Best Amex Travel Card 2026: My Honest Recommendation

The honest truth first

€720 a year for a single credit card sounds absurd on its own. Whether the best Amex travel card for you is the Platinum comes down to one number: how many times a year you’re actually at an airport. At double digits, the math tends to flip fast, well beyond what the lounge count alone would suggest.

Here’s the fast answer, because you came for one: the best Amex travel card is the Platinum, if you fly often enough to drain its €650 in credits, and a no-fee card if you don’t. That’s the whole verdict in one line. But the line hides the interesting part: the card can pay for itself before you’ve taken a single lounge shower, thanks to one perk that’s easy to dismiss: the welcome bonus. If you rarely travel, honestly, don’t even read on; scroll to the PAYBACK card below, it costs nothing and is the more honest choice for you. Everyone else: stay with me, because the number that matters most isn’t the lounge count.

What changed with the Amex cards in 2026?

Before the story continues, the numbers, verified August 18, 2026 on americanexpress.com, because most comparisons online are still running the old ones:

• The Amex Gold now costs €20 a month (€240 a year), not €144. The once-common free first year is gone. With the relaunch as a metal card (gold or rose gold) came fixed credits instead: up to €20 a month toward a SIXT+ car subscription, 2 x €25 SIXT rent credit a year, €5 a month FREENOW taxi credit, and 2 x €40 Lodenfrey shopping credit a year, up to around €430 combined.
• The Green Card no longer exists in Germany. Its slot is taken by the American Express Card: €5 a month (€60 a year), Membership Rewards included, free from year two at €9,000 or more in annual spend.
• The Amex Platinum still costs €60 a month (€720 a year), but its credits have grown to €650 a year: €200 online travel credit, €150 dining credit, €200 SIXT ride credit, €100 shopping credit (2 x €50 Lodenfrey).
• The welcome bonus now splits two ways: applying direct at Amex gets you statement credit (Platinum up to €340, Gold up to €200, American Express Card €40); through a referral you instead get points (Platinum up to 85,000, Gold up to 50,000 Membership Rewards points).

The perk that can pay for the card before you’ve used it

The number that matters most isn’t the lounges. It’s the welcome bonus.

When you open the Platinum you earn a large chunk of Membership Rewards points after hitting a minimum spend in the first few months: through a referral in 2026 that’s up to 85,000 points, 40,000 after €6,000 spent in six months plus 45,000 after a further €4,000. That condition is worth taking seriously, nobody should buy things they don’t need just to chase points, but for anyone with planned spending coming up anyway (furnishing a home, booking a trip), the points land essentially for free.

Redeemed toward a return short-haul flight, the bonus can cover most or all of the fare. One redemption and a big slice of that scary annual fee is already neutralised, before setting foot in a single lounge. Even valued conservatively at €0.005 per point (vouchers or Amex Travel), 85,000 points is worth around €425.

That’s the catch nobody frames honestly, so here it is: the welcome bonus is only “free” if you’d have hit the spend threshold anyway. If you’d stretch to reach it, the math turns against you fast. And it’s for new cardholders only, with no primary card of that product in the last 18 months; canceling within the first 12 months forfeits it retroactively. Hit the threshold naturally, though, and the best Amex travel card starts in the green. Which brings us to the perk people actually buy this card for.

The perks that make the fee worth it

The lounges. At around ten or more airport visits a year, the fee gets justified through this perk alone: instead of buying overpriced water at the gate, cardholders can eat, work, and freshen up in peace before flying. The Platinum opens over 1,550 lounges at more than 500 airports (Global Lounge Collection including Priority Pass), for the cardholder plus one guest. On long layovers, a shower and a quiet desk can turn a miserable evening into a productive one. One change to flag: Lufthansa lounge access through the collection ends September 30, 2026; from October 1, 2026 the Platinum replaces it with ‘Lounge on the Go’ (6 x €20 airport vouchers at Frankfurt T1 and Munich T2), while the other 1,550+ lounges are unaffected.

The dining credit (€150 a year). Sounds like small change, but for a family that eats out regularly, it adds up: hosting visiting relatives or treating yourself to a proper coffee-house afternoon in a city like Vienna (Café Landtmann is a well-known example) can run through the credit and earn points at the same time. It resets on a schedule whether you use it or not.

The shopping credit (€100 a year, 2 x €50 at Lodenfrey). It can go toward gifts or purchases that wouldn’t otherwise fit the budget. It stops feeling like a card that only takes and starts feeling like one that hands a little back each month, if, and only if, you remember to use it.

Points on everyday spend. Beyond the bonus, the card keeps earning Membership Rewards points on ordinary purchases at 1 point per euro: groceries, the weekly shop, the boring stuff. It’s not glamorous, and the everyday earn rate won’t make anyone rich. But over a year those points quietly pile into the same pot the welcome bonus went into, and that pot is what can later turn four hotel nights into five.

Hotel status and points. This is where the value compounds most, and it’s the perk most people misunderstand. More on that in the next section.

How hotel status can turn four nights into five

Here’s the trick, plainly. The Platinum gets you elevated status with hotel partners (Hilton Honors Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite, granted just for holding the card) and separately you’re sitting on a stack of Membership Rewards points. On their own, each is fine. Combined, they’re where the real value hides.

With Hilton Honors Gold and a discounted points promotion running at the same time, it’s possible to book a trip so that four paid nights become five: the fifth night effectively free, covered by points topped up by everyday earn. Status buys a better room than what was paid for; points buy the extra night.

Does it always work? No. Promotions come and go, award space disappears, and some months a credit goes unused because life gets busy. Anyone who says every perk lands every time is selling, not advising.

The honest downsides

Not every credit gets used. The €200-a-year SIXT ride credit sits unused on many cardholders’ accounts entirely, a benefit on the brochure that does nothing for anyone who doesn’t rent from SIXT. That shifts the math: €720 in card fees minus €650 in credits is around €70 net on paper, but skipping the SIXT ride credit pushes the real cost closer to €270.

And two more honest flags the brochures bury. First: every German Amex, including the Platinum, charges a 2% foreign transaction fee on payments in foreign currency and 4% (minimum €5) for ATM cash. On a €3,000 long-haul trip that’s €60, more than a third of the dining credit. Second: American Express isn’t accepted everywhere. In the US it’s effortless, and hotels, airlines and big retailers take it happily, but plenty of small shops, market stalls and restaurants abroad still wave only Visa and Mastercard through. A no-fee Mastercard or Visa (a Revolut card, free on the standard plan, up to €1,000 a month at the interbank rate) as backup covers foreign currency, cash and the rest, while the Amex handles the big, perk-earning bookings in euros.

Add up the credits you would actually redeem in a year (the flight from the bonus, the dinners you’d genuinely eat, the nights you’d genuinely book), not the ones in the marketing. If that honest total beats the €720, the Platinum is made for you. If it doesn’t, a smaller card is the better fit.

So which card clears that bar for you? That’s exactly what the detailed reviews below are for.

Which Amex fits you? The quick view

Not everyone needs premium. The best Amex travel card for you isn’t automatically the most expensive one: it’s the one whose credits you’ll actually empty. Here’s the lineup at a glance, then a full review of each card underneath.

Detailed review of each Amex card

Here’s the honest, unhurried breakdown of all four cards: who each is genuinely for, what you actually get, and the catch worth knowing before paying. Want the deep dive on one card? Jump to the full Platinum review, Gold review, the American Express Card (formerly Green) review or the PAYBACK review, or settle the big question in Amex Platinum vs Gold.

American Express Platinum: the frequent-flyer’s card

Verdict: the best Amex travel card if you fly into double-digit airport visits a year. For anyone else it’s an expensive way to own a metal card.

The Platinum is the flagship, and the fee shows it: €60 a month, so €720 a year in Germany (as of August 2026). That’s the number that makes people slam the laptop shut. What it buys is the densest perk stack Amex sells:

• Lounge access, the headline reason most people buy it: the American Express Global Lounge Collection with over 1,550 lounges at more than 500 airports in over 140 countries (Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass lounges, and partner networks), for you plus one guest, and it works on Platinum supplementary cards too. At around ten or more visits a year, this alone can pay off the card’s fee. Lufthansa lounges are the exception from October 1, 2026 (access until September 30, 2026), replaced by ‘Lounge on the Go’ (6 x €20 airport vouchers at Frankfurt T1 and Munich T2).
• A large welcome bonus: direct from Amex up to €340 in statement credit (€160 after €6,000 spent in six months plus €180 after a further €4,000), or through a referral up to 85,000 Membership Rewards points at the same thresholds (a perk that can cover most of a return flight).
• €650 a year in credits: €200 online travel credit (Amex Travel), €150 dining credit, €200 SIXT ride credit and €100 shopping credit (2 x €50 Lodenfrey; from October 1, 2026 needs a €200+ purchase and re-activation in Amex Offers). Added up, they claw back a real slice of the fee if you remember to use them: with full use, the net cost is around €70 a year.
• Hotel status without staying a single night: Hilton Honors Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite and, since late July 2026, ALL Accor Gold, plus Fine Hotels & Resorts perks (breakfast, upgrades, on-property credit) when you book eligible hotels through Amex Travel.
• A comprehensive travel insurance package (trip cancellation, overseas medical, baggage, travel accident, liability) and up to 7 cards in your portfolio.

Get it if you’re at the airport often, will use lounges and the credits, and value hotel status. Skip it if you can’t honestly tick those boxes: the Gold, the American Express Card or the free PAYBACK will leave you better off.

American Express Gold: the card for point collectors with a car and taxis

Verdict: the best-value card, if you use its new credits. For most people who aren’t frequent flyers, the Gold out-earns the Platinum once you subtract the fee.

Since its relaunch as a metal card (gold or rose gold), the Amex Gold costs €20 a month, so €240 a year. Important, since many older comparisons still get this wrong: until 2025 it was €144 a year and Amex often waived the first year; both are gone. In exchange, the value is now concrete:

• Up to around €430 a year in credits: up to €20 a month toward a SIXT+ car subscription, 2 x €25 SIXT rent credit, €5 a month FREENOW taxi credit, and 2 x €40 Lodenfrey shopping credit. If you run a car subscription, rental cars and taxis through the card, you effectively pay nothing for the €240.
• 1 Membership Rewards point per euro on everything, the same currency as the Platinum, so points still pool toward flights and that hotel-night trick.
• A welcome bonus: direct from Amex up to €200 in statement credit (€80 after €3,000 spent plus €120 after a further €2,000 in six months), or through a referral up to 50,000 points.
• Travel insurance for the cardholder and family, GHA Discovery Gold status, a 90-day return policy, and one supplementary card included.

The honest catch: no lounge access, no Hilton or Marriott status. If you were buying the Platinum mainly for those, the Gold isn’t a substitute. It’s a different card for a different traveller. And if you don’t drive and don’t take taxis, you’re paying €240 for points with no extras; the American Express Card below is the smarter points card then.

Get it if you fly single digits, want points without a premium fee, and already pay for a car, taxi or rental car. Skip it if lounges and hotel status are the whole point for you (go Platinum), or if you won’t use the mobility credits (go American Express Card or PAYBACK).

American Express Card (formerly Green): the low-fee step into Membership Rewards

Verdict: the in-between card, and in 2026 often the smarter choice ahead of the Gold. A low-fee way to earn real Membership Rewards points without committing to Gold or Platinum money.

First things first: the Amex Green Card is no longer offered in Germany. Its slot in the lineup is taken by the American Express Card, the entry rung into the Membership Rewards ecosystem: €5 a month, so €60 a year, and the fee disappears entirely from year two if you spent at least €9,000 on the card the year before (€750 a month). Membership Rewards is included, 1 point per euro, one supplementary card free, a 90-day return policy, Apple Pay and Google Pay. There’s a €40 welcome credit after €2,000 spent in six months. Think of it as the “I want real Membership Rewards points, but I don’t need the Gold’s credits or the Platinum’s lounges” option.

The honest catch: it’s a narrower card. No credits, no lounges, no hotel status, no travel insurance, and it still costs €60 in year one, which the free PAYBACK doesn’t. Big spenders get out-valued by the Gold (if its credits fit) and the fee-averse by the PAYBACK. But for anyone who just wants points on everyday spend and clears €9,000 from year two, it’s the cheapest “real” Amex there is: then it costs €0. Terms change, so check the current offer on the product page before deciding.

PAYBACK American Express Card: the free, honest starting point

Verdict: the card I’d hand someone who travels twice a year and refuses to justify a fee. Zero cost, zero pressure.

The PAYBACK American Express Card has a permanent €0 annual fee, with every supplementary card included, which makes it the genuinely risk-free way into American Express. There’s one distinction the brochures gloss over and I won’t: it earns PAYBACK points, not Membership Rewards. You earn 1 PAYBACK point per €3 of card spend everywhere (except gas stations), on top of the regular PAYBACK points at partners like dm, Edeka or Aral, and points never expire. There’s 1,000 Extra points as a direct welcome offer, or 4,000 through a referral for the first payment (promotion through September 27, 2026); a co-branded dm PAYBACK American Express Card exists too, same terms. So the rewards are practical rather than travel-flexible, and you don’t get the Platinum/Gold travel machinery: no lounges, no hotel status, no travel credits.

That’s not a knock. For a few-times-a-year traveller, a free card that quietly earns PAYBACK points on normal spending is exactly right, and it lets you live inside the Amex world (acceptance, the app, the security) without paying to find out whether you’d use a premium card. Plenty of people start here, watch their own travel habits for a year, and then decide whether an American Express Card, Gold or Platinum is justified. That’s the smart order to do it in.

Get it if you travel occasionally, want zero commitment, or are testing the waters before a paid card. Skip it if you want travel perks or to seriously bank Membership Rewards: that’s the American Express Card, Gold or Platinum.

So, which one?

• Platinum (€720/year): frequent flyers who’ll use lounges, the €650 in credits and hotel status. The pick for anyone hitting double-digit airport visits a year.
• Gold (€240/year): the value sweet spot if you pay for a car subscription, rental car or taxis and want points. Often the smartest card in the lineup once you net out the credits.
• American Express Card (€60/year, free from year 2 at €9,000 spend): the cheapest step into Membership Rewards if the Gold’s credits don’t fit you and the Platinum’s fee is too much. It replaces the Green Card.
• PAYBACK (€0): free, honest, and the right call if you travel a few times a year and don’t want a fee to justify.

For more ways to make travel cheaper, see our flights hub and our hotels hub. The same points-and-status thinking that can win a free hotel night applies to both. And because every Amex charges a 2% foreign transaction fee and isn’t taken everywhere abroad, pairing it with a Revolut card covers fee-free spending in foreign currency and where only Visa and Mastercard are accepted.

Why is Amex Travel often more expensive?

If you’ve priced a flight or hotel on the Amex Travel portal and found it higher than the airline’s or hotel’s own site, you’re not imagining it. The honest reason: airlines and hotels don’t always hand a booking portal their lowest rate, and the portal bundles its points-earning and perks into what you pay. So on a like-for-like flight, the portal price can sit a little above booking direct.

That doesn’t mean the portal loses: it often wins, just not on the sticker price:

• The travel credit. The Platinum’s €200 online travel credit only applies to bookings made through Amex Travel: redeem it there and you often win back the small markup several times over.
• Points. The Platinum earns extra Membership Rewards on flights booked through Amex Travel, often enough to offset the difference and then some.
• Hotel perks and credits. Eligible hotels come with free breakfast, a room upgrade and on-property credit through Fine Hotels & Resorts. That’s value the hotel’s own page never hands you.
• Peace of mind. Credits and cancellations run through Amex, which is simpler when something goes wrong far from home.

So here’s the practical rule: compare the portal against booking direct every single time. When the points and credits clearly beat the price gap (most eligible hotels, and flights while you’re building the welcome bonus), book through the portal. When they don’t, book direct and pocket the difference. The catch: the portal only pays off if you’ll actually use what it bundles in, otherwise that higher price is just a higher price.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Amex Platinum really worth it?

The Amex Platinum is worth it if you fly often and actually use the €650 in annual credits: then you’re left paying around €70 net a year on top of the €720 card fee for lounges, hotel status and insurance. At around ten or more flights a year, lounge access alone can justify the fee. On top of that come the welcome bonus, dining and shopping credits, and hotel status that can turn four booked nights into five through a points top-up. If you rarely travel, a cheaper or free card serves you better. Do the honest math before you pay the fee.

Amex Platinum or Gold: which should I get?

Get the Amex Platinum (€60/month, €720/year) if you fly enough to drain lounge access, hotel status and the €650 in annual credits. Get the Amex Gold (€20/month, €240/year) if you want Membership Rewards points and will use the up to around €430 a year in SIXT, FREENOW and Lodenfrey credits, but don’t need lounges. A simple test: count your airport visits last year. Double digits leans Platinum; single digits leans Gold.

Is the Amex Gold worth it?

For the right person, yes. The Amex Gold costs €20 a month (€240 a year) since its relaunch as a metal card; the once-common free first year no longer exists. In exchange there’s up to around €430 a year in credits (up to €20/month SIXT+ car subscription, 2 x €25 SIXT rent, €5/month FREENOW, 2 x €40 Lodenfrey), family travel insurance and 1 Membership Rewards point per euro. The catch: no lounge access, no Hilton or Marriott status. If you run a car subscription, rental cars and taxis through the card, you pay effectively nothing; if you won’t use those credits, the American Express Card at €60 is the better fit.

How much is the Amex Platinum annual fee?

In Germany it’s €60 a month, so €720 a year, billed monthly (as of August 2026). Against that stand €650 in annual credits: €200 online travel credit, €150 dining credit, €200 SIXT ride credit and €100 shopping credit. The Gold sits at €20/month (€240/year), the American Express Card at €5/month (€60/year, free from year two at €9,000 spend), and the PAYBACK card is €0. Amex adjusts fees and credits regularly, so confirm the current number on the application page before you apply, then weigh it against the credits you’d actually use.

Is there a free American Express card with no annual fee?

Yes. In Germany the PAYBACK American Express Card has a permanent €0 annual fee and earns 1 PAYBACK point per €3 of spend. The honest caveat: it earns PAYBACK points, not Membership Rewards, and comes with none of the lounges, credits or hotel status of the paid cards. It’s the right pick if you travel only a couple of times a year, or want to try the Amex ecosystem with zero financial commitment. The Blue Card is also €0, but only earns points with the €30/year Membership Rewards add-on.

What is the biggest downside of the Amex Platinum?

The €720 a year in card fees, and that the €650 in credits only help if you genuinely use them. The €200-a-year SIXT ride credit in particular goes unused by anyone who doesn’t rent through SIXT. Two quieter downsides: every German Amex, including the Platinum, charges a 2% foreign transaction fee on non-euro payments, and American Express isn’t accepted everywhere, especially smaller shops abroad, so you’ll still want a Visa or Mastercard as backup. Honestly add up the credits you actually redeem in a year before you pay the fee.

Can Amex hotel status really get you free nights?

Indirectly, yes. Combining hotel status with Membership Rewards points can turn four paid nights into five: the fifth night effectively free when a points promotion is running. It doesn’t always work, but with partners like Hilton (Honors Gold via Platinum), status plus a points discount can save you a lot.

Does the welcome bonus actually cover a flight?

It can. A Membership Rewards welcome bonus redeemed toward a return short-haul flight can cover most or all of the fare. Through a referral in 2026 there’s up to 85,000 points for the Platinum (40,000 after €6,000 spent in 6 months plus 45,000 after a further €4,000) and up to 50,000 for the Gold; direct from Amex it’s up to €340 or €200 in statement credit instead. So only count on it if you’d hit that spend anyway. Chasing it with purchases you don’t need destroys the value instantly.

Which American Express card is best for travel?

It depends on how often you fly. If you’re at the airport a lot, the Platinum (€720/year) wins: lounge access, hotel status and €650 in travel credits alone can cover its fee for a frequent flyer. If you want points and run a car, taxi or rental car through the card, the Gold (€240/year) is a good fit. If you want points with no extras, take the American Express Card (€60/year, free from year two at €9,000 spend). And if you travel only a couple of times a year, the no-fee PAYBACK card gets you an Amex without a big fee to justify.

Is American Express accepted everywhere when I travel?

Not quite. Acceptance is excellent in the US and at hotels, airlines and larger retailers, but smaller shops, market stalls and some restaurants abroad still take only Visa and Mastercard. The fix is simple: carry a no-fee Visa or Mastercard (a Revolut card is ideal) as backup, put big bookings on the Amex for points and perks, and let the other card cover everyday spend where Amex isn’t taken.

Why is Amex Travel more expensive than booking direct?

Sometimes the price on the Amex Travel portal looks higher, but it usually is not once you count what comes with it: extra Membership Rewards points on the booking, plus hotel perks like free breakfast, room upgrades and on-property credits through Fine Hotels & Resorts and The Hotel Collection. On a like-for-like flight it can cost a little more for the points; on eligible hotels the perks normally outweigh the difference. Compare the all-in value, not just the sticker price.

Which Amex card is best for international travel?

For international travel the Platinum is usually the strongest: worldwide access to over 1,550 lounges, hotel status you can use abroad, and comprehensive travel insurance all matter more the further you go. But there are two catches specific to going overseas: every German Amex charges a 2% foreign transaction fee and 4% (minimum €5) at ATMs, and American Express isn’t accepted everywhere outside the US. So whichever Amex you carry, pair it with a no-fee Visa or Mastercard (a Revolut card is ideal) for foreign currency, cash and the small shops and markets that only take those. If you fly abroad often, go Platinum; if you travel a couple of times a year, the free card plus a backup is plenty.

My verdict

The Platinum isn’t a card for everyone. It’s a card for frequent flyers: double-digit airport visits a year, a welcome bonus that can wipe out a flight, dining and shopping credits, and a hotel status trick that can add a free night. Get it through the link below, and use the €650 in credits consistently so the €720 nets out to around €70. If you already pay for a car, taxi and rental car, the Gold at €240 is the smarter buy; if you just want points with no extras, the American Express Card at €60 or free. And if you travel a couple of times a year, take the free PAYBACK.

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