American Express® Gold Card review (2024)

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The card_name is a key card in the Amex Membership Rewards ecosystem as it offers the best earning rates out of any American Express card in select major spending categories. It’s a card that offers valuable benefits that help cardholders offset the annual fee and as it earns a currency that’s transferable to an impressive variety of airline and hotel loyalty programs, it’s a card that can help cardholders make significant savings on aspirational travel bookings.

The card_name

In brief

The card_name was completely overhauled a few years ago and the result is a card that now offers the best earnings rate for spending at US supermarkets and the best earnings rate on dining out of any American Express Membership Rewards card. It also offers credits for dining and Uber spending in the US as well as trip delay coverage that most cards of this level do not offer.

In detail

Here’s what you need to know about the card_name:

Annual fee:

• annual_fees (rates-fees)

Cost of authorized user cards:

• $0 (rates & fees)

Current welcome bonus:

• bonus_miles_full

Note: The terms and conditions of this offer state that the welcome bonus is not available to applicants who hold or have previously held this card or the Premier Rewards Gold Card or who hold or have held he Platinum Card®, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley.

Earnings (terms apply):

• 4 points/dollar on spending at U.S Supermarkets (up to $25,000 in spending/year)*
• 4 points/dollar on dining and takeout.
• 4 points/dollar on Uber Eats purchases in the US.
• 3 points/dollar on flights booked directly with airlines or through Amex Travel.
• 1 point/dollar on all other eligible purchases. 

*Any spending made above the $25,000 cap will only earn 1 point/dollar

Key benefits (terms apply and enrollment may be required):

• Earn valuable points that can be transferred over to a variety of airline and hotel loyalty programs.
• Up to $120/year in dining credits at select eateries (comes as a $10/month credit)
• $100/year Hotel Collection credit (a 2 night minimum stay is required to trigger this credit)
• $10/month Uber Cash Credit useable in the US (card_name must be added to Uber App)
• Trip delay protection*

*Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.

Thoughts on the card_name

The card earns valuable Membership Rewards Points

Membership Rewards Points are Amex’s flexible rewards currency and they can be transferred across to a wide variety of airline and hotel loyalty programs at a ratio of 1:1 (terms apply).

With the option to transfer the points that the card_name earns to programs like Delta SkyMiles, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, the British Airways Executive Club, Flying Blue, and Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles, cardholders can use their earnings to save a significant amount of money while flying in some of the more aspirational First and Business Class cabins around.

I’m a big fan of Membership rewards because cards like this one make points relatively easy to earn and because the points are relatively easy to use. Add to that the fact that Amex frequently offers bonuses for transfers to its loyalty program partners, and it’s easy to see why the Membership Rewards program is so popular.

The welcome bonus is attractive

The current welcome bonus is attractive (although it’s not the best bonus we’ve seen this card offer), and the fact that new cardholders are being given 6 months to earn the bonus (rather than the standard 3 months) goes a little way to offsetting the fact that the current spending requirement is higher than it has been for a few months.

I value Amex Membership Rewards Points at 1.5 cents each (that’s a conservative valuation based on the value I know I can get out of each point without much effort) so that values this welcome offer at $900.

The card offers excellent earnings rates (terms apply)

The 4 points/dollar that the card_name earns on dining is one of the better rates of return we see offered in that category, and the 4 points/dollar that it earns on purchases made at US supermarkets (up to a spending cap of $25,000 – 1 point/dollar thereafter) makes this one of the more rewarding cards in a category that attracts a significant level of spending for most people.

Note: Purchases at big box stores like Costco and Sam’s Club will only earn 1 point/dollar.

The card_name also earns cardholders 3 points/dollar on spending made directly with airlines and it’s worth noting that this is a rate that can only be beaten by one other consumer credit card that’s open to new applicants – the Platinum Card® from American Express – and that card comes with a considerably higher annual fee than the card_name.

Based on my valuation of Membership Rewards Points, the card_name effectively offers cardholders a 6% rebate on dining and on spending at US supermarkets (on up to $25,000 of spending) and a 4.5% rebate on purchases made directly with airlines. These are rebates that most cards struggle to beat.

Up to $120/year dining credits (terms apply)

The card_name offers cardholders a credit of $10 per month, which can be triggered by spending with/at the following Amex partners (enrollment required):

• Grubhub (including Seamless)
• The Cheesecake Factory
• Goldbelly
• Wine.com
• Milk Bar
• Select Shake Shack locations*

*Excludes Shake Shack locations in ballparks, stadiums, airports, rest areas, museums, and racetracks.

Only spending made in the United States will trigger the statement credit and while authorized users are eligible for these credits, it should be noted that only one $10 credit is available per account per month.

If you happen to frequent one or more of the eateries listed above, or if you order through Grubhub and Seamless, the $10/month could be classed as a genuine saving and one that’s well worth having.

If, however, the fact that the card_name offers these credits leads you to spend money you may not otherwise have spent, the credits are not a genuine saving and should be discounted from your calculation when you weigh up the value of this card to you.

Up to $120/year Uber Cash credits (enrollment required)

Holders of the card_name receive up to $120 in Uber Cash credits/year and these appear as $10 monthly credits in the Uber app (the card_name has to be added to the Uber App for these credits to appear).

Just like the credit that’s offered with the card_name, this Uber Cash credit can be used on Uber rides and Uber Eats orders within the United States and, just like the credits on the Platinum Card, these are credits that do not roll over from month to month – if you fail to use your $10 credit in any given month, it’s gone forever.

For anyone who uses Uber or Uber Eats at least once a month, this is a very useful benefit and a genuine cash saver and it can help offset some of the card’s annual fee.

Note: Although you have to have your card_name linked to your Uber wallet to ensure that you get the monthly credits, you don’t have to pay with the card to ensure that the credits are triggered. I get monthly credits courtesy of my Platinum Card but I pay for most of my Uber trips using my card_name.

$100 Hotel Collection credit

The Hotel Collection is a hotel booking portal run by Amex Travel and holders of the card_name who book a stay of 2 nights or longer through the portal, are given a $100 onsite credit. This credit can be used to offset spending on dining, at the spa, and on activities charged to the room during a stay.

If you’re likely to need to book a stay of 2 nights or longer during your cardmember year this could be a nice benefit to have – $100 will go a long way towards buying 2 people a nice meal at a good hotel – but some caution is required.

Firstly, if you wouldn’t have made the hotel booking if the card_name wasn’t offering you an on-site credit, this isn’t a genuine saving for you.

Secondly, be aware that bookings made through the hotel collection are considered 3rd party bookings by most hotel chains so any elite benefits you may have with that hotel’s loyalty program are unlikely to be honored.

Essentially, the $100 credit is best used at properties where the cardholder doesn’t have elite status and where the $100 would have been spent whether or not the credit was being offered (this works particularly well at boutique hotels which, for the most part, don’t have loyalty programs).

The card_name offers trip delay coverage

At the beginning of 2020, American Express improved the travel benefits on a number of its cards and one of those improvements was the addition of Trip Delay coverage to the card_name.

This coverage isn’t as good as the coverage offered by card_name or by the card_name as your trip needs to be delayed by over 12 hours before the card will come to your rescue, but in the event that this happens, cardholders are entitled to up to $300 per trip for expenses, like overnight accommodation, meals, and other key essentials.

The coverage is limited to two claims per 12 consecutive month period.

Per Amex: Up to $300 per Covered Trip that is delayed for more than 12 hours; and 2 claims per Eligible Card per 12 consecutive month period. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.

Final thoughts

The card_name is a card you hold for its great earning rates and not its benefits. Some of the benefits that the card offers can be very useful, but its primary function for most cardholders is as a points earning machine.

If you’re a fan of Membership Rewards and spend significant sums on dining and at US supermarkets, this is almost certainly a card you should be considering – there isn’t another American Express card that can match what this card earns in those categories.

Just as importantly, it’s good to remember that no other card on the market offers excellent returns on both dining and US supermarket spending – there are cards that offer great returns in one category or the other, but not in both – and that’s a key strength of the card_name.

If you’re just looking for strong earnings on dining, the card_name is  probably the card to go for as it comes with a lower annual fee. If it’s just a great return at US supermarkets that you’re after and you don’t mind earning cash back, the card_name is probably the card to consider.

Overall, however, the card_name is a key component in most people’s Membership Rewards strategy as it offers strong earnings in categories where a lot of people put a significant amount of spending.

Put simply, if you’re looking for a card to help you boost your Membership Rewards Points balance through the spending you make every day, this is probably the card for you.

Find out how to apply.

For rates and fees of the card_name, please rates & fees