American Express now opens a separate Membership Rewards account for every new card, so a new card’s points no longer land in the balance you already have. The change is in Amex’s October 2026 Membership Rewards terms, which say it takes effect immediately. You combine the accounts yourself under “Manage Connections,” and it’s worth doing the day the new card arrives.

Doctor of Credit spotted the change on October 15, 2026, after a cardholder on Reddit noticed a new business card’s points sitting on their own.

What changed

  • Before: a new Gold or Platinum card’s points usually joined your existing balance without you doing anything. The main section of the same terms still says Amex “may automatically link them to the same Rewards Account.”
  • Now: Amex’s notice of changes on page 19 says, “When you open a new Product, a new Rewards Account will be created and linked to that Product.”
  • How to combine: log in online or in the Amex app and open “Manage Connections,” or call the number on the back of your card. Once linked, points from each card show as one balance. Doctor of Credit says the merge can take a few hours to appear.
  • Who it affects: anyone opening a new Membership Rewards card from now on, such as the Amex Gold or the Platinum Card. It also covers the Blue Business Plus, which Frequent Miler reports now offers 50,000 points after $5,000 of spending in 3 months.

Key terms

  • Linking is your choice: you can add or remove cards at any time by phone. Once cards share a Rewards Account, the terms say “points earned on each linked Product will be consolidated into a single points balance.”
  • Cancelled cards: the terms say you generally can’t use points if your card is cancelled, past due or restricted, and Amex may cancel your Rewards Account.
  • Legacy cards: Amex’s Legacy Cards include certain Blue from American Express cards, the Optima Platinum Card and the ZYNC Card. If one of them is the only card in a Rewards Account, you can’t transfer those points to airlines or hotels.
  • Transfer rules: most transfers to airline and hotel partners need at least 1,000 points, in multiples of 1,000. You also have to link each partner account to the Rewards Account you’re transferring from. Transfers to U.S. airlines carry an excise tax offset fee of $0.0006 per point, up to $99.

Why an unlinked account costs you

The expensive mistake is cancelling a card whose points never joined your main account. Say you open the Platinum Card for a welcome offer as high as 175,000 points, earn the bonus, and cancel before the second $895 fee. If those points sit in the Platinum’s own account, the terms let Amex close that account with the card. At the 2.0 cents per point our valuation guide uses for Membership Rewards, 175,000 points are worth about $3,500.

Split balances also make transfers to airline partners clumsier. Say you hold 60,000 points under your Gold and 50,000 under a new Blue Business Plus. To book a 100,000-point business class award, you’d link your airline account to both Rewards Accounts and send two transfers. Linking first turns that into one balance of 110,000 points and one transfer. That matters most during a transfer bonus such as the Amex to Flying Blue 25% offer that runs through October 31.

Our take

We’d link every new Membership Rewards card the day it’s approved. It takes a minute under Manage Connections, and forgetting can cost you thousands of dollars in points. Amex hasn’t said why it changed the default, and we’re not sure yet whether pooled accounts will lose anything later. Today the terms say most cards get access to all redemption options, so we see no reason to keep balances apart.

The one case for keeping them separate is a business you plan to sell or close, where you want its points tracked on their own. Everyone else should pool, especially anyone who opens and cancels cards for welcome offers. Before you close any Amex card, check that its points show in your main balance.

Our Amex credit limit post covers other housekeeping worth doing at the same time. Before your next application, our best travel credit cards guide ranks the Amex lineup against Chase and Capital One. The Amex Gold 100K offer post explains who’s getting the larger Gold bonus.

FAQ

Does Amex still combine Membership Rewards points automatically?

Not for new cards. Amex’s October 2026 terms say each new card gets its own Rewards Account. Points only pool once you link the accounts under Manage Connections or by phone.

How do I combine Amex points from two cards?

Log in at americanexpress.com or in the Amex app and choose Manage Connections, then link the Rewards Accounts. You can also call the number on the back of your card. Doctor of Credit says the combined balance can take a few hours to show.

What happens to my points if I cancel a card that isn’t linked?

Amex’s terms say you generally can’t use points, and Amex may cancel the Rewards Account, when the card is cancelled. Link the card to your main account and confirm the points moved before you close it.

Yes, for each Rewards Account you transfer from. Amex requires your airline or hotel account to be linked to the Rewards Account before a transfer, so pooling your cards first means you only link once.

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