Military Credit Cards

Extreme travel hacking for fun and profit 💳💸

Posted Oct 12, 2024 Updated Apr 13, 2025

By Tristan White

8 min read

Military Credit Cards

In 2022 I began researching credit cards and learning about their perks and points. I was hoping they would help me do a little extra traveling or get something free here and there, but the more I learned, the more I began to realize that these cards can help save some serious cash (especially for US service members). As of I’ve saved .

Here’s a quick break down of every credit card perk, and how much value I’ve redeemed from them to date ():

Amex Gold Card #1 (06/2022 - 06/2024)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Intro Bonus
Uber
Grubhub
Total

Amex Platinum Card #1 (09/2022 - present)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Intro Bonus
Uber
Hotel Credit
Airline Credit
Saks Fifth Ave
Airport Lounges
Total

Amex Platinum Card #2 (02/2024 - present)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Intro Bonus
Uber
Hotel Credit
Airline Credit
Saks Fifth Ave
Total

Amex Platinum Card #3 (06/2024 - Present)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Intro Bonus
Uber
Hotel Credit
Airline Credit
Saks Fifth Ave
Total

Amex Gold Card #2 (07/2024 - present)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Uber
Grubhub
Resy Credit¹
Dunkin Doughnuts¹
Total

Amex Hilton Honors Aspire Card (08/2024 - Present)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Free Hotel Night
Resort Credit
Airline Credit
Total

Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card (09/2024 - Present)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Free Hotel Night
Dining Credit
Total

Chase Sapphire Reserve (09/2024 - Present)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Travel Credit
Airport Lounges
Total

Military Benefits

While the perks afforded by the credit cards in this post are certainly decent if used optimally, the benefits of these cards goes from “hm, I guess these benefits really are worth the annual fee” to “gee whiz how is this possible” if you’re in the military; this is all because the annual fees for many credit cards are waived for military members. This is due to the Military Lending Act (MLA) and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). As a result of these programs, some American credit card companies such as American Express and Chase waive the annual fees on their credit cards.

That’s right - active duty, or national guard and reserves on 30 day active duty orders (and their military spouses!) can open top tier credit cards such as the Amex Platinum, Amex Gold, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and the Chase Sapphire Preffered and pay no annual fees.

For example, after receiving my Amex Platinum Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve Card I received letters in the mail that said the following:

We approved your credit card account for benefits under the Military Lending Act (MLA) and Chase policy…We won’t charge you applicable fees, other than late fees and non-sufficient funds fees…We review your account annually to verify your eligibility for MLA benefits and will notify you of changes.
–Chase Military Servicing Team

…because your account is eligible for reief under either the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act or the Military Lending Act, we will continue to waive your Annual Membership Fee and any Additional Card Fees as long as your Account continues to qualify. Although these fees will be waived, the terms listed above are applicable and will display in future disclosures and your Cardmember Agreement.
–American Express Customer Care

But if there are no fees for military members…then why not get a ton of cards?

That’s a great question! And I can’t think of a good reason not to do just that. As of today (), I’ve had waived across all my cards.

Platinum Cards

Annual Benefits	1 Plat	2 Plats	3 Plats
Hotel Credit	$200	$400	$600
Airline Credit	$200	$400	$600
Digital Entertainment	$240	$480	$720
Uber Cash	$200	$400	$600
Saks Fifth Ave	$100	$200	$300

One

But why get more than one platinum card?

Good question - and there really isn’t any good reason to have more than one if you are paying the annual fees for them…but if you’re in the military you’re not. That means that you can receive every platinum card benefit times the number of platinum cards you have.

For me, the biggest reason to do this is the Uber Cash and the Airline Credit. I don’t Uber much, but Uber Cash can be used with Uber Eats as well, and if you order for pickup instead of delivery, it’s about the same price as ordering at the retaurant. This effectively makes the Uber Credit a dining credit.

And there’s no limit to how many you have. This picture (right) is of all the credit cards of a military member who’s been at the credit card game for awhile.²

How to Open More Platinum Cards

Unfortunately, you can’t simply call Amex and ask for ten more Platinum cards. After your first Platinum card, you get more by upgrading lower tier cards in the same “family” to Platinum, ie the Green and Gold card. Once you hold either of these cards for a year, you can call the number on the back of the card and ask to upgrade the card to Platinum. The card number doesn’t change, but you do get shipped a new platinum card to replace your Gold or Green card. After upgrading, you can immediately open a new Gold or Green to replace the one you just upgraded to Platinum.

Rinse and repeat next year.

What I Would Do Differently

If I could start my credit card journey over again, I’d do a couple things differently. If you’re just beginning to explore high-end credit cards, I’d consider these tips to maximize benefits.

Open Chase Cards First

Chase is a bit pickier than some other credit card companies about who they can open their cards. Specifically, they have their 5/24 rule which means they won’t let you open a card if you’ve opened 5 credit cards in the past 24 months. This delayed me from getting my Sapphire Reserve card, which was unfortunate because that card gives you $300 straight up for travel each year. So grab any Chase card before moving on to others.

Amex Cards: Green then Gold then Platinum

For American Express cards, that order you open them matters if you want to receive the intro bonus for each card (which you really do). This article explains it thoroughly, but the TLDR is that if you open a top tier card and receive the intro bonus, you cannot receive the intro bonus for lower tier cards in that card’s “family”.

Example 1: You open the Platinum card. You will not receive the intro bonus if you open the Gold card or Green card in the future.

Example 2: You open the Amex Gold card. You can still receive the intro bonus for the Platinum card if you get it later since it is a higher tier card, but you will not receive an intro bonus if you open a Green card.

If you’re completely sold out on getting tons of credit cards, I’d check out this article written by an Air Force vet who’s been at the credit card game longer than me.

Military Credit Cards

Military Benefits

Platinum Cards

How to Open More Platinum Cards

What I Would Do Differently

Open Chase Cards First

Amex Cards: Green then Gold then Platinum

Links

American Express Platinum Card

American Express Gold Card

American Express Green Card

American Express Bonvoy Brilliant Card

Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Trending Tags