---
title: 'I Ranked Every Travel Credit Card In 2026 (Here''s What''s BEST)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=s55gaQDvstY'
video_id: 's55gaQDvstY'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 0
---

# I Ranked Every Travel Credit Card In 2026 (Here's What's BEST)

> Source: [I Ranked Every Travel Credit Card In 2026 (Here's What's BEST)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=s55gaQDvstY)

## Summary

The video ranks the best travel credit cards from every major bank, focusing on those earning transferable points. The host places each card into S through D tiers based on value for the average person, not just total rewards potential.

### Key Points

- **Ranking criteria** [0:00] — Only cards earning transferable points are considered, ranked by value for the average person, not total value.
- **Chase Sapphire Preferred (B tier)** [0:46] — Popular beginner card with $95 annual fee, unlocks Chase transfer partners (Hyatt, United, etc.), but earning rates are mediocre.
- **Amex Gold (A tier)** [1:55] — $325 fee offset by $400+ credits, earns 4x on dining/groceries, 3x flights. Great for heavy spenders but credits not universally easy to use.
- **Bilt Obsidian (A tier)** [2:57] — No annual fee, earns 3x dining/groceries, plus 4% Bilt Cash on non-housing spend. Can out-earn Amex Gold with Bilt points.
- **Citi Strata Premier (S tier)** [3:56] — $95 fee, earns 10x hotels/cars via portal, 3x on many daily categories, unlocks Citi transfer partners including 1:1 American Airlines transfers.
- **Capital One Venture X (S tier)** [7:39] — $395 fee easily offset by $300 travel credit + 10k anniversary miles, 2x catch-all, lounge access. Best one-card premium option.
- **Wells Fargo Autograph (S tier)** [10:44] — No annual fee, unlocks transfer partners, earns 3x on restaurants, travel, gas, transit, streaming. Strong sleeper card.
- **Amex Platinum (A tier)** [12:36] — $895 fee, huge credits/benefits but weak for daily spend (1x). Best for travelers who can use all credits.
- **Chase Sapphire Reserve (A tier)** [14:13] — $795 fee, credits more restrictive than Platinum, but better earning (8x portal, 4x flights/hotels, 3x dining) and points boost feature.
- **Amex Green (C tier)** [22:24] — $150 fee, 3x travel/transit/dining, offset by Clear credit. Outclassed by free cards like Autograph.

### Conclusion

The Citi Strata Premier and Capital One Venture X are the top S-tier picks for most people, while the Wells Fargo Autograph is a hidden gem at no annual fee. A simple two-card setup can be enough to maximize travel rewards.

## Transcript

In a year of constant devaluations and
negative news in the points and miles
world, you're probably wondering which
travel credit cards are actually worth
it right now. Is it the big name cards
that everybody talks about or maybe are
there some hidden ones that are flying
under the radar? Well, today we're going
to answer that. I'll be ranking the best
travel credit cards from every major
bank from S tier all the way down to D
tier. But to keep things focused, we're
only going to be looking at cards that
earn transferable points, not cash back
or dedicated hotel and airline cards.
And I'm also not just ranking these
based on like total overall value. I'm
ranking them based on how good I believe
they are for the average person. So
there's definitely going to be some
takes in here that you disagree with,
but I'll explain my reasoning for all of
them, obviously. And I do encourage you
to kindly share your opinion in the
comment section, too. With that said,
let's get into it with card number one,
the Chase Sapphire Preferred. For many
years at this point, this has been the
most popular beginner travel credit
card, mainly because of its relatively
cheap $95 annual fee and the fact that
it's the cheapest way to get access to
Chase's transfer partners. Its earning
rates are respectable too, but not
amazing by any means. You get 5x back on
travel through Chase, 3x on dining,
online groceries, and select streaming,
2x on other travel, and 1x everywhere
else. So really people aren't getting
the card because of those earning rates.
They get it because it unlocks that
access to partners like Hyatt,
Southwest, United, Air Canada, Virgin
Atlantic, and more. There is a $50
annual Chase travel hotel credit on this
card, which does help a bit, but it's
not enough to fully wipe the annual fee.
And of course you are locked into their
portal to use that. And honestly, I just
wish that Chase would refresh this card
in general without jacking up the annual
fee because it's felt like dated for a
long time now. As it stands though, it's
still a solid entry point into the Chase
Ultimate Rewards point ecosystem and
practically mandatory if you want to
travel on those Chase points. So for me,
it's going to land in B tier. The longer
that you're in this credit card game,
the more likely you are to consider the
next card on this list, the Amex Gold.
It has a $325 annual fee, but Amex does
give you over $400 in credits to offset
that through their dining credit, Uber
Cash credit, Dunkin credit, and Resy
credit. But, I will say as somebody from
the boonies that those credits are not
equally easy for everybody to use. So,
that is going to hold it back in the
rankings here. Where this card really
shines is the earning. You get 4x back
on restaurants and groceries, 3x on
flights, 2x on prepaid hotels, and 1x on
everything else. And this is exactly why
this card gets so much hype. It earns
points really fast and not to mention
those are Amex Membership Rewards points
that it's earning, which are among the
highest value points in the entire
credit card world, particularly for
international travel. For the right
person, obviously, this card could be S
tier, and I have ranked it like that in
the past. But, I think that that person
is a lot rarer than the internet makes
it sound, especially once you factor in
the lack of any real travel perks on
this card, and the ability to get 90 to
100% of the same earning rates at a much
lower annual fee. So, instead, I'm going
to be putting it in A tier. One of the
cards that directly competes with that
Amex Gold card at a lower annual fee is
the Bilt Obsidian. At face value, this
card earns 3x back on dining or
groceries, so not both. 2x on travel,
and 1x on everything else. But, the
bigger story with it is that you earn 4%
Bilt Cash on every non-housing dollar
spent on it. And to simplify a very
complicated system, that can effectively
add at least another 1.33x
points per dollar spent, even if you
just use that Bilt Cash towards housing
rewards. And with that, the Obsidian can
effectively out-earn the Amex Gold card,
especially if you value Bilt points more
than Amex points, which I do, and I know
a lot of other people do, too. There's
also up to $100 per year in Bilt travel
hotel credits with it, though it is
split up bi-annually and requires a
two-night minimum stay for each part.
So, I definitely wouldn't overrate this
perk. Overall, I think this is like one
of the best competitors to the Amex Gold
card, and it is newer, so it's not as
popular as some of the other options
we're talking about today. But,
regardless, I do think it deserves to be
in A tier, as well. While we're talking
about these workhorse travel cards, we
have to cover the City Strata Premier.
For $95, it earns 10x back on hotels,
car rentals, and attractions through
City Travel, and then 3x on a ton of
daily categories, including air travel,
hotels restaurants supermarkets gas
stations, and EV charging, plus 1x on
everything else. And to wipe that annual
fee without the earning categories, you
get $100 off of a single hotel stay of
$500 or more when booked through City
Travel. But most importantly, just like
the Sapphire Preferred matters since it
unlocks Chase's transfer partners, the
Strata Premier matters because it
unlocks City's, including City's huge
edge as of right now, one-to-one
transfers to American Airlines. That new
transfer path alone has pulled a ton of
people into City's ecosystem over the
past year, and because this is the
cheapest card to get you that, plus how
strong its 3x earning rates are for that
daily spend, I've seen countless people
go for this one recently, and it really
seems to be like the card of the year
based on the conversations I've had with
y'all in consulting calls in the
comments. And for its annual fee, I just
don't think there are many cards
offering more value. So, in my opinion,
this is an easy S tier credit card.
That's pretty special. We're not going
to have many of those, so definitely
keep an eye on it. Real quick, if you
are trying to build out a really solid
setup around the Strata Premier, the
Custom Cash and Double Cash are two of
the best cards to pair with it. And
technically, these are cash back branded
cards, so they really shouldn't be
included in this video, but they do earn
City Thank You points. And if you have
the Strata Premier or the City Strata
Elite, those points can be transferred
out to City's transfer partners as well.
So, yeah, they deserve a quick mention.
Both of them are free and very
straightforward. The Double Cash is
going to give you a flat 2x back on
every purchase, and the Custom Cash
gives you 5x back on your top eligible
spend category every month up to $500
spent. And if you put those next to the
City Strata Premier, you've got the
classic City trifecta, where you're
earning anywhere from 2x to 5x back on
everything you spend money on. To me,
the Double Cash is obviously useful, but
it is kind of boring and it overlaps
with a bunch of other 2x cards out
there, like the Active Cash from Wells
Fargo. So, I'd put both of those
actually in B tier, but the Custom Cash
is one that I've kept in my daily wallet
for a long time now, even with 20-plus
credit cards. So, I'd move that one a
step above into A tier. Honestly, if the
cap was higher than just $500 per month,
it could make a push towards the S tier,
but yeah, I can't justify that with that
super restrictive cap. Before we get
into the next card, which is our first
premium one, I have a tool that all of
you travelers could get a lot of use out
of, and that is Saylite. As you know,
one of the most annoying parts about
traveling internationally is making sure
that your phone has service without
paying an arm and a leg for it. I've
personally made the mistake in the past
of just trusting that my phone carrier's
international roaming plan would be the
most cost-effective way to do this, but
I was very wrong about that. Cuz for
like a 5-day trip, I was paying well
over $100 just to have service. But that
was way before I knew about Saylite.
Saylite is an eSIM app, meaning that
instead of swapping out your physical
SIM card whenever you travel
internationally or having to worry about
paying your phone service provider for
the roaming plans, you just download
their app, pick any plan you want for
wherever you're going, and once you
land, you don't have to do anything
else. Your phone is just already
working. And whenever I say wherever
you're going, I really mean that. They
have over 200 destinations now. And
also, if you're somebody who likes
traveling to multiple different
countries within the same trip, they
have you covered there, too, with either
their regional or their global plans.
So, the theme here is that Saylite is
really simple, easy to use, and much
more affordable than your alternative
options, or at least a lot less
annoying. So, if you want to give them a
try on your next trip, which I highly
recommend, you can either scan the QR
code on screen to download the Saylite
app, or go to the link in the
description and use code Spencer Johnson
at checkout to get 15% off of your first
purchase. Again, just be sure you're
using code Spencer Johnson to let them
know that I sent you. And thank you to
Saylite for sponsoring this video. But
let's get back into it. If you're
somebody looking for a strong catch-all
card like the Double Cash or Active
Cash, but you want some travel benefits,
too, the Venture X is right up your
alley. It costs $395 per year, which
isn't cheap, but between the $300
Capital One travel credit and the 10,000
anniversary miles, that fee is very easy
to offset. On top of that, you're going
to get a credit for TSA PreCheck or
Global Entry, access to the Capital One
and Priority Pass lounges, and Hertz
President's Circle status. Plus, it
earns 10x on hotels and rental cars
through Capital One Travel, 5x on
flights and vacation rentals through the
portal, and 2x on everything else. To
address the elephant in the room here,
despite how good this card is, I did get
rid of it this year, but that had much
more to do with my specific setup than
the card itself. I already had other
premium travel cards that covered all of
the benefits that I needed at a lower
effective annual fee, and with Capital
One miles being my lowest priority
transferable currency, I decided I would
save myself on that annual fee. But, for
the average person who just wants one
solid premium travel card without having
to worry about a bunch of mental
gymnastics, I still think that this is
one, if not the best option on the
entire market. And sure, its upside is
capped compared to some of the highest
annual fee premium travel cards, but at
the same time, its downside is much more
capped, too. And this is one that I've
never felt bad recommending to family or
friends as long as I know that Capital
One's transfer partners fit their travel
habits. So, once again, this one is
going to be another S-tier credit card,
in my opinion, right alongside the Citi
Strata Premier. I wonder how many of
y'all are shocked by that one. If you
like the idea of the Venture X, but you
do not need all those premium perks for
some reason, then the Capital One
Venture and Venture One are the
stripped-down versions of that card. The
Venture is like the solid middle ground
option. It has a $95 annual fee, gives
you a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry
credit, includes Hertz 5-star status,
and earns the same flat 2x back on
everything outside of the portal. And I
was honestly between a couple of
different tiers when ranking this one,
but compared to the other cards in that
$95 annual fee range, especially the
Sapphire Preferred, I think it holds up
pretty well, especially when you factor
in that it often gets really strong
elevated welcome offers on it, too. So,
I will leave it in the B tier. The
Venture One on the other hand is really
only useful for one thing, keeping
access to Capital One's transfer
partners without paying an annual fee.
That's actually exactly why I downgraded
my own Capital One Venture X to this
card. But, outside of that, the 1.25x
earning rate is just not strong enough
to ever make it one that you would use
consistently. So, I would move this one
all the way down to D tier, actually. It
would be wrong of me to leave this
Capital One ecosystem without mentioning
the perfect sidekick to any of the
Venture cards, the Capital One Savor.
Just like the City Custom Cash, this is
not a travel card by itself because you
can't directly transfer the rewards out
to their partners. But, if you pair it
with a Venture card, you can. And that's
what makes this card so good. So, since
it has no annual fee and earns 3% back
on grocery stores, dining,
entertainment, and popular streaming
services, you can combine that with the
Capital One Venture X, for example, and
have that very popular Capital One duo
that you've probably heard about. That
two-card setup is super simple, covers
all of your daily spend at two to three
X back, and gives you premium travel
perks. So, because of how good that
Capital One Savor fits into the broader
Capital One ecosystem, I am going to
move it into the A tier category. Moving
back to City for a second, since this
card kind of reflects the Savor a little
bit, another free card of theirs that
earns City Thank You points is the
regular City Strata. No, not the City
Strata Premier or the Strata Elite, just
the Strata. And honestly, this may not
have even been a card that you knew
existed, and that kind of says a lot. It
earns 5x back on hotels, car rentals,
and attractions through City Travel, 3x
on supermarkets, transit, gas, EV
charging, and a self-select category, 2x
on restaurants, and 1x everywhere else.
So, on paper, those earning categories
look really solid. But, the problem is
that City's own lineup already covers
most of the same earning categories just
as well, if not better. And also, this
card only gives you a watered-down
version of City's transfer partners, not
the full list, and some of the ones that
you would actually care about, like
American Airlines, come at worse
transfer ratios, like 1,000 points to
700 points. I just don't see a reason
why you wouldn't get like the Strata
Premier instead of this one. So, that's
going to put the regular Strata in C
tier for me, just below average. Wells
Fargo actually has a very similar type
of supplemental card, too, that covers
some pesky categories for you. Whose
points can also be transferred to Wells
Fargo's partners with one of the
Autograph cards, and that is the Wells
Fargo Autune. But, to me, this one is
much more interesting than the Strata
because the categories that it covers
are way more niche and literally like no
other card on the market can touch
those. Broadly, it earns 4% back on
self-care sports recreation and
entertainment, and then planet-friendly
purchases. But, if you look through
Wells Fargo's site, the list of things
that fall into those broad categories is
honestly kind of insane. Now, I will say
that I've seen enough complaints about
inconsistent coding that I wouldn't call
this card perfect, but when it works, it
covers spending that is genuinely
impossible to optimize elsewhere. As a
sucker for a good competitive advantage,
I would put this one much higher than
the Strata, actually all the way up in A
tier. Okay, now enough about these no
annual fee cards, let's really switch
gears here and talk about the most
expensive consumer credit card on the
market, the Amex Platinum. At $895 per
year, this card is obviously not for
everybody, despite what the internet may
have you believe. But, to justify that
fee, it comes with a ridiculous number
of credits and benefits, and it's so
many that I'm not going to even try to
list them all here. But, the biggest
thing you need to know is that the
Platinum has the highest upside of any
travel credit card on the market if your
lifestyle and travel habits fit it. That
is a huge if, though. After the recent
refresh to this card, it's way more than
just like a travel card these days. It's
a full-on lifestyle card, so you need to
be able to use stuff like the Resy
credit, Lululemon credit, or a credit,
and every other similar one to that on
top of the travel ones if you want to
get the most value. And my biggest piece
of advice here is that anytime you're
looking at an ultra-premium card like
this, but especially the Platinum, you
really need to calculate your effective
annual fee. What that means is that you
need to subtract out the value of the
credits and benefits you would actually
pay for without the card from the total
annual fee. And that without the card
part is essential. You should never be
stretching your spend or travel to fit a
credit card, and if you do, you
automatically lose. And it's also
important to note that this is a really
weak card for daily spending. It's going
to give you 5x back on all flights,
which is great, but then 5x back on
hotels through Amex Travel, and only 1x
on everything else. So, yeah, definitely
not one to be putting daily spend on.
Just the sole fact that it is as
expensive as it is means that I could
not place this in S tier for the average
credit card user. But as a travel card,
it's objectively the most valuable and
can be incredible for the right
traveler. So, I will put it in A tier at
least. It only makes sense now to move
to the Amex Platinum's want-to-be rival,
the Chase Sapphire Reserve. After its
refresh last year, this card jumped all
the way up to $795
per year, and Chase clearly wants it to
be their answer to the Amex Platinum.
Just like that card, it comes with a
laundry list of coupons that you have to
use to wipe the fee. But honestly,
compared to the Platinum, they're a lot
harder for most people to use. The Chase
edit credit is far more restrictive than
the hotel credit on the Platinum. Their
dining credit is way more specific than
Resy, and the hotel status is just less
broadly useful, too. But where this card
does beat the Amex Platinum is in the
earning structure. First, since it gives
you 8x back through Chase Travel, 4x on
direct flights and hotels, and 3x on
dining, plus 1x on everything else. And
then there's the points boost feature,
too, which can get you up to two cents
per point when you redeem your points on
select hotel and airline redemptions.
That perk alone has given me so much
value that is harder to calculate than
like a credit, for example. So, I get
just as much, if not more, value from
the Sapphire Reserve than I would the
Platinum, meaning that it's technically
like an S tier card for me all day. But
just like that Platinum, for the average
person, it's super hard to justify. So,
I'm going to keep it in A tier, and
technically under the Platinum if you
really cared because yeah, the credits
and benefits are just more restrictive
right now. Before we completely move
away from Chase, I want to mention two
cards that pair really well with either
of the Sapphire cards, the Freedom Flex
and Freedom Unlimited. Just like the
other support cards we've talked about
today, neither of these are true travel
cards by themselves, but if you have one
of the Sapphire cards, you can move the
points from the Freedom ones to the
Sapphire ones and then transfer those
points out to Chase's partners. So yeah,
they're kind of travel cards, right? To
me, the Freedom Flex is the much more
interesting one of the two since it
gives you 5% back on rotating quarterly
categories which can include things like
gas groceries dining Amazon PayPal
and more. While the Unlimited on the
other hand is basically just a flat 1.5x
catch-all card, but if you were to
combine both of those with one of the
Sapphire cards, you've got the classic
Chase trifecta which has been popular
for over a decade or so now. Out of the
two though, the Freedom Flex is the only
one that has earned its place in my
wallet 20 plus cards later. So I would
put that card in A tier. But the Freedom
Unlimited has gotten way less compelling
over the years since there are so many
stronger 2x catch-all cards. And while
it can still be a good catch-all to rely
on early on or if you don't really want
to have too many cards and want to stay
within Chase's ecosystem, long-term for
those of us looking to maximize, I think
it's below average. So I'm going to put
it in C tier. Speaking of below average
catch-all cards, I did want to quickly
mention the Capital One Quicksilver.
This is basically just a worse version
of the Freedom Unlimited. It only earns
1.5% back alone whereas the Unlimited at
least has a few more categories to it.
So the Quicksilver is just not exciting
at all. If it's the starter card that
you have to get, then sure, it's fine,
but there are so many better options
these days. So this one falls even
further than the Freedom Unlimited down
to D tier in my opinion. Next up is a
card that shares the same base earning
rates as the Quicksilver and Freedom
Unlimited, but with much more on top of
that. And this is the Citi Rewards
Elite, Citi's premium travel credit
card. It's funny cuz I feel like this
one got a a overshadowed when it
launched because City also announced
that one-to-one partnership with
American Airlines on the same day, which
was the bigger headline. But as a whole,
it's definitely solid. It costs $595 per
year and earns 12x back on hotels, car
rentals, and attractions through City
travel. That's a lot. Plus 6x on air
travel booked through City, 6x on dining
during City nights, which is unique, 3x
on dining otherwise, and 1.5x on
everything else. Honestly, those make it
seem like a really good one-card setup,
but you need to be sure you can get
value from its credits and perks like
the $300 hotel credit, $200 splurge
credit, $200 Blacklane credit, and the
Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit with
a Priority Pass Select membership and
four passes to the American Airlines
Admirals Clubs. On paper, there's
definitely a lot of value to be had with
this card, but the problem is that it
kind of lives in a weird middle ground.
Like it's trying to sit right between
the Venture X and the true high-end
premium cards like the Platinum and the
Reserve, and I don't think it like
really beats either lane at what they're
doing. So while I do think it's solid, I
would still leave it like just in that
average B tier. If you're looking for
something in that same general premium
lane that could be your one card that
you use, you might want to check out the
Bilt Palladium. This one costs $495 per
year, so it's cheaper than the Sapphire
Reserve and Platinum and a bit more
expensive than the Venture X. So let's
see how it competes. On the benefit
side, you're going to get $400 a year in
Bilt hotel credits, $200 in Bilt cash,
and Priority Pass for you and up to two
guests. But the catch of course is that
those hotel credits are split
bi-annually, require two-night stays,
and have to be used through Bilt travel
just like those Obsidian credits. But I
would say that this should be an easy
$600 per year for most people at least.
And honestly, if you can get that value
back, then you unlock the real power of
this card, its earning rates. At face
value, you might think I'm crazy cuz
it's just a simple 2x catch-all card
like the Venture X. But once you factor
in the extra Bilt cash on top, this can
effectively become a minimum 3.33 x
everyday credit card if you're using
that built cash towards housing, and
that is insanely strong. If you're fully
bought into that built ecosystem and
want to put a lot of spend on this one
to get status and all of that, then this
could absolutely be an S-tier card, and
that's where I would put it in my
personal setup. But, because Bilt's
ecosystem is way more complex than a lot
of people will want to deal with, I
think A-tier is the right middle ground.
I haven't mentioned this yet with the
Bilt cards, but it's important to know
that you can only have one of their
three. So, you need to compare the
Obsidian and the Palladium with the
third card, the Bilt Blue, to see if
maybe that's the better option for you.
Once again, this one might come off as
boring at first glance because it only
gives you 1x back on all of your
purchases, but you need to factor in
that built cash layer, of course, and
that makes it more competitive than it
first looks, offering 2.33x
plus per dollar spent, beating out all
of the other top catch-all cards out
there. I still don't think it's exciting
enough for me to move higher than
B-tier, but if you wanted a free
catch-all card in the Bilt ecosystem, I
would definitely consider it. Now, I
want to take you to a lender that we
haven't talked about in a bit, Wells
Fargo, and more specifically, their
Autograph Journey card. This card costs
$95 per year, and it covers a lot of the
same bases as the other $95 cards like
the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire
Premiere, and Bilt Obsidian. Like, for
example, it comes with a small annual
credit, in this case, a $50 airline
credit, which I actually like a lot more
than the other credits since you're not
forced into Wells Fargo's portal to use
it. Then, the earning rates are also
extremely strong, like 5x back on
hotels, 4x on airlines, 3x on
restaurants and other travel, and 1x
elsewhere. Like, that beats a lot of the
premium cards out there, like the Amex
Platinum and Sapphire Reserve, and you
don't have to justify some massive
annual fee to hold it. And like I
mentioned with the Attune earlier, since
this one is part of Wells Fargo's
Autograph lineup, it's going to unlock
access to their transfer partner list,
which makes all of the other Wells Fargo
reward earning cards more valuable, too.
So, long story short, I think that this
one is just a really strong $95 card and
would easily land in A tier. However, if
you want that same transfer partner
access and a lot of really good earning
rates without paying an annual fee,
Wells Fargo has that, too, with the
regular Autograph. I won't bury the lead
here. I think that this is not only the
best Wells Fargo credit card, but one of
the best travel credit cards on the
entire market. For no annual fee, it
gives you access to those transfer
partners and 3x back on a bunch of
everyday categories, including
restaurants, travel, gas and EV
charging, transit, streaming, and phone
plans, plus 1x elsewhere. So, with
those, this could easily be like the
only card that you need outside of maybe
adding something for groceries. And if I
really had to find like a downside with
this one, it would be that it's in Wells
Fargo's ecosystem and their transfer
partner list is smaller than the rest,
but the partners that they do have are
strong enough and you can basically make
any international flight happen that you
want to. So, even though I know that
some of y'all are going to disagree with
this one, I am going to put it in S
tier. This card is a sleeper and it
deserves more attention than it's
getting. So, even if this is a bit of a
high ranking for it, at least it'll get
some of y'all to go check it out who
wouldn't have before. At this point, I
bet there is at least one person in the
comments just yelling at me for not
bringing up this next card. So, this is
for you. Let's cover the Amex Green.
This card has always been like the
red-headed stepchild of the Amex
ecosystem and that's because it's not
really clear who would want it compared
to the other options out there. It costs
$150 per year and you do get a solid
list of category coverage of 3x back on
travel, transit, and dining. And that's
definitely not bad at all, but the
problem is that those rates just aren't
hard to beat anymore, as we've seen
throughout this video. I mean, heck,
even with the free Autograph card that I
just covered. And on top of that, the
only real way to offset that annual fee
is the $209 clear credit, which if you
do use, then technically, the Amex Green
is going to pay you $59 a year to hold
it. But I think that the clear credit is
one of the easiest ones in this game to
overvalue. I might be biased because I
haven't had a good experience with Clear
yet, but I just don't think that many
people would actually pay $209 per
person to have it. And again, I'm open
to being wrong about that, but that's
just where my head goes. So, while I do
understand why some people really like
this card, I feel like you can do a lot
better elsewhere. So, that leaves it in
the C tier for me. By the way, if the
main reason that you've even ever
considered this card is because you want
to keep your Amex Membership Rewards
points alive for the lowest annual fee,
I would seriously look at the Amex Blue
Business Plus before forcing yourself to
justify this one. The Blue Business Plus
not only keeps those points alive for
free, but it also gives you access to
Amex's transfer partners for free. So,
in my opinion, this one is like a
mandatory to get if you're within Amex's
Membership Reward point ecosystem. And
even though it's a business card, I
almost guarantee that you could get it.
So, yeah. I've made a full video about
that if you're curious. Let's take a
deep breath here. I know that was a ton
of information I just threw at you, and
it probably feels overwhelming, but just
remember that you do not need to get
like 20 plus cards like I do to make
this game work. In fact, I recently
challenged myself to answer a much
simpler question. If I could only have
two credit cards, what would they be?
So, if you want to see that exact
two-card setup composed of a couple of
the cards that we talked about today,
actually, then go ahead and check out
that video right here. And as always,
Owen and I both really appreciate you
watching today. If you enjoyed it,
consider leaving a like, subscribing to
the channel, and checking out all the
links in my description to support us.
And with that being said, we'll catch
you guys next time.