The American Express Gold Card is a classic American credit card. It was one of the first credit cards ever issued when it was launched in 1966. Back in the early days it was seen as a status symbol, using it was a symbol to people around you that you were successful. Now I think people view credit cards as mostly utilitarian and I am definitely one of those people. I need to know that the card that I’m using is providing me with great value, and if that isn’t the case, then I want to use something else.
The annual fee for a credit card is part of the equation for me. There are definitely some good credit cards that have no annual fee, but most of the time, cards that have high earning rates and good benefits have at least a $95 annual fee. On the travel hacking side, a credit card that earns points that can be transferred to multiple hotel and airline programs is the most important benefit to me.
The American Express Gold Card earns Ultimate Reward points that can be transferred to a variety of airline and hotel programs, of which some of my favorites are KLM/Air France Flying Blue, Aer Lingus/British Airways/Iberia Avios, Air Canada Aeroplan and Delta. Being able to transfer to a variety of programs allows you to take advantage of flash sales and sweet spots so that you can get the most for the points that you earn.
Many premium credit cards also have statement credits which people can use to offset the cost of an elevated annual fee. This is definitely the case with the Amex Gold and Platinum cards which come with elevated annual fees but offer a lot of available statement credits that can offset the annual fee.
The Gold Card Annual Fee Raised to $325
In July of 2024, American Express announced that it would raise it’s annual fee to $325 from $250. That’s a fairly large increase for a card that already had an elevated annual fee. If you’re going to charge a $325 annual fee, it better damn well be worth it.
The main attraction to the Amex Gold card for me is the fact that it earns 4x on groceries and 4x on dining. Those are two categories in which the average American spends a considerable amount of their income. The fact that those 4x categories are awarded in Ultimate Reward points, that many people value at 2 cents a point, means that you can realistically get back 8 cents per dollar spent, assuming you use those points for travel.
That being said, there is no way that the ability to earn 4x on groceries and dining is worth a $325 annual fee. You absolutely would need to get back some of this elevated annual fee in the form of statement credits.
Statement Credits offered by Amex Gold
Before the Amex Gold refresh there were two main statement credits that could be used to get some value for the (at that time) $250 annual fee. They were:
- $10 per month Uber credit – can be used with Uber Eats or Uber
- $10 per month dining credit with dining partners (which now are Grubhub, Goldbelly, Cheesecake Factory, Five Guys and Wine.com)
We have used both of those credits each month by picking up carryout using both Uber Eats and Grubhub. That meant that we were paying essentially $10 per year for the card, although it can be a little bit of a pain to use those credits, so that irritation has to be considered.
New benefits have been added to the card now that the annual fee has been raised to $325. The new benefits are:
- $50 statement credit every 6 months when dining at Resy.com restaurants
- $7 per month statement credit at Dunkin’.
I like the Resy.com statement credit because it’s going to be fairly easy to use. There is only one Resy.com restaurant in my hometown, which I would definitely go to, but with it being every six months I could see using it when we are traveling as well. I don’t think it’s going to be too much of a challenge for me to use this credit and it won’t feel like as much of a chore as using the $10 per month dining and uber credits.
The $7 monthly Dunkin’ credit is probably going to annoy me, but I will try to use it. Frankly, I don’t get coffee often and if I did, it probably wouldn’t be Dunkin’. We don’t even have a Dunkin’ anywhere close to where I live so I’d have to go out of my way for mediocre coffee or a donut. I have heard that you should be able to get a statement credit for loading the Dunkin’ app every month. So I might just load $7 to the Dunkin’ app and then if we’re out of town and need to get a quick breakfast we can use that all at once.
At full value, these credits are worth $424, which is $99 more than the $325 annual fee. Honestly, because of the ability to earn 4x on dining and 4x on groceries as well as being able to transfer those points, I’d probably pay $150 per year for the Amex Gold if it didn’t have any credits. So as far as I’m concerned, If I feel like I can get $175 dollar value for the $424 dollars in statement credits, than the card is worth it – at least for me.
Why I Won’t Recommend it
I used to think that the Amex Gold card was a great card for people who were only going to use one credit card, because they would be able to amass a decent amount of points through those 4x categories. Unfortunately, at $325, someone who doesn’t spend that much time thinking about points and miles is probably going to be pretty repulsed by that price tag.
Sure, the card usually comes with a pretty impressive signup bonus and those 4x categories are great, but I don’t think it’s enough on their own to justify that $325 annual fee. What can make the card worthwhile is the statement credits, but if you aren’t going to use them then you’re just paying too much to accumulate points. If you’re not going to use those statement credits, you’d probably be better off with the Citi Strata Premier card which only has a $95 annual fee but earns 3x on gas, groceries and dining. Those come as Citi Thank You points which are also transferrable to a number of hotel and airline programs.
In other words, this is a card that frankly only really appeals to people who want to maximize the value of those cards. This is definitely not a card I would recommend to someone who casually wants to earn enough points to take one flight a year or get a couple of nights in a hotel for free. This is really just for the hardcore travel hacker who is going to squeeze every ounce of value out of these credits and maximize their point redemptions.
For me, the changes actually make me more likely to keep the card, since I’m pretty likely to use those credits. But, at the end of the day, I probably won’t be recommending the Amex Gold card to anyone going forward. The kind of people who can find good use for this credit card, probably already have it or already know about it. This to me feels like something that will eventually lose American Express business rather than gain them business. I just don’t think that a $325 annual fee credit card is going to have that kind of mass appeal and I’ll be interested to see if they end up regretting this decision.
Newby to Expert Traveler 