Amex has just revamped its Premier Rewards Gold Card and rebranded it simply as Amex Gold Card. The annual fee is increased from $195 to $250 and not waived anymore, but Amex adds $10 monthly dining credits (up to $120 per year) at participating restaurants - Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth's Chris Steak House and participating Shake Shack locations (excluding Shake Shack locations in ballparks, stadiums, airports and racetracks). While we consider the (unchanged) $100 annual airline credit as an effective annual fee reducer, we are not sure about the new dining credits - we would rather view them as extra perks. The public signup bonus is now 50,000 points and up to $100 statement credits (20% return on U.S. restaurants capped at $100 in bonus). Note that the 50K points bonus is not available if you have or had this card or Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card. Amex is also upgrading the card material from plastic to metal. Another interesting marketing trick is that Amex now offers a limited edition Rose Gold metal card design if you apply before January 9, 2019.
The biggest change comes in the rewards structure: the 3-2-1 structure is replaced by a 4-3-1 structure. The 3x points on airfare remains the same; 2x on U.S. gas stations is eliminated; U.S. groceries and U.S. restaurants receive a bump from 2x to 4x (grocery spending has a $25K annual cap). The last part is unexpectedly and crazily lucrative - for example, if you spend $7K in groceries and $8K in dining each year, you will receive an extra bonus of 30K Membership Rewards (MR) points compared to the old card (valued at $450 in our book)! Considering the fact that the old PR Gold Card had already been pretty impressive in the bonus department, this move is HUGE. We are excited to see its position on the Best Credit Cards for Rewards list jumps from #8 to #2, now just below Amex EveryDay Preferred. Even though the Amex Gold Card still lags behind in Perks and Protection, it made a strong come up to our Top 10 Best Credit Cards list with a nice #5 finish.
How about the exiting Premier Rewards Gold cardmembers? They have the best deals - the annual fees will be kept at $195 until April 1, 2019 and the 2x points on gas stations will be grandfathered in until October 4, 2019. Amex is very generous in this regard.
The biggest change comes in the rewards structure: the 3-2-1 structure is replaced by a 4-3-1 structure. The 3x points on airfare remains the same; 2x on U.S. gas stations is eliminated; U.S. groceries and U.S. restaurants receive a bump from 2x to 4x (grocery spending has a $25K annual cap). The last part is unexpectedly and crazily lucrative - for example, if you spend $7K in groceries and $8K in dining each year, you will receive an extra bonus of 30K Membership Rewards (MR) points compared to the old card (valued at $450 in our book)! Considering the fact that the old PR Gold Card had already been pretty impressive in the bonus department, this move is HUGE. We are excited to see its position on the Best Credit Cards for Rewards list jumps from #8 to #2, now just below Amex EveryDay Preferred. Even though the Amex Gold Card still lags behind in Perks and Protection, it made a strong come up to our Top 10 Best Credit Cards list with a nice #5 finish.
How about the exiting Premier Rewards Gold cardmembers? They have the best deals - the annual fees will be kept at $195 until April 1, 2019 and the 2x points on gas stations will be grandfathered in until October 4, 2019. Amex is very generous in this regard.
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