Welcome to the family, American Express® Gold Card.
The card’s welcome bonus is no longer available to members who hold or have held other Amex “family” products such as:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
- Premier Rewards Gold Card
- The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab
- The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley
- previous versions of these cards
The Platinum Card family “merged” a while ago — their welcome bonuses were no longer available to cardholders who held a different Platinum Card brand (i.e., Morgan Stanley Platinum Card members are no longer eligible for The Platinum Card®‘s welcome offer.)
Then we saw it recently with the Delta Amexes.
I did not see the “family” limitation on the American Express® Green Card.
I understand that Amex doesn’t want people signing up for cards just for welcome bonuses — only to cancel the cards less than a year later.
I’ve heard of plenty of people canceling their Delta Amex cards since SkyMiles 2025 was announced. Several folks still like Amex, Membership Rewards, and their Platinum Cards — even if Sky Club access is being drastically reduced — because of the premium lifestyle features and benefits. They asked me what a good course of action might be.
I told them that I use my Amex Gold Card for most restaurant and supermarket spending — because those categories earn 4X points. That’s a heck of a lot more than the 1X on their Platinum Cards. (And the Business Platinum’s 35% Pay With Points rebate I always talk about can be quite valuable.)
But just after Delta kicked in their teeth, now Amex apparently doesn’t want to reward them for staying a customer and spending money on a new card?
Don’t get me wrong: you can still apply for the cards. But you won’t be eligible for the welcome bonus, as per the terms.
Final Approach
American Express made a very un-friendly move by adding the Amex Gold Card to its family of un-welcome bonuses. For a company that apparently lost a bunch of Delta Amex cardholders, this is a dumb move.
H/T: Frequent Miler
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Coupon books, pop-up jail, jacked-up fees, and now this.
If loads of cardholders start canceling their cards, that should show Amex the error of its ways.