Compare the Features and Benefits of Iberia Visa Signature® Card and
American Express® Green Card

Beyond a generous sign up bonus, the Iberia credit card earns 3x Avios points on Iberia, British Airways, LEVEL, and Aer Lingus and 2x Avios per dollar spent on hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel.

Avios can be shared between any Avios program, which also includes Qatar Airways (home of the QSuite) and you can redeem Iberia Avios for award tickets on oneworld airlines like American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and more.

The sweetest sweet spot on the Iberia award chart is a 34,000 point one way flight in Business Class to/from the Eastern US and Madrid or Barcelona on off peak dates. That’s just 68,000 miles round trip. You’d need to leave from New York or Boston to get this deal.

Most importantly, you’ll get 10% off all round trip Iberia flights. (Must book through a special website provided with your new card and be the one traveling.)

And then, when you spend $30,000 in a calendar year, you’ll get a voucher in the form of a code that can be applied by a Cardmember for a discount of $1,000 when purchasing 2 tickets, for the same flights in the same class of travel.

If you fly Iberia frequently, this airline credit card can be interesting, f not just for the 10% discount on Iberia flights. However, if you don’t fly Iberia frequently, there are going to be other credit cards that offer you more flexibility.

Keep in mind, if we are only talking about the value of the points you’ll earn from spend on the card, that the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card also earns 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card points on these airlines and on all airlines, hotels and other travel and can even be transferred to Avios if needed – as well as a range of other travel partners, like World of Hyatt which offers excellent and outsized value. A Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card would earn 2X Ultimate Rewards points on all travel.

In short, the card will pay dividends for a frequent purchaser of Iberia tickets, but you may not want to be limited to Avios over a credit card with flexible and transferable points.

If you don’t primarily fly Iberia, you might want to look at other airline credit cards or bank cards with transferable points.

Keep in mind that Iberia Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity, though that won’t be a problem if you are spending on this credit card!

Note: You will only be approved for a Chase card like the Iberia Visa card if you have applied for fewer than 5 personal credit cards within the last 24 months from any issuer. (Business cards do not count against the total, except for Capital One Spark Miles and Discover, but are subject to the policy).

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 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 The Platinum Card® from American Express 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 couple of benefits 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 $189 in CLEAR fees which is enough for a whole family to have a membership. And you also get up to $100 in credits for airport lounge access with LoungeBuddy.

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 Dining and U.S. Supermarkets, 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