American Express offers a wide range of credit cards in various credit card categories from hotel reward cards and city credit cards to business cards and charge cards, with a few of these credit card categories being exclusive to American Express.

If you currently only have Visa or MasterCard credit cards and you have been thinking about getting an American Express card, this list of American Express credit cards will provide a quick look at the best credit cards in each category to help you find the card you need.

If you’re not sure why you would want an American Express credit card, this list of American Express credit cards will show you some of the the excellent services, shopping discounts and other promotional offers that are provided exclusively by American Express credit cards.

American Express cards offer features for everyone, but it is sometimes difficult to distinguish which credit card has the features you need.

Here is a quick overview of the best credit cards from American Express by category and purpose.

Airline Reward Credit Card Category

Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card

Get 20,000 bonus miles after your first purchase and 5,000 for adding 2 cardmembers to your account. Plus, you can take advantage of additional offers like earning up to 5,000 bonus miles for making round-trip ticket purchases and getting up to $250 in cash reward American Express gift cards for staying at Marriott or Renaissance hotels, as well as other special savings and Promotional Offers provided by the Delta SkyMiles Gold Card.

You always get 2 miles per dollar spent at supermarkets, gas stations, drug stores, home improvement stores, the U.S. Postal Service, on Delta Air Lines purchases, and when paying wireless phone bills, and you get 1 mile per dollar everywhere else. There is an $85 annual fee, but it is waived for the first year, and if you fly often, the card will easily pay for itself. You can also fly on a number of other popular airlines including Continental and Northwest. Redemptions for free flights start at 25,000, so with the initial bonus miles and other promotional offers, you’ll be able to reach that first free flight pretty easily.

Cash Back Reward Credit Card Category

There are 2 credit cards that stand out in the cash back reward credit card category, and it really depends on what types of purchases you will be making and how much money you will be spending to decide which American Express cash back credit card is right for you.

Blue Cash® from American Express

Clear from American Express®

The Blue Cash card boasts of up to a 5% rebate on purchases made at drug stores, gas stations and supermarkets, and up to 1.5% on all your other purchases. However, it is important to understand that this is a tiered rebate, which means it offers you different rebates for different spending levels.

General purchases earn a .5% rebate for yearly spending of up to $6,500 and 1.5% for over $6,500 in yearly spending. Purchases at drugstores, gas stations and supermarkets earn a 1% rebate for up to $6,500 in yearly spending and 5% for over $6,500 in yearly spending. In comparison, the Clear from American Express offers a flat 1% cash rebate on all of your purchases.

Let’s consider how much money you can save at drugstores, gas stations and supermarkets first.

With the Blue Cash card, if you spend $5,000 a year at these places, you’ll earn $50, which is the same that you’ll earn with the Clear card. If you spend $10,000 at those places with the Blue Cash card, you’ll earn $240, while only earning $100 with the Clear from American Express.

Now let’s look at how much money you can save on all your other purchases, not including drugstores, gas stations and supermarkets.

If you spend $5,000 with the Blue Cash card, you’ll earn only $25, while you earn $50 with the clear card. If you spend $10,000 with the Blue Cash card, you’ll get $85, while getting $100 with the Clear card.

Of course, in real life, the combination of how much money you spend on various purchase types will vary as you use your card from day to day, but you can get a good idea of which card is best for you from those basic numbers.

If you’re spending well over $6,500 a year on mostly gas, groceries and drug store purchases, you will probably benefit more from the Blue Cash card, but if you don’t spend over $6,500 a year on your card, or if you don’t necessarily make a majority of your purchases in those select categories, you’ll benefit more from the Clear from American Express card.

Both also have no annual fees and excellent interest-free introductory offers.

Hotel Reward Credit Card Category

Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express

The Starwood card offers 10,000 bonus points after your first purchase, which is enough for 3 free nights. It does have an annual fee of $45, which is waived the first year, but there are also many other opportunities to earn bonus points for many more free hotel stays.

Check out our article about the secret to Earning Bonus Free Hotel Stays with the Starwood card after making only one purchase of any size.

The Hilton HHonors® Platinum Credit Card from American Express is a close second as it has no annual fee, and you get 10,000 bonus points after your first purchase, which is enough for 1 free night. Read How to take advantage of the Hilton HHonors Card.

Travel Reward Credit Card Category

Blue Sky from American Express

The Blue Sky card offers 1 point per dollar you spend, and for every 7,500 points you earn, you’ll get a $100 statement credit on eligible travel purchases including airlines, hotels, car rentals, cruise lines, travel agencies, tour operators and online travel sites billed to your account. That’s a rebate of roughly 1.33%, which is .33% more than most cards, plus there is no annual fee.

Business Credit Card Category

American Express SimplyCash® Business Card

The SimplyCash Business Card offers a 5% rebate on office supplies and wireless services, a 3% rebate on auto gas purchases of up to $12,000 each year (1% thereafter), and 1% on everything else, plus the rebate is automatically credited to your account each billing cycle. The SimplyCash card also has no annual fee, a very low interest rate, and an interest-free introductory offer to help you finance your business.

The Business Gold Rewards Card is a close second, as it offers Cash Bonus Rewards after your first purchase.

Charge Card Category

American Express® Preferred Rewards Gold Card

Charge cards are basically the same as a regular credit card, except you must pay your monthly balance off in full. If you aren’t looking for a Credit Card Loan, these are a great way to budget your business, and they offer reward programs.

They do have pretty high annual fees, but these are waived the first year, and you can still save money if you spend enough to take advantage of the reward programs.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card gives you 10,000 bonus points after your first purchase, which is enough for a $100 gift card at various merchants. You earn 1 point per dollar, and points are redeemable at many different airlines.

American Express® Preferred Rewards Green Card, which offers 5,000 bonus points after your first purchase and a slightly lower fee, and the Business Gold and Business Green cards are also charge cards.

Low Interest Rate Credit Card Category

American Express SimplyCash® Business Card

The SimplyCash Business card is the lowest APR credit card from American Express with a standard interest rate of 5%.

0% Interest Rate Credit Card Category

Blue from American Express®

0% APR for up to 15 months on purchases (plus 4.99% for life on balance transfers) with no annual fee.

That’s just a quick overview of the best credit cards from American Express.

American Express also offers other interesting credit cards like the One from American Express®, which provides a 1% rebate on all of your purchases and a $50 first-purchase bonus that all goes into a high-yield savings account.

There are also many services and benefits that come along with American Express credit cards including:

Online account services.
Purchase protection.
Extended warranties on purchases.
Purchase return protection.
Automobile rental insurance.
Emergency card replacement.
Emergency cash replacement.
Medical referral services.
Legal referral services.
Emergency roadside assistance.
Travel assistance services.
Various emergency assistance services.
Travel accident insurance.

American Express also provides discounts on all kinds of purchases including many American Express car rental discounts and other American Express Special Offers from many brand name merchants.

American Express credit cards offer an incredible range of options and opportunities, so take advantage of these credit cards from American Express.