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American Express® Gold Card

Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.

Check if you're pre-approved for this card or special offers using the CardMatch Tool.
Recommended Credit: Excellent/Good
Read the full review

Why We Like It: The American Express® Gold Card offers competitive point multipliers when it comes to purchases at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, and it also has a handful of other benefits offered by Amex that make it stand out compared to other premium cards. 

humphrey's avatar

Humphrey's Take

This card is ideal for dining enthusiasts with $120 dining credit (up to $10/month) at participating dining partners and Grubhub, 4x points on restaurants and takeout, and 4x points at U.S. Supermarkets (up to $25,000/calendar year, then 1x after that). Earn 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines and amextravel.com and 1x on everything else. Though the annual fee is high ($250), you get $120 in Uber Cash ($10/month) and a $120 dining credit (up to $10 per month) at participating partners, such as Grubhub, Cheesecake Factory, and Shake Shack. Spend $500/month on dining or U.S. Supermarkets to offset the fee.

Use the calculator below to crunch your numbers to see if the card is worth it for you.

American Express® Gold Card Calculator

Cardonomics calculates the expected value of the American Express® Gold Card based on the information you provide. The expected value is calculated based on the dollar value you input into the calculator.

The default figures in the calculator are just an example, so you should enter your own information for more accurate results. The methodology for this calculator is explained at the bottom of the post.

American Express Gold Card Intro Offer

Are you eligible for the intro offer? You are not eligible if you have or have had the card (even without getting the bonus).

Are you able to complete $6,000 of spend in the first 6 months?

The current public offer is 60,000 MR. What bonus are you considering?

MRpoints

points earned from intro offer:

0

Credits: How Do You Value Them?

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$120 dining credit, up to $10 per month in statement credits at participating dining partners.
$
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$120 Uber Cash; automatically get up to $10 per month.
$
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$100 Resy credit, up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
$
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$84 Dunkin' Credit, up to $7 in monthly statement credits. Enrollment required.
$

The American Express Gold Card annual fee is $325.

Given how you value the credits, your effective annual fee is: $-99

You're getting more value from the credits than the annual fee!

Point Multipliers: Category Spend

Restaurants (4X points) on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X
Restaurants (4X points) on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X
$
U.S. supermarkets (4X points) on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X
U.S. supermarkets (4X points) on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X
$
Flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com (3X points)
Flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com (3X points)
$
Prepaid Hotels and other eligible travel through amextravel.com (2X points)
Prepaid Hotels and other eligible travel through amextravel.com (2X points)
$
All other purchases
All other purchases
$

Yearly cash back breakdown:

4X Restaurants24,000 MR
4X U.S. Supermarkets24,000 MR
3X Flights7,200 MR
2X Hotels2,000 MR
1X All other purchases600 MR
Total points earned per year:57,800 MR

How do you plan on redeeming points?

American Express gives you many ways to redeem your points. Here are some common examples:

  • Points are denoted as CPP = "cents per point"

Given how you value points...

Value of points from intro offer:$0
Value from category spend:$0
Total value of points:$0

Expected Value of Points

(Intro offers + credits + spend - annual fee)

Year 1:
$0
Year 2:
$0

Calculation Methodology

The calculator's results are determined by several factors, including your ability to meet the minimum spending requirement to earn the welcome offer, spending habits in different categories, point redemption strategy, and how much relative value you place on other benefits.

The "Years" in the calculator refer to the cardmember year, which begins when you are approved for the card. The first year of membership is the first 12 months after approval, and the second year is the 12 months following that.

card art for the American Express® Gold Card

American Express® Gold Card

Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.

Check if you're pre-approved for this card or special offers using the CardMatch Tool.

The American Express® Gold Card offers competitive point multipliers when it comes to purchases at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, and it also has a handful of other benefits offered by Amex that make it stand out compared to other premium cards. 

Read the full review