American Express Gold Card Review
Updated July 10, 2023.
The Facts
The Math
The card offers two types of monthly credits totaling up to $240 per year: $10 Uber Cash and $10 dining credit at participating partners. As the credits are monthly rather than annual, we think it is difficult to treat them at face value so that we won't consider them as annual fee reducers. You need to decide the value yourself.
To achieve excellent rewards power of the card, you need to use the miles/points transfer feature and know how to leverage Amex transfer partners' programs, which can be very rewarding and challenging at the same time. For example, if you happen to value MR points at 1.5 cents a piece with the miles/points transfer feature as we do, Amex Gold returns impressive 6% for groceries and dining and 4.5% for airfare. However, for general spending, we recommend looking somewhere else. For example, Amex EveryDay Preferred ($95 annual fee) which returns 1.5x (=2.25% travel rewards) MR points for general spending when you have at least 30 transactions per month and also 4.5x for groceries and 3x for gas can be a great card to pair with Amex Gold. If you don't know how to use the transfer feature effectively / just don't want to bother with the hassles and rather prefer fixed-value travel rewards, you probably want to check out the competitors such as Chase Sapphire Reserve, US Bank Altitude Reserve, and Wells Fargo Propel Amex, each of which offers a 1.5-cent fixed-value travel redemption option.
Amex Gold vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve: After considering the easy-to-use $300 annual travel credits on Sapphire Reserve, the annual fees are effectively the same at $250 on both cards. Currently we have similar valuation for Amex MR and Chase UR points at 1.5 cents per point. The differences are as the following. (1) Amex Gold has grocery & dining as the 4x categories and airfare as the 3x category, while Sapphire Reserve has airfare through UR as the 5x category and dining & other travel as the 3x categories. You have to do your own math to figure out which is better for you. In addition, your preference in how to redeem the points is also an important factor: Amex has Air Canada, ANA, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Hawaiian, etc. as the transfer partners, while Chase has United, Southwest, Hyatt, etc.; in addition, Chase's fixed value travel redemption at 1.5 cent per point is much better than Amex's 1 cent per point value. (2) 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 Uber Cash and $10 monthly dining credits for select partners but less lucrative hotel privileges. (3) Sapphire Reserve offers much better travel protection coverage. Summing up, both cards are fantastic in their own ways; you spending pattern, preference in redemption options, valuation of perks and protection will all affect your decision making.
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 one of the Best Credit Card for Rewards.
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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: (1) 90,000 points ($900 in airfare, gift cards, etc., or 90K miles of Avianca, Air Canada, ANA, Singapore, British, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Flying Blue, etc.) after your spend $4,000 within 6 months of new account opening and. (2) via Resy.com: 75,000 points ($750 in airfare, gift cards, etc., or 75K miles of Avianca, Air Canada, ANA, Singapore, British, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Flying Blue, etc.) after your spend $4,000 within 6 months of new account opening and up to $250 in statement credits as 20% back of your restaurant purchases within 12 months of new account opening. 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: (1) 90,000 points + $250 for dining in 2022 via referrals; (2) 75,000 points + $250 for dining in late 2021 via Resy; (3) 75,000 points + $200 for home furnishing in 2021; (4) 75,000 points in 2021; (5) 60,000 points + $250 for dining in late 2020 via Resy; (6) 60,000 points in 2020; (7) 50,000 points + $100 dining credits in 2018 & 2019; (8) 50,000 points several times in the last years; (9) this card's predecessor Premier Rewards Gold Card offered 75,000 points in 2011 and 50,000 points many times in the last years.
- Application landing page for 90K points (Amex website - most likely you need to use private browsing mode and/or clear all cache/history in your browser to see this offer)
- Application landing page for 75K points + $250 offer (via Resy.com)
- 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 the major programs that have the transfer feature - Marriott vs. MR. vs. UR vs. TY vs. C1 vs. CR.
- Receive up to $120 Uber Cash each calendar year - $10 Uber Cash for each month which expires by the first day of next month. You must add the Amex Gold as one of the payment methods in your Uber app or Uber Eats app and select the Uber Cash before the ride or order you want to apply the credit for.
- 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) Receive 12 months of complimentary Uber Eats Pass membership, which usually costs $9.99 per month and offers unlimited $0 delivery fee and 5% off orders over $15. Enroll your card before 12/31/2021 in the Uber Eats app to activate this offer.
- Other Facts: this card has a metal design and weighs around 15 grams, three times as heavy as regular plastics. Starting 2021, you may choose between the regular Gold or the Rose Gold design.
- 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 finally introduced the metal design for the card and a limited time edition of Rose Gold color. In early 2021, Amex replaced the annual $100 airline incidental credit with the annual $120 Uber Cash and made Rose Gold design available as an option.
The Math
The card offers two types of monthly credits totaling up to $240 per year: $10 Uber Cash and $10 dining credit at participating partners. As the credits are monthly rather than annual, we think it is difficult to treat them at face value so that we won't consider them as annual fee reducers. You need to decide the value yourself.
To achieve excellent rewards power of the card, you need to use the miles/points transfer feature and know how to leverage Amex transfer partners' programs, which can be very rewarding and challenging at the same time. For example, if you happen to value MR points at 1.5 cents a piece with the miles/points transfer feature as we do, Amex Gold returns impressive 6% for groceries and dining and 4.5% for airfare. However, for general spending, we recommend looking somewhere else. For example, Amex EveryDay Preferred ($95 annual fee) which returns 1.5x (=2.25% travel rewards) MR points for general spending when you have at least 30 transactions per month and also 4.5x for groceries and 3x for gas can be a great card to pair with Amex Gold. If you don't know how to use the transfer feature effectively / just don't want to bother with the hassles and rather prefer fixed-value travel rewards, you probably want to check out the competitors such as Chase Sapphire Reserve, US Bank Altitude Reserve, and Wells Fargo Propel Amex, each of which offers a 1.5-cent fixed-value travel redemption option.
Amex Gold vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve: After considering the easy-to-use $300 annual travel credits on Sapphire Reserve, the annual fees are effectively the same at $250 on both cards. Currently we have similar valuation for Amex MR and Chase UR points at 1.5 cents per point. The differences are as the following. (1) Amex Gold has grocery & dining as the 4x categories and airfare as the 3x category, while Sapphire Reserve has airfare through UR as the 5x category and dining & other travel as the 3x categories. You have to do your own math to figure out which is better for you. In addition, your preference in how to redeem the points is also an important factor: Amex has Air Canada, ANA, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Hawaiian, etc. as the transfer partners, while Chase has United, Southwest, Hyatt, etc.; in addition, Chase's fixed value travel redemption at 1.5 cent per point is much better than Amex's 1 cent per point value. (2) 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 Uber Cash and $10 monthly dining credits for select partners but less lucrative hotel privileges. (3) Sapphire Reserve offers much better travel protection coverage. Summing up, both cards are fantastic in their own ways; you spending pattern, preference in redemption options, valuation of perks and protection will all affect your decision making.
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 one of the Best Credit Card for Rewards.
© 2011-2023 DrCreditCard.net All rights reserved.