【2024.2 Update】The Morgan Stanley Platinum, Gold, and Green cards now have additional restrictions too! Please pay close attention; details below

  • Morgan Stanley Platinum: If you have applied for the issuer's own Platinum or Schwab Platinum, you will not be eligible for the welcome offer
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Platinum Card®, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.
  • AMEX Gold: If you have ever applied for any version of Platinum, you will not be able to get the bonus
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Premier Rewards Gold Card, the Platinum 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. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.
  • AMEX Green Card: If you have ever applied for AMEX Gold or any version of Platinum, you will not be able to get the bonus
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Platinum Card®, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the American Express® Gold Card or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.

About same-family card restrictions

We know that AMEX has the famous once-per-lifetime welcome bonus restriction, which means that after you have received the welcome bonus for a specific card name, you cannot get the bonus again even if you close the card and reapply.

However, until recently, AMEX had not imposed same-family card restrictions; the welcome bonus for each card in the same family was counted separately. For example, AMEX Blue Cash Everyday and Blue Cash Preferred are the same family, so you could apply for the first card and then the second one and still get both welcome bonuses. Similarly, Everyday and Everyday Preferred also worked that way.

However, AMEX appears to have recently started imposing same-family card restrictions, mainly affecting the AMEX Platinum family, Delta family, and Blue Cash family. Below is a brief overview.

Marriott family (added in 2023.12)

Now the Marriott Bevy card also has a restriction: if you have previously had the Brilliant card, you will not be eligible for the welcome offer. So it is still best to follow the strategy of applying from lower-tier cards first and then higher-tier cards. Fortunately, the Bevy card is not very valuable to apply for, so there is no need to worry about it too much.

You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card , the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.

Everyday Card family (added in 2023.10)

Now the AMEX Everyday Card also has a restriction: if you have previously received the Everyday Preferred bonus, you will not be able to get the bonus for this Everyday card.

You may not be eligible to receive the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees if you have or have had this Card, the Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.

However, Everyday Preferred does not seem to have any new restrictions.

Blue Cash family (added in 2023.10)

The Blue Cash Everyday card now has the following restrictions, excluding the no-annual-fee version, the Morgan Stanley version, and another cash-back card

  • If you currently have this card or have had it before (once-per-lifetime restriction)
  • Currently have or have previously had the Cash Magnet credit card or an older version of it (same-family card restriction)
  • Currently have or have previously had the Blue Cash Preferred credit card or an older version of it (same-family card restriction)
  • Currently have or have previously had the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred credit card or an older version of it (same-family card restriction)
You may not be eligible to receive the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees if you have or have had this Card, the Cash Magnet® Card, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card, the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred® American Express Card or previous versions of this Card. You also may not be eligible to receive the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.

The Blue Cash Preferred card now has the following restriction, excluding the Morgan Stanley version

  • If you currently have this card or have had it before (once-per-lifetime restriction)
  • Currently have or have previously had the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred credit card or an older version of it (same-family card restriction)
You may not be eligible to receive the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees if you have or have had this Card, the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred® American Express Card, or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.

Other cards have not been mentioned yet.

Delta Series (added in 2023.9)

Personal Cards

Delta personal cards have new restrictions. In short, if you currently have or have ever had a higher-annual-fee Delta card, you will not be eligible for the welcome offer on this card. Details below:

AMEX Delta Blue application terms are as follows. You will not be eligible for the welcome offer in the following five cases:

  • If you have this card or have had it before (once-per-lifetime restriction)
  • If you have or have had the Delta Reserve credit card or previous versions of that card (card-family restriction)
  • If you have or have had the Delta Platinum credit card or previous versions of that card (card-family restriction)
  • If you have or have had the Delta Gold credit card or previous versions of that card (card-family restriction)
  • If you have or have had the Delta Option credit card or previous versions of that card (card-family restriction)
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Delta SkyMiles® Options Credit Card, the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.

AMEX Delta Gold application terms are as follows. You will not be eligible for the welcome offer in the following three cases:

  • If you have this card or have had it before (once-per-lifetime restriction)
  • If you have or have had the Delta Reserve credit card or previous versions of that card (card-family restriction)
  • If you have or have had the Delta Platinum credit card or previous versions of that card (card-family restriction)
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.

AMEX Delta Platinum application terms are as follows. You will not be eligible for the welcome offer in the following two cases:

  • If you have this card or have had it before (once-per-lifetime restriction)
  • If you have or have had the Delta Reserve credit card or previous versions of that card (card-family restriction)
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.

AMEX Delta Reserve application terms are as follows. You will not be eligible for the welcome offer in the following case:

  • If you have this card or have had it before (once-per-lifetime restriction)
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card or previous versions of this Card. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.

Business Cards

For now, they are all still limited to once per lifetime, with terms similar to the following:

You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card or previous versions of this Card. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.

Platinum/Green/Gold Series (added in 2023.8 and 2024.2)

The welcome-offer terms for the Platinum card family have been updated for the worse. Now different Platinum card variants may conflict with one another.

These are the Platinum terms. In other words, if you have ever had the Morgan Stanley or Schwab versions, you will not be able to get the Platinum welcome offer:

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. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.

Platinum Schwab also has the same update, meaning that if you have ever had the Platinum or Morgan Stanley version, you will not be able to get the welcome offer for the Schwab version:
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Platinum Card®, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.

 Platinum Morgan Stanley hasn’t added any restriction yet 
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card or previous versions of this Card.

Also, the AMEX Gold Card has joined the lineup, and if you’ve ever applied for any version of Platinum, you won’t be able to get the bonus 
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Premier Rewards Gold Card, the Platinum 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. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.

The AMEX Green Card has also joined the lineup. If you have Gold or any version of Platinum, you also won’t be eligible for the bonus!
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Platinum Card®, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the American Express® Gold Card or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.

Other card families

At the moment, only the Hilton family and AMEX business cards do not have same-family card restrictions. Please appreciate them while you can.

The logic behind it

For the Platinum family, the standard and co-branded versions share almost all of the same benefits, while the co-branded versions have a few special perks. So AMEX feels that if you already have the richer Schwab and Morgan Stanley versions, applying for the standard version doesn’t really make sense. It’s likely something people are doing just to get the welcome bonus. Adding this kind of restriction helps stop some bonus chasers without affecting normal applicants.

Delta’s restriction pattern is different: if you already have a higher-tier Delta card, then applying for a lower-tier one won’t get you a welcome bonus. The idea is simple: you already enjoy the benefits of the higher tier, so there’s no reason to apply for the lower tier unless you’re just chasing the bonus. But if you have the lower-tier card and later decide to apply for a higher-tier version, that makes sense, so the bonus is still available.

Application guide

Since application restrictions aren’t completely mutually exclusive, we can start by applying for the cards with more restrictions first. For example, apply for Delta Gold first, then Platinum, then Reserve, and you can still get the welcome bonus for all of them. For Platinum, you can apply for the standard or Schwab version first, and then apply for the Morgan Stanley version.

In addition, AMEX also mentions pop-ups in the terms. If a pop-up appears, even if you push the application through, you still won’t get the bonus. In other words, they’ll warn you when the same-family card restriction applies. So if you’re restricted and you get a pop-up, don’t waste your time. There is actually an upside to this: for certain special bypass links, if there is no once-per-lifetime restriction or same-family card restriction, there won’t be a pop-up, and then you will very likely be able to get the bonus