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American Express® Gold Card offers some of the best rewards available with food purchases, offering 4x points at US restaurants and supermarkets (on purchases up to $25,000 per year, then 1 point), 3x points on flights booked directly from airlines or from amextravel.com, and 1x more on all other purchases. New cardholders also have the opportunity to receive a generous welcome bonus: American Express offers you 60,000 points for spending $4,000 within the first six months.
Small business owners also have a great option: American Express® Business Gold Card just as profitable as its consumer counterpart, but with a more business-focused return. Cardholders earn 4x points for the two categories their business spends the most on each billing cycle (for purchases up to $150,000 per year, then 1 point) and 1 point for all other purchases.
And Membership Rewards fans can earn an even more generous limited time bonus of 70,000 points by spending $10,000 on qualifying purchases within the first three months.
How much do American Express gold cards cost in the first year?
Amex Gold can make a big difference by offering generous rewards and annual credits that travelers and foodies alike will appreciate, including a $100 Vacation Credit worth over $3,000, a $120 Meal Credit and up to $120 in Uber Cash ($10). per month). On the other hand, the Business Gold package contains a number of benefits that make it easier to manage your business expenses.
| American Express® Gold Card |  American Express® Business Gold Card |
Interest rate
|
Interest rate
|
| welcome bonus 60,000 points if you spend $4,000 within the first 6 months |
welcome bonus 70,000 points if you spend $10,000 in the first 3 months |
| Annual fee $250 |
Annual fee $295 |
Other benefits
|
Other benefits
|
Recent changes to the American Express Gold Card
The Amex Gold card offers a pretty generous welcome bonus these days. In the past, it has only offered up to 35,000 points unless you have received an increased targeted offer, such as through CardMatch™.
You can now earn another 25,000 by spending the same amount as the previous offer, and you have twice as much time to complete the spending requirement.
| Recent changes to the American Express Gold Card | |
|---|---|
| October 15, 2020 | 60,000 points if you spend $4,000 within the first 6 months |
| Previous | 35,000 points if you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months |
Recent changes to the American Express Business Gold Card
Amex Business Gold also offers a higher price than before, although the spending threshold is harder to reach. Unfortunately, the statement credits that were included in the previous limited-time offer have been removed.
| Recent changes to the American Express Business Gold card | |
|---|---|
| March 18, 2022 | 70,000 if you spend $10,000 in the first 3 months |
| February 11, 2021 | Limited time offer: 70,000 points if you spend $10,000 in the first 3 months.
Up to $300 for eligible US advertising and shipping costs. |
| Previous | 35,000 points if you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months |
Who is eligible for an introductory offer?
American Express is pretty strict about who can claim the welcome bonus. If you currently own or have ever held an American Express Gold Card or an American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card, you are not eligible for the American Express Gold Card offer. The same applies to the business version of the card: if you have ever received a welcome bonus for the same product, you will not be able to use the new offer.
Note. These offers are currently advertised on sites like CreditCards.com, but you may see a different bonus if you apply through the Amex site.
Best Ways to Use Your American Express Gold Card Welcome Bonus
One of the great things about American Express points is the wide range of redemption options available, from credit statements to gift cards and airline tickets. The value of your points may vary depending on what you redeem them for, so we’ve put together a chart to show you how the bonuses add up with each option. As you will see, you can get the most out of your rewards by booking flights on the Membership Rewards portal.
| Repayment option | Point value (cents) |
|---|---|
| Airfare on amextravel.com | one |
| Service class upgrade for points | one |
| Gift cards | up to 1 |
| Shopping on Amazon | 0.7 |
| Charitable donations through JustGiving | 0.7 |
| Other purchases on amextravel.com | 0.7 |
| Shopping partner purchases (Best Buy, Grubhub, Walmart, etc.) | 0.7 |
| Loan Application | 0.6 |
| Product | 0.5 |
| Ticketmaster purchases | 0.5 |
| Excise tax offset fee (to be transferred to domestic travel partners) | 0.5 |
Transfer options with American Express Gold cards
In addition to the redemption options listed above, the American Express Gold Card allows cardholders to transfer their points to one of 22 travel partners.
When you transfer partner airline points domestically, you will be charged an excise tax offset fee of 0.06 cents per point. You have the option to pay for it either as a monthly bill payment or with points. But as you can see from the redemption table above, you will lose half the value of your points if you choose to use your Membership Rewards points to cover your commission, so it’s in your best interest to pay them straight away.
When you do it strategically, transferring your American Express points allows you to further benefit from your welcome bonus. Each American Express point is worth 1 cent, but some partner airline points are valued slightly higher. Also, while most partner airlines have a 1:1 points transfer ratio, there are several options.
bottom line
If you’re a food lover looking for a credit card to reward you for eating out and grocery shopping, Amex Gold is a great choice. The 60,000 point offer, available to new cardholders who have never had Amex Gold before, is the largest bonus the card has offered so far, and six months is plenty of time to meet the $4,000 spending requirement.
As for Amex Business Gold, the requirement to spend $10,000 in three months might be harder to meet, but you’ll be rewarded with an equally generous 70,000 points – a pretty solid initial bonus in this market. For small business owners who are torn between personal and business Amex Gold cards, check out how the two cards compare here.
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