Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

The American Express® Gold Card is a favorite for families and travelers who want to earn big rewards where they spend the most. With strong bonus categories on dining and U.S. supermarket purchases, plus travel-friendly perks, it’s designed to help you turn everyday spending into valuable Membership Rewards® points. Whether you love trying new restaurants, cooking at home, or booking your next trip, this card offers benefits that can add serious value to your wallet. Terms apply.

💳 Learn How to Apply

Amex Gold Highlights

Welcome Offer

One of the best parts about the Amex Gold? The welcome offer! Hit the spend requirement, and you’ll earn a chunk of Membership Rewards® points that can unlock incredible travel value especially when transferred to airline and hotel partners!

Annual Fee

The Amex Gold has a $325 annual fee. (Rates & Fees) However, the card’s strong bonus categories, and valuable dining and travel credits can easily offset the fee! Keep reading for more info!

Bonus Categories

Earn 4x at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50k in purchases each year, then 1x
Earn 4x at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $25k in purchases each year, then 1x
Earn 3x on flights booked directly with airlines or through AmexTravel.com
Earn 2x on prepaid hotels and other eligible travel purchases booked through AmexTravel.com
All other eligible purchases will earn 1x

Extra Points Earning Opportunity

Connect your Amex Gold card to your Rakuten account and earn Membership Rewards instead of cash back on purchases through Rakuten. For more information on how this works, read here!

Statement Credits & Benefits

These perks more than offset the $325 (rates & fees) annual fee!

Up to $120 Uber Cash - Get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when an Amex Card is selected for the transaction.
Up to $84 Dunkin’ Credit - Earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations.

Up to $100 Resy Credit - Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually.
Up to $120 Dining Credit - Earn up to a total of $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the Gold Card at participating partners. This can be an annual savings of up to $120.

Travel Protections & Insurance

Travel protections include:

Trip delay insurance: Up to $300 for delays of 12 hours or more
Baggage insurance: Up to $500 per trip for checked bags ($250 limit for high-risk items)
Car rental loss and damage insurance when you decline the rental company’s coverage

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.”

Redeeming Your Points + Redemption “Sweet Spots”

You can use your Amex membership rewards in a few ways: cash them out, book travel directly through the portal, or transfer to airline and hotel partners. While cashing out might sound tempting, it’s actually the worst option with Amex—points are only worth 0.6 cents each (10,000 points = $60).

The real magic happens when you transfer your points to travel partners. This strategy can often unlock 2–3x more value compared to cashing out, especially with programs like Hilton Honors or Flying Blue (Air France/KLM). If you want to stretch your points the furthest, transferring is almost always the smartest move.

1:1 Transfer Partners

I’ll say it again because it’s that important: transferring your points is the single best way to unlock massive value. This is exactly why people rave about travel rewards cards instead of cash-back cards—your points can go so much further when you transfer.

American Express lets you transfer points to 16 airline partners and 2 hotel partners, usually at a 1:1 ratio. For example, moving 20,000 Amex points to Delta instantly becomes 20,000 Delta SkyMiles, which you can then use to book flights directly on Delta’s site. A few partners do transfer at different ratios, which I’ll note below.

Heads up: If you transfer to a U.S. airline, Amex charges a small airline tax offset fee.

Of course, not every transfer is a good deal. Sometimes you’ll find better value by booking through the Amex Travel Portal. But certain programs—like Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)—offer sweet spots where your points can stretch two or even three times further than cashing out or booking through the portal.

Airline Transfer Partners:

Aer Lingus, AerClub
Aeromexico Rewards: 1,000 American Express Membership Rewards = 1,600 AeroMexico Rewards Points
Air Canada Aeroplan
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
ANA Mileage Club
Avianca Lifemiles
British Airways Executive Club
Cathay Pacific
Delta Skymiles®
Emirates Skywards®
Ethiad Guest
Hawaiian Miles®
Iberia Plus
JetBlue TrueBlue®: 250 American Express Membership Rewards = 200 JetBlue TrueBlue® Points
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotel Transfer Partners:

Choice Privileges®
Hilton Honors: 1,000 American Express Membership Rewards = 2,000 Hilton Honors Points
Marriott Bonvoy®

Referral Bonus

The standard referral bonus for the American Express Gold Card is 15,000 bonus points for each friend who uses your referral link to apply for any American Express credit card. You can earn up to 100,000 referral points per calendar year. If you have a spouse or travel partner, I recommend REFERRING them to their own card instead of adding them as an authorized user. That way, you can both earn the welcome offer plus you will earn referral points as well!

Combining Points in Your Household

Generally, you cannot combine American Express Membership Rewards® points with someone in your household. The only way around this is if you are an authorized user on a spouse’s American Express credit card that earns Membership Rewards®. You have to be an authorized user on the card for at least 90 days before you’re able to combine your points between both accounts.

Combining Points From Other Cards

American Express will automatically combine the points that you earn from your American Express Gold Card with the points that you earn from other American Express cards that earn Membership Rewards®. These include cards such as the American Express® Green Card, the Platinum Card® from American Express, the American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card, the Business Green Rewards Card, the American Express® Business Gold Card, and the Business Platinum Card® from American Express.

American Express Rules

American Express has a “one bonus per lifetime rule”. You can only earn the welcome offer on each card once.

There is also a personal card “family rule” that can limit the welcome offers you are eligible to earn on some credit cards if you don’t open the credit cards in the right order. These rules apply to the Amex Green Card (the card in this family with the least expensive annual fee), the Amex Gold Card, and the Amex Platinum Card (the card in this family with the most expensive annual fee). If you start with a higher annual fee card, you are no longer eligible to receive a welcome offer for the cards with a lower annual fee. What does this mean for you? In order to be eligible to receive all three welcome offers, you need to apply for the American Express personal cards in order of lowest annual fee to highest. The Green, the Gold, and finally the Platinum Card, in that specific order. (rates & fees)

Is the Amex Gold Worth It?

If your family spends a lot on groceries and dining out, the Amex Gold can be a game-changer. Between the high earning rates, the welcome offer, and credits, you can easily come out ahead of the $325 annual fee. [Rates & Fees] Terms apply.

This is why the Amex Gold has a permanent spot in my wallet — and why it might deserve one in yours, too.

Learn How to Apply

I appreciate it SO MUCH when you use my credit card affiliate links to apply for a new card. It supports my content at no cost to you!

FREE Beginner’s Guide to Points and Miles

Want to travel for free?! ✈️ Grab a FREE Beginner's Guide to Points and Miles and learn how to redeem FREE TRAVEL this year! CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD!

Ultimate Guide to the American Express® Gold Card