American Express Business Gold Retention Offer

Late last year I shared a dusty Amex Business Gold retention offer with you all, and why I decided to give it a pass, even with the lower annual fee. This time around I bring you glad tidings about actually accepting my American Express Business Gold retention offer. It was nowhere near as good as my massive Amex Delta Reserve offer, but it was just good enough. Let's take a look at the offer details and the 3 reasons I decided to accept it.

Details Of The Offer

Here are the details for my American Express Business Gold retention offer:

• Earn 35,000 Membership Rewards after spending $5,000 within 3 months
  • I need to keep the card open for 12 months from acceptance or risk losing the points
• I would need to pay the (newer) $375 annual fee

Card Earning Structure

In case you needed a refresher, here are the earning categories for the Amex Business Gold card. These also were “refreshed” a bit last year.

• Earn 4X Membership Rewards(R) points on the 2 categories where your business spends the most each billing cycle from 6 eligible categories.
  • While your top 2 categories may change, you will earn 4X points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these categories each calendar year (then 1X thereafter).
  • Only the top 2 categories each billing cycle will count towards the $150,000 cap.
    • US purchases on the following 6 categories are options:
      • Electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers
      • Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
      • Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways.
      • Online, TV, and radio advertising
      • Gas stations
      • Restaurants (including takeout and delivery)
• Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on AmexTravel.com.
• Earn 1x on other purchases.

Why I Decided To Accept The Retention Offer

As you can see above, the card has a pretty robust earning structure. It is a part of the reason I decided to accept my American Express Business Gold retention offer. But, that wasn't the only reason. Accepting 35,000 points, after $5,000 in spend, for a $375 annual fee is kind of a wash. At least if you look at it in terms of cash value. If you value Membership Rewards closer to 2 cents per point for travel, then it is like paying $375 for $700 in flights etc.

Having said that, I have been able to use the $20 monthly credit fairly easily so far. Which just happens to be the only Amex Business Gold card perk that I think is worth much of anything. That means I can knock that $375 annual fee down by $240 each year, leaving me a net annual fee cost of $135. Now we are looking at a net cost of $135 for 35,000 points, a much better deal.

Those two things were not the entire story though. I had to also consider future applications and earning opportunities. Was this card worth taking up one of my 10 Amex card slots? If the no lifetime language offers were still flowing like honey, then I would likely say no. Why accept a middling retention offer instead of grabbing a 70K+ welcome offer after all? The problem is I haven't seen one on either of our accounts in over 6 months. Trust me, I am jealous all of you that were targeted for that 150K offer! Not having access to a no lifetime language offer is what finally tipped the scales on my retention offer to acceptance.

American Express Business Gold Retention Offer: ToP Thoughts

I hope this breakdown of my American Express Business Gold retention offer helped you understand my thought process. Everyone has to do their own calculations on which retention offers are worth taking, but the process should be similar. You will want to look at the points offer versus the annual fee, but also consider card perks, earning structure, current card portfolio and future card applications. That will give you a more well rounded picture of your situation and help you make the best decision for you.

Let me know if you have had a recent Amex Business Gold retention offer over in the ToP Facebook Group.