I Would Like to Express Once Again

Terms utilise to American Express offers. See the carte du jour application for more details.

As more travelers learn the value of credit menu welcome bonuses, banks have adopted dissimilar strategies to prevent credit card churning. Chase applies it's infamous 5/24 Dominion. Citi limits how many cards y'all can go far an 8-solar day and 65-day catamenia and restricts welcome bonuses past card family for a multi-twelvemonth period. Uppercase One will only corroborate you for one new bill of fare per 6 months.

Compared to other banks, the American Limited rule is direct-forward, yet strict. For each American Limited menu, yous only take one opportunity to earn a welcome bonus. Or, as information technology's improve known, Amex applies a "once per lifetime" rule.

However, every bit nosotros volition prove you, you lot don't necessarily merely have 1 shot at a welcome bonus per bill of fare. As well, a "lifetime" might be shorter than you think. And, even if your records aren't dandy, there'due south an easy style to figure out which cards Amex thinks you've had earlier.

Allow'south dive into what you need to know about Amex's "once per lifetime" rule.

Amex's Once Per Lifetime Dominion Defined

American Express cards include a restriction in the offer terms that the "welcome offering not available to applicants who have or have had this product." Informally, this provision is referred to as the "once per lifetime rule".

Equally y'all'll come across below, the restriction might not exist in place for your entire lifetime. However, this is a brake that's important to keep in heed when applying for American Express cards. As you only go one shot at a welcome bonus per card, you may want to featherbed a mediocre welcome bonus offer.

For example, the American Limited® Aureate Carte originally relaunched in 2018 with a welcome offer of just 25,000 bonus Membership Rewards points. Currently, the welcome offer on the carte is: sixty,000 Membership Rewards® points later on spending $4,000 on purchases in the offset 6 months of bill of fare membership.

That'due south a huge divergence. And, unfortunately for cardmembers who signed up for the menu at the relaunch, they will but ever get that 25,000 welcome bonus on the Amex Gilt Card.

It'due south never good to miss a carte welcome bonus. Notwithstanding, Amex'south "once per lifetime" brake means that it's peculiarly critical that you don't fail to earn an Amex welcome bonus considering you did not run across the spending requirements.

Although some may presume that y'all tin can just earn one welcome bonus per lifetime, Amex doesn't bank check whether or not y'all actually earned the welcome bonus. Amex only considers whether or not y'all've had the menu. And then, if you miss a welcome bonus on an Amex card, you may never be able to earn a welcome bonus on that carte du jour.

The Length of a Lifetime

It turns out that the "one time per lifetime" rule isn't quite as concrete every bit it may sound. Some cardmembers have reported earning a welcome bonus on an Amex card that they have had before. And so, how long is a lifetime? Well, it depends on when Amex purges its lists of which cardmembers have previously held a card.

Some cardmembers have found that they are eligible for a welcome bonus on an Amex card that they closed more than seven years ago. Others have found that they're eligible even sooner than that.

Unfortunately, there's no way of knowing exactly how and when Amex volition purge its list of previous cardmembers, making you eligible for a welcome bonus once again.

However, as we show below, yous tin find out which cards Amex shows that you've held previously. If a detail card isn't listed, your "lifetime" restriction on that carte may have reset.

How to Find Which Amex Cards for Which You're Ineligible to Get a Welcome Bonus

Perhaps you have meticulous records of which American Limited cards you've had in the by. Perhaps you don't. Either fashion, no worries. There's an easy way to figure out which Amex cards you've had in the past—at least for Amex'southward once-per-lifetime restrictions. You can just ask American Express which cards you've had.

I tried this method out for myself via Amex'due south chat office. An American Express agent helpfully confirmed that Amex doesn't give welcome bonuses on cards that a cardmember has had before. When I asked, the agent listed two cards that I've closed according to Amex's records.

For some cardmembers, the response you get will be directly-frontwards and will clear up whatever questions. However, other cardmembers may not recognize some of the cards that are listed.

For case, I've never had a "Bonvoy Amex card". According to my records, I take closed three Amex cards:

• Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Limited (No longer available for new applicants)
• American Limited® Business Gold Carte

The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card closed to new applicants in 2019. That's three years after I closed my account. However, Amex's records currently show that I closed a "Bonvoy Amex card."

Presumably, Amex is referring to the Marriott Bonvoy American Limited Card—which is the carte that Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Carte cardmembers were converted to in 2019. So, even though I never had a personal Bonvoy Amex card, Amex's records show that I take.

You may have noticed that I listed three Amex cards that I've previously closed, only Amex listed two. The missing menu: Premier Rewards Gold Bill of fare from American Express. I closed this carte du jour in the fall of 2016 before long after replacing information technology with the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

The Premier Rewards Gold Carte was relaunched equally the American Express Gilded Card in 2018. Amex even lists the Premier Rewards Gold Bill of fare as a legacy product of the current Gold Carte du jour in the offer terms: "Welcome offering not bachelor to applicants who have or have had this Card or the Premier Rewards Gilded Card." Yet, Amex doesn't show that I've had either bill of fare.

Presumably, Amex has purged its records of me having this card and I'd exist eligible to get a welcome bonus on it over again. Thankfully there's a stopgap measure out to prevent you from applying for an American Express carte du jour on which you lot aren't eligible to earn a welcome bonus.

Legacy and Discontinued American Limited Cards, Explained

One of the complicating factors of Amex'due south "one time per lifetime" dominion is that American Limited factors in legacy and discontinued cards when because which cards you're eligible for.

Say y'all've never had a Marriott co-branded Amex menu before. You might assume that y'all are eligible for the welcome bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy Bright™ American Express® Card (Terms Apply).

However, that'south non necessarily the case. If you previously held a Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Carte du jour, y'all aren't eligible for the welcome bonus on the Bonvoy Brilliant.

The Starwood Preferred Guest® American Limited® Luxury Card was converted to the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card in 2019. Amex considers Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury Carte cardmembers as having the Marriott Bonvoy Bright. That's true fifty-fifty if you closed the menu before the conversion.

Sometimes legacy cards are explicitly listed in the offer terms—every bit with the Starwood Preferred Guest Luxury Card carte in a higher place. Notwithstanding, on other Amex cards, the offer terms may be generalized. For case, on Delta co-branded credit cards, Amex notes that the "welcome offer not available to applicants who accept or accept had this or previous versions of this Bill of fare."

Amex's Welcome Bonus Qualification Tool

In June 2018, American Limited implemented a welcome bonus qualification tool into its application process. This tool checks to see if you're eligible to earn the welcome bonus on an Amex card when you click submit on your application. Thankfully, this check happens before your credit is pulled.

If Amex shows that you've had the menu before, you'll receive a pop up noting that "yous accept or have had" the card, and "you are non eligible to receive the welcome offer." You are given the option to continue with submitting your application or cancel your application.

There's another way that this welcome bonus qualification tool may exist used. American Express may decide that it doesn't want to offering you lot a welcome bonus based on your history with Amex welcome offers or opening and closing cards. If so, you'll receive a message that:

Based on your history with American Express welcome offers, introductory April offers, or the number of cards you lot have opened and closed, you are not eligible to receive this welcome offer.

Amex Cards with the Once-Per-Lifetime Restriction

As far equally we accept seen, all American Express cards take the language that the "welcome offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product" in the general offer terms. This includes all Membership Rewards-earning, airline and hotel co-branded, and cash back cards issued by American Express.

However, that doesn't mean that you'll never be able to earn a bonus on a bill of fare you've already carried—as we comprehend below.

When Amex's In one case Per Lifetime Brake Does Not Employ

There are a couple of potential situations where Amex's "once per lifetime" restriction may not apply. American Express may offer cardmembers a bonus for upgrading an existing menu, and Amex may not accept the "once per lifetime" linguistic communication on cards offered through pre-qualified offers.

Card Upgrade Offers

American Express will periodically offer current cardmembers a bonus to upgrade an existing Amex carte du jour to a higher annual fee carte. These offers may vary from cardmember to cardmember. Some cardmembers have even institute that they are targeted to receive a bonus for upgrading to a card that they previously held.

For case, a cardmember may have previously held a Hilton Honors American Limited Surpass® Card*. But currently, the cardmember but has the Hilton Honors American Express Card open up. Amex may offer this cardmember a bonus to upgrade their Hilton Honors card to the Hilton Surpass card, despite that cardmember having had the Hilton Surpass before.

Pre-Qualified Offers

Another potential opportunity is American Express pre-qualified offers. As the name implies, these are cards that American Express has pre-approved you for based on your existing Amex profile.

Lucky Amex cardmembers accept found that the "once per lifetime" language is missing on some cards for which they are pre-qualified. That's true even if they accept had the card in the past.

That means that information technology's worth checking your Amex pre-qualified offers to encounter if you lot're qualified for a carte that you had in the past. If you are targeted for a card you've had before, pay close attending to the terms and conditions to bank check if the "once per lifetime" brake is listed.

Bottom Line

A "once per lifetime" rule may sound straight-forrad. Nonetheless, every bit you've seen, Amex's welcome bonus restrictions aren't as articulate-cutting as the verbiage may indicate. A "lifetime" might be but a few years long, yous may be restricted from getting a card that you've never had, and there are ways that you might be able to still get around this restriction.

The good news is that Amex volition tell you which cards they show that you've had before. And, as a concluding stopgap, Amex will warn you when yous apply if yous're trying to become a card for which you're ineligible to get a welcome bonus.

To view rates and fees of American Express® Business concern Gold Card, please visit this page.

To view rates and fees of Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Menu, delight visit this page.

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Source: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-cards/american-express-once-per-lifetime-rule/

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