Upgrade Amex Green Card to Amex Platinum

Active duty military, Guard and Reserve on 30+ day active orders, and military spouses can upgrade the American Express^® Green Card to another Platinum Card^® from American Express and pay no annual fees on multiple Amex Platinum cards.

American Express^® Green Card
Learn how to apply on our partner's secure site

• Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards^® Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
• Plus, earn 20% back on eligible travel and transit purchases made during your first 6 months of Card Membership, up to $200 back in the form of a statement credit.
• Earn 3X Membership Rewards^® points on travel including airfare, hotels, cruises, tours, car rentals, campgrounds, and vacation rentals.
• Earn 3X Membership Rewards^® Points on transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways.
• Earn 3X Membership Rewards^® points on eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the US.
• $189 CLEAR Plus Credit: Receive up to $189 per calendar year in statement credits when you pay for your CLEAR Plus membership (subject to auto-renewal) with the American Express^® Green Card.
• $100 LoungeBuddy: No airport lounge membership? No problem! Purchase lounge access through the LoungeBuddy app using the American Express(R) Green Card and receive up to $100 in statement credits annually.
• Payment Flexibility: When it comes to paying your bill, you have options. You can always pay in full. You also have the flexibility to carry a balance with interest or use Plan It(R) to split up large purchases into monthly payments with a fixed fee, up to your Pay Over Time Limit. You may be able to keep spending beyond your limit – you'll just need to pay for any new purchases in full when your bill is due.
• Trip Delay Insurance: If a round-trip is paid for entirely with your Eligible Card and a covered reason delays your trip more than 12 hours, Trip Delay Insurance can help reimburse certain additional expenses purchased on the same Eligible Card, up to $300 per trip, maximum 2 claims per eligible account per 12 consecutive month period. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Coverage is provided by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees: No matter where you're traveling, when you use your American Express^® Green Card there are no foreign transaction fees.
• $150 annual fee *See more details about American Express protections for you and your spouse 
• Terms Apply.
• All information about American Express Green Card has been collected independently by MilitaryMoneymanual.com

Read my full Amex Green Card review for military servicemembers.

Upgrading an Amex Green Card to another Platinum is a great strategy if you want to collect a more than 1 Amex Platinum cards.

At my peak on active duty service, I had 7 Amex Platinum cards and my wife also had 1. All annual fees were reduced to $0 to comply with the Military Lending Act.

After you upgrade your Green card, you can open another Green card to maintain access to the great bonus categories offered by the revamp card. You will not be eligible for another welcome bonus but can still open a new Green card account.

This is a similar upgrade deal to the American Express^® Gold Card, which you can upgrade to a Platinum after one year.

With no annual fee for US military personnel, and a few tricks, the Amex Green Card becomes quite powerful for military servicemembers. You can product change (PC) or upgrade this card to an Amex Platinum card after 1 year (details below).

Listen to our podcast episode below for more information on the Amex Green card.

Upgrade Amex Green to a Platinum

The Platinum Card^® from American Express
Learn how to apply on our partner's secure site

• $695 annual fee*. Reduced to $0 with American Express special military protections
• Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership
• Earn 5x points on airfare booked directly with airline or on amextravel.com up to $500,000 per calendar year
• Earn 5x points on prepaid hotels at amextravel.com
• $200 Annual Hotel Credit: Get $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts^® or The Hotel Collection bookings through American Express Travel using your Platinum Card^®. Note that The Hotel Collection requires a minimum two-night stay
• $240 Digital Entertainment Credit: Get up to $20 back in statement credits each month when you pay for eligible purchases with the Platinum Card^® at your choice of one or more of the following providers: Disney+, a Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, Peacock, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Enrollment required.
• $200 Uber Cash: Platinum Card® Members can get $15 in Uber Cash each month, plus a bonus $20 in December after adding their Card to their Uber account. Use your Uber Cash on rides and orders in the U.S. when you select an Amex Card for your transaction. Enrollment required.
• $200 Airline Fee Credit: Up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year in baggage fees and more at 1 qualifying airline. Enrollment required.
• $199 CLEAR® Plus Credit: CLEAR® Plus helps to get you to your gate faster at 50+ airports nationwide and get up to $199 back per calendar year on your Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Card. CLEARLanes are available at 100+ airports, stadiums, and entertainment venues.
• This is a MAJOR time saver–$120 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck® (through a TSA PreCheck® official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your Platinum Card®! Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
• With American Express Global Lounge Collection®, enjoy access to over 1,400 airport lounges globally, including The Centurion® Lounge, Unlimited Delta Sky Club® Access when flying an eligible Delta flight, EscapeLounges, Lufthansa Lounges when flying Lufthansa Group, Plaza Premium, Priority Pass™ Select Lounges, & Additional Global Lounge Collection Partner Lounges subject to visit limitations. Lounges may have their own rules, like additional access rules and guest fees, and for Priority Pass Select, you need to enroll and there are unlimited airport lounge visits for Card Members. With Delta Sky Club Access, Card Members will receive 10 Visits to the Delta Sky Club to be used from February 1 until January 31 of the next calendar year and can unlock Unlimited Delta Sky Club Access by spending $75,000 in eligible purchases on their Card in a calendar year. To find a lounge, visit the membership section in the American Express® App or visit http://www.americanexpress.com/findalounge#/loungefinder.
• $155 Walmart+ Credit: Cover the cost of a $12.95 monthly Walmart+ membership with a statement credit after you pay for Walmart+ each month with your Platinum Card. Cost includes $12.95 plus applicable local sales tax.
• Up to $100 annual Saks Fifth Avenue credit, enrollment required
• Know if you're approved for a Card with no impact to your credit score. If you're approved and choose to accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
• No foreign transaction fees
• Enrollment is required for select benefits
• The Platinum Card^® from American Express – learn how to apply
• Read my full review of the Amex Platinum card for military, terms apply

The best part of the Amex Green Card for military is one year after you open the account you are eligible to upgrade to the American Express Platinum card. This is true even if you already have another AMEX Platinum.

As long as you keep the Green card on a separate login for your Amex online account, you should be offered the upgrade link online.

Even if you added the Green to your current login on AmericanExpress.com, you can drop the card from your login and create a new Amex login to manage the card.

This is an easy process and does not affect your account management or status with American Express in the least. Your American Express Membership Reward points still consolidate across accounts, even if you have a separate Amex login for each card.

As long as the new Amex online account you created does not have another Platinum card attached to it, you should be able to upgrade your Green card with a link. Sometimes there's an upgrade offer too, for example 25,000 Membership Reward points after spending $2,000 in 3 months, or similar.

This is an awesome way to add more Amex Platinum cards to your inventory. Since military servicemembers and military spouses pay no annual fees on American Express cards, you can stack all the annual benefits of the Amex Platinum, like Uber Cash and airline fee credits.

Upgrading to Amex Platinum for Military

Let's say you and your spouse both have a “vanilla” (regular) Amex Platinum, an Amex Gold Card you upgraded to Platinum, and an upgraded Amex Green to Platinum. That's six Amex Platinum cards with no annual fees, saving you $4170 in annual fees.

You'll also get all the welcome bonuses for these six cards as you build your Platinum Portfolio, which could be worth 300,000+ MR points.

But wait, there's more. Since each Platinum card comes with it's own benefits, every year you'll get:

• $1,200 in Uber Cash (6 x $200), also valid on Uber Eats
• $1,200 in airline fee credits (6 x $200)
• $600 in statement credit at Saks Fifth Avenue (6 x $100) (Enrollment required)
• Free Priority Pass access to airport lounges and Centurion Lounges
• 2 Free Global Entry membership ($240 value)
• Free Hilton Honors and SPG Gold Status

This is free money you're leaving on the table by not building your Platinum card collection as a military member. Start building your collection today with the American Express Green Card and pick up the easy welcome bonus now. Then, after a year upgrade the card to a Platinum and reap the Platinum benefits.

Amex Green Card Membership Rewards Points

Amex Membership Rewards are one of two of the most flexible credit card reward systems. Along with Chase Ultimate Rewards points, Membership Rewards allows the most valuable transfers to airline and hotel partners.

This flexibility allows you to book awesome business and first class tickets on great airlines. For instance, I booked a round trip flight including stops in Dubai, New Zealand, and Australia for New Year's and Christmas this year.

You can also use the points for Amazon purchases, booking travel through AMEX's portal, and buying gift cards. Usually though, you should save your points up for a transfer to a travel partner for the most valuable redemptions. MR points are frequently valued at 1.5-2.5 cents per point or 100 points = $1.50-2.50.

Check out my Amex Green card review to see the latest bonus points offered. Opening a Green card is am easy way to pick up some extra Amex Membership Rewards points on the way to building your Amex Platinum collection.

If you have upgraded your Amex Green card to a Platinum, let me know in the comments!