Until this month, a new Membership Rewards card usually fed its points straight into the balance you already had. That default is gone. Under the Membership Rewards terms American Express updated in October 2026, every newly opened card starts life with its own Rewards Account, so if you want a single balance, you now have to combine amex points yourself.
The stakes show up when a card gets closed. Amex says you lose everything in a Rewards Account the moment you cancel the last card tied to that account, and holding other Amex cards somewhere else does not change that. A card in one account no longer shields points parked in another.
What Amex changed about new card balances
The earlier terms gave Amex room to handle this quietly. They said that if you held multiple products, Amex “may automatically link them to the same Rewards Account.” The October 2026 version flips that around. In the new wording, “When you open a new Product, a new Rewards Account will be created and linked to that Product.”
Amex lists the account linking section as effective immediately. What the terms leave out is whether cards that were already pooled before the update stay pooled. Amex has not addressed that, so the one thing you can count on is this: any card approved from now on begins with a separate balance until you do something about it.
You can read the current wording on the official Membership Rewards program terms page. If you are still deciding whether Amex is the right points currency for you at all, our comparison of Amex and Chase rewards for travel covers the bigger picture.
Who should combine amex points across cards
Anyone who opens another card earning Membership Rewards from this point forward should plan to combine amex points soon after approval. A few situations make it urgent rather than optional:
- You plan to cancel a card later. If that card is the only one in its account, its points disappear with it.
- You want one pool for a big award. Points split across two accounts cannot be spent together until they share an account.
- One of your accounts holds only a Legacy Card. Amex says an account whose sole linked card is a Legacy Card cannot transfer to partner loyalty programs, and its Pay with Points option works only through American Express Travel.
That last point is easy to miss. A balance sitting next to a Legacy Card may look healthy while quietly missing the airline and hotel transfers most collectors earn points for in the first place.
How to combine amex points in 4 steps
- Count your Rewards Accounts. Sign in on the Amex website or in the Amex App and look at the points shown for each card. A new card displaying its own separate total is sitting in its own account.
- Connect the accounts online or in the app. Amex’s terms say products can share one Rewards Account once you connect the accounts through the website or the Amex App, and you can pick some or all of your cards.
- Call if the online route fails. The terms also let you add a product to an account, or pull one out, at any time through the phone number printed on the back of your card.
- Check the merged total before you act. After linking, Amex adds the points from each connected card into one balance. Look at that number before you redeem, transfer or close anything, since Amex says redemptions cannot be reversed.
The terms do not describe a fee for linking, and they do not promise how quickly a connection appears, so give it some time. If the new card still shows its own total after you try to combine amex points online, the phone route in step 3 is the fallback.
What linking costs you and what it gets you
On the cost side, the terms list no points charge or cash charge for connecting your own accounts. The payoff when you combine amex points is flexibility. Once two cards share an account, everything they earn lands in one total that can go toward a single redemption.
There is a wrinkle worth watching. Amex now writes that redemption options and point values “may vary,” while noting that most card products get access to every option. In plain terms, the account a balance lives in can affect what that balance is able to do. Moving points into an account linked to a full-featured card is the cleanest way to keep every option open.
Collectors who hold several Amex products at once have the most at stake here. Our look at how the Amex Platinum card stacks up in travel rewards explains why many collectors pair it with other cards.
Limits and gotchas before closing a card
The last card in an account takes the points with it
Amex is blunt about this: cancel or unenroll the final product linked to a Rewards Account and every point in it is gone immediately. There are narrow exceptions. A Corporate Card as the last linked product may leave you up to 30 days to redeem, an account closed for inactivity gets 90 days, and points survive if Amex closes a card by accident.
Linking does not reach a spouse or friend
A common hope is to combine amex points across a household. The terms rule that out through account linking, because points cannot move into a Rewards Account that belongs to someone else. Connecting accounts is a tool for your own cards only.
What Amex has not said yet
Amex has not explained why it made the switch, whether older pooled balances will ever be split, or whether different accounts will eventually carry different point values. Treat the “may vary” language as a reason to keep your strongest card in the same account as your largest balance.
Frequently asked questions about Amex points
Can you combine amex points from different cards?
Yes, as long as the cards are yours. You can connect their Rewards Accounts online, in the Amex App or by phone, and the points then sit in one shared balance.
How do you combine amex points with a spouse?
You cannot do it through account linking. The Membership Rewards terms say points cannot be moved into someone else’s Rewards Account.
Can you transfer amex points between accounts?
Between your own accounts, yes, by linking the cards so they share a single Rewards Account. Moving points to another person’s account is not allowed under the terms.
Should you combine amex points before closing a card?
If you opened a Membership Rewards card recently or plan to, link it to your main balance now and confirm the total before any cancellation. Long-time holders with no new cards can wait, though a quick check of their balances costs nothing. Under the new rules, a closed card can only take points down with it if you let it stand alone.
