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One of the best and easiest ways to rack up a ton of points is through credit card sign-up bonuses — referred to as a “welcome offer” by American Express. These one-time bonuses for opening a card and meeting minimum spending requirements can be quite lucrative. However, most card issuers set restrictions on who's eligible to earn a sign-up bonus. Some of these credit card application restrictions are published, while others aren't.
Luckily, American Express offers a straightforward tool to determine if you are ineligible for a welcome offer. Here's everything you need to know about the Amex welcome offer eligibility tool.
The American Express welcome offer eligibility tool will inform you of your ineligibility for a welcome offer before submitting your application.
The welcome offer eligibility tool is not a tool that can be accessed at any time. You need to actively apply for an American Express card to use the tool.
Once you've found the American Express card that fits your needs, simply begin the application process. If you are ineligible for a welcome offer, a box will appear on-screen during the application process. This on-screen box informs you of your ineligibility.
The Amex welcome offer eligibility tool will only appear during the application process. To use the tool, you will first want to find the American Express card that best fits your needs. Once you have done this, you can begin to apply for this card.
During the application process, prior to the final submission of your application, a box will appear on-screen to inform you that you are not eligible for that welcome offer. If you find out that you are not eligible for this offer, you can decide to end the application process without any effect on your credit. That is, American Express won't pull your credit report.
If the box doesn't pop up and your application is accepted, you can feel confident that you are eligible for the welcome offer — as long as you meet the spending requirements and don't break any Amex rules.
Almost all Amex cards currently offer a welcome offer. As such, the welcome offer eligibility tool should pop up if you are not eligible for that card's welcome offer.
There is only one exception that will not trigger the Amex welcome offer eligibility tool. This is American Express' prepaid debit card, the American Express Serve ® Card. And that's because the Serve Card does not have a welcome offer.
American Express will not allow an individual to receive a welcome offer more than once. If you've applied for an American Express card and taken advantage of that card's welcome offer in the past, you will not be eligible for that card's welcome offer again — at least for quite a few years.
Let's say you applied for the Delta SkyMiles ® Platinum American Express Card in 2018. You took advantage of the current welcome offer at that time, used the card for a year or two, and then canceled the card.
The Platinum Delta Amex currently offers new cardholders 50,000 bonus miles Delta SkyMiles after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
That's an enticing welcome offer. Let's say you want to reapply for the Platinum Delta Amex in hopes of securing that welcome offer. Unfortunately, you might be out of luck. American Express' current welcome offer policy is that you can only receive a specific card's welcome offer once in a “lifetime.”
With that said, you might be surprised how short a “lifetime” might be. If you applied for the same Platinum Delta Amex in 2012 and closed it in 2015, Amex may no longer have records that you held the card. That means you might be able to earn the welcome offer on that card again. This is where the Amex welcome offer eligibility tool can be clutch.
Amex's policy may also go beyond one single card product and apply to a series of cards. For example, if you held an Amex card that has since been discontinued, that card may prevent you from getting a successor card.
Therefore, the American Express welcome offer eligibility tool is quite helpful when you want to avoid applying for and receiving a card when you are ineligible for that card's welcome offer.
Amex factors in additional aspects that may prevent you from receiving an Amex welcome offer. If you received the dreaded pop-up that you are not eligible for an Amex welcome offer, the best answer as to why can be found in Amex offer terms and conditions:
“Welcome offer not available to applicants who have or have had this Card or previous versions of the (Insert Card). We may also consider the number of American Express Cards you have opened and closed as well as other factors in making a decision on your welcome offer eligibility.“
In short, Amex may not like how you've interacted with its cards in the past — whether or not you feel that's justified. Amex won't proactively inform you if you're on the naughty list. That makes the American Express welcome offer eligibility tool all that more critical.
There are two benefits of the Amex welcome offer eligibility tool. The first is pretty obvious: to prevent you from opening a credit card for which you can't earn the welcome offer. The second — and arguably more important benefit — is avoiding a hard inquiry on your credit history if not receiving a bonus changes your mind about a card.
Multiple factors impact one's credit score. The two most important factors are payment history and credit utilization. One of the other factors is the number of inquiries or “hard pulls” found in an individual's credit history.
An inquiry or “hard pull” is defined by Experian as any instance in which “a creditor has requested to look at your credit file to determine how much risk you pose as a borrower.”
Hard inquiries stay on your credit history for two years. After two years have passed from that hard inquiry, it's removed from your credit report. Hard inquiries will negatively impact your credit score, dropping your score a few points temporarily and also working as an alert to other lenders that you're shopping for credit. Some lenders are more sensitive to these recent inquiries than others.
Preventing unnecessary hard inquiries is one of the benefits of the Amex welcome offer eligibility tool. The welcome offer eligibility tool informs you of your welcome offer ineligibility before your application is submitted. Therefore, American Express won't pull your credit history until you've confirmed your welcome offer status and finished submitting the application.
At the moment, there are quite a few American Express cards offering rather lucrative welcome offers. Here are some of the top American Express welcome offers available to most first-time cardholders:
Welcome Offer 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.
Cardholders can access more than 1400 airport lounges worldwide, take advantage of up to $200 in annual airline fee credits, up to $199 in CLEAR ® credits, and TSA PreCheck ® or Global Entry fee credits. The card also includes a $200 annual hotel credit on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts ® or The Hotel Collection bookings (The Hotel Collection requires a minimum two-night stay), Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status, and a suite of benefits with Fine Hotels + Resorts ® . Additional perks include $12.95 monthly Walmart+ membership credit, up to $240 in annual digital entertainment credits, up to $300 Equinox credits, up to $200 annual Uber Cash, and up to $100 annual Saks Fifth Avenue credits. Enrollment required for select American Express benefits.
