American Express Gold Card review: Impressive rewards for foodies and travelers

Why we like this card: Along with incomes as much as 4X factors on eligible purchases, the American Specific® Gold Card additionally comes with helpful perks and advantages that savvy card holders can reap the benefits of to cancel out the annual charge.

Professionals

  • Aggressive rewards on meals and journey
  • Substantial welcome provide
  • No overseas transaction charges

American Specific Gold Card: Overview

APR

  • Intro: None
  • Buy: 20.99%–28.99% Variable
  • Money advance: 29.99% APR, plus a charge of both $10 or 5% of the quantity of every money advance, whichever is larger.
  • Penalty: 29.99% APR

Annual charge: $250

Overseas transaction charge: None

Late fee: as much as $40

Pay Over Time: month-to-month charge as much as 1.33%

The American Specific® Gold Card is a premium bank card that’s widely known for its profitable rewards on eating, grocery, and journey spending. The Gold Card is designed for frequent spenders and vacationers, identified for its wealthy rewards construction and versatile redemption choices. It gives 4X Membership Rewards® factors on eating places worldwide, in addition to U.S. supermarkets (as much as $25,000 per yr, then 1X), 3X factors on flights booked immediately with airways or on amextravel.com, and 1X factors on all different eligible purchases.

One of the crucial notable options of the American Specific Gold Card is the eating credit score, which affords as much as $120 again at chosen eating places and meals supply companies yearly, in month-to-month increments. Moreover, you’ll be able to obtain as much as $120 Uber credit score to make use of in the direction of rides and meals supply. These perks, together with no overseas transaction charges, make the cardboard interesting for vacationers and meals fans. The cardboard additionally contains complete journey and buy protections, additional including to its worth. 

To view charges and charges of the American Specific® Gold Card, see this web page.

American Specific Gold Card: Rewards

The Gold Card from Amex gives a beneficiant, tiered rewards construction:

  • 4X Membership Rewards® Factors at Eating places, plus takeout and supply within the U.S.
  • 4X Membership Rewards® factors at U.S. supermarkets (on as much as $25,000 per calendar yr in purchases, then 1X)
  • 3X Membership Rewards® factors on flights booked immediately with airways or on amextravel.com
  • 1X factors on all different eligible purchases

New cardholders even have the chance to earn 60,000 Membership Rewards Factors after spending $4,000 throughout the first six months of proudly owning the cardboard.

Learn how to redeem American Specific Gold Card membership rewards factors

American Specific affords a number of choices for redeeming your membership rewards factors earned with the Gold Card. The issuer notes that the worth of factors varies relying the way you select to redeem them. Sometimes, factors will be redeemed for 0.5 cents to 1 cent per level.  .

E book or improve journey

Among the finest methods to get essentially the most worth out of your membership factors is by utilizing them to e-book flights and accommodations, or redeem for upgrades (when obtainable) by way of Amex or immediately with journey companions.

Switch factors

American Specific means that you can switch membership factors to varied airline and resort frequent traveler loyalty applications, together with British Airways, Delta Skymiles, Hilton Honors, and extra.

Pay with factors

You’ll be able to als use your factors when trying out at 15 completely different on-line retailers. You may as well redeem factors by way of PayPal, which lets you use pay with factors at tens of millions of on-line shops world wide.

Redeem for present playing cards 

You even have the choice of redeeming factors for present playing cards at quite a lot of retail, eating, air, and lodging firms. These embrace Amazon, Lodges.com, Ticketmaster, and extra.

Cowl your prices

One other option to redeem factors is by requesting a credit score equal to a number of eligible prices in your month-to-month Gold Card assertion. You should have a minimal of 1,000 factors to make use of this feature.

Extra advantages

  • $120 eating credit score: You’ll be able to earn as much as $10 in assertion credit every month if you pay together with your American Specific Gold Card at sure eating places and supply companies, together with Grubhub, The Cheesecake Manufacturing facility, Wine.com, and extra. Enrollment is required.
  • $120 Uber Money: When you add your Gold Card to your Uber account, you’ll routinely obtain as much as $10 in Uber Money every month, which will be redeemed for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides within the U.S.
  • The Resort Assortment: Rise up to $100 expertise credit score to make use of throughout your keep if you e-book The Resort Assortment. A minimal 2-night keep is required.
  • World Help Hotline: For those who’re touring greater than 100 miles from house, you’ll be able to depend on the World Help Hotline for twenty-four/7 emergency help and coordination companies (card Members are answerable for the prices charged by third-party service suppliers).
  • Baggage insurance coverage plan: By buying your total fare for a typical provider car ticket (airplane, prepare, ship, or bus), you’ll obtain as much as $1,250 in protection for carry-on baggage and as much as $500 for checked baggage, in extra of protection offered by the Provider.
  • Automobile rental loss and harm insurance coverage: If you use your card to order and pay for the whole rental, and decline the collision harm waiver (CDW) on the rental firm counter, you will be lined for harm to or theft of a rental car in a lined territory.
  • American Specific Experiences: You’ll acquire unique entry to ticket presales and native member-only occasions, together with Broadway exhibits, live performance excursions, sporting occasions, and extra.
  • American Specific Most popular Entry: Get entry to premium seats for choose cultural and sporting occasions, based mostly on availability. 

Is the American Specific Gold Card best for you?

The Amex Gold card is designed for individuals who do plenty of spending on journey and meals purchases. If the rewards construction aligns together with your spending habits, the Gold Card generally is a nice possibility that gives worth far past its $250 annual charge.

Bank cards just like American Specific Gold Card

There are lots of rewards playing cards available on the market, lots of which supply comparable advantages to the Gold Card. So earlier than making use of, contemplate comparable alternate options first.

Chase Sapphire Most popular vs. American Specific Gold Card

For many who are in search of a journey and eating rewards card with out the excessive annual charge, the Chase Sapphire Most popular® Card could also be a very good different to the Amex Gold Card. It affords a stable rewards program with 5X factors on journey booked by way of Chase and 3X factors on eating and groceries bought on-line, in addition to the power to switch factors to a number of airline and resort loyalty applications. The Sapphire Most popular additionally gives a variety of journey advantages, together with a $50 annual resort credit score, journey cancellation/interruption insurance coverage, and first rental automotive insurance coverage. 

Regularly requested questions

Is it exhausting to get a Gold American Specific card?

The American Specific Gold Card isn’t significantly exhausting to get, however you will want good to glorious credit score to qualify. Meaning candidates with a credit score rating beneath 670 may need a tough time getting authorised.

Is American Specific Gold Card a very good card?

The Gold Card is taken into account a top-tier rewards card for individuals who are in a position to spend strategically and get extra worth out of this card than they pay within the annual charge.

How a lot is the restrict on a Gold American Specific card?

The Amex Gold Card doesn’t have a preset spending restrict. The spending restrict is versatile and in contrast to a conventional card with a set restrict, the quantity you’ll be able to spend adapts based mostly on elements similar to your buy, fee, and credit score historical past. The American Specific® Gold Card means that you can carry a steadiness for sure prices, however not all.


Please notice that card particulars are correct as of the publish date, however are topic to vary at any time on the discretion of the issuer. Please contact the cardboard issuer to confirm charges, charges, and advantages earlier than making use of.

Phrases apply to American Specific advantages and affords. Enrollment could also be required for choose American Specific advantages and affords. Go to americanexpress.com to study extra.

Eligibility and Profit stage varies by Card. Phrases, Circumstances, and Limitations Apply. Please go to americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for extra particulars. Underwritten by Amex Assurance Firm.