| Written by: Shira Sliffman

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 public welcome offer for the American Express® Gold Card is the following:

  • You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 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. 
    • 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.
  • The card has a $325 annual fee. See Rates and 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). This includes personal and business cards. This is separate from the 5 card limit on credit cards.

Due to the new family rule, you should follow our application guidance found here. Order of Amex Membership Rewards applications now matters and you need to strategize what card to open and when! You are now ineligible for the welcome offer on this card if you have, or have had, any variety of the same card, the (now defunct) Premier Rewards Gold or any variety of the Amex Platinum.

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 American Express® Gold Card has the following earning structure:

  • 4x per dollar in the following categories
    • 4x at restaurants worldwide on up to $50,000 in spend per year
      • Then 1x for the rest of the year after that
    • 4x at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases
      • Then 1x for the rest of the year after that.
  • 5x points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App™.
  • 3x on travel booked directly with airlines and via AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App™.
  • 2x on prepaid car rentals booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App™ and cruises booked and paid through AmexTravel.com. 
  • 1x on all other eligible purchases
American Express® Gold Card Review

Amex Gold Card Benefits

The American Express® Gold Card comes with many benefits that essentially pay for the card's annual fee.

  • Up to $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Enjoy up to $120 in Uber Cash annually with your Gold Card. Just add your Card to your Uber account and you'll get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an Amex Card for your transaction.
  • $84 Dunkin' Credit: Earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin’ locations. Enrollment required.
  • Up to $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year at over 10,000 qualifying U.S. Resy restaurants after you pay for eligible purchases with the American Express® Gold Card. That’s up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
  • Up to $120 annually of food credit distributed as $10 statement credits monthly (enrollment required) when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at:
    • Grubhub (including Seamless)
    • The Cheesecake Factory
    • Five Guys
    • Buffalo Wild Wings
    • Wonder
  • Book two nights or more with The Hotel Collection through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App™ and receive a $100* credit towards eligible charges at over 1,400 upscale hotels worldwide.
    • *Eligible charges vary by property. 
  • Complimentary Hertz Five Star® Status. Enrollment and Hertz Gold+ registration required.
  • No foreign transaction fees. See Rates and Fees.

ToP Analysis

The American Express® Gold Card deserves a spot in most wallets. Based on the new Amex “family rule” for this card, applications for Amex Membership Rewards cards are very strategic. We discuss the preferred breakdown and order here. 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 this many points per dollar at supermarkets regularly. In addition, 4x at restaurants worldwide (up to $50,000 per year) is also great.

In addition to great earning, the Amex Gold card still offers a few decent benefits. Monthly Uber cash is 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 cash.

The American Express® Gold Card does provide some travel coverage. However, both the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the 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 $325 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. What do you think of the American Express® Gold Card? Come share your thoughts in our Facebook group!