American Express offers several charge cards, each offering a unique set of benefits. The Green Card is an excellent entry-level travel card and The Platinum Card is a luxury lifestyle card with several travel benefits.
While you earn Membership Rewards with The American Express Gold Card, which you can transfer to airline and hotel partners, it’s not a great card for travel. However, it is a great card to earn points at restaurants and supermarkets.
It also offers two monthly statement credits which can almost entirely offset the annual fee.
American Express Gold Card
Annual Fee
$250 per year
Sign-Up Benefits
AMEX is offering a sign-up bonus of 75,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend $4,000 in purchases for the first six months when you use our referral link. In addition, you’ll get $200 back in statement credits on purchases. (If you see a 60K offer, try using private mode and/or a different browser.)
If you use our referral link, We do get a referral bonus of Membership Rewards points. (The link will go to the AMEX Platinum card page, but you can see all cards with AMEX sign-up offers.)
This card is subject to AMEX’s one sign-up bonus per lifetime rule. To read more about that, check out this post from Doctor of Credit.
Welcome offer not available to applicants who have or have had this Card or the Premier Rewards Gold Card. We may also consider the number of American Express Cards you have opened and closed as well as other factors in making a decision on your welcome offer eligibility.
AMEX also has added these stipulations to cut down on card churners.
If we in our sole discretion determine that you have engaged in abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with this offer in any way or that you intend to do so (for example, if you applied for one or more cards to obtain an offer(s) that we did not intend for you; if you cancel or downgrade your account within 12 months after acquiring it; or if you cancel or return purchases you made to meet the Threshold Amount), we may not credit, we may freeze, or we may take away Membership Rewards® points and the Statement Credit from your account. We may also cancel this Card account and other Card accounts you may have with us.
Bonus Categories
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards points at restaurants worldwide & US food delivery services
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards points at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 per year in purchases
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards points on all other purchases.
The dining benefit has a few restrictions.
You may not earn additional points for purchases at a restaurant located within another establishment (e.g. a restaurant inside a hotel, casino, or event venue) or for purchases made through third-party food delivery services outside of the U.S. For example, purchases made at a restaurant located within a hotel may be recognized as a purchase at a hotel, not a restaurant. You also will NOT earn additional points for purchases at bars, nightclubs, cafeterias, and convenience stores
Considering the value of Membership Rewards, the argument can be made that the restaurant and supermarket bonus category rewards are the best available.
Notably missing are bonus categories for travel, except for the 3X points for airfare.
Statement Credits
The Gold Card provides the following statement credits. Note that I do not consider these the same as getting cash back to offset the annual fee, as there are many restrictions on using the credits.
- $120 Dining Credit – Earn up to a total of $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the Gold Card at Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar, and participating Shake Shack locations. This can be an annual savings of up to $120. Enrollment required.
- $120 Uber Cash – Earn up to $10 in monthly statement credits to all vehicle types with Uber, orders on Uber Eats and any other services to which Uber permits Uber Cash to be applied.
Where you can redeem the dining credit has changed over the years. I was bummed out when they removed Boxed as one of the merchants. But they’ve added Wine.com and Goldbelly. You’ll undoubtedly spend more than $10 on a single transaction on those websites.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
As you hope for a card that earns points redeemable for worldwide travel, the Gold Card does not charge any foreign transaction fees.
Membership Rewards
With the American Express Gold Card, you’ll earn points in AMEX’s transferrable points program, Membership Rewards. While there are many uses for Membership Rewards, transferring points to one of AMEX’s travel partners is the best.
Airline Programs
- Are Lingus Aerclub
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France / KLM Flying Blue
- ANA Mileage Club
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Delta SkyMiles
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest Miles
- Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
- Iberia Plus Miles
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Singapore KrisFlyer Miles
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hotel Programs
- Choice Privileges Rewards
- Hilton Honors
- Marriot Bonvoy
I used Membership Rewards to help us book our flights to Southeast Asia on Singapore Airlines and the best award trip I ever booked (for someone else).
Travel Coverage
The AMEX Gold Card has the following travel coverages when you pay with the card.
- Baggage Insurance for lost, stolen or damaged bags
- Car rental theft or damage (secondary coverage)
- Trip delay coverage of $300 after 12 hours
This is not a great set of coverages but I’ve already said this isn’t a great travel card.
Card Design
American Express lets cardholders choose between a classic gold design or a rose gold card.
Final Thoughts
For many Americans, food expenses (restaurants and supermarkets) are one of the biggest portions of their monthly budget. The American Express Gold Card provides an excellent way to rack up a bunch of points for those categories.
If you can use the credits every month with little difficulty, then the card hardly costs anything to keep.
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