What Is the American Express Once-Per-Lifetime Rule? | Credit Card News & Advice

If you’re thinking about applying for an American Express card because of a generous welcome offer, there’s something you should know: You can only only enjoy that bonus once in your lifetime.

Learn more about what the American Express once-per-lifetime rule entails, which cards it applies to and how it might impact your decision if you’re considering opening a new account.

The American Express once-per-lifetime rule is exactly what it sounds like – it limits cardholders to just one major welcome offer from its top-tier cards.

While credit card issuers use such offers to entice prospective customers, it can become a losing prospect if those programs are abused. “The intent is to prevent people from closing and reopening cards just for the bonus when they might otherwise just keep it open,” says Dave Grossman, founder of MilesTalk and Your Best Credit Cards. “Those welcome bonuses can really add up for the card issuer.”

Without parameters in place, savvy customers could essentially open a card, close it and then open it again for another bonus. This strategy is known as churning, says Ryan Horn, credit card expert and founder of Profits and Points. “If you’re not familiar, churning is the idea of opening credit cards – sometimes the same one multiple times – for the sole purpose of earning welcome bonuses,” says Horn.

While most issuers put limitations on their welcome offers, American Express has established a once-per-lifetime rule. For example, here’s the language found in the terms of the Platinum Card® from American Express:

“You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards.”

AmEx limits you from getting a bonus on a lesser card in the same card family, says Grossman. This applies to its card families:

If you earned a welcome offer on a lower-level card and then later applied for the higher card, you could get the higher card’s offer, however.

While there is no indication from American Express that there are exceptions to this rule, there is some chatter among points chasers and travel hackers in online forums that there could be some loopholes in the once-per-lifetime rule.

“Sometimes, American Express does not include the ‘lifetime language’ in the terms and conditions of a sign-up bonus,” says Horn, noting that this is extremely rare. “It takes both attention to detail and luck to find one of these offers.”

Yes, American Express will give you a heads-up if you won’t be eligible for the welcome offer before you apply, says Horn.

“American Express has a built-in feature that will tell you when applying for a card but before your credit is pulled,” he says. It will say something like: “Because you have or have had The Platinum Card, you are not eligible to receive the welcome offer. We have not yet performed a credit check. Would you still like to proceed?”

In addition to the once-per-lifetime rule, AmEx has a couple of other rules for new cardholders.

“While other issuers don’t have an explicit once-in-a-lifetime rule like American Express does, other issuers do have their own unique rules to prevent this same behavior,” says Horn.

For example, the Chase 5/24 rule means the issuer will not approve applications for anyone who has gotten five or more credit cards in the last 24 months.

If you’re someone who is trying to maximize credit card rewards, you’ll want to make sure you get the most value you can from your American Express welcome offer since theoretically you can only get it once. “If I’m only able to earn a welcome bonus once, I want to make sure at the very least that it’s higher than the standard bonus that that card offers,” says Horn.

To make sure that’s the case, keep tabs on bonus offers over a period of time. You will notice that several times a year, American Express may offer higher bonuses publicly or through less public sources, such as a friend’s referral link, says Horn. “Researching what past welcome bonuses have been can give you an idea of if you’re getting the best deal or not,” he adds.