Each American Express card comes with its own perks and benefits. But if you combine three particular cards, you can easily offset each card’s annual fees, while earning the maximum value possible from your rewards points. Here’s what is called the “Amex trifecta” and how to properly use it.
The Amex trifecta is a combination of three American Express cards with membership rewards. Each card complements each other, allowing you to earn the highest rewards on your purchases. The cards that make the Amex trifecta are:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
- American Express® Gold Card
- The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
Reward points | - 5x points on flights booked directly with airlines or with Amex Travel (starting January 1, 2021, your 5x points on flights will be capped at $500,000 annually, reverting to 1x points after that)
- 5x points on prepaid hotels booked on Amex Travel
- 1x points on all other purchases
| - 4x points at restaurants worldwide
- 4x points at US supermarkets on up to $25,000 annually, 1x points after that
- 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or with Amex Travel
| - 2x points on all purchases on on up to $50,000 annually
- 1x points after reaching the cap
|
Welcome offer | - Earn 75,000 bonus points once you spend $5,000 in your first 6 months of card membership, plus 10x points at US gas stations and US supermarkets on up to $15,000 in combined purchases for the first 6 months
| - Earn 60,000 bonus points once you spend $4,000 in your first 6 months of card membership
| None |
Credits | - $200 airline fee credit
- Up to $100 fee credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry
| - $120 dining credit
- $100 airline fee credit
| N/A |
Other perks | - $200 in Uber cash each year
- Benefits valued at $550 with Fine Hotels and Resorts
- Access to the Global Lounge Collection
| - $100 credit for the Hotel Collection
| - 12 months of 0% intro APR period on purchases, variable APR of 13.24% – 19.24% thereafter
|
Annual fee | $550 (see rates & fees) | $250 (see rates & fees) | $0 (see rates & fees) |
Here’s a look at what you might expect to earn given average spending values with these three Amex cards.
Flights | $2,000 | $0 | $0 | 10,000 |
Hotels | $2,000 | $0 | $0 | 10,000 |
Dining | $0 | $5,000 | $0 | 20,000 |
US supermarkets | $0 | $8,000 | $0 | 32,000 |
Gas | $0 | $0 | $4,000 | 8,000 |
Other | $0 | $0 | $5,000 | 10,000 |
Total | $4,000 | $13,000 | $9,000 | 90,000 |
With annual spending similar to our example, you would earn 90,000 points each year, not counting the welcome offers for the first year. This is a value of up to $900, which is enough to pay the annual fee for both the American Express® Gold Card and The Platinum Card® from American Express and get $100 on top.
If you use the fee credits and the cards’ benefits, you’ll get an additional value of more than $1,300.
Who can get the American Express business card?
Anyone who owns an LLC business, or who is a sole proprietor, can apply for the Amex business credit card. If you think this doesn’t apply to you, think again — almost anyone can qualify as a sole proprietor, including freelancers, IT consultants and Amazon sellers. When you fill out the application, you can:
- Use your personal name as your business name
- Use your personal address and phone number as your business address and phone number
- Select other in the industry type field if you can’t find your business in the list
- Select sole proprietorship as your business structure if that’s what your business is
- Be honest about how long your company has been active
- Select one employee if you don’t have others
- Use your Social Security number for your federal tax ID
Want to know more about the Amex trifecta cards? Click on “view details” or “Apply now” to get a closer look.
To make the most of your Amex trifecta cards, here’s what you need to do:
- Use the right card for the right purchases. Each card earns accelerated points on select categories. Make sure to:
- Use The Platinum Card® from American Express for hotel and airline purchases.
- Use the American Express® Gold Card at US supermarkets and restaurants worldwide.
- Use The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express on all other purchases.
- Earn the welcome offer. Two of the three cards come with generous welcome offers. If you clear it, you can earn rewards points worth more than $2,700.
- Use the fee credits. You get a total of $800 credits to use at hotels, airlines, dining and Uber rides, plus benefits worth $550. Make sure you use them to offset the annual fee.
- Use the intro APR period. The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express is the only credit card with a 0% intro APR period on purchases. If you’re looking to make a large purchase and pay it off for up to a year without interest, use this card.
Combining the three American Express cards: The Platinum Card® from American Express, American Express® Gold Card and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express can be an excellent strategy to maximize your rewards, especially if you spend money on airfare, hotels, dining worldwide and at US supermarkets. Plus, you get other generous perks that can make this card combination even more valuable.
However, if you think this card combination won’t work for you, compare other credit cards and make your own trifecta.