The American Express® Gold Card is a good card to consider if you have good credit or better and you spend a lot on travel and dining. You’ll need to take full advantage of Amex Gold’s rewards and benefits for the card to be worth its $325 annual fee.

What I Like About the Amex Gold Card

Great Restaurant Rewards

Amex Gold gives you 4 points per $1 at restaurants worldwide, up to $50,000 spent per year, then 1 point per $1. This is one of the highest earning rates available for restaurant purchases. Plus, take it from me, you’ll love the attention this card gets you when you plunk it down on the table.

Pretty much any place you’d think of as a restaurant qualifies, from fast food to fine dining. But it ultimately depends on the establishment’s merchant category code. A restaurant inside a hotel or casino may not count, for example, if the merchant is classified as a hotel or casino.
 

Bonus Rewards at U.S. Supermarkets

American Express Gold cardholders earn 4 points per $1 at U.S. supermarkets, up to $25,000 spent per year, then 1 point per $1. The average household spends around $6,000 per year on groceries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, so you should be able to earn plenty of bonus rewards on your grocery shopping.
 

Bonus Airline and Hotel Rewards

You will earn 3 points per $1 spent on flights booked directly with airlines, on AmexTravel.com or in the Amex Travel App with the Gold Card. You’ll also get 5 points per $1 spent on prepaid hotel stays booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App.

You’ll have to give up shopping around for the best airfare and hotels deals on your favorite travel-comparison websites in order to get this high rate. But it can be worth it. In addition to the bonus rewards on bookings, you can get $100 credits on qualifying charges at the upscale properties that belong to The Hotel Collection with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App. 
 

$120 Uber Cash Annually

You can get up to $10 in Uber Cash per month when you add your Amex Gold Card to your Uber account and choose it as your payment method. This applies automatically for Uber Eats orders and Uber rides in the U.S., up to $120 per year. 

This is an easy way to save on purchases you’d make anyway. I personally rack up a lot of Uber Eats charges, and this type of credit is really appealing
 

Dining Credits

Amex Gold gives you up to $10 in dining credits per month ($120 per year), after you enroll. You can enroll through your online account or by calling the number on the back of your card. Eligible dining partners are Grubhub (including Seamless), Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, The Cheesecake Factory, and Wonder. The inclusion of Grubhub is an important one, in my opinion, because it expands the list of restaurants considerably.

You can also get up to $7 per month ($84 per year) in Dunkin’ credits, plus up to $50 in statement credits for U.S. Resy restaurant reservations twice per year semi-annually. Earning all of these credits can go a long way toward making the card worth owning. Enrollment is required to take advantage of these benefits.
​​​​

Find Out Your Offer - As High As 100,000 Points

You may be eligible to earn as high as 100,000 points for spending $8,000 or more on eligible purchases within 6 months of opening an account. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. 

After you submit your application, American Express will tell you if you’re approved and what your exact welcome offer amount is. If you choose to accept the card with your offer and then spend at least $8,000 within 6 months, you will receive the bonus points within 8-12 weeks after you meet the spending requirement. 

For comparison, the average rewards card gives 35,720 points as an initial bonus, according to our research. I strongly recommend considering the Amex Gold Card if you will be able to qualify for its initial bonus without spending more than you would otherwise. The value of the initial bonus alone may offset at least the first-year annual fee.
 

No Foreign Transaction Fee

You won’t have to pay extra if you use the Amex Gold Card to make purchases from foreign merchants. Just make sure the merchants in your favorite international destinations accept Amex, if the Gold Card’s 0% foreign fee is relevant to your situation.

What I Don’t Like About the Amex Gold Card 

$325 Annual Fee

Amex Gold could still be worth it if you get at least this much value from the card’s rewards and other perks each year. But the fee is much higher than average for a credit card offer, according to our research. 

Limited Financing Capabilities

You have to pay off most purchases made with this card in full by the due date each month. Only purchases eligible for the Pay Over Time feature can be included in an interest-accruing Pay Over Time balance to be paid down over an extended period, up to the Pay Over Time Limit. This gives cardholders more flexibility than a traditional charge card but not nearly as much as a normal credit card. Amex must also approve transactions for Pay Over Time status. All other balances must be paid in full each month by the payment due date.
 

No Preset Spending Limit

The Amex Gold Card’s limit varies based on each cardholder’s spending and payment habits as well as other factors. This can be helpful in some cases, but it can also create a lot of doubt about how much spending power you really have.
 

Not the Easiest Card to Get

Amex Gold is available to people with good or excellent credit. You can check your latest credit score for free here on WalletHub to assess your chances, but a lot of people won’t satisfy the minimum requirement.

Fortunately, American Express gives you the opportunity to find out if you’re approved for this card with no impact to your credit score. After you submit your application and review the terms, you'll receive a decision based on a soft credit check. If you’re approved and choose to accept the card, your credit score may be impacted.

To see how the American Express Gold Card compares to some popular alternatives, check out our editors’ reviews of the best Amex credit cards and the most exclusive credit cards available right now.