While some specific American Express cards are among the most exclusive and difficult to obtain in the world, the issuer as a whole is not the absolute hardest to get cards from.
The American Express Centurion Card, colloquially known as the Black Card, is an exclusive invitation-only charge card issued by American Express. It is reserved for the company's wealthiest clients who meet certain net worth, credit quality, and spending requirements on its gateway card, the Platinum Card.
The best credit card that is rumored to have a $100,000 credit limit is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. While Chase does not publicly disclose the highest credit line available for the card, there are online reports of people getting around $100,000 in spending power, or even more.
100,000 American Express Membership Rewards points are generally worth $1,000 to $2,000 or more, depending on redemption; you get about 1 cent per point ($1,000 total) using the travel portal or gift cards, but can achieve 2 cents per point or higher ($2,000+) by transferring to airline/hotel partners for premium flights, yielding significantly more value, according to Bankrate and WalletHub and The Points Guy.
Amex minimum income requirements vary significantly by card and country, but generally range from around $45,000-$50,000 for some standard rewards cards (like the Explorer card in Australia) up to higher amounts like $65,000 for premium cards (Qantas Ultimate), or even business revenue requirements (e.g., $75,000 for Business Platinum). Some Amex cards, particularly in markets like Canada, surprisingly have no stated minimum income.
The credit limit you can expect for a $70,000 salary across all your credit cards could be as much as $14000 to $21000, or even higher in some cases, according to our research. The exact amount depends heavily on multiple factors, like your credit score and how many credit lines you have open.
Easiest American Express Cards to Get
The Amex 2/90 rule is a guideline limiting most people to approval for no more than two new American Express credit cards within a 90-day period, even if they meet other rules like waiting five days between applications (the 1-in-5 rule). This rule specifically applies to credit cards, not necessarily charge cards, and is a key factor in managing how many new Amex cards you can open and get welcome bonuses for.
While 200K Amex points will typically only give you about $2,000 in value when you shop for flights in the Amex travel portal, you can sometimes find Business or First Class flights — that can normally cost over $10,000 — for only 200K points, when transferred to a frequent flyer program.
The 2-2-2 credit rule is a guideline lenders use to assess a borrower's creditworthiness, requiring two active revolving credit accounts, open for at least two years, with a history of on-time payments for those two consecutive years, often with a minimum limit of $2,000 per account, to show financial stability for larger loans like mortgages. It demonstrates you can handle multiple credit lines responsibly, not just have a good score, building lender confidence.
Here are the cards the ultra wealthy keep to themselves.
The "15" and "3" refer to the days before your credit card statement's closing date. Specifically, the rule suggests you make one payment 15 days before your statement closes and another payment three days before it closes.
For the ultra-rich, however, credit cards take on another dimension. Certain cards—like the Amex Centurion, JP Morgan Reserve, Dubai First Royale Mastercard, and Coutts World Silk Card—are considered more exclusive than others, and they're available only to high earners with ample assets.
Why it's one of the hardest cards to get: The hardest card to get is the American Express Centurion Card, known simply as the “Black Card.” You need an invitation to get Amex Centurion, and only the super rich and famous can expect to get the call.
Exclusive Amex Black Card benefits. The Amex Centurion Card isn't just a status symbol — it unlocks exclusive perks across travel, dining, and lifestyle. From complimentary hotel and airline elite status to personalized concierge services, Centurion cardholders enjoy access to benefits you won't find on any other card.
In short, 2 million Amex points are worth $44,000. However, you can honestly get some incredible value with 2 million Amex points. For example, if you are diligent about finding award availability, you can book round-trip business class tickets to Europe for around 100,000 points per person.
While American Express doesn't publicize a minimum credit score for the Amex Gold Card, generally, applicants with a good credit score of 670 or above are more likely to qualify.
Estimated value
Dividing 100/20,000 gives you a value of 0.5 cents per point, or $5 value for every 1,000 points. But the value of your Membership Reward Points also depends on how you redeem Amex points and can also vary based on your card.
For most American Express® Accounts you can only apply for the same additional Card as your primary Card Account. For example, if you hold The Gold Card, you can only apply for the Gold additional Card. For Platinum Cardmembers, you can add one complimentary Platinum additional Card and up to 4 more for a fee.
American Express maintains a strict rule of one bonus per card for life, regardless of the family of cards (cobranded airline and hotel, business, cash-back and rewards cards). Although this rule covers all Amex cards, you can earn a welcome offer on personal and business cards of the same type.
It might be hard to get an American Express credit card because all cards offered by American Express are targeted to people with good credit or better, which may be out of reach for the average consumer.
earn a sufficient income of at least $50,000 per annum to pay outgoings and living expenses, in addition to Card repayments each month without experiencing financial hardship; • are willing and able to pay an annual fee of $1,450; • have current employment or access to other income or repayment sources; and • generally ...
The "2/3/4 rule" refers to an informal guideline for Bank of America (BofA) credit card approvals, limiting new cards to 2 within 30 days, 3 within 12 months, and 4 within 24 months, helping manage lending risk. It's also a term used in baby sleep training for wake windows (2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours between naps) and in food safety (2-hour/4-hour rule for keeping food out of the fridge).
Is Amex harder to get than Visa? Yes, Amex credit cards can be harder to get than Visa cards. That's because American Express cards typically require good credit or better for approval, whereas Visa credit cards are available to applicants of all credit levels.