American Express Cobalt Credit Card [Details and Review] • Money Rook

Are you looking for a credit card that requires only a very affordable monthly fee and offers a 5% rate of return? The American Express Cobalt Credit Card is regarded as one of the best lifestyle rewards and travel cards today. In this American Express Cobalt Card review, I’ll list all of its features, rewards, and requirements so you can decide if it’s the credit card for you.

The American Express Cobalt Card offers five times the rewards at bars, restaurants, and grocery stores. With this card, you can take advantage of the Amex Membership Rewards for travel. The Amex Cobalt Card is considered by many as a top travel credit card.

To get this card, you must have a fair credit score. That means your credit score should be between 575 and 649. You also have to pay an annual fee of $120. But Amex does not require you to pay it in a lump sum. You can pay it in 12 equal installments of $10 a month.

Read on to learn more about the American Express Cobalt Credit Card, its benefits, earning rates, requirements, and pros and cons.

About the American Express Cobalt Credit Card

The American Express Cobalt Credit Card launched three years ago revolutionized the credit market because of its exceptional features. It introduced the concept of an earning rate of 5 points per dollar- a phenomenal rate that you’ve never seen before in the credit card industry.

American Express launched this card, along with other cards. This company is a publicly-traded financial services company. They issue prepaid cards, credit cards, and charge cards.

Membership Rewards Points Rates

The Amex Cobalt card earns Membership Rewards points at the following rates:

5 points for every $1 spent on restaurants and groceries
2 points for every $1 spent on travel, transit, and gas
1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases

With these earning rates, you can see that this Amex Cobalt Card is the ideal card for everybody, not just for the millennials. This is a top travel card if you take advantage of its Membership Rewards every time you travel.

To get this card, you should have a fair credit score. That means your credit score should be from 575 to 649. Amex charges an annual fee of $120 to enjoy the privileges it brings. But they made the payment easier by not requiring you to pay for it in a lump sum. You only have to pay $10 a month.

Amex Cobalt applies a 19.99 annual percentage rate on outstanding loans, and cash advance interest charges are 21.99%. Being the latest offering from American Express, Amex Cobalt Card offers more rewards and lots of benefits.

It is not really hard to get an Amex Cobalt Card. The company does not require you to have a specific income. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that everybody can get it. You need to have a steady income, and there’s a credit score limit that you have to satisfy.

American Express Cobalt Credit Card Benefits

The Amex Cobalt credit card has attracted a lot of people because of its many benefits. If you qualify for this card, you will be able to enjoy the following benefits:

1. High Earn Rates

The Amex Cobalt credit card allows you to earn points while you are shopping. Look at the earning rates enumerated above. You can earn lots of points, especially on the necessities you always buy every day.

Based on the money that you usually spend a month, it is possible that you can earn 51,600 points in one year. That translates to about $903 when you redeem it through the card’s Fixed Points Travel Program.

To repeat, these rates are:

5 points for every $1 spent on restaurants and groceries
2 points for every $1 spent on travel, transit, and gas
1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases

2. Big Welcome Bonus

The minute you get an American Express Cobalt Credit Card, you get to have a substantial welcome bonus. If each month you will spend $500 during your first year, you will earn 2,500 points. That will add up to a total of 30,000 points for your first year with an Amex Cobalt card.

You can use these accumulated points to kick start your next trip. These accumulated points can amount to $525 when you maximized the redemption. And then, if you add the welcome bonus to your earning rates for the first year, you could be getting up to a maximum of $1,428.

3. Amex Invites Front of the Line and Amex Offers

The Amex Cobalt Credit Card also delivers some benefits other than points and rewards. One of the benefits is the Amex Invites and Front of the Line. This feature gives you exclusive access to ticket sales from Ticketmaster for the scheduled hottest concerts in your area.

Another benefit of the Amex Cobalt Credit Card is the Amex Offers. This feature allows you to earn easy bonus cash backs when buying through American Express’s chosen merchants.

4. High Value Membership Points

With the Amex Cobalt credit card, you will earn lots and lots of points in one year. But what’s the best way to redeem your accumulated points? By using them in your next trip. Redeeming your points by travelling is the best value that you can get from them. In this regard, Amex gives you three options of travel redemptions.

5. Flexible Points Travel Program

In general, every point that you earn on the Amex Cobalt credit card is worth 1 cent. You can use the Flexible Points Travel Program to redeem the points that you have earned. Here is how this program works:

Choose any trip booking from any travel provider that you choose
Pay for the trip with your credit card
Use the points that you earned from your Amex Cobalt credit card to pay for a part of the total amount of the trip.

So, if you have a total of 50,000 points, that would be equal to $500 if you consider that each point is worth 1 cent. And there’s a bonus still. If you book a flight through the Fixed Points Chart and still have some remaining points, this option will allow you to pay for the fee bills or taxes.

6. Fixed Points Travel Program

The best way to redeem your earned points is to use them in Amex’s Fixed Points Travel Program. This is how this program works:

Use a certain number of points for your trip to a certain place.
These points will pay for your basic airfare
You have to pay the fees, travel taxes, and carrier surcharges from your own pocket.

American Express provides its card members with travel charts. One of these charts is the economy class version. If you are to use this chart wisely, you can even stretch the value of each point from 1 cent to 1.75 or even up to 2 cents.

So, if you have 50,000 points (which is normally redeemed at $500, but you can stretch the value of each point to 1.75 cents, you can save up to $875. After analyzing many credit cards, they found out that the Amex Cobalt Credit Card generates an incredible return on your purchases.

7. Transfer Points to Hotel Programs

You can also redeem your Amex Cobalt credit card points through its hotel partners. There are two hotel programs to transfer your points, namely the Marriott Bonvoy and the Hilton Honors. Specific ratios are being followed in transferring your points in these programs.

The transfer ratio used in the Marriot Bonvoy program is recommended because it offers more value, so it is better. The transfer ratio of your Amex Cobalt points to Marriot Bonvoy is 1is to 1.2 or 1:1.2.

So if you have 50,000 Amex Cobalt points, if you transfer it to Marriott Bonvoy points, you will get 60,000 points. You can also transfer your Amex points to Hilton Honors points. But the transfer ratio is only 1 is to 1 or 1:1. So, you get bigger points with Marriott Bonvoy.

8. Insurance Coverage

The last but not least benefit you can get from having an Amex Cobalt Credit Card is insurance coverage. Anywhere you go, you will be protected. This credit card also provides travel insurance. Amex offers you nine different kinds of insurance coverage. You can choose from any one of them.

Again, what makes American Express Cobalt Card different from other cards? Considered the top travel credit card, the American Express Cobalt Card allows you to take advantage of the Amex Membership Rewards for travel. Not only that, but this card also offers five times the rewards you can get at bars, restaurants, and grocery stores.

American Express Cobalt Card Requirements

There are certain requirements that you need to satisfy to get the Amex Cobalt Credit Card. They are the following:

Must be a resident of your country and have a credit file on that country
You must be at the age of majority
You must have a credit score from 575 to 649

Additional Requirements

There are additional requirements once you are already issued a Cobalt card and are using it.

There is an annual percentage of 19.99% on outstanding balances
The interest rate for a cash advance is 21.99%.
Monthly fee of $10. This translates to $120 per year.
The charge for transactions in foreign currencies is 2.5%.

Amex Cobalt Credit Card Pros and Cons

To complete this review, here are some of the pros and cons of the American Express Cobalt Credit Card:

Pros

Very affordable monthly fee of only $10
A very big welcome bonus of 30,000 points if card is used every month.
High earn rates of up to 5% return on purchases
$100 in hotel credits every year
Can save up to 15% of purchases during the first year

Cons

Accelerated earn rates are applied only to purchases in the host country, not for spending abroad
Points can only be transferred to Marriot Bonvoy and Hilton Honors
American Express has a limited acceptance rate than Mastercard and Visa.

Conclusion: American Express Cobalt Credit Card [Details and Review]

You can earn 5 times the rewards at restaurants, bars, and grocery stores if you use the American Express Cobalt Card. In this respect, this card is the best for all people, not just the millennials.

If you use this card, you can take advantage of the Amex Membership Rewards for travel. Many card owners believe it is a top travel credit card that you can use for your trips. Amex has partner hotels, and this Cobalt credit card has some features that will save you money on your hotel accommodations.