future rent and mortgage payments, Lyft rides, statement credits, student loan balances, a down payment on a home, and more.

We love Bilt Rewards for their strong list of transfer partners which include World of Hyatt, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and JAL Mileage Bank, among many others as mentioned above. You can also get 1.25 cents per point in value simply by redeeming Bilt points in their travel portal and they even offer “direct bookings” that offer loyalty benefits despite being a third party booking. Just look for “Member Rate” or “Home Away From Home” labels when searching hotels or “Direct Book” when searching flights.

And as you would expect with a premium travel card, the Bilt Palladium Card comes with Priority Pass airport lounge membership.

Authorized user cards are $95 and these come with their own Priority Pass membership.

If the annual fee is too high for you, you can also consider the Bilt Blue and Bilt Obsidian credit cards. They have less in the way benefits and earn rate, but they still earn Bilt Rewards points!