American Express Military Benefits 2023 | MLA & SCRA Explained

American Express military benefits include annual fee waivers on all Amex personal cards such as:

• The Platinum Card^® from American Express
• American Express^® Gold Card
• American Express^® Green Card*
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express^® Card
• Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve American Express Card
• Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card*

*Information on the American Express® Green Card and the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by Military Money Manual

To put in bluntly: active duty, Guard and Reserves on 30 day active orders, and military spouses can open any personal American Express card and pay no annual fees.

Check the MLA database before applying for a card to ensure you will get your fees waived.

If you would like me to send you a link to apply for any of the above cards, drop in your email below.

I will send you 1 email with a link. I will NOT subscribe you to my newsletter, The Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course. Just 1 email with links, no spam, no other emails. Thanks for your support!

Amex Military Benefits

Amex military benefits are provided to active duty, Guard and Reserve on over 30 day active orders, and military spouses of any of the former. These are all known as “covered borrowers” of the Military Lending Act.

There are two military related credit laws American Express complies with: the Military Lending Act (MLA) and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).

The date you open your American Express card or account determines which Act you may be entitled to relief under.

Account Opened While On Active Duty Orders	Account Opened Before Active Duty Orders
Military Lending Act	Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

If an account, card, or credit is established prior to active duty, you must apply for Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) benefits while on active duty.

Check the SCRA database to confirm that you are listed as eligible for SCRA benefits.

If the account was established while on active duty, you fall under MLA. You'll want to check the MLA database to confirm you are eligible.

Amex Military Lending Act

Consumers eligible for the Military Lending Act are known as “covered borrowers.” Covered borrowers include:

• Active duty members in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, or Coast Guard
• Spouse of an Active Duty member of the Armed Forces
• National Guardsmen, Air National Guardsmen, or military Reservist on Title 10, Title 32, or other active duty orders 30 days or longer

To comply with the Military Lending Act, American Express waives the following fees for covered borrowers:

• Annual Membership fees
• Overlimit fees
• Late Payment fees
• Returned Payment fees
• Statement Copy Request fees

Note that only personal cards issued my American Express are eligible for the military fee waivers, not business credit cards.

How to Apply for Amex MLA Benefits

The Amex MLA process is automatic. When you apply for a card like the Amex Platinum, your Social Security number is run against the MLA database here. You can also select military as your source of income to activate a search of the MLA database.

If the credit applicant shows as eligible for on the MLA database, then the applicant is identified as “covered borrower” of the Military Lending Act. Covered borrowers include anyone on active duty orders or a military spouse identified in DEERS as a dependent of someone on active duty orders.

If you are identified as a covered borrower when you apply for the card, your Amex card annual fees will be waived. This has been the way it's worked since at least 2011.

As an active duty Air Force officer, my and my wife’s card agreements opened after Oct 2017 (when MLA started being enforced) with Amex state “You have been identified as a ‘Covered Borrower’ under Military Lending Act”. My wife is a civilian but identified as a dependent of an active duty servicemember in DEERS, so she shows as eligible for MLA benefits in the MLA database.

If you want to see if your account has been identified as a covered borrower, follow these steps:

1. Go to your American Express Account Management page.
2. At the bottom there is a link to “Request Cardmember Agreement”
3. In the agreement you should see the text: “You have been identified as a ‘Covered Borrower' under Military Lending Act.” on the bottom of page 2.

Here is the MLA statement from the American Express Cardmember agreement:

Military Lending Act – Federal law provides important protections to members of the Armed Forces and their dependents relating to extensions of consumer credit. In general, the cost of consumer credit to a member of the Armed Forces and his or her dependent may not exceed an annual percentage rate of 36 percent.

This rate must include, as applicable to the credit transaction or account: the costs associated with credit insurance premiums; fees for ancillary products sold in connection with the credit transaction; any application fee charged (other than certain application fees for specified credit transactions or accounts); and any participation fee (other than certain participation fees for a credit card account).

To listen to this statement, as well as a description of your payment obligation for this Account, call us at 855-531-0379. If you are a covered borrower, the Claims Resolution section of this Agreement will not apply to you in connection with this Account. Instead, the Claims Resolution for Covered Borrowers section will apply.

Amex Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

American express explains these MLA and SCRA protections in their “Servicemembers Benefits” link at the bottom of americanexpress.com.

How to Get Amex SCRA Benefits

Please note you only need to apply for Amex SCRA benefits if you opened the account BEFORE active duty military service. If you open your Amex account while on active duty military service, you will automatically be enrolled in AMEX Military Lending Act.

To have AMEX handle your account in accordance with the SCRA, you can go 2 ways: call AMEX or apply online. The online application is easy and they are quick to respond. Follow this 3 step process or click the picture:

1. Log in to your account, click “Account Services”
2. Click “Card Management” on the left
3. Click “Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) Benefits”

If you want to call, simply dial the number on the back of your card or 1-800-528-4800. Tell them you are serving on active duty military and had heard that AMEX offers to handle your account in accordance with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

You will be asked 5-10 questions about your situation, such as when you entered active duty and how long your commitment is.

This information is then verified by AMEX before they approve your account for the fee waivers. The entire process took about 6 weeks for me, from phone call to receiving the secure message that my account had been approved.

You can check your eligibility before you even apply at the official DOD SCRA and MLA websites here and here.

Amex SCRA Denial

If you have any issues with an Amex SCRA denial, check out this post to resolve it. If your card is opened after you start active duty, you should not be eligible for SCRA but should be eligible for MLA. The benefits are the same and your annual fees will be waived.

American Express Platinum Military Fee Waiver

When I was active duty, we received over $12,000 of annual fee waivers thanks to the Military Lending Act protections. I first learned about these benefits from a loadmaster friend of mine.

While on a TDY to France in 2013, a military buddy of mine (an Air Force Tech Sergeant) mentioned that he had the American Express Platinum card that comes with a $695 annual fee.

This Sergeant had access to great airport lounges in Amsterdam while we were travelling on TDY. While I paid $15 for an airport sandwich, he was enjoying free food and drink courtesy of Amex in the lounge.

My friend also told me about the other Amex Platinum benefits, such as airline fee reimbursement and the welcome bonus offer.

I thought the rewards program sounded good and the benefits were great, but I couldn't justify that insanely high annual fee. $695 a year was WAY too much money for a young lieutenant!

But then my friend mentioned to me that he wasn't paying any annual fee because Amex had waived the fee under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a law Congress passed in 2003. I thought this was too good to be true so I had to do some more research.

The SCRA has several sections covering taxes, lawsuits, and outstanding debt. Credit card companies are only legally required to keep your interest rate below 6% on any outstanding debt you acquire before you enter military service.

I had never heard of a credit card company waiving annual fees because of the SCRA so I had to investigate further.

American Express Military Fee Waiver

After further research, I discovered that American Express waives annual membership fees for active duty military servicemembers. In fact, this site broke the news to Yahoo Finance and ABC News.

This includes the $695 per year Amex Platinum card and all of the other personal credit and charge cards in the AMEX portfolio.

Amex decided that they are going to be a true class act and go beyond their legal requirements. For the duration of your active duty military service, they will waive the following fees:

• Annual membership fees ($12,000+ savings for my credit cards)
• Overlimit fees
• Late Payment fees
• Returned Payment fees
• Statement Copy Request fees

Here's the email I received from American Express once my active duty status had been verified under SCRA:

Dear Spencer

To support the men and women who serve in the United States Armed Forces, we are handling your account referenced above in accordance with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act provides for a maximum annual interest rate of 6% per year on loans you received before starting active military duty.

As of today, your account does not have a balance owed which generates interest charges so there is no eligible balance. However, we have waived the following fees on the account for the duration of your active military duty:

* Annual Membership fees
* Overlimit fees
* Late Payment fees
* Returned Payment fees
* Statement Copy Request fees

This completes our review of this account, if there are any additional accounts you would like reviewed for Servicemembers Civil Relief Act benefits, please call us at 1-800-253-1720. If you're outside the United States, call us collect at 1-336-393-1111.

We are grateful for the service and devotion you have shown to our country.

Sincerely,

American Express Customer Care

How to Get Amex Gold Card Military Fee Waiver

US military servicemembers and spouses can usually get their $250 annual fee waived on the Amex Gold Card without even calling in.

If you open the card while you or your spouse is on active duty, your fees should be waived under Amex MLA policy. You can confirm your MLA eligibility in the MLA database.

If you opened the Amex Gold card before active duty, you may need to apply for Amex SCRA benefits, as described above.

10 Years of Amex Platinum Fee Waivers

Just a quick update in 2023 here – I've had dozens of Amex cards since 2012. I have never been charged an annual fee. Neither has my wife. We're both still getting our Amex fees waived after a year separated from the military.

Imagine if I keep all the cards I listed above for another 11 years of active duty military service. That would be over $60,000 in annual fees waived over the next 11 years.

Think of all the free airport lounges I've been in, the hotels I've been upgraded at, and the upgraded flights I've taken in those 11 years! The value of this benefit for military servicemembers is truly astronomical.

In December every year I receive over $235 of Uber Cash from my 7 Amex Platinum cards. That's at least a few free meals from a restaurant!

Amex Platinum Card Fee Waiver Success Stories

Fellow servicemembers report thousands of dollars of fees refunded and excellent cards obtained with no annual fees. Just read some of the dozens of comments below this post. Here's a few highlights:

Brian from the Army sent me this email on Christmas Eve, 2013:

Wanted to thank you for your posts about American Express's unique support for SCRA. I called Amex last month (Nov '13) and applied to have my account associated with the program. Last week I received $2,500 in returned fees (annual fees, interest charges, etc…), all paid to Amex over the last 10 years as a Delta Amex card member. Today I just applied for the Amex Blue Preferred Card and according to customer service, the annual fee is waived. Thank you again for sharing and for the support you've provided to all Servicemen.

So awesome to hear, Brian!

Kevin reported in 2016 getting over $8,000 back:

I was looking around the AMEX website and came across their SCRA link. I have the AMEX Blue card and recently opened up an AMEX Platinum account…mostly for the airport lounge access.

A friend of mine said AMEX will waive the annual fee for active military, which is a hefty $495 annual fee. I didn’t even speak to anyone, just clicked on the link. This was March 19th. I received an email saying I had a message in the secure message center which in turn said my “issue” has been resolved and I would be receiving written confirmation of the results.

On April 2nd, I started downloading transactions through Quicken and had several from American Express. They were all refunds in varying amounts, ranging from $50 all the way to $5,382.61.

The total amount I received back was $8,604.05. I actually have a credit of nearly $1,900! I was happy, but at the same time concerned a mistake had been made. I’ve had an Amex account since 2002 and been active army since 1999, so I’ve amassed some fees, however when I called to confirm, I was told, yes, this is all correct, no errors made. Needless to say, I am forever dedicated to Amex.

Since writing this post over 10 years ago, I've received hundreds of responses from military servicemembers getting their fees waived and enjoying the benefits of fee waived Amex cards.

There are also lots of posts on Reddit describing the fees Amex has waived for military personnel.

Best Amex Cards Free for US Military

American Express has the best travel reward credit card lineup of any of the major credit card companies. These cards include:

• The Platinum Card^® from American Express – $695 annual fee waived for covered borrowers
• American Express^® Gold Card – $250 annual fee waived for covered borrowers
• American Express^® Green Card* – $450 annual fee waived for covered borrowers
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express^® Card – $650 annual fee waived for covered borrowers
• Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve American Express Card – $550 annual fee waived for covered borrowers
• Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express – $95 annual fee waived for covered borrowers
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card* – $450 annual fee waived for covered borrowers

*Information on the American Express® Green Card and the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by Military Money Manual

With just these cards, you can get $3,140 of annual fees waived and you get perks like:

• Diamond Status at all Hilton Hotels
• Free airport lounge access
• $450 per year of airline fee credits
• $200 per year of Uber credits
• $240 of digital entertainment credits
• Platinum Elite Status at Marriott Bonvoy Hotels
• 360,000+ points in welcome bonuses
• 4x points on dining, groceries
• 5x points on airfare

Currently, I have the following American Express cards, all with the annual fees waived:

• Amex Platinum x7 ($4,875)
• Amex Gold Card x2 ($500)
• Green Card ($150)
• Charles Schwab Amex Platinum Card ($695)
• Amex Delta Reserve $550
• Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant x3 ($1,350
• Amex Hilton Honors Aspire x4 $1,800

Total annual fees waived: $9,920

With these cards I earned over 250,000 Hilton points, 270,000 Amex Membership Reward Points, 410,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, and 75,000 Delta Skymiles.

Valued at a conservative 1.5 cents per point, that's $25,200 of travel value, just from the welcome bonus offers.

Authorized User

Military spouses, correctly identified as “covered borrowers” in the MLA database, can get their own Amex Platinum card annual fees waived without adding the active duty servicemembers as an authorized user to the account.

Personally, my wife has 5 Amex cards now. All the annual fees were waived without adding me (the military person) as an authorized user.

Once the SCRA or MLA benefits are applied to the first personal Amex credit or charge card, usually you don't need to apply for the benefits again – they are automatically applied to future accounts you open.

American Express Military Questions