Update: The policy is now once again a limit of 5 Amex credit cards.
For a while, Amex has had a “soft” policy limiting you to 5 credit cards (though some people got 6) and unlimited charge cards (Green/Gold/Platinum/Centurion).
In this article
New Amex Limit: 4 credit cards
It seems that on top of a recent new limit of 10 charge cards, American Express has now reduced the number of credit cards (this includes both consumer and small business American Express credit cards) you can have to 4.
This new Amex 4 credit card rule was confirmed by an AskAmex rep to Mark of Miles To Memories on Twitter.
Yes, we do have limits on Lending Consumer and Lending Business cards. The limit is four total of Consumer or Business lending cards. The limit for charge cards is ten.
— Ask Amex (@AskAmex) May 19, 2020
Why the Change?
My guess this is in response to the current risk environment, though it’s anyone’s guess on if they relax this again once the crisis passes.
Some people are commenting that they have still gotten a 5th card in recent days. It’s unclear if this is definitively affecting everyone or if, perhaps, Amex has an algorithm limiting most but not all to teh new 4 card limit.
For a while now, I had 5 credit cards and 2 charge cards. I just recently closed my American Express Hilton Business card simply because it overlapped so much with my Hilton Aspire card and the $95 wasn’t feeling worth it right now. I had assumed I’d be able to get it again later on (the free weekend night for $15,000 in spend can be a nice deal), but it seems that may not be possible now.
At least it’s not as bad as the scene over at Chase, where I’m barely hearing of any card approvals in the last week or two – especially for small business cards like the Chase Ink Preferred.
Does this mess up your Amex card strategy?
Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
