The American Express® Gold Card shines with strong earnings on everyday purchases at U.S. supermarkets and restaurants, a variety of ways to earn/redeem rewards, plenty of mid-tier travel benefits, perks, savings, and special offers. And this card does it all without a super-premium annual fee!
Many premium travel rewards credit cards come with annual fees as high as $550. With those cards, you typically receive a package of corresponding premium travel benefits such as complimentary lounge access, Global Entry fee reimbursement, and even a large statement credit toward travel purchases.
The Amex Gold Card strikes a perfect balance with generous earning potential, plus enough perks, benefits, credits, and protections to improve your travel experience with a lower annual fee to match.
American Express® Gold Card
Rose Gold is here to stay. Card Members can choose between a Gold or Rose Gold Card.
Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $4,000 on eligible purchases with your new card within the first six months.
Earn 4X Membership Rewards® Points at Restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S., and earn 4X Membership Rewards® Points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1X).
Earn 3X Membership Rewards® Points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com.
$120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account, and each month automatically gets $10 in Uber Cash for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides in the U.S., totaling up to $120 per year.
$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, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Boxed, and participating Shake Shack locations. This can be an annual savings of up to $120. Enrollment required.
Travel Benefits That Add Value
Hotel Room
Book a 2-night stay at The Hotel Collection properties and receive a $100 credit to spend at the hotel.
- The Hotel Collection Benefits [$100]
Cardholders of the Amex Gold card will enjoy an elevated travel experience when booking a 2-night stay at properties included in The Hotel Collection, including perks like:
Upgraded room at check-in, when available
$100 credit to use at the hotel
Ability to pay with points
Double points for prepaid bookings
Cardholders must book a minimum of 2 consecutive nights and pay with their card or Membership Rewards Points. The $100 credit can be used toward food, beverages, spa, resort activities, and other eligible expenses and will be applied at checkout.
You can book up to 3 rooms per stay through American Express Travel or The Hotel Collection website. 1 $100 credit is applied per room per 2-night stay, so your total credit could be $300 if booking three rooms.
Additionally, you’ll receive double Membership Rewards points when you pay for your room with your Amex Gold Card! That’s 2 points for every dollar spent.
Keep in mind that booking through any third party (including Amex Travel) versus booking directly on the hotel’s website cannot receive your elite hotel loyalty program benefits or stay credit.
Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance [$175]
The Amex Gold card comes with secondary car rental insurance but offers the option to purchase primary Premium Protection for one low fee that covers the entire rental period. Prices range from $12.95 to $24.95, depending on the location and coverage selected.
If you rent a vehicle for just ten days each year, you could pay $200 or more for car rental protection — Amex Premium Protection could save you plenty.
Use your Amex Gold card to reserve and pay for your entire car rental, decline the rental car company’s collision damage waiver, and you’ll be covered if the car is stolen or damaged.
Rental vehicles are covered for the first 30 consecutive days with protection that will pay up to a maximum of $50,000 for repair or replacement of the vehicle. Restrictions apply.
For a complete description of the rental loss and damage coverage, access the Amex Gold card benefits guide for coverage details.
Additional Travel Benefits and Protections
Lowest Hotel Rate Guarantee
Book your prepaid hotel with American Express Travel — if you find the same room for a lower price before taxes and fees, you’ll receive a refund for the difference.
Global Assist Hotline
Having access to 24/7 medical, legal, financial, or emergency assistance services when traveling more than 100 miles from home can save the day. Examples of these worldwide services include passport replacement, wiring money, and assistance with lost luggage (note that the cardholder is responsible for any costs charged by the service providers).
Baggage Insurance Plan
Never worry about lost, damaged, or stolen luggage when you purchase your plane, train, ship, or bus ticket with your Amex Gold card. Coverage is provided for up to $1,250 for carry-on baggage and $500 for checked baggage. Limits, exclusions, and restrictions apply.
Personalized Travel Service
One call gives you expert advice and personalized travel services. You can get assistance with flights, hotel bookings, and ground transportation, though fees do apply for flight bookings.
Using the Card — Costs and Fees
Negating the Annual Fee
While the card does charge an annual fee, the generous earnings rate makes it easy to accumulate Amex points quickly. The value you receive for Membership Rewards points when redeemed for travel contributes to a very low break-even point for owning this card.
Redeeming Valuable Membership Rewards Points [Value Varies]
With so many ways to earn Membership Rewards Points, they’ll add up quickly. Now, let’s look at the options available and the level of value you can expect when redeeming your points.
Redeem Points with American Express Travel
The American Express Travel website is simply an online travel agency booking site like Orbitz or Kayak. However, since the portal caters to American Express cardholders, you’ll find its customer service exceptional.
Below is the value of 10,000 Membership Rewards points when redeemed on the American Express Travel website.
Redeem membership rewards points
You receive the highest value for your Membership Rewards Points on Amex Travel when redeeming for flights instead of hotels, cruises, or vacation packages.
Note that the best value for your Membership Rewards points is to use them for booking flights. There are fees for using American Express Travel, but these are minimal compared to the peace of mind that if something goes wrong during your trip, you’ll have its customer service team to help make it right.
The fee for domestic flights is $6.99, or $10.99 for international flights.
Transfer Points to Airline Partners
British Airways plane at night
Transfer your Membership Rewards points to any of Amex’s transfer partners
Having choices when it comes time to redeem your Membership Rewards points is a good thing! The value you receive for different redemption options, however, varies greatly. When redeeming your points for airline miles, you’ll notice that transfer ratios depend on the frequent flyer program you’re transferring points to.
More Benefits of America Express® Gold Card include:
One sweet spot is transferring Membership Rewards points to British Airways for Avios, B.A.’s term for redeemable frequent flyer miles. Its award chart is distance-based and offers some great opportunities for short-haul flights. For instance, outside of the U.S., flights that are 650 miles or less can cost as few as 4,000 Avios. You can build an open-jaw itinerary by flying into one city, returning from another, and using short-haul flights to journey between them.
If you’d rather fly in premium class, consider transferring your Membership Rewards points to the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program and booking with a domestic airline partner such as United Airlines. Both airlines are partner members of the Star Alliance, but United Airlines charges less for some business and first-class award tickets.
Membership Rewards Points Are Worth $100
When you choose to redeem your points for travel, gift cards, merchandise, statement credits, services, or donate to charity, Membership Rewards points can be worth anywhere from 0.5 cents to 1 cent per point.
Booking Flights Through American Express Travel
Amex Travel is like other online travel agencies like Orbitz. You select the flights you want and pay for them with Membership Rewards points, cash, or a combination of points and cash. You’ll receive 1 cent per Membership Rewards point when booking flights, which is among the best values for your points.
However, American Express Travel charges fees: of $6.99 per domestic airline ticket and $10.99 per international ticket.
Gift cards
You’ll have a vast selection of gift card redemption options, but some deliver less value than others.
Redeeming for Select Gift Cards
Realizing a full 1 cent in value for your Membership Rewards points is easy when you redeem your points for select gift cards — you’ll find dozens of $100 gift cards available for 10,000 Membership Rewards points.
Paying for NYC Taxis
American Express has arranged to allow cardholders to use Membership Rewards points when paying for VeriFone and CMT-enabled taxis in New York City. You’ll be prompted on the payment screen within the taxi to use points to pay for your fare.
Making a Charitable Donation
American Express offers charitable giving via its MembersGive program. You’ll receive a value of 1 cent per Membership Reward point for donations up to 500,000 points in a calendar year. Above 500,000 points, the value decreases to 0.5 cents each.
Entertainment Access
You’ll feel like a VIP with exclusive access and advance notice for shows, concerts, and sporting events near you. You’ll also get invited to cardmember-only events.
American Express Preferred Seating
Receive access to premium seating at select cultural and sporting events when available.
Personal Loans for Select Cardholders
Cardholders can be pre-approved for loans between $3,500 and $40,000. These personal loans come with no origination fee or pre-payment penalty and have fixed rates as low as 6.98%. There’s also no credit score impact to apply.
24/7 Card Member Services
Whether it’s replacing a lost card or simply asking a billing question, you can talk to a representative and get assistance 24/7.
Mobile Access
Get fraud alerts, find offers near you, and manage your account no matter where you happen to be with the Amex mobile app.
No Foreign Transaction Fees.
Good to Excellent Credit Recommended (670-840)
Annual fee: $250
Terms Apply. For rates and fees of the Amex Gold Card, click here.
UP’s Bonus Valuation*: $1,320
The Amex Gold card has strengths as both an everyday earning card and a travel rewards card since it has the earning elements for both and strong redemption value for the traveler.
A Generous Welcome Bonus [$1,320]
While welcome bonuses can vary, the bonus you earn after meeting spending requirements in the first three months after card approval can significantly jump-start your earnings. Check for the latest welcome bonus offer and review rates and fees before applying.
Generous Earnings at Restaurants, Supermarkets, and Airline Flights [$2,200]
With this card, you’ll earn:
4 Membership Rewards Points per dollar spent at restaurants
4 Membership Rewards Points per dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets. Up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year; after that, earn 1x.
3 Membership Rewards Points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline, as well as airfare booked through American Express Travel
1 Membership Rewards Point per dollar spent on all other purchases
Membership Rewards points are valuable because they are flexible and can be redeemed in several different ways. Your Membership Rewards points also don’t expire if you have an active Membership Rewards-earning credit card open.
If you spent $25,000 in a year on 4x earning bonus categories alone, you would earn 100,000 Membership Rewards points.
You can read our expert guide to learn more about all the ways you can earn valuable Membership Rewards points.
ShopRunner [$30]
ShopRunner is all about taking the hassle out of online shopping by providing free 2-day shipping and easy free returns. There are over 100 stores represented, and members receive ongoing special offers.
Extended Warranty
Warranties always seem to expire just when you need them. With extended warranty coverage, you’ll receive up to 1 additional year of warranty coverage for eligible purchases that have a U.S. manufacturer’s Warranty of 5 years or less.
Coverage is limited to the amount you charged on your Amex Gold Card and only up to $10,000 per item (maximum $50,000 per year).
Purchase Protection
Eligible purchases are protected when accidentally damaged, stolen, or lost. Purchase protection provides coverage for eligible items purchased within the past 90 days and can even include coverage for your cell phone.
There is a $10,000 limit per occurrence and a $50,000 limit per calendar year.
