Gold Vs Platinum Amex Card: What’s The Difference
Thomas J Catalano is a CFP and Registered Investment Adviser with the state of South Carolina, where he launched his own financial advisory firm in 2018. Thomas’ experience gives him expertise in a variety of areas including investments, retirement, insurance, and financial planning.
What To Watch Out For
- Annual fee. The cards annual fee is a high $250, though you may find its rewards outweigh the cost.
- Pay over time feature. Unlike standard credit cards where you can carry your balance on all purchases, the Amex Gold Card allows you to carry some purchases with interest, but not all.
- Not as widely accepted overseas. Because the card is provided by American Express, you might not have as many opportunities to use it overseas as you would a Visa or Mastercard.
- It hurts to pay late. Making late or returned payments could saddle you with fees as high as $40.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
You will receive 30,000 American Express Membership Rewards points as a sign-up bonus on the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card if you spend £3,000 within 90 days of signing up.
30,000 points is a special offer which runs to 19th July 2022. The standard bonus is 20,000 points.
Membership Rewards points are hugely flexible, which is why we recommend this as the best choice for your first miles and points card. You can transfer them into Avios, Virgin Flying Club or other airlines or into various hotels schemes, into Club Eurostar or use them for shopping vouchers.
To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous 24 months, have held any other personal American Express card.
You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone elses American Express account.
You are OK if, currently or in the previous 24 months, you have held a Business American Express card.
For clarity, you can still apply for the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card even if you do not qualify for the bonus. You would still benefit from the two free airport lounge passes and the no fee in Year 1 offer.
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American Express Preferred Rewards Gold comes with two free airport lounge passes. These allow either you and a friend, or yourself twice, to visit any lounge in the Priority Pass network. You make additional lounge visits for £20 per person. You receive an additional two free passes each year.
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American Express Gold Card Calculator: Is It Worth $250
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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 in compared to other premium cards.
Is the American Express® Gold Card worth the $250 annual fee?
Important note: the American Express® Gold Card is NOT the same card as the Platinum Card® authorized user Gold card. They are two completely different cards, and you will not receive the same benefits.
People Who Are Under 5/24 And Want More Chase Cards
As mentioned above, Chases 5/24 rule is one of the most important considerations in building a starter strategy for credit cards. Five cards can seem like a lot to someone who has never even had one before, but those slots go by quickly and once youve used them up, it takes a while to get them back.
The Amex Gold is probably going to be around for a while, so theres no reason to fire off an application for it right now if it means compromising your strategy with Chase.
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The Annual Fee Could Easily Be Covered By Taking Advantage Of Monthly Credits
The card does have a $250 annual fee, which can seem like an intimidating amount of money for someone who has never paid a fee for a credit card before. However, After seeing that the card basically pays for itself after I take advantage of the $120 dining credit and $120 Uber credit, not to mention the cash back and deal offers for shopping at brands I already love, I felt that it was enough to offset the $250 cost.
What Do I Earn Per 1 Spent On The Card
You receive 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on the card.
Foreign currency transactions and airline ticket purchases earn 2 points per £1.
Much of the time, but not always, airline transactions which are paid for in a foreign currency earn 3 points per £1 as the offers double up.
Travel bookings made via the American Express Travel website, and paid for online, earn an impressive 3 points per £1.
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People Targeted For A 75000
The public welcome offer on the Amex Gold is currently 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first six months, but theres now a higher 75,000-point offer through CardMatch after meeting minimum spend requirements. Note: The targeted offer is subject to change at any time.
Since Amex has a once per lifetime policy with welcome offers, it always makes sense to see if you can get a higher offer. If you get the full 75,000 bonus points, they would be worth $1,500, according to TPG valuations.
How To Earn Points With The American Express Gold Card
The Amex Gold Card is among the best cards for foodies because it earns strong rewards on dining and grocery shopping. You’ll earn points at the following rates:
- 4x points at restaurants and at U.S. supermarkets
- 3x points on flights booked with the airline or Amex Travel
- 1 point per dollar on all other purchases
To maximize your points earning, you can pair the Amex Gold Card with other Amex cards to earn the most points for every purchase. The “Amex Trifecta” of cards includes the Amex Gold Card, The Platinum Card® from American Express, and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express.
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Whats The Difference Between American Express And Visa
| 11.8 million merchants in the U.S., 44 million globally | 11.9 million merchants in the U.S., 70 million globally | |
| Qualifying Requirements | Generally good to excellent credit for cards issued by Amex, but some other issuers accept fair credit | Poor to excellent credit, depending on the card issuer and card |
American Express Gold Card Reviews And Complaints
Customers generally say positive things about the American Express® Gold Card, many citing the cards diverse rewards as their favorite feature. Many cardholders also like the ability to transfer points to other loyalty programs.
The American Express Company has been accredited with the Better Business Bureau since 1948 and earns an overall A+ rating as of August 2021. However, 90% of its reviews are negative and it has nearly 3,400 customer complaints. Amex cardholders in general complain of rude customer service reps, missing statement credit and issues disputing charges.
The company earns a Trustpilot score of 1.9 out of 5 as of August 2021. Many negative reviews cite unhelpful customer service and inflexible company policies. Positive reviews say the company employs pleasant customer service representatives. Overall, your mileage may vary with American Express customer support.
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American Express Gold Card Vs The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
The better card between these two will depend on your spending habits. If you’re a traveler, apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, but if you’re more of a diner, apply for the American Express® Gold Card. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is better for travelers because it earns around 2.5% back on travel . On the other hand, the American Express® Gold Card only lets you earn points on directly booked flights that’s much more restrictive than the broad travel category offered up by the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
The main reason people who spend a lot of money on dining would be better off with the American Express® Gold Card is the outstanding 4X rewards rate it offers at restaurants despite being a solid all-around card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card only offers 2X points on dining. The argument for the American Express® Gold Card is even stronger once you consider other benefits like its dining credit.
What Are The Rules For Qualifying For The Sign
The bonus is only available to customers who have not held a personal American Express card in the previous 24 months.
You will receive the sign-up bonus if you have a Corporate or Business American Express card via your job and you receive Membership Rewards points from it.
You will definitely receive the bonus if you are only a supplementary cardholder on someone elses American Express card. As far as Amex is concerned, that card belongs to the primarily cardholder and does not make you an existing cardholder.
If you do not qualify for the bonus, you can still apply. You still receive the other card benefits, including the two free airport lounge passes and no fee in the first year.
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American Express Gold Card Calculator
Ask Sebby crunches the numbers for you to calculate the Expected Value of the American Express® Gold Card. For the expected value of points, we derive the approximate dollar value based on the numbers you enter in the calculator. Scroll down to the end of the post to see our methodology.
The calculator below contains default figures and serve as an example only. Users should insert their own data for the most accurate results.
Reason : You Retain Access To The Amex Gold Hotel Programme
You retain access to the other, often forgotten, Amex Gold benefits. The most interesting is The Hotel Collection programmedetails here.
The Hotel Collection gives you an upgrade and up to $100 equivalent credit when booking a 2+ night stay at participating upscale hotels. Chains taking part include Radisson Blu, Omni, Kimpton, Hilton, Sofitel and many more. There is also a 10% Amex Gold Hertz discount, although I admit this can probably be matched by other deals you can access.
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People Who Won’t Max Out The Statement Credits
The up to $100 airline incidental credit can be easy for some people to use, but it’s not as easy as it has been in the past because airline gift cards are no longer triggering the credit and the up to $120 dining credit might be tougher to use if you enjoy cooking at home or don’t eat at any of the partner restaurants. Ordering delivery just to use the up to $10 credit might end up costing more than it saves.
If that’s the case, you’re left with a card that might cost you more out of pocket than the ultra-premium cards such as the Amex Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve.
You’re left footing a larger bill and getting fewer perks in return, as the Amex Gold doesn’t offer any form of lounge access, elite status or even a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit .
Top 3 Benefits Of The American Express Gold Card
1) The Membership Rewards Sign Up Bonus
As a credit card aficionado, I love playing the signup bonus game and the Amex Gold Card is no exception. When you spend $2,000 in the first three months you automatically get 50,000 Membership Reward Points to your Amex account.
At a value of $.02 per point you already have $1,000 worth of value. Remember the $250 annual fee I talked about earlier? Well, you just covered it for the next four years and I havent even got to the good parts!
2) 4x Membership Reward Points
Anytime I can earn points faster, Im going to take advantage of that. The American Express Gold Card is unique because it allows me to earn more points on the things I spend the most on restaurants and groceries.
When you swipe or insert your card at any US supermarket you automatically earn 4x Membership Reward Points. Last year I spent over $1,500 on groceries so that means I would have earned 6,000 points. On top of that, you also get 4x points when you use your card at restaurants. Again, last year I spent over $2,500 which means that would have been an extra 10,000 points.
3) Amex Offers & Benefits
Amex gives you certain items you can add to your card each month. I really have no idea the thinking behind it but some offers are for a month, some until the end of the year, and there are even others which seem to have a random date attached to them.
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Does The American Express Gold Card Have Lounge Access
You won’t get any lounge access with the American Express® Gold Card. The Platinum Card® from American Express, which comes with a steeper annual fee and additional benefits, comes with complimentary airport lounge access.
For rates and fees of American Express® Gold Card, please click here.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, please click here.
The information related to Citi Prestige® Credit Card and American Express® Green Card has been independently collected by ValuePenguin and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication. Terms apply to American Express credit card offers. See americanexpress.com for more information.
These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Advertiser Disclosure: The products that appear on this site may be from companies from which ValuePenguin receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site . ValuePenguin does not include all financial institutions or all products offered available in the marketplace.
People Who Can Max Out The $220 In Annual Statement Credits
One of the toughest things for many new points enthusiasts to wrap their heads around is the value of a premium credit card. No matter how much personal value you get out of some of the perks, you still end up paying well over $100 a year out of pocket for the right to use them often paying $450 or more up front before you begin to get reimbursed by statement credits.
The Amex Gold makes that math much simpler if you can max out both of its annual statement credits.
Although the up to $100 annual airline incidental credit can’t be directly applied to the cost of a ticket, you can use it for things such as change/cancellation fees, lounge day passes, seat assignment fees or checked bag fees.
The up to $120 dining credit is broken down into $10 a month, similar to the Uber credit that comes with the Amex Platinum, but it also is pretty easy to maximize. I can’t think of a single purchase at any of the partner dining merchants that would cost less than $10 a month, so if you eat out or order in once every 30 days this should be easy to take advantage of.
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Uber And Uber Eats Enthusiasts
This card also comes with up to $120 in Uber Cash each year, but keep in mind that this also applies to Uber Eats purchases .
If you take Uber rides or you love to order food for delivery or takeout, then you should know these credits are doled out in increments of $10 each month throughout the year. The Gold card must be added to the Uber app to receive the Uber Cash benefit.
What Are The Benefits Of Signing Up For Amex Gold
The package you get for the first year of holding this card is excellent. You cant deny that. Among the benefits are:
- You dont pay a fee for your first year
- You receive 20,000 American Express Membership Rewards points after you spend £3,000 in your first three months. These convert into 20,000 Avios, 20,000 Virgin / Emirates / Etihad / Flying Blue etc miles, 40,000 Hilton Honors points, 30,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, 90,000 Radisson Rewards points. or many other things
- You get two free passes to get into selected airport lounges the directory is here
- You get £120 per year of Deliveroo credit
In order to qualify for the sign up bonus, you cannot have held any personal American Express cards in the past 24 months.
Here is the interest rate information:
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Get Big Value Out Of Amex Transfer Partners
When it boils down to it, its all about the points. You can earn a lot with the Amex Gold, but where can they get you?
The best way to use Amex Membership Rewards points is by utilizing Amex transfer partners. You can send the Amex points you earn from the Gold Card straight to roughly two dozen different airline and hotel chain accounts. Heres the full list.
| Instant |
Of course, some of these options are better than others. Some of the options on this list stand out and others are complete duds. Weve got some favorites on this list: