American Express Gold Card Review
Updated July 4, 2019.
The Facts
The Math
If you are able to use the $100 airline credit, your effective annual fee becomes $150. You also have the $10 monthly dining credits, up to $120 per year. However, the dining credits are much harder to be taken at face value; thus we won't consider them as annual fee reducers but an extra perk.
Amex Gold vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve: Their effective annual fees are the same at $150 after considering annual travel credits, and currently we have similar valuation for Amex MR and Chase UR points. Amex Gold has U.S. grocery & U.S. dining as the 4x categories and airfare as the 3x category, while Sapphire Reserve has dining & travel as the 3x categories. Amex Gold beats Sapphire Reserve in grocery and dining while losing out in non-air travel and non-U.S. dining. You have to do your own math to see which one comes on top, but we think most consumers will find Amex Gold a better rewards card, at least on paper. However, your preference in how to redeem the points may change the equation: Amex has Air Canada, ANA, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Hawaiian, etc. as the transfer partners, while Chase has United, Southwest, Korean, Hyatt, etc.; British and Singapore are the only two transfer partners that are shared by both programs; in addition, Chase's fixed value travel redemption at 1.5 cent per point is better than Amex's. In terms of perks, Sapphire Reserve offers Priority Pass Select, hotel privileges through Visa Signature/Infinite Hotel Collection, Chase Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection, and at Relais & Chateaux, primary rental car insurance, and rental car elite status, etc., while Amex Gold offers $10 monthly dining credits at select partners, less lucrative hotel privileges, and premium roadside assistance. In terms of consumer protection, Sapphire Reserve offers much more for travel coverage, and the only thing that Amex outshines Chase is the two-year extended warranty. Summing up, both cards are fantastic in their own ways; Amex Gold is stronger in rewards while Chase Sapphire Reserve has better perks and protection.
The Conclusion
The 2018 revamp finally put Amex Gold back to our prestigious Top 10 Best Credit Cards list; its lucrative 4-3-1 rewards make it #2 Best Credit Card for Rewards.
© 2019 DrCreditCard.net All rights reserved.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: $250 for the primary cardholder; up to 5 free additional cards; $35 per card for the 6th or more additional cards.
- Signup Bonus: 50,000 points after spending $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening; you also receive 20% of your dining purchases back in form of statement credit within the same 3 months, up to $100. The signup bonus is not available to applicants who have or have had this card or Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card. Historical best bonus of this card: this card offered 25,000 points + $100 dining credits in 2018; the card's predecessor Premier Rewards Gold Card offered 75,000 points in 2011 and 50,000 points for several times in the last years.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 4x grocery stores in the U.S. (up to $25,000 spent per year) and dining, 3x airfare, 1x everywhere else.
- Best Use of Membership Rewards (MR) Points: Normally, Amex Membership Rewards points can be redeemed at up to 1 cent per point (cpp) for the following categories: statement credit (0.6 cpp), gift cards (0.7~1 cpp), flights (1 cpp), other travel (0.7 cpp), shopping with partners at checkout (0.7 cpp), merchandise through Amex shopping portal (0.5 cpp), etc. However, Amex Gold, along with certain other Amex 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 the transfer feature - Marriott vs. MR. vs. UR vs. TY vs. CR.
- A $100 airline credit for airline incidentals each calendar year. This credit is similar to Amex Platinum's in that you need to select an airline before getting reimbursed and you are allowed to change the airline once every calendar year. Incidentals include check bag fees, change ticket fees, onboard meals, airport lounge day passes, and so on. There have been reported success of getting reimbursed for airline gift cards.
- Up to $120 dining credit each year (up to $10 per month at participating partners). The current participating partners are Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Boxed, and participating Shake Shack locations. Excludes Shake Shack locations in ballparks, stadiums, airports and racetracks.
- Other Benefits: (1) Amex Offers - you receive savings in form of statement credit or earn bonus MR points on select merchants when using your Amex card; you need to manually add an offer to your Amex card to be eligible for savings or bonus, and unlike other savings/bonus programs, you don't need to shop through a certain portal. (2) ShopRunner membership for free 2-day shipping with select merchants. (3) Waived foreign transaction fees. It also comes with an embedded EMV chip. (4) The Hotel Collection ($100 credit and room upgrade upon availability when booking a two-night-minimum stay at participating hotels). (5) Gold Card Destinations (vacation package savings). (6) Entertainment Access (a.k.a. Membership Experiences) including American Express Presale, American Express Preferred Seating, and Premium Access (Dining Access). (7) 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 PR Gold 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.
- History: Amex changed the Gold Card several times throughout the past years. Before 2010, Amex Gold was considered weak in rewards and high in annual fees ($175), and was only recommended for its image of superior social status. In 2010, Amex changed the name to Premier Rewards Gold Card and finally made it attractive to regular consumers by introducing the 3-2-1 rewards structure and the 15K point booster when annual spending exceeds $30K. In January 2015, Amex took away the 15K point booster, which obviously made the card much less attractive. However, in June 2015, Amex increased the annual fee to $195 while introducing the $100 airline credit, a new 2x category (dining) and waived forex fees. This card became competitive again. In October 2018, Amex changed the name back to Amex Gold Card, increasing the annual fee to $250 (not waived any more), introducing the $120 dining credits, eliminating gas stations as bonus category, and increasing the bonus for groceries and dining from 2x to 4x points. This revamp made the Gold Card crazily lucrative for bonus category spending. In 2019, Amex also finally introduced the metal design for the card and a limited time edition of Rose Gold color.
The Math
If you are able to use the $100 airline credit, your effective annual fee becomes $150. You also have the $10 monthly dining credits, up to $120 per year. However, the dining credits are much harder to be taken at face value; thus we won't consider them as annual fee reducers but an extra perk.
Amex Gold vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve: Their effective annual fees are the same at $150 after considering annual travel credits, and currently we have similar valuation for Amex MR and Chase UR points. Amex Gold has U.S. grocery & U.S. dining as the 4x categories and airfare as the 3x category, while Sapphire Reserve has dining & travel as the 3x categories. Amex Gold beats Sapphire Reserve in grocery and dining while losing out in non-air travel and non-U.S. dining. You have to do your own math to see which one comes on top, but we think most consumers will find Amex Gold a better rewards card, at least on paper. However, your preference in how to redeem the points may change the equation: Amex has Air Canada, ANA, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Hawaiian, etc. as the transfer partners, while Chase has United, Southwest, Korean, Hyatt, etc.; British and Singapore are the only two transfer partners that are shared by both programs; in addition, Chase's fixed value travel redemption at 1.5 cent per point is better than Amex's. In terms of perks, Sapphire Reserve offers Priority Pass Select, hotel privileges through Visa Signature/Infinite Hotel Collection, Chase Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection, and at Relais & Chateaux, primary rental car insurance, and rental car elite status, etc., while Amex Gold offers $10 monthly dining credits at select partners, less lucrative hotel privileges, and premium roadside assistance. In terms of consumer protection, Sapphire Reserve offers much more for travel coverage, and the only thing that Amex outshines Chase is the two-year extended warranty. Summing up, both cards are fantastic in their own ways; Amex Gold is stronger in rewards while Chase Sapphire Reserve has better perks and protection.
The Conclusion
The 2018 revamp finally put Amex Gold back to our prestigious Top 10 Best Credit Cards list; its lucrative 4-3-1 rewards make it #2 Best Credit Card for Rewards.
© 2019 DrCreditCard.net All rights reserved.