American Express® Gold Card Review
The American Express® Gold Card is one of our favorite cards at ToP. The card is one of the best cards for spending at restaurants and supermarkets as it earns 4x Membership Rewards® points per dollar. This makes the Gold card a permanent fixture on many award travelers' wallets. It is pretty to look at too! In our American Express® Gold Card review we will look at the welcome offer, card benefits, earning structure and share our overall thoughts on this workhorse.
Current Welcome Offer
Amex usually has many different welcome offers for its cards at any given time. The current welcome offer via referral links for the Amex Gold card is the following:
- Earn 90,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $4,000 within the first 6 months. (Terms Apply)
- This card comes has an annual fee of $250 annually that is not waived the first year. (Rates & Fees)
Amex Application Rules
If you choose to apply, remember that Amex typically will not approve you for more than two Amex credit cards during a 90-day period. They also have a 10 card limit on the colored Membership Rewards earning cards (of which this is one of). This includes personal and business cards. This is separate from the 5 card limit on credit cards.
Amex also has a once per lifetime welcome offer rule on each card. This is more like every 5 – 7 years in reality though, and not actually your lifetime. That timeline is based off of when you last held a card, not when you last earned a welcome offer on the product though. If you are ineligible for the welcome offer for any reason American Express will usually let you know that with a pop-up before the application is processed. You can cancel the application at this time with no hard pull.
American Express® Gold Card Review: Earning Structure
The Amex Gold card has the following earning structure:
- 4x Membership Rewards® in the following categories
- 4x at Restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S.
- 4x at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1X.
- 3x on travel booked directly with airlines and via the American Express® travel portal.
- 1x on all other purchases.
Amex Gold Card Benefits
The Amex Gold card comes with many benefits that essentially pay for the card's annual fee.
- $120 annually of Uber credit distributed as $10 monthly. Each month, you receive $10 in Uber credit that also works with Uber Eats. The credit is automatically loaded onto your Uber account and can be combined with the $25 monthly credit from the The Platinum Card®.
- $120 annually of food credit distributed as $10 monthly statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar and select Shake Shack locations (Enrollment required).
- No foreign transaction fees. (Rates & Fees)
- Trip Coverage:
- Baggage Insurance: if your luggage is lost, stolen, or damaged and the ticket is purchased with your American Express® Gold, you receive coverage up to $1,250 for a carry-on bag and up to $500 for a checked bag.
- Trip Delay Reimbursement: for trips delayed over 12 hours, you can receive reimbursement up to $300 for eligible expenses and can have up to two claims every 12 months.
- Rental Car Insurance: the card provides secondary car insurance coverage when you decline the rental agency’s collision waiver.
ToP Analysis
The Amex Gold card deserves a spot in most wallets. The card's earning structure makes it a true workhorse of a card. Earning 4x Membership Rewards at U.S. supermarkets is huge, despite the cap at $25,000 per calendar year. No other card offers these many points per dollars at supermarkets regularly. In addition, 4x at restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S., is also great.
In addition to great earning, the Amex Gold card still offers a few decent benefits. Monthly Uber credits are pretty easy to use. Once you add your card to your Uber wallet, the benefit kicks in automatically at the start of every month. Meanwhile, the $10 monthly food credit depends more on your eating habits, so we don't consider it as easy as the Uber credits.
The Gold also does provide some travel coverage. However, both the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card and Chase Sapphire Reserve® offer more comprehensive trip protection benefits. But in a pinch, the Gold is not a bad option for travel protection, either.
American Express® Gold Card Review: ToP Thoughts
The American Express® Gold card is a workhorse for spending on all things food-related: 4x Membership Rewards® points at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets. Despite having a $250 annual fee, you can easily utilize the benefits to pay for the card. Combine this with the opportunity to earn over 100,000 Membership Rewards annually at U.S. supermarkets, on top of the welcome offer, and the Gold deserves a permanent place in many people's wallets.
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For rates and fees of the Amex Gold Card please visit here
