American Express Gold Review: Best in Show for Diners

Amex Gold Benefits

Bonus Categories

If dining and U.S. groceries make up a large portion of your spending, the Amex Gold is a strong option to maximize rewards. You’ll earn 4 American Express Membership Rewards® points per dollar at restaurants (on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1x) and at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1x). Beyond those annual limits, you’ll earn 1 point per dollar in both cases. The Amex Gold also offers 3 points per dollar on airfare when you book either directly with airlines or through Amex, and 2 points per dollar on prepaid hotels and other eligible Amex Travel® purchases.

Some of these bonus categories are beatable individually: for example, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express earns 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 of purchases annually (then 1%). However, I think the Amex Gold offers one of the best collective sets of bonus categories, which is why it’s one of two cards I carry regularly, and the one I use most frequently.

Statement Credit Opportunities

The Amex Gold Card comes with an array of credits that can help justify the annual fee. Each month, you can earn $10 in Uber Cash that you can use on rides or Uber Eats orders in the U.S. when you select an Amex card as your primary payment method. You’ll also earn up to $10 in monthly dining credit when you use your Amex Gold at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com and Five Guys, and up to $7 in monthly credit when you use your card at Dunkin’ locations in the U.S. Finally, the card comes with a biannual $50 Resy credit to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases, which my wife and I use for discounted visits to a restaurant we like in our neighborhood. Note that most of those credits require one-time enrollment before you can use them.

Altogether, those benefits can provide up to $424 of credits annually, but only if you’re able to use them all each month.

Other Amex Perks

As an Amex Gold cardholder, you can earn access to The Hotel Collection, which offers benefits like onsite credits and room upgrades when you book eligible hotel stays through Amex Travel. You’ll also earn access to Amex Offers (enrollment required), which provide opportunities to earn cash back and bonus rewards with assorted retailers and service providers. Amex Offers are available to most American Express cardholders, but they vary from one card or cardholder to another, and I tend to earn better offers on my Amex Gold than I do on some of my other Amex cards. On average, these offers save me about $100 per year. Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit.

No Preset Spending Limit

Amex Gold works like a credit card but it doesn’t have a preset spending limit, which means your spending limit is flexible. Unlike a traditional card with a set limit, the amount you can spend adapts based on factors such as your purchase, payment, and credit history. Amex still imposes a cap on spending, but the amount varies, and in my experience is much higher than the limit on my credit cards. That added capacity is handy for large purchases or concentrated periods of heavy spending (like the holiday season). If you want greater clarity about your spending power, Amex offers an online tool that tells you whether a specific purchase amount will be approved.

Amex Gold Drawbacks

High Annual Fee Without Premium Benefits

The Amex Gold Card’s $325 annual fee is more than three times what you’ll pay for mid-tier travel credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Citi Strata Premier® Card (an advertising partner). Pricewise, the Amex Gold is closer to premium credit cards like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, but unlike that card, the Amex Gold doesn’t offer premium travel perks like airport lounge access or expedited security. As a result, the Amex Gold’s prospective value leans heavily on its statement credit opportunities.

Credits Are Time Sensitive

The Amex Gold Uber, Dunkin’ and dining credits are only valid for the month in which they’re issued, and the Resy credit is valid for no more than six months. Enrollment is rquired for these benefits. You can’t carry credits over from one period to the next, so you lose them if you don’t use them. That makes these Amex Gold benefits less attractive if you don’t use those services regularly or live in an area where they aren’t widely available. For example, the nearest Dunkin’ location is about 500 miles from where I live, so I count that benefit as a dud.

Rewards Aren’t Good for Cash Back

Membership Rewards points are most valuable when you transfer them to airline partners like Delta, British Airways or Air Canada, and (to a lesser extent) hotel partners like Choice, Hilton or Marriott. Redeeming points this way often yields a return of better than 1.5 cents per point, which makes the program a good fit for frequent travelers who are comfortable navigating loyalty programs and booking award travel.

Membership Rewards points are much less valuable when redeemed for cash or cash equivalents. With the Amex Gold, the best you’ll earn is 1 cent per point when redeeming for select gift cards. Other gift cards, as well as statement credits and Pay With Points redemptions, yield as little as 0.5 cents per point. That makes the card a poor fit for anyone who prefers cash back rewards. If that’s you, consider getting a cash back credit card instead.

Who Is the Amex Gold Best For?

The Amex Gold is best suited to those who spend a lot on groceries at U.S. supermarkets and dining, prefer earning travel rewards to cash back, and can consistently use the card’s various statement credit benefits. If you fit that description, don’t be put off by the $325 annual fee, since the value you can earn from the card is likely to exceed its cost. Cardholders who additionally take advantage of targeted Amex Offers (enrollment required) and appreciate a flexible spending limit have even more reason to use Amex Gold.

The card doesn’t have to be a perfect match to be worth your consideration. Even if you spend minimally on groceries in the U.S. and dining, you can still come out ahead of the annual fee by maxing out the statement credit opportunites. Conversely, the return you can earn from the card’s bonus categories can help to justify the annual fee even if you’re unlikely to use the statement credits, though you may be better off with a combination of no-annual-fee cards that earn rewards at a lower rate.

If you don’t spend much at U.S. supermarkets or dining and you’re not likely to use the statement credit benefits, then Amex Gold isn’t a good fit. It’s also not ideal if you’re looking for top-tier travel and other benefits.

Is It the Right Card For You?

The Amex Gold offers more upside than mid-tier credit cards, but lacks the flashier perks you’ll find on premium credit cards. Consider adding it to your wallet if any of the following apply:

• You spend a lot on groceries at U.S. supermarkets or dining (or both), but not so much that you vastly exceed the spending caps on those bonus rewards categories
• You routinely use services that qualify for statement credits, such as Uber, Resy and Grubhub
• Your spending patterns demand a high credit limit

Alternatives to the Amex Gold Card

If the Amex Gold isn’t a good fit, you might prefer a mid-tier credit card with a lower annual fee or a premium card that offers more benefits.

• Citi Strata Premier Card: This card has well-rounded bonus categories, earning 3 points per dollar on dining, groceries, gas, airfare and hotels, and 10 points per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Citi’s travel portal. Citi ThankYou® Rewards points can be transferred to a strong roster of airline and hotel partners, or redeemed for cash at 1 cent per point. While the Strata Premier Card doesn’t come with statement credit benefits like Amex Gold, it has a much lower $95 annual fee.
• Capital One Venture X: The Venture X carries a $395 annual fee, but it comes with an annual $300 credit for travel booked through Capital One and an annual bonus of 10,000 miles each card anniversary. When you enroll, It grants access to Capital One’s modest (but growing) network of airport lounges plus over 1,300 Priority Pass lounges, and comes with a credit of up to $120 toward the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee every four years. With a flat earning rate of 2 Capital One miles per dollar on most purchases, it’s a good option if you prefer a simple rewards structure.