I Ranked EVERY AmEx Credit Card… Here’s What's Actually Good

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]American Express, a credit card issuer that oozes luxury. But, is that all just for show? Are their credit cards just glorified coupon books? To settle this, I've decided to rank all 14 of American Express's [music] personal credit cards to filter out the bad from the good. I will start with the no annual fee cards and work my way up to the highest annual fee cards, taking into consideration things like welcome offers, point earning potential, and overall benefits and perks. So, let's kick this video off with the first no annual fee credit card, the Blue Cash Everyday. This card comes with a modest $200 cash back after spending $2,000 in the first 6 months.

[00:00:34]So, nothing crazy, but also not a very high spending requirement. Now, like the name indicates, this is a strictly cash back credit card, which can only be redeemed as a statement credit. So, there are no Amex Membership Rewards points to be earned here, but that doesn't mean there's not good value. The card offers 3% cash back on groceries, online retail, and gas up to the first $6,000 in each category with 1% back on everything else. Now, this is pretty solid, but in comparison to another cash back card, the Robinhood Gold Card that earns 3% cash back on everything, this isn't quite as good. However, the Blue Cash Everyday does come with an $84 Disney streaming credit, broken up into $7 monthly credits, and honestly, having a credit on a no annual fee card is great, especially if you're already planning on getting Disney Plus.

[00:01:21]Overall, the card is pretty average, and for that reason, I'm going to put the Blue Cash Everyday in C tier. Moving on to the next no annual fee card, we have the Hilton Honors American Express Card, which is the entry-level Hilton Honors card. This card comes with a welcome offer of 80,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $2,000 in the first 6 months. This might sound like more than it really is because Hilton points are actually only worth about 0.5 cents per point, meaning this is around $400 in value, but that's still pretty solid considering there is no annual fee, and the minimum spend is pretty low. As for the earning categories on this card, it earns 7x on Hilton stays, 5x on dining, groceries, and gas, and 3x on everything else. If you're valuing your Hilton points at 0.5 cents per point, that works out to roughly 3.5, 2.5, and 1.5% back in those respective categories, which again are in pretty useful categories. This card does grant you silver status with Hilton, which doesn't really help with much other than it gives you the access to Hilton's fifth-night free when you book a four-night stay, which can be nice. I think this card can be great as an entry into Hilton points. It could just provide some extra points with the sign-on bonus, but outside of that, it's all right. So, for all of those reasons, I will put it in C tier. Next up, we have the no annual fee Delta SkyMiles Blue card, which offers 10,000 bonus miles after $1,000 in spend in the first 6 months. As for earning multipliers, this card gets you 2x Delta miles on dining and Delta purchases, and 1x back on everything else. There aren't really any significant perks that come with this card, and since Delta SkyMiles, aka Delta Sky pesos, aren't worth that much, this card is going to be the first card down in F tier, since I can't really advise anybody to get it. Moving on into the low annual fee section, we have the Blue Cash Preferred card, and this card actually has no annual fee the first year, but it has a $95 annual fee thereafter. Again, like the Blue Cash Everyday, this is strictly a cash back card, and it offers $250 after spending 3,000 in the first 6 months, which is just all right for a card with a $95 annual fee. As for earning categories, this is where the card really excels with 6% back on groceries and streaming services, 3% back on transit and gas, and 1% back on everything else. This gives the Blue Cash Preferred some strong earning categories for people in team cashback. Then, like the Blue Cash Everyday, you get a Disney streaming credit, but this time it's for $120 a year, or $10 a month, so slightly more.

[00:03:44]Whether this helps to offset the annual fee is dependent on if you use Disney Plus or not, but it can be helpful.

[00:03:49]Overall, given that this is the stronger, better version of the Blue Cash Everyday, I will give this card a solid B2 ranking. Next up, we come to the Hilton Honors Surpass card, which has another no annual fee in the first year with a $150 annual fee thereafter.

[00:04:03]This card is kind of a mixed bag in my opinion. For starters, it has a really strong welcome offer of 130,000 points after spending $3,000 in the first 6 months, which is roughly $650 in value.

[00:04:14]When it comes to the multipliers, this earns 12x on Hilton purchases, 6x on dining, groceries, and gas, 4x on online retail, and 3x on everything else, making this a better earner than the regular Hilton Honors card we discussed earlier. The card also comes with complimentary gold status, which is nice to have, and a $200 Hilton credit split up into $50 quarterly credits. To really get the full value though of that credit, you would need to be staying at Hilton hotels pretty regularly, but it is possible. You can also get a free night certificate if you put 15k in spend on this card in a year, but that's pretty extreme if you're trying to spread your spending across multiple cards to maximize value. So, for all of those reasons, I will put the Surpass card in A-tier. The next card on the list is the Delta SkyMiles Gold card, which likewise has a $0 annual fee in the first year with a $150 annual fee thereafter. The welcome offer is 50,000 Delta miles after spending $2,000 in the first 6 months, which is decent. As for earning multipliers, this card earns 2x on dining and groceries and Delta purchases and 1x back on everything else. As for credits, there's a $100 Delta stays credit and a $200 flight credit, but that is only if you spend $10,000 in the year on this card. One of the best perks about this card if you're a Delta frequent flyer is that it gives you your first checked bag free, which can really end up saving you a lot if you're consistently checking bags. So, despite having some pretty poor spending multipliers, I think the other perks and benefits actually make this quite a good travel credit card for certain travelers. So, I'm going to rank it in B-tier. Now, we move on to one of Amex's most controversial cards, which is the Green card. This is the first card which we will talk about which earns Amex Membership Rewards points, which gives you access to all of Amex's great airline and hotel partners. Meaning that if you are into the travel credit card game, this card can start to provide great value when redeeming for travel instead of cash back. The card comes with a modest $150 annual fee, which does put it slightly more expensive than some of the comparable cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Capital One Venture card. The multipliers are more geared toward travelers with 3x on travel, transit, and dining, and 1x on everything else. Standard welcome offer is just 40,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $3,000 in the first 6 months, which again, when comparing it to the competition, it's not great.

[00:06:22]Something it does offer which might be of use is a $290 Clear credit. However, a lot of other cards also offer this, so the usefulness of this depends on whether or not you want any of those cards instead. And this is my main gripe with the Green card, it's that it seems like such a mixed bag that doesn't seem to make sense for most people. However, I think for some people this card could be useful, but that's pretty limited.

[00:06:43]The card is crying out for a refresh.

[00:06:45]So, with that being said, I'm going to rank it all the way down in D tier. The next card on our list comes from a different hotel chain, which is the Marriott Bonvoy Bavy. The card has a $250 annual fee, so let's see what you're going to get for that price.

[00:06:58]Starting with a welcome bonus, which is to earn 85,000 Bonvoy points after spending $5,000 in the first 6 months and another $50,000 after spending an additional 2K in the same 6 months. I like to compare this to a Marriott co-branded card with Chase, the Bonvoy Boundless, which is well known for having a limited time offer of five free night awards up to 50K points each, so roughly 250,000 points if you max that out. For a card just with $95 in an annual fee. So, in comparison, this is far worse for a card with a $150 higher annual fee. Then, for multipliers, you're getting 6x points on Marriott hotels, which stacks with the 12.5x points you get for being Marriott Gold status that this card offers, which results in a total of points per dollar on Marriott purchases.

[00:07:43]Outside of that, you will earn 4x points at restaurants and US supermarkets, and 2x on everything else. For perks, you get Marriott Gold status, which I mentioned earlier, and that's all right, and then 15 qualifying nights towards the next level of status, which is platinum. The thing that sucks about this is it's an additional 35 more nights to reach that tier, so even with this card, you're still pretty far off.

[00:08:03]So, for the simple fact that this card has a $250 annual fee, but doesn't offer all that much, I'm going to put this card in D tier as well. Next we move on to one of Amex's most popular, most discussed credit cards, which is the Gold card. This card has a $325 annual fee, so we're really starting to creep up in that more premium credit card price point. So, to make it worth it, this card has to offer a lot, and it comes out the gate strong with a welcome offer of as high as 100,000 points after spending 8K in the first 6 months. And when it says as high as, that means that Amex will determine what bonus to offer you when you apply, but you do get to see the offer before accepting and before they make a credit inquiry. And since Amex welcome offers are usually once-in-a-lifetime, I would hold out until you get that maximum of 100,000 points. The Amex Gold card really starts to excel in the earning categories with 4x Membership Rewards points on restaurants and US supermarkets, 3x on flights booked directly with airlines, 5x on hotels booked through the Amex travel portal, and 2x on prepaid car rentals through the Amex portal, and 1x on everything else. The food categories alone tend to be some of the largest chunks of the average person's budget, so these multipliers are quite elite.

[00:09:12]The card also does come with $484 of credits that I think generally are pretty easy to use in my opinion. Others may disagree though, so look at them yourself to determine whether it's worth it for you. But with that being said, I think this is one of the strongest credit cards out there, and most people can easily far offset the annual fee with its features and multipliers, and to me, easily makes it an S tier card.

[00:09:33]Next up we have the Delta SkyMiles Platinum, which has a slightly higher $350 annual fee. The welcome bonus is 60,000 Delta miles after spending $3,000 in the first 6 months, which is pretty solid. The earning categories, on the other hand, are pretty lackluster with 3x on Delta and hotel purchases, 2x on dining and groceries, and 1x on everything else. However, with this card, most of the value is actually going to come with the credits and benefits that it offers. It gives you $150 in Delta stays credits, $120 Resy credits, $120 in rideshare credits, a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit, and a free first checked bag on Delta flights, which even if you can't get use out of all of these, you probably can use at least a couple of them. Then, additionally, you will also get a companion certificate, which alone can maybe set off the annual fee for you.

[00:10:19]You then also get Hertz Five Star status and get added to the complimentary upgrade list for when those are available. So, this card is really great, [music] especially if Delta's your preferred airline, and I think for all that it offers, this card belongs up in S tier. Next, we come to the Hilton Honors Aspire card, which comes with a whopping $550 annual fee. The welcome offer varies, but can regularly be found for anywhere between 150 and 175,000 Hilton Honors points after spending 6K in 6 months. With the value of Hilton Honors points, this is roughly $1,000 in value, so in year one alone, you're coming out on top from just the welcome offer. When it comes to Hilton purchases, you will earn 14x points on top of the 20x points you already get for your Hilton Honors status, meaning this card gets you 34x back on Hilton hotels. You will also earn 7x back on select travel and dining, and 3x on everything else. As for benefits, you will get Hilton Diamond status, which makes this the only credit card to give you top tier hotel status, and you will get $400 in semi-annual Hilton resort credits, $200 in quarterly flight credits, and a Clear credit, and best of all, the premium feature of this card, a free night certificate. This free night award is uncapped, which means it can be used at any Hilton, which easily could be $3,000 in value at one of their nicest properties, which is just insane to me. So, with that alone, it becomes a keeper card for many, and stacking that with everything else, we are going to get another S tier credit card. Moving on to another hotel card, we have the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, coming in with an annual fee of $650.

[00:11:50]You are earning 6X back on Marriott properties on top of the 15X from the Platinum Elite status that this card gives you, making this 21X back on Marriott. Then, on top of that, you will get 3X on restaurant and flights, 2X on everything else. As for credits, it comes with a $25 monthly dining credit and a free night award every year after your account anniversary that can be used on a room up to 85,000 points a night. So, since this does have a cap, it makes it a little bit worse than that Hilton Aspire award, but it's still in pretty solid overall. When we're looking at the credit and free night award, as well as the status, I think this card belongs in A tier. Next up, we have the Delta SkyMiles Reserve, which has a $650 annual fee, as well. The card has a welcome offer of 70,000 miles after spending 5K in the first 6 months, but sometimes there are much higher offers of around 120,000 miles, which I would definitely hold out for. The earning categories are pretty weak, with 3X on Delta purchases and 1X on everything else. However, it comes with a ton of benefits like a $240 Resy credit, $200 Delta stays credit, $120 ride share credit, annual companion certificate, access to Delta Sky Clubs 15 times per year, access to Centurion lounges, upgrade priority, free first checked bag, TSA PreCheck Global Entry credits, and Hertz President's Circle status. So, clearly, this card is packed with benefits, and the usefulness largely depends on you, but because there's such a wide variety, some people can get great use out of it. With that being said, though, I think in terms of overall value, the Delta Platinum card is the better option for most people, which I put in S tier. So, I think I will drop this one down to B tier, but for certain people, it could be great.

[00:13:27]And finally, that brings us to the most famous Amex card of all, the Platinum Card. This card comes with a massive $895 annual fee, which puts it at the top of the pedestal for annual fees. So, what does it offer to offset that?

[00:13:40]First, it has an amazing sign-up bonus of as high as 175,000 miles after spending 12K in the first 6 months. So, clearly, this card is geared towards higher spenders, but the value from those points can easily be over $3,500 in free travel when transferred to hotel or airline partners. The earning categories are pretty simple with 5x on flights booked directly with airlines, 5x with hotels booked through Amex, and 1x on everything else. However, if you're getting this card, it's not going to be for the multipliers, it will be because of all of its credits and benefits, which are advertised as more than $3,500 in value. I will real quickly rattle these off. There's $600 in fine hotel and resorts credits, access to Centurion and Priority Pass lounges, $200 in Uber Cash, $120 in Uber One credits, $200 in airline incidental credits, a Clear credit, TSA PreCheck and Global Entry credit, Marriott Gold Elite status, Hilton Gold status, and rental car privileges with Avis, Hertz, and National. [music] So, you need to determine if these credits and benefits make sense to you, but for me personally, these are decent, but they aren't all no-brainers, and because of that massive $895 annual fee, I'm going to knock it down slightly to B tier.

[00:14:49]However, if it fits your spending as with any of these cards, you might find it even better. So, that rounds out our list of the 14 personal Amex cards available. And if you found this one interesting, please consider subscribing and checking out this video over here.