American Express® Gold Review

Overview

The American Express® Gold is a flexible travel rewards card from American Express, running on the Amex network. The American Express® Gold earns up to 4x on dining, groceries, and travel, so it pays you the most exactly where you already spend. It carries a $325 annual fee, so the real question is whether its rewards, credits, and perks clear that bar for the way you spend. New cardholders can earn 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after $8,000 in 6 months.

It lands in the mid tier: a modest annual fee in exchange for stronger earn rates and a meaningful welcome offer. The right call depends on whether your spending and the perks clear that fee each year.

Our 5.0 out of 5 rating

Each score weighs the rewards rate, value after the annual fee, welcome offer, points flexibility, and perks, with every point valued at a flat 1 cent. This is our editorial assessment to help you compare cards, not a guarantee of approval or of the value you will get.

Rewards: how it earns

Where the American Express® Gold earns its rewards is its bonus categories: 4x on dining (about $120 a year on the $3,000 a typical household spends there), 4x on groceries (about $240 a year on the $6,000 a typical household spends there), and 3x on travel (about $54 a year on the $1,800 a typical household spends there). Across a full year of average household spending, the card returns roughly $598 in rewards before any welcome bonus, so the more your spending overlaps those categories, the better it does.

Every point and mile above is valued at a flat 1 cent, the same honest standard we use for every card. Run your own spending through the calculator to see what this card would actually return for you.

Pros and cons

The welcome bonus

The current welcome offer is 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points, earned after you spend $8,000 in 6 months. Valued honestly at a flat 1 cent per point, that is worth about $1,000. The spending requirement works out to roughly $1,333 per month, so make sure it fits your normal budget rather than pushing you to overspend. Stacking the welcome offer on top of a typical year of rewards and accounting for the $325 annual fee, the first year is worth roughly $1,273.

Is the annual fee worth it?

To come out ahead on the American Express® Gold you need to clear its $325 annual fee. On typical spending it earns about $598 a year in rewards, and it carries up to $424 in statement credits. For anyone who spends in its categories, the fee is easy to justify.

Benefits and protections

Beyond the rewards, the perks and protections worth knowing about include:

• $120 Uber Cash credit ($10/month for Uber Eats or rides)
• $120 dining credit ($10/month at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory & more)
• $100 Resy credit ($50 semi-annually at Resy restaurants)
• $84 Dunkin' credit ($7/month)
• No foreign transaction fees
• Baggage insurance plan and trip delay reimbursement
• Purchase protection and extended warranty
• Car rental loss and damage insurance

Statement credits

• $120 Uber Cash ($10/month)
• $120 dining credit ($10/month at Grubhub & more)
• $100 Resy credit ($50 semi-annually)
• $84 Dunkin' credit ($7/month)

Ecosystem and transfer partners

The American Express® Gold earns Membership Rewards, one of the more valuable currencies in rewards because of where the points can go. You can move points 1 to 1 to 9 airline and hotel partners: Delta SkyMiles, British Airways, Air France/KLM, Singapore Airlines, ANA, Avianca LifeMiles, Emirates Skywards, Marriott Bonvoy, and Hilton Honors. As a hub card, this is the one you route points through before transferring out. The sweet spots are usually premium-cabin flights and high-end hotel nights, where a single point can be worth well more than the 1 cent we value it at here.

Who should get it, and who should skip it

It is best for people who spend heavily on dining and groceries and will earn back the $325 fee through those bonus categories and the card's perks.

Skip it if your spending does not line up with its bonus categories, or if you would rather not think about where you swipe at all.

How it compares

If the American Express® Gold is not quite the right fit, these related cards are worth weighing against it:

Frequently asked questions