American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card Review
Updated September 7, 2018. This card has been discontinued - the existing cardmembers will get Amex Gold Card as the replacement.
The Facts
The Math
If you are able to use the $100 airline credit, your effective annual fee becomes $95. Now this card stacks up pretty well to several of our favorite $95-annual-fee cards, such as Amex's own EveryDay Preferred, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and Citi ThankYou Premier.
Amex PR Gold vs. Amex EveryDay Preferred: We thought EveryDay Preferred was a better card for most consumers when it was introduced in April 2014. We commented "Only when you have large airfare purchases and/or extremely high grocery spending, PR Gold will make sense." With PR Gold's 15K points booster gone in January 2015, EveryDay Preferred completely left PR Gold in the dust. However, the June 2015 revamp finally gave PR Gold another chance to compete. Assuming you make at least 30 transactions a month, EveryDay Preferred returns 4.5x, 3x, and 1.5x, for grocery (up to $6K annual spending), gas, and other categories, respectively. PR Gold returns 3x, 2x, and 1x, for airfare, grocery & gas & dining, and others. PR Gold is better for airfare, dining, grocery beyond $6K/year, and foreign purchases, and EveryDay Preferred is better for grocery under $6K/year, gas, and general purchases.
Amex PR Gold vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred: Their annual fees are considered the same, and both waive foreign transaction fees; currently we have similar valuation for Amex MR and Chase UR points. PR Gold has airfare as the 3x category and dining/gas/grocery as the 2x, while Sapphire Preferred has dining/travel as the 2x categories. On paper, PR Gold blows Sapphire Preferred out of water in most categories, except for non-air travel. However, your reference in transfer partners may change the equation: Amex has Air Canada, ANA, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Hawaiian, etc., while Chase has United, Southwest, Korean, Hyatt, etc.; British and Singapore are the only two partners that are shared by both programs.
Amex PR Gold vs. Citi ThankYou Premier: Now their annual fees are considered the same, and both waive forex fees. Our current valuation for Amex MR and Citi ThankYou points is similar. ThankYou Premier's 3x categories (travel and gas) are wider than PR Gold's (airfare only). Both have dining as a 2x category, and PR Gold adds gas and grocery while ThankYou Premier adds entertainment. So it is your spending pattern and preference in redemption that will help you decide which card to go with. On paper, ThankYou Premier is better for non-airfare travel, gas, entertainment, while PR Gold is better for grocery.
The Conclusion
After the overhaul in 2010, the Amex PR Gold finally met our expectation and gained popularity quickly among frequent travelers. That was the reason it was on our Top List for several years. However, with the introduction of Amex EveryDay Preferred in 2014, we thought PR Gold was not as attractive in rewards. With the 2015 revamp, PR Gold is again very interesting and potentially extremely lucrative in rewards, and that is why it was ranked among our Top 10 Best Credit Cards.
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The Facts
- Annual Fee: the first year free and $195 thereafter for the primary cardholder; $0 for up to five additional cards and $35 for each after the fifth additional card.
- Signup Bonus: 25,000 points after spending $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening. Historical best bonus of this card: 75,000 points in 2011; 50,000 points a few times in the last several years.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 3x airfare, 2x U.S. gas stations and U.S. grocery stores and U.S. restaurants, 1x everywhere else.
- Best Use of Membership Rewards (MR) Points: Normally, Amex Membership Rewards points can be redeemed for cash, merchandise gift cards, travel, shopping, etc., up to 1 cent per point (note: cash rewards have 0.5 cent value). However, Amex Premier Rewards Gold, 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.
- 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.
- 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 ($75 credit and room upgrade upon availability when booking a two-night-minimum stay). (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: Before 2010, Amex Gold was considered weak in rewards and high in annual fees, and was only recommended for its image of superior social status. However, in 2010 overhaul, even with the annual fee been kept high, Amex finally made the card 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 by $20 while introducing the $100 airline credit, a new 2x category (dining) and waived forex fees. The last revamp finally put PR Gold back to competition.
The Math
If you are able to use the $100 airline credit, your effective annual fee becomes $95. Now this card stacks up pretty well to several of our favorite $95-annual-fee cards, such as Amex's own EveryDay Preferred, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and Citi ThankYou Premier.
Amex PR Gold vs. Amex EveryDay Preferred: We thought EveryDay Preferred was a better card for most consumers when it was introduced in April 2014. We commented "Only when you have large airfare purchases and/or extremely high grocery spending, PR Gold will make sense." With PR Gold's 15K points booster gone in January 2015, EveryDay Preferred completely left PR Gold in the dust. However, the June 2015 revamp finally gave PR Gold another chance to compete. Assuming you make at least 30 transactions a month, EveryDay Preferred returns 4.5x, 3x, and 1.5x, for grocery (up to $6K annual spending), gas, and other categories, respectively. PR Gold returns 3x, 2x, and 1x, for airfare, grocery & gas & dining, and others. PR Gold is better for airfare, dining, grocery beyond $6K/year, and foreign purchases, and EveryDay Preferred is better for grocery under $6K/year, gas, and general purchases.
Amex PR Gold vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred: Their annual fees are considered the same, and both waive foreign transaction fees; currently we have similar valuation for Amex MR and Chase UR points. PR Gold has airfare as the 3x category and dining/gas/grocery as the 2x, while Sapphire Preferred has dining/travel as the 2x categories. On paper, PR Gold blows Sapphire Preferred out of water in most categories, except for non-air travel. However, your reference in transfer partners may change the equation: Amex has Air Canada, ANA, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Hawaiian, etc., while Chase has United, Southwest, Korean, Hyatt, etc.; British and Singapore are the only two partners that are shared by both programs.
Amex PR Gold vs. Citi ThankYou Premier: Now their annual fees are considered the same, and both waive forex fees. Our current valuation for Amex MR and Citi ThankYou points is similar. ThankYou Premier's 3x categories (travel and gas) are wider than PR Gold's (airfare only). Both have dining as a 2x category, and PR Gold adds gas and grocery while ThankYou Premier adds entertainment. So it is your spending pattern and preference in redemption that will help you decide which card to go with. On paper, ThankYou Premier is better for non-airfare travel, gas, entertainment, while PR Gold is better for grocery.
The Conclusion
After the overhaul in 2010, the Amex PR Gold finally met our expectation and gained popularity quickly among frequent travelers. That was the reason it was on our Top List for several years. However, with the introduction of Amex EveryDay Preferred in 2014, we thought PR Gold was not as attractive in rewards. With the 2015 revamp, PR Gold is again very interesting and potentially extremely lucrative in rewards, and that is why it was ranked among our Top 10 Best Credit Cards.
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