Amex Gold Card benefits guide 2024 (2024)

From best-in-class earning rates at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets to annual credits that almost entirely cover the annual fee, there’s a lot to like about the American Express® Gold Card (terms apply, rates & fees). However, the annual fee could be a turnoff for some and justifying it can take some work.

The American Express Gold Card earns valuable American Express Membership Rewards® points, which you can transfer to more than 20 airline and hotel programs, among additional redemption options. And it earns these points at a quick pace.

However, when most people see the $250 annual fee, they may wonder whether the card is worth the cost. But, the card offers two main benefits worth up to $240 total per year. And that’s before you consider any of the Amex Gold Card’s other benefits, such as insurance protections, fantastic earning rates at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, quality earnings on flight purchases and Amex Offers that can provide extra rewards on qualifying purchases with select brands when you enroll for the offer.

Offsetting or even justifying the annual fee on the Amex Gold Card can take some work. For those who know they’ll take full advantage of the benefits, however, this card can easily become a long-term keeper. Let’s review those benefits up close.

Amex Gold Card overview

Unlike traditional cards, the Amex Gold Card doesn’t have a preset spending limit. That doesn’t mean you can spend unlimited money on the card, however. It means that the amount you can spend adapts based on factors such as your purchase, payment, and credit history.

The card earns Membership Rewards points that you can redeem via Amex Travel, as a statement credit, to purchase gift cards or to pay with points at checkout with various retailers. You can also transfer your points to Amex’s travel loyalty partners, which includes nearly two dozen hotel and airline partners for award bookings. Valuable partners include British Airways, Air Canada, Delta, Avianca, and JetBlue or Hilton, Marriott and Choice Privileges properties, among others.

When making purchases on your card, you’ll earn 4 Membership Rewards points per $1 at restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S., 4 points per $1 at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1 point), 3 points per $1 on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express travel and 1 point per $1 on other eligible purchases. These earning rates at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets are stellar. The earning rates on flights are also solid if you don’t have another card earning higher rewards in this category.

Let’s take a look at the Amex Gold Card’s benefits to see just how valuable it can be year after year.

Major Amex Gold Card benefits

If fully utilized, the benefits on the Amex Gold Card can justify the annual fee. Let’s take a look.

Up to $120 in annual dining statement credits

The Amex Gold Card offers up to $120 in dining statement credits with Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar and select Shake Shack locations each calendar year. This benefit is paid out up to $10 per month via statement credits when you use your card at these merchants (enrollment is required). Considering the popularity of Grubhub these days, using this perk should be easy for many people. This benefit is worth just under half the card’s annual fee each year.

Up to $120 in Uber Cash each year

Once you add your Amex Gold Card as a payment method in your Uber account, you’ll receive up to $10 in Uber Cash automatically each month to offset UberEats orders or Uber rides in the U.S. This is another benefit worth just shy of half the card’s annual fee each year.

Generous earnings on food expenses

As mentioned above, the Amex Gold Card earns 4 Membership Rewards points per $1 at restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S., 4 points per $1 at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1 point), 3 points per $1 on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express travel and 1 point per $1 on other eligible purchases.

This earning rate makes the Amex Gold Card one of the best cards for dining and also one of the best cards for grocery purchases at U.S. supermarkets. Other cards competing in these categories don’t offer the same elevated earning rates in both categories, so it’s worth highlighting just how powerful the earnings are if you dine out regularly or spend a lot on groceries at U.S. supermarkets for your family.

Earn valuable Amex Membership Rewards points

The points earned from the Amex Gold Card are Amex Membership Rewards points. There are numerous options for using Amex points, including using them as statement credits, for booking travel within the Amex Travel portal, for gift cards or to pay with points at various retailers or by transferring points to hotel and airline partners. This last option tends to provide the best value for your points, allowing you to move your points from Amex, typically at a 1:1 ratio, to the participating airline or hotel program of your choice and then redeeming an award flight. The great news is that award bookings can help you avoid inflated costs for flights around holidays or help you book tickets you wouldn’t buy if you had to pay cash, such as flying business class to Europe.

Multiple built-in insurance protections

With the Amex Gold Card, you’ll enjoy several benefits to protect you during your travels when paying with this card. The baggage insurance plan¹ can protect against lost or damaged luggage and the car rental loss and damage insurance² can provide additional, secondary rental car insurance for rentals paid for with your card, assuming you decline the rental company’s insurance offer. The Amex Gold Card also offers trip delay insurance³.

You’ll also enjoy extended warranty⁴ benefits — adding an extra year to a U.S. manufacturer’s warranty of five years or less — and purchase protection, protecting items for up to 90 days after purchase in case they’re damaged, stolen or lost.

No foreign transaction fees

You won’t have to worry about foreign transaction fees when using the Amex Gold Card outside the U.S. These fees can add 3% or more to each transaction on cards that charge them, but you won’t pay these fees with your Amex Gold.

Additional benefits worth noting

Access to Amex Offers

Amex Offers provide targeted offers to cardholders, offering bonus points or extra cash back (as a statement credit) if you enroll and use an offer. Amex Offers run the gamut, from bonus points on Amazon purchases to a flat amount of cash back if you spend at least a certain amount of money at a local store.

As these are targeted offers, not everyone sees the same deals — or you may even see different offers on one of your Amex cards than what you find on others. But these can provide extra savings and bonus points throughout the year, and they often do so on purchases you’re making anyway.

American Express® Preferred Access and Experiences

Your Amex Gold Card can help you get hard-to-come-by tickets or access to cardmember-only events. American Express Preferred Access lets you book premium seats at cultural and sports events, while American Express Experiences can provide access to exclusive ticket presales or exclusive events like Broadway shows or pop-up lounges at film festivals, to name a few.

No preset spending limit

Unlike traditional cards, which have a preset spending limit that you can’t exceed (often referred to as “maxing out” a card), the Amex Gold Card has no preset spending limit. Instead of a pre-established spending threshold, your spending power on this card evolves as Amex learns your purchase, payment, and credit history. It doesn’t mean you have unlimited spending ability, but it does mean you don’t have to worry about that preset limit that can be an issue when you need to make a large purchase on other cards.

The flip side of this is that you need to pay your bill in full each month with the Amex Gold Card. While traditional cards allow you to make a minimum payment and then carry a balance — accruing interest in the process — the Gold Card is designed to be paid in full each month. Eligible purchases that meet the minimum transaction requirements may receive an option to use the issuer’s Pay Over Time feature, which would let you carry a balance from eligible purchases (with interest), but this isn’t guaranteed.

There is an interesting element to this that’s worth noting. Since there’s no preset spending limit on the Amex Gold Card, there’s no utilization ratio to calculate on your credit report. That’s nice to know if you need to make a large purchase on your card, as you can’t divide by zero. Thus, while the balance will show up on your credit report, you won’t be close to “maxing out” this card.

Pay with Points option

On top of transferring your points to select travel partners or using them as a statement credit, you also have the option to use your points like cash when making purchases. You can use Pay with Points at merchants such as Amazon, Best Buy, Grubhub, PayPal and more. This won’t always present the best value for your points, but it’s nice to have the option if you’ve got a balance of points you want to use in order to save your money for something else.

Access to The Hotel Collection

Through The Hotel Collection, you can get added benefits on your next two-night minimum stay if you book an eligible property through Amex Travel. These benefits include a room upgrade on arrival (when available) and a $100 experience credit to use during your stay. The experience credit varies by property, but it can cover things like dining expenses at the hotel restaurant, spa treatments or resort activities.

Potential drawbacks

There’s a lot to like about the Amex Gold Card, but it’s not perfect. First, the $250 annual fee is higher than other cards in the mid-tier card market. Additionally, not everyone will be approved for this card, as it tends to require a good or excellent credit score for approval. Additionally, not having a preset spending limit can be problematic for those who might overspend on the card. This feature can make it easy to run up a large bill and needing to pay off your balance in full each month can be difficult for those who haven’t budgeted for it. If you tend to overspend on cards, this might be a poor option.

Not feeling confident you’ll qualify for the Amex Gold? Here’s how to check for preapproval with American Express

Should you get the Amex Gold Card?

In exchange for the Amex Gold Card’s $250 annual fee, you get top-notch earnings at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, as well as two benefits that come very close to offsetting the card’s annual fee. But that’s assuming you’re able to maximize them. If you live in an area where Uber isn’t prevalent, often cook at home or buy most of your groceries at Walmart or Costco (both excluded from Amex’s U.S. supermarkets category), you likely won’t benefit much from holding this card.

For those who regularly dine at restaurants, shop at traditional U.S. supermarkets and can use the Uber Cash credits plus dining statement credits upon enrollment, you’ll easily find value in this card year after year. It can put money back in your pocket and a ton of rewards into your account balance.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

^{For rates and fees for the American Express® Gold Card please visit this page.}

^{¹Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.}

^{²Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.}

^{³Eligibility 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.}

^{⁴When an American Express® Card Member charges a Covered Purchase to an Eligible Card, Extended Warranty can provide up to one extra year added to the Original Manufacturer’s Warranty. Applies to warranties of five (5) years or less. Coverage is up to the actual amount charged to your Card for the item up to a maximum of $10,000; not to exceed $50,000 per Card Member account per calendar year. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.}