Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
With the right credit card in your wallet, you can earn valuable perks and rewards just from your regular spending (provided you're smart about it and pay off your balance each month, of course).
The key is to find a card that offers the highest rewards where you spend the most.
For example, if you dine out frequently or buy a lot of groceries for home cooking, or if you book flights often, you may find that the American Express® Gold Card can give you a lot of bang for your buck.
American Express® Gold Card
Rewards Rate
- 4x points at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year (then 1x points for the rest of the year)
- 4x points at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year (then 1x points for the rest of the year)
- 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com
- 2x points on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com
- 1x points on all other purchases
Welcome Offer
You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
Annual Fee
$325 (rates and fees)
Overview of the American Express® Gold Card
First things first — the most important thing you need to know about the American Express® Gold Card is that it comes with a high annual fee. So think critically about whether applying for this credit card makes sense for you. Consider the cardholder perks and how you can earn rewards to determine if you will benefit enough from this card to justify the annual fee.
For example, if you are a total foodie and dine out a lot, you may easily cancel out the annual fee thanks to the card’s high rewards rate for restaurant purchases. If you prefer to cook at home, you’re in luck, too. You can earn rewards when you shop at the supermarket.
You can earn up to $120 in dining credits (up to $10 in monthly statement credits when you pay at select restaurants — enrollment required).
Pros
- High rewards earning potential
- Points transfer option to many partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Add up to 5 free authorized users
- Baggage insurance and secondary rental car insurance*
Cons
- No lounge benefits
- Limited options to carry a balance
Redeeming Rewards
One of the main benefits of the American Express® Gold Card is how much flexibility you have when it comes to redeeming your credit card rewards.
Book travel
First off, you can use points to book select hotels and flights. In some cases, you can also use points to upgrade your flight so you can travel in comfort.
You can also transfer your points to Amex's travel partners. They have 20 travel partners you can transfer points to. Transferring points to partners is often touted as the way to get the most value from your points.
Get a statement credit
If you want, you can use your points to cover charges on your card. You can redeem any of your points for statement credits so you can get some help paying off your monthly balance.
You'll typically get less value from this than you would buy redeeming for travel, but great if you are in a pinch.
Pay for purchases with points
You can also pay with points at 15 different online retailers. You can even do this with PayPal which then enables you to use your points at millions of online stores worldwide.
American Express also has merchant partners. You can shop through the Membership Rewards® portal and make purchases with points.
Exchange for gift cards
Lastly, you can exchange earned Membership Rewards® points for gift cards from a variety of retail, dining, air, and lodging companies.
READ MORE: How To Get the Most Out of Credit Card Points
American Express® Gold Card Benefits
In addition to earning rewards when you spend money using the American Express® Gold Card, you can qualify for a variety of cardholder perks.
Send and Split
The Send and Split feature allows you to send or request money to Venmo and PayPal users. You can even choose a charge to split with friends — when they pay you back, the money will be automatically applied to your credit card account.
Plan it®
This card also comes with Amex's Plan it® feature that allows you to split any charge over $100 into equal monthly installments. You'll pay a fixed fee instead of interest on this charge.
The Hotel Collection
If you book a minimum two-night stay with The Hotel Collection you can get up to a $100 experience credit (credit varies by property).
Partner perks
If you add your card to your Uber account, you'll automatically get up to $10 per month in Uber Cash to spend on rides or Uber Eats in the U.S. when you use your card for the transaction. The Amex Gold must be a method of payment, and you can redeem with any Amex card.
Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4x Membership Rewards® points for Uber Eats purchases made at restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
You can also get up to $10 a month in statement credits if you make purchases at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys (enrollment required).
Culture and sports events
You can access American Express Preferred Access for booking seats at select sporting events and cultural events.
Who Should Get the American Express® Gold Card?
The American Express® Gold Card is a fairly versatile card that rewards a wide variety of purchases. If you tend to make a lot of purchases in the categories that have the highest rewards rates, you can earn enough to cancel out the annual fee even if you don’t lean on the statement credits for dining and Uber.
Dining out and supermarket purchases will earn you the most points, so this really is a solid card choice for foodies.
If you fly a lot but don’t want to play favorites with a single airline, you will also likely appreciate how you can earn points on flights booked directly with American Express Travel®.
Who Shouldn’t Get the American Express® Gold Card?
The American Express® Gold Card might not be the right card for you if you don’t travel a lot.
Not only is booking flights one of the best ways to earn rewards with this card (as is dining out, which you do a lot of while traveling), but you get the most bang for your buck when you choose to redeem your points for airline miles.
You also won’t be able to take advantage of valuable benefits like hotel perks and no foreign transaction fees if you don’t travel frequently.
Alternatives to the American Express® Gold Card
For more travel perks
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Rewards Rate
- 8x points on all purchases through Chase Travel℠, including The Edit℠
- 4x points on flights and hotels booked direct
- 3x points on dining worldwide
- 1x points on all other purchases
Welcome Offer
Earn 125,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$795
With the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you gain access to more travel protections and a $300 annual travel credit. Plus, you'll get complimentary Priority Pass Select airport lounge access and application fee credits for TSA PreCheck®, Global Entry, or NEXUS.
You stand to earn much more on flight bookings when booked through Chase Travel℠ after the $300 annual travel credit is earned but will earn slightly less on restaurants. However, you can earn a lot of points with hotels and rental cars as long as you book both through Chase Travel℠.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® does come with a significantly higher annual fee, but if you travel often, you may find it easy to earn enough rewards to balance out the cost.
For premium travel credits
The Platinum Card® from American Express
Rewards Rate
- 5x points on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year; 1x thereafter
- 5x points on prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com
- 1x points on all other spending
Welcome Offer
You may be eligible for as high as 175,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $8,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.
Annual Fee
$695 (rates and fees)
The Platinum Card® from American Express has a very high annual fee compared to the American Express® Gold Card.
What do you get in exchange for that fee? Well, The Platinum Card® from American Express offers some great perks like premium lounge access, airline incidental expense credits, and credits for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or CLEAR® Plus.**
There are also various partner credits, including Uber, Saks Fifth Avenue, Walmart+, Equinox Fitness, and more.
For a lower annual fee
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Rewards Rate
- 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries
- 2x on all other travel purchases
- 1x on all other purchases
Welcome Offer
Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
If you don’t want to spend a lot on an annual fee, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card may be a better fit for your budget. This card only charges a modest annual fee, yet still offers a chance to earn solid rewards on many different purchases.
You won’t gain access to as many bonus credits as you would with the American Express® Gold Card. However, you also don’t need them as much to help cancel out the cost of the annual fee.
You do, however, get an annual credit of up to $50 that you can use on hotel bookings through Chase Travel℠.
The Bottom Line
The American Express® Gold Card is a card for frequent travelers who can make the most of the points earning and redemption structure — which is heavily skewed to flights and dining.
But it has a higher annual fee than some other travel credit cards, so make sure what you'll earn will balance out the fee.
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* Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by Amex Assurance Company.
** Receive either up to a $120 statement credit for Global Entry or a credit of up to $85 for TSA PreCheck after you apply through any Authorized Enrollment Provider. Only one credit will be given in a 4 year period for Global Entry or in a 4.5 year period for TSA PreCheck, depending on whichever application fee is charged to your eligible American Express® Card first.
Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
