If there is one American Express card to get, it's this one
- mike
- May 22
- 5 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
The America Express Gold Card was my first ever AMEX card, and since I got it, it has been my most-used card for over 12 years, thanks to its generous earning multipliers in everyday categories and various statement credits. In fact, it’s already earned me close to 50,000 points this year, and it’s not even June yet. In this post, I’ll review the American Express Gold card and why I keep it in my wallet, even with a hefty $325 annual fee.
Earning power
This card comes with a generous earning structure, rewarding 4x and 3x Membership Rewards (MR) points in some pretty high-spend categories, especially food spend, making this card perfect for anyone who likes to dine out, order in, or shop for groceries. These categories include:
4x MR points on worldwide restaurants, including takeout and delivery, up to $50,000 per year
4x on US supermarkets and groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), up to $25,000 per year
3x on flights booked directly with the airlines or on AmexTravel.com
2x on prepaid hotels and other eligible travel purchases, booked on AmexTravel.com
1x on everything else
This card is particularly great for families, especially given the 4x in spend in food categories. As a new parent, I find this card to be particularly powerful since my wife and I like to cook our meals, order in when things get crazy and we have no time to cook, and also go out to eat when we’re able to secure a babysitter. Although the 4x on grocery spend is capped at $25,000, it’s still a very generous limit considering you’d have to spend $2,000 on groceries to reach this cap.
Additional benefits
Aside from its incredible earning potential, the AMEX Gold card comes packed with other perks and benefits that can more than offset the $325 annual fee. The additional benefits tied to this card already fall into the food & travel categories, so it might not be too difficult for anyone to recoup or even outgain the annual fee. Let’s dive into each of those benefits and their potential value.
Dining benefits (total potential value: $424)
$120 Uber Cash: awarded as $10 in Uber Cash each month
$84 Dunkin’ Credit: awarded as $7 in monthly statement credits
$100 Resy Credit: awarded as $50 in statement credits semi-annually, so $50 between January and June and another $50 between July and December
$120 Dining Credit: Awarded at $10 per month when using the card at Grubhub, Cheeecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys.
Travel benefits (total potential value: $100 - $300, depending how often you use the benefit)
$100 The Hotel Collection credit: earn $100 credit towards eligible charges after booking two nights with The Hotel Collection through AmexTravel.com - eligible charges vary by property
No foreign transaction fees
What you should know: American Express is notorious for offering statement credits, especially ones that can be earned in monthly increments. They do this because they are hoping for what call “breakage”, or cardmembers simply forgetting about these credits. That way, they continue to collect the annual fee without having to award these credits.
Other benefits:
Purchase protection: protects covered purchases for up to 90 days from covered purchase date made on your card when they’re accidentally damaged, lost, or stolen.
Extended warranty: up to 1 extra year added to original manufacturer warranty when warranty is 5 years or less. Maximum $10,000 per item, up to $50,000 per year
Access to elite transfer partners
American Express MR points are one of the most valuable points currencies out there, given the program’s diverse and valuable transfer partners. The program boasts 21 total partners (18 airline and 3 hotel), allowing you to transfer your points into their loyalty programs for potentially higher value redemptions.
Airline partners include:
Aer Lingus AerClub
Aeromexico Rewards
Air Canada
Air France - KLM Flying Blue
ANA Mileage Club
Avianca Lifemiles
British Airways Club
Cathay Pacific
Delta Skymiles
Emirates Skywards®
Etihad Guest
HawaiianMiles®
Iberia Plus
JetBlue TrueBlue®
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Singapore Airlines | KrisFlyer
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hotel partners include:
Choice Privileges
Hilton Honors
Marriott Bonvoy
Some of my favorite partners are in bold, given that I have gotten some pretty outsized value from them over the past few years - most recently, when I traveled in Business Class to the Amalfi Coast in Italy for only 50,000 points and $242 in taxes and fees by transferring AMEX MR points to Air France - KLM’s Flying Blue program.
American Express often runs promos throughout the year, where you can transfer points and get an additional x% bonus in that program’s currency.
Before you commit, consider the benefits
On the surface, the total value that can be realized seems like it should easily justify the annual fee. However, some degree of tracking these credits is required to get the value from these credits. Here’s what I mean:
For the Uber credit: you have to use the $10 credit in the same month it’s awarded or else it expires.
For the Dunkin’ credit: same as the Uber credit, where it has to be used in that month
For the Resy credit: you have to make sure that every 6 months, you are dining at a restaurant that is listed on Resy.com
For the dining credit: you have to transact monthly at either Grubhub, Cheeecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys
For The Hotel Collection credit, you have to book at least two nights at any hotel within the Hotel Collection portfolio
Quite honestly, if you don’t fully use at least two of these benefits, the annual fee might not be justified. And that’s totally fine - there are other cards out there that offer generous rewards at a lower cost for similar spend categories. One example is the Capital One Savor Rewards card, which offers 3x on groceries, dining, and entertainment for no annual fee. However, the trade-off here would be the loss of some of those elite transfer partners like Delta, Marriott, and Hilton. So before you commit to the AMEX Gold card, make sure that you will be getting justified value.
Key points
If your points strategy involves racking up AMEX points, it’s safe to say that the AMEX Gold card could be the card you need that gets you there.
There is no other card on the market that offers 4x on groceries and dining and 3x on flights, albeit at a cost.
However, if you’re able to offset the annual fee with the various statement credits, then you’ll quickly see your Membership Rewards balance grow in no time.
I especially would consider this card if you have a family, if you live in a large city with several dining options, or if you’re simply a foodie
To apply for this card, simply click the button below.
If you're still unsure whether this is a good fit and would like to discuss it further, feel free to schedule a time with me to talk about this card and potential alternatives.
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