American Express Business Gold Rewards Card Review
Updated August 19, 2018. Please see our updated review here.
The Facts
The Math
Amex Business Gold vs. Capital One Spark: Since our beloved 2% cashback Fidelity Visa or Citi Double Cash does not have a business version, the best cashback business card is Capital One Spark Cash/Miles which offers 2% return with a $59 annual fee. In order for Amex Business Gold to beat Spark, you will have to spend big in the bonus categories and value Amex MR points high. Assuming you value a MR point at Y cents, you annual spending is $C with $A going to the 3x category and $B going to the 2x categories, you need
$A x 2 x Y% + $B x Y% + $C x Y% -$175 = $C x 2% - $59
i.e. (2A+B)Y = C(2-Y) + 12500. For example, if Y=1.75 and C=30K, then you need to spend, say $4K in A and $3.4K in B to break even.
Amex Business Gold vs. Chase Ink Plus: They are similar in that they both have multiple bonus categories and allow points to be transferred to frequent traveler programs. But they have major differences. First of all, Ink Preferred is $80 less expensive. Secondly, they have different bonus categories: Ink Preferred offers 3x travel, shipping, advertising, and telecommunication, while Amex offers 3x on one category you select from: airfare, gas, advertising, shipping, and computer, and 2x on the remaining four categories. Lastly, Chase UR program has very different transfer partners from Amex MR. So the bottom line is that each card has its own strength and it is up to your spending pattern as well as redemption need to decide which one to pick up.
The Conclusion
Amex Business Gold Rewards Card is one of the best business cards out there, especially considering the capability of pooling MR points with your personal MR cards such as Amex Everyday Preferred and Amex PR Gold. With the 2015 enhancement which provides great flexibility, we are now placing it on our Top List, alongside with Chase Ink series and Capital One Spark series.
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The Facts
- Annual Fee: $175, waived for the first year; $50 for unlimited additional cards, also waived for the first year.
- Signup Bonus: 50,000 points after spending $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening. Historical best bonus of this card: 75,000 points many many times in the past several years.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 3x on one of the five categories selected by the cardmember: airfare, U.S. gas, U.S. advertising, U.S. shipping, and U.S. computer (select hardware, software, and cloud computing providers) purchases, 2x on the remaining four categories, 1x everywhere else. 3x and 2x apply to purchases up to $100,000 in each of the five categories per year. You are allowed to change your 3x category once each calendar year between December 1 and January 31.
- Best Use of Membership Rewards (MR) Points: Normally, Amex Membership Rewards points can be redeemed for statement credit, merchandise gift cards, travel, shopping, etc., up to 1 cent per point. However, Amex Business Gold Rewards, along with some other products, is eligible for the transfer feature that allows points to be transferred to frequent flyer miles or frequent guest points. Please see our featured review on five major programs that have transfer features - Marriott vs. MR. vs. UR vs. TY vs. CR.
- Other Benefits: (1) Waived foreign transaction fees. (2) The Hotel Collection by Amex ($75 hotel credit and potential upgrades when you book a two-night stay). (3) Gold Card Destinations and Gold Card Events by Amex. (4) Automatic discounts with Amex OPEN Savings. (5) Premium Roadside Assistance - while most credit card's roadside assistance service only dispatches a provider and you have to pay for the actual charge, Amex Business Gold Rewards is among the very few cards that cover towing up to 10 miles and other incidental charges, up to 4 times in a calendar year, regardless of how far you are away from home.
- Other Facts: Originally Amex had airfare as the 3x category and gas/advertising/shipping as the 2x categories. In September 2013, Amex enhanced the card by adding computer to the 2x categories. In January 2015, Amex added flexibility by allowing cardmembers to select one of the five categories as the 3x each calendar year.
The Math
Amex Business Gold vs. Capital One Spark: Since our beloved 2% cashback Fidelity Visa or Citi Double Cash does not have a business version, the best cashback business card is Capital One Spark Cash/Miles which offers 2% return with a $59 annual fee. In order for Amex Business Gold to beat Spark, you will have to spend big in the bonus categories and value Amex MR points high. Assuming you value a MR point at Y cents, you annual spending is $C with $A going to the 3x category and $B going to the 2x categories, you need
$A x 2 x Y% + $B x Y% + $C x Y% -$175 = $C x 2% - $59
i.e. (2A+B)Y = C(2-Y) + 12500. For example, if Y=1.75 and C=30K, then you need to spend, say $4K in A and $3.4K in B to break even.
Amex Business Gold vs. Chase Ink Plus: They are similar in that they both have multiple bonus categories and allow points to be transferred to frequent traveler programs. But they have major differences. First of all, Ink Preferred is $80 less expensive. Secondly, they have different bonus categories: Ink Preferred offers 3x travel, shipping, advertising, and telecommunication, while Amex offers 3x on one category you select from: airfare, gas, advertising, shipping, and computer, and 2x on the remaining four categories. Lastly, Chase UR program has very different transfer partners from Amex MR. So the bottom line is that each card has its own strength and it is up to your spending pattern as well as redemption need to decide which one to pick up.
The Conclusion
Amex Business Gold Rewards Card is one of the best business cards out there, especially considering the capability of pooling MR points with your personal MR cards such as Amex Everyday Preferred and Amex PR Gold. With the 2015 enhancement which provides great flexibility, we are now placing it on our Top List, alongside with Chase Ink series and Capital One Spark series.
© 2016 DrCreditCard.net All rights reserved.