Amex Gold Card Benefits

Amex Gold Card Rewards

The Amex Gold Card is an expensive but lucrative travel rewards card. You may be eligible to earn an initial bonus as high as 100,000 points for spending $6,000 on eligible purchases within the first 6 months (welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer; apply and, if approved, find out your offer amount and accept the card with your offer, spend $6,000 in 6 months, and receive the points). That can help pay for the card’s $325 annual fee for more than a year.

When it comes to ongoing rewards, the Amex Gold Card offers 4 points per $1 at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 spent per year), 4 points per $1 at restaurants worldwide (up to $50,000 spent per year), 3 points per $1 on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com, 2 points per $1 spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com, as well as 1 point per $1 on all other eligible purchases. There are a few other things worth pointing out about the card’s rewards, too.

Key Things to Know About Amex Gold Card Rewards

• Spending caps: There is no maximum number of points you can earn, but you’re limited in the number of bonus points you can get each year. In other words, if you hit the spending cap in certain bonus categories, you’ll switch to earning the base rate of 1 point / $1 on any further purchases in those categories. The good news is that the spending caps are very high.
• No expiration: Your points do not expire as long as your account is open and in good standing.
• Transfer partners: You can transfer your points, usually at a 1:1 ratio, to the loyalty programs of partnered airlines and hotels, such as Delta, JetBlue, Hilton and Marriott.
• Pay With Points: You can use your points to pay for purchases with several different online retailers. They include Amazon, Best Buy, Dell, Grubhub, Rite Aid, Saks Fifth Avenue and more. Plus, you can pay with points when checking out through PayPal.
• Other redemption options: You can redeem your points for travel, statement credits, gift cards, and charitable donations.

Amex Gold Card Travel Benefits

Travel Insurance

The Amex Gold Card provides two types of insurance when you pay for a trip using your card. They include:

• Trip Delay Insurance: You can get reimbursed up to $300 per trip that is delayed for more than 12 hours, up to two times per 12-month period. This benefit reimburses you for necessary expenses you charged to your card due to the delay.

• Baggage Insurance Plan: If your baggage is lost, damaged, or stolen during your travel, you can get up to $1,250 for carry-on baggage and up to $500 for checked baggage, in excess of coverage provided by the common carrier, when you pay your trip with your card. For New York State residents, there is a $10,000 aggregate maximum limit for all covered persons per trip.

There are plenty of cards that offer better travel insurance, according to WalletHub’s Credit Card Travel Insurance Study, but the perks that the Amex Gold Card does offer are still great to have.

Eligibility and Benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Trip Delay Insurance is underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company. Baggage Insurance Plan is underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.

No Foreign Transaction Fee

You won’t pay any extra fees when using Amex Gold Card to buy things from foreign merchants, either while abroad or online.

Global Assist Hotline

This 24/7 help line is available to you whenever you travel more than 100 miles from home. You can call 1-800-333-AMEX to get help with things like:

• Medical referrals
• Legal referrals
• Wiring emergency cash
• Lost luggage assistance
• Information on foreign exchange rates
• Weather reports for areas you’re traveling to
• Passport assistance
• Relaying urgent messages
• Arranging emergency transportation
• Vaccination Information
• Embassy and Consulate Referral
• Card Cancellation
• Emergency Hotel Check In/Out

There’s no charge to call the help line, but you may be charged for third-party services that the operator connects you to.

Eligibility and Benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.

Amex Gold Card Hotel Benefits

The Amex Gold Card gives special perks at a group of hotels called The Hotel Collection. When you book a room from The Hotel Collection for two or more consecutive nights, you can receive the following benefits:

• A complimentary room upgrade, when available
• Early check-in starting at 12pm, when available
• Late check-out, when available
• A $100 credit to use on eligible charges during your stay, such as food, beverages, spa treatments or other amenities on the property

Amex Gold Card Rental Car Benefits

Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance

Can provide coverage up to $50,000 for theft of or damage to most rental vehicles when you use your card to reserve and pay for the entire vehicle rental with your card and decline the collision damage waiver offered by the rental company. This product provides secondary coverage and does not include liability coverage. Not all vehicle types or rentals are covered. Geographic restrictions also apply.

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. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.

Amex Gold Card Shopping Benefits

Purchase Protection

Purchase Protection is an embedded benefit of your card and requires no enrollment. It can help protect purchases made on your card when they are accidentally damaged, stolen, or lost, for up to 90 days from the purchase date. The coverage is limited up to $10,000 per occurrence, up to $50,000 per account per calendar year. Coverage limits apply.

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.

The Amex Gold Card is one of the best cards on the market for purchase protection, according to WalletHub’s Purchase Protection Study.

Extended Warranty Protection

Can provide up to one extra year added to the manufacturers warranty. Applies to warranties of 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 and up to $50,000 per account per 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.

The Amex Gold Card’s coverage is one of the best on the market, according to WalletHub’s Extended Warranty Study.

Amex Offers

You can get limited-time discounts when shopping with various major retailers through the Amex Offers program, when enrolled. The discounts come in the form of a statement credit after you spend a certain amount of money at the merchant using your card (enrollment required).

Fraud Alerts

Amex will monitor your account for signs of fraud and will send you a notification if it sees any charges that seem suspicious.

$0 Fraud Liability

As is the case with all major cards, you won’t be held liable for any fraudulent purchases that you report.

Amex Gold Card Dining Benefits

Resy Credit

You can get up to $100 in statement credits per year by dining at U.S. restaurants booked through Resy or make other eligible Resy purchases. You can get $50 in credits January through June, and the other $50 from July through December, when enrolled.

Dunkin’ Credit

You can get up to $7 in credits per month, for a total of $84 per year, for purchases made with your card at Dunkin’ locations in the U.S. (enrollment required).

Dining Credit

This dining credit gives you up to $10 in statement credits per month, for a total of $120 per year, when you use your card for purchases with Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, or Five Guys (enrollment required).

Amex Gold Card Event Benefits

Events With Amex

Being a cardholder gets you access to reserved tickets for various events at sports arenas, concert halls, festivals, and theaters. You may also have the opportunity to get discounts on concessions, special merchandise, and exclusive card member experiences.

Amex Presale Tickets

Having the Amex Gold Card lets you purchase tickets to concerts, sporting events and more before they go on sale to the general public.

Other Amex Gold Card Benefits

Uber Cash

As a cardholder, you get $10 Uber Cash per month, for a total of $120 per year, to use on Uber rides or Uber Eats orders in the U.S. To get this benefit, you’ll need to add your Amex Gold Card card to your Uber account and select it as the payment method for the transaction when redeeming the Uber cash.

Metal Card

Amex Gold Card is a metal card. It also offers two different designs – regular gold or rose gold. It’s not often that cards let you pick your design anymore, especially a metal card. Plus, the metal finish will give your card a little extra prestige.

Pay Over Time

The Amex Gold Card requires most purchases to be paid in full each month. However, you can carry select qualifying purchases between months, with interest, by using the Pay Over Time feature. There is a limit to the total balance you can carry. Amex must approve transactions for Pay Over Time status. All other balances must be paid in full each month by the payment due date.

Plan It®

Amex Plan It is a way to pay off certain qualifying purchases of $100+ over time with a monthly plan that charges a fixed monthly fee. There is no sign-up needed, as this feature is automatically embedded into your card. You can also choose to pay these purchases off early and avoid incurring any further monthly fees.

Send and Split®

This feature allows cardholders to send money to and split purchases with friends and family through the American Express app. In order to use this feature, you’ll need to enroll in the Amex App and then link a Venmo and/or PayPal account. Sending with an Amex Send® Account doesn’t incur cash advance fees, and money that you receive will appear as a statement credit on your card account.

Authorized Users Without an Annual Fee

Amex allows you to add up to five authorized users without an annual fee. After the first five authorized users, there is a $35 fee per card to add more.

Authorized users will share a credit line with the primary cardholder and can take advantage of many of the card’s benefits, though they won’t get their own initial bonuses or statement credits. The primary cardholder is responsible for paying for all users’ purchases.

Credit Building

By using your Amex Gold Card responsibly, you’ll be able to build your credit score. The card reports to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion on a monthly basis. You can maximize your score increase by paying on time and in full and keeping your credit utilization low.

Year-End Summary

Each year, usually in January, you’ll get a summary of all the purchases you made from January 1 through December 31 of the previous year.
You can learn more about Amex Gold Card from WalletHub’s in-depth editor’s review.

Ask the Experts

To find additional perspectives on the American Express Gold Card’s benefits package, WalletHub posed the following questions to a panel of experts. You can see who they are and what advice they had to share below. Just click “Read More” under an expert’s name and title to check out their comments.

1. Do you think the American Express Gold Card’s benefits are worth the price?
2. Do you have any advice for people trying to figure out whether a card like Amex Gold is right for them?
3. How valuable are discounts and benefits associated with specific types of purchases if you aren’t already making them (e.g. Dunkin’ and Uber perks for people who don’t buy from Dunkin’ or use ridesharing often)?
4. What do you think is the most underrated benefit that the Amex Gold Card offers?