Amex gold card

  American Express Credit Cards

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Annual Fee

$250
A $100 annual airline incidental credit (for a single airline), and a $10 per month credit for certain restaurants can partially offset the annual fee.

Current Offer

50,000 Membership Reward points, plus 20% back (up to $100) on restaurant spending during the first months. ($740 net value, .37/$)

Typical Signup Offer

25,000 Membership Reward points

$2,000 initial spend

($450 net value, .23/$)

Signup Bonus Chart

Bonus Categories

4x US Restaurants (≈6%)

4x Up to $25,000/yr at US Supermarkets (≈3%)

3x Airfare (≈4.5%)

1x Everywhere Else (≈1.5%)

No Foreign Transaction Fee

Membership Rewards Guide

If you are happy to earn Membership Reward points, the Amex Gold card provides a great reward rate on Restaurants and Supermarkets (and potentially Airfare). It is particularly worthwhile for people who are willing to purchase Gift Cards at their local supermarket and then use them at other merchants (or resell them). However, many people should use other reward cards which earn easier-to-use points.

Jump to

• Intro to Membership Rewards
• Signup Bonus
• Airline Incidental Credit
• Other Notable Benefits
• Bonus Categories

Introduction to Membership Reward Points

Membership Rewards is the name of Amex's own rewards program. Membership Rewards Guide

• Membership Rewards points can be transferred to many different frequent flyer programs. This gives you the flexibility to take advantage of award space on over a hundred different airlines. In many cases, you can choose to book a flight through one of several different partner programs, allowing you to take advantage of whichever program requires the fewest miles and fees for your trip.
• Membership Rewards has many more airline partners than the other big credit card reward programs, such as Chase's Ultimate Rewards and Citi's ThankYou Rewards. They also have many more credit cards with Membership Rewards bonuses. If you are willing and able to use your points to book frequent flyer tickets, especially premium cabin award tickets, Membership Rewards is the most valuable reward program.
• Amex frequently offers promotional transfer bonuses. When the promotion is active, you'll get extra airline miles when you transfer your Membership Rewards points to a specific airline. For example, if American Express is offering a 40% bonus for British Airways, you'll receive 14,000 British Airways points for every 10,000 Membership Rewards points you transfer. See Take Advantage of Transfer Bonuses to Get More Value from Your Reward Points for more information or visit Frequent Miler’s Current Transfer Bonuses page for a list of current (and past) promotions.
• Unlike Ultimate Rewards points, frequent flyer tickets are usually the only good option for redeeming your Membership Reward points. Membership Rewards' transfer rates for hotel programs aren't very attractive, it doesn't partner with any fixed-value airline programs (like Southwest), and you'll only get 1 cent per point when you use them to purchase travel through Amex.
• The only exceptions are for certain Amex Platinum cardholders:
• Amex BUSINESS Platinum Cardholders get a 35% rebate on some airfare purchases made through Amex. This works out to a value of 1.54 cents per point. While this isn't as much as we hope to get by using our Membership Reward points for frequent flyer tickets, you'll always get decent value from your points and don't have to worry about finding available award space. It is a lot better than purchasing travel at only 1 cent per point.
• Amex SCHWAB Platinum Cardholders get an option to cash out their points at 1.1 cents per point (1.25 cents through September).
• We value Membership Reward points at 1.5 cents each. Because you can take advantage of award space and "sweet spots" from many different frequent flyer programs and the occasional transfer bonus, Membership Reward points are worth more than any single type of airline miles. If you highly valuable premium-cabin award tickets, Membership Reward points are worth even more. But if you want to avoid the hassles associated with frequent flyer tickets, they are worth significantly less. How Much are Points Worth?

Collecting the Signup Bonus

• It is worth signing up for this card, just to collect the signup bonus. After subtracting the annual fee and the opportunity cost of using the card for $point of spending, the calculated net value for the initial year is $25000 ( cents per dollar spent). Sometimes, even better targeted offers are available. In addition, the card comes with a $100 airline incidental credit, and because the credit is available every calendar year, you can earn it twice during your initial year. But since it can be hard to get full value from this credit, we only value it at 50% of its face value.

After subtracting the opportunity cost of using the card for $2,000 of spending, the calculated net value of the sign-up is $450 (23 cents per dollar spent). Your value may be higher or lower, depending on how much you value the credit. Introduction to 'Transferable' Reward Points

• A 50,000 point signup offer is currently available. You'll also get 20% back ($100 max) on restaurant spending in the first three months. Since you probably got the card to use for restaurant spending, and you need to meet the initial spending requirement, most cardholders will wind up maxing out this credit with the required $500 worth of restaurant spending.
• This card is a rebrand of the older Premium Rewards Card. If you've had that card in the past, you won't be entitled to the Gold card's signup bonus.
• You can only earn the signup bonus once per lifetime. With Amex cards, you are normally not entitled to earn the signup bonus, if you've ever had the card before. However, you may eventually receive a targeted offer that bypasses this limitation, allowing you to earn the bonus an additional time.
• You may want to wait until you receive a better than normal offer. Since Amex will normally only let you receive the signup bonus once per lifetime, and frequently offers promotional signup offers, it can be worthwhile to postpone signing up, so you don't waste your bonus on a less valuable offer.
• You can earn Membership Reward points from many different credit cards. While you can normally only earn each signup bonus once, there are more than a dozen cards with Membership Reward signup bonuses. You can combine multiple sign-ups to earn hundreds of thousands of Membership Reward points.

Taking Advantage of the Airline Incidental Credit

• The annual credit on the Gold card works the same way as the credit on the Amex Platinum card, except that the credit is only for $100 per year, rather than $200. Credits only apply to incidental expenses like baggage fees, inflight food and beverage purchases, and airport lounge access fees, not on actual ticket purchases. Furthermore, you will only receive the credit for fees and incidental purchases made on a single airline that you choose when you first get the card, and can only change at the beginning of every calendar year. If you choose an airline that you fly most frequently, chances are that you'll already have a credit card or elite status that will let you avoid most fees. If you choose an airline you fly less frequently, there is a good chance you won't be able to take full advantage of the credit each year.
• You are not supposed to receive the credit when you purchase gift cards from an airline. However, in practice, you are sometimes reimbursed. If you don't have an opportunity to use the credit naturally, you can sometimes purchase small denomination gift cards, get reimbursed for your purchase, and then eventually use the credits to purchase actual airplane tickets. This works on some airlines and not others, and you need to keep each purchase under an airline-specific maximum, so you'll need to search online, at the beginning of each year, to check the current state-of-affairs. Get Full Value from Your Airline Incidental Credits.
• Because the airline incidental credit is issued on a calendar-year basis, you can qualify for two credits the first year you have the card. For example, if you sign up for the card in August, you can get up to $200 credit, for purchases made between August and December, and you can get take advantage of another $200 credit, between the following January and August.
• If you can naturally take full advantage of this credit, or are willing to take advantage of airline gift cards, the effective annual fee on this card becomes much more reasonable.

Other Notable Benefits

• $10 per month dining credit. Each month you have the card, you get $10 off any purchase from a set of participating US restaurants partners. You need to enroll first, and pay with the card. The current list is Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth's Chris Steak House, and (most) Shake Shack locations. Grubhub and Seamless provide delivery service from a large number of different restaurants. If you want to avoid delivery fees, you can often use those services to place an order that you'll pick up yourself.

Another option for ensuring that the credits don't go to waste, if you aren't going to have an opportunity to naturally use your credit in any given month, is to purchase a $10 gift card at one of the participating locations.

• Free roadside assistance. The roadside assistance benefit that comes with most credit cards simply connects you a to nearby service provider. But this card actual pays for your roadside assistance services, including towing, lockout assistance, spare tire installation, jump starts, or emergency fuel. Free towing only includes the first 10 miles. Get Free or Discounted Roadside Assistance with these Credit Cards.
• Amex Hotel Collection. When you use this luxury hotel program program to book a two night stay at one of the participating hotels, you'll get a room upgrade (upon availability) and a $100 credit to spend on dining, spa, and resort activities. Hotel Collection Website.
• Access to Amex Offers. Amex continuously provides discount offers to their cardholders. Most of the offers are in the form of "Spend $x, get $y back", but other offers are in the form of "x% off your entire order" or "Earn an extra Membership Reward point on your purchases". To take advantage of the offers, you need to go to the Amex website, find the ones you are interested in, and "add them" to your card. Each offer will then be automatically applied when you use your card to make the corresponding purchase. Amex Offers Website.
• Free ShopRunner membership. As with all Amex cards, you are entitled to a complimentary ShopRunner membership, which provides free two-day and return shipping from around 150 of the largest online retailers. ShopRunner Website
• Exclusive access to entertainment events. Amex sponsors cardmember-only events around the country and also provides early ticket access for some other shows.

Bonus Categories

The main reason to get the Gold card is for the great reward rates on restaurant and grocery purchases. But, the card has an expensive annual fee, so you need to make sure that the value of the extra rewards are worth it.

If you can get full value from the $100 incidental airline credit, and the $10 per month dining credit, you can offset most of the ongoing expense of keeping the card. But, if you don't want to deal with low-denomination airline gift cards, don't eat at the supported restaurants, etc., you may get very little value from the credits.

Also be sure that you are willing to deal with the complexities of using your Membership Reward points for frequent flyer tickets. If you aren't, and you don't have the Business or Schwab version of the Platinum Card, Membership Reward points are only worth 1 cent each, and the card's high bonus reward rates are much less competitive.

• 4x Membership Reward points is the most valuable reward rate on restaurant purchases from any card. The next best card is usually the Sapphire Reserve, which offers 3x Ultimate Reward points (although Ultimate Reward points are easier to use and you'll earn the bonus reward rate on restaurants outside the United States). Alternatively, you can earn 4% back with the Uber (or Savor) cards. Best Credit Cards for Restaurant Spending.

At a valuation of 1.5 cents per Membership Reward point, every $1,000 you spend on restaurants provides an extra $20 in rewards compared to the Uber card, and an extra $10 in rewards compared to the Sapphire Reserve card. If you value the Gold card's credits at 50% of their face value, the cost of the card is $140 per year, and you'd have to spend $7,000/year at US Restaurants to earn enough extra rewards (compared to the Uber card) to offset the annual fee (based on restaurant spending alone).

• 4x Membership Reward points is close to the best possible reward rate on grocery purchases. The only card that earn a higher reward rate is the Amex Everyday Preferred Card (assuming you make at least 30 purchases per month), which earn 4.5x points. But, even if you have the Everyday Preferred Card, you might still want the Gold card. The grocery bonus reward rate from the Everyday Preferred is capped at $6,000 per year. The Gold card lets gives you bonus points on up to $25,000/yr. Best Credit Cards for Grocery Spending.

By taking advantage of gift cards, which are available at most grocery stores, you can essentially earn 4x Membership Reward points on a wide variety of other purchases. If you can max out the $25,000 limit, you'd be earning 100,000 Membership Reward points, valued at $1,500. Even at a 3% cash back rate, $25,000 in spending would only earn $750 in rewards. So, if you are willing to follow this approach, it is extremely easy to justify the Gold card's annual fee. .

• The Gold card also offers good rewards on your airfare purchases. You'll earn 3x Membership Reward points, valued at 4.5 cents per dollar. This is more valuable than most other cards. However, the Amex Platinum card earns 5x Membership Reward points, which is clearly better, but comes with a high annual fee. We would also prefer the Sapphire Reserve and Citi Prestige cards, which also earn 3x points that can be transferred to airline partners, but which provide better automatic travel insurance. Best Credit Cards for Travel Spending.
• You don't want to use this card for your everyday spending. You'll earn higher rewards from a good general-purpose reward card. Get a Great General Purpose Reward Card and Use It for All of Your Spending.

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