Are You Eligible For a Sign Up Bonus If You Are an Additional Cardholder of Another Card?
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.TPG follower Holly tweeted:
"@thepointsguy I'm additional cardholder of my husband's American Express Platinum - am I still eligible for the Mercedes-Benz Platinum sign up bonus?"
Just this week I wrote about how Amex recently changed its sign-up bonus rules for existing cardholders and what that might mean for your future applications with them. That's why, especially with American Express, I always recommend looking at the exclusions in the Terms and Conditions of the application page.
Those on the Mercedes-Benz Platinum were just changed to exclude certain other Amex cardholders from getting the sign-up bonus. For instance, if you've had another product in the past year like the American Express Green Card or the Platinum Card, the new terms state that you are not eligible for the card's sign-up bonus. That's too bad, because the Mercedes-Benz Platinum card which is currently offering 50,000 points after $3,000 spend within 3 months, the application page states "Welcome bonus not available to applicants who have had a Platinum Card within the last 12 months or any Consumer ZYNC®, Green or Gold Card account within the last 90 days." If you happen to be a primary cardholder for any of the cards listed, be sure to close your account and wait for the required amount of time before applying for a new offer.
However, being an additional cardholder will not exclude you from getting the sign-up bonus yourself. In their system when you're an additional cardholder, you won't be listed as having the primary account so whenever you do apply to have a primary account of your own you will be eligible for that bonus.
To my knowledge this is true with every card issuer, not just American Express so as long as you are an additional cardholder you will not be excluded from a sign up bonus when you apply for that product down the line. I hope that answered your question, but if not please tweet me @thepointsguy!
TPG featured card
at Bilt's secure site
Terms & restrictions apply. See rates & fees.
| 1X | Choose to earn up to 1X points on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee |
| 2X | Earn 2X points + the option to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases |
Pros
- Choice to earn up to 1 Bilt Point per dollar spent on rent and mortgage payments
- Elevated everyday earnings with both Bilt Points and the option to earn Bilt Cash
- $400 Bilt Travel Portal hotel credit per year (up to $200 biannually)
- $200 Bilt Cash annually
- Priority Pass membership
- No foreign transaction fees
Cons
- Moderate annual fee
- Designed primarily for members seeking a premium, all-in-one card
- Earn points on housing with no transaction fee
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 2X points on everyday spend
- $400 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. Applied twice a year, as $200 statement credits, for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.
- $200 Bilt Cash (awarded annually). At the end of each calendar year, any Bilt Cash balance over $100 will expire.
- Welcome bonus (subject to approval): 50,000 Bilt Points + Gold Status after spending $4,000 on everyday purchases in the first 90 days + $300 of Bilt Cash.
- Priority Pass ($469/year value). See Guide to Benefits.
- Bilt Point redemptions include airlines, hotels, future rent and mortgage payments, Lyft rides, statement credits, student loan balances, a down payment on a home, and more.