Amex Gold Card Review: Big Bonuses on Dining and Groceries

The American Express® Gold Card is good for people with high food spending, including on groceries and at restaurants. It also has a useful, albeit somewhat complicated, travel rewards program. There's lots of value here for the right card member, but not everyone will be able to use all this card's benefits.

Keep reading our in-depth review to see if this card is a match.

Is the Amex Gold Card worth it?

The American Express® Gold Card is worth it if you can use its dining credits and Uber Cash. You can save up to $240 per year this way, so those benefits alone nearly outweigh the $250 annual fee (see rates and fees). But if you're not sure you'll use this card's features, you're better off looking elsewhere.

Author's personal experience

I had mixed feelings about the American Express® Gold Card. I loved the travel rewards program, as I was able to transfer my American Express points to multiple airlines to book business-class flights. The customer service from American Express is second to none, and it has one of the best online platforms of any card issuer. I also love how easy it is to earn bonus points with this card.

What I didn't like was the difficulty in using many of this card's benefits, especially the monthly dining credits and Uber Cash. I'm not a fan of features that you need to micromanage, which is why I eventually closed this card.

A big earner with lots of ways to earn bonus points

With many travel rewards cards, you earn bonus points on travel-related purchases, but hardly anywhere else. That's great when you're traveling, but it doesn't do you much good all the times that you're not.

You won't have that problem with the American Express® Gold Card. It earns:

• 4X points at restaurants worldwide plus takeout and delivery in the United States
• 4X points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases
• 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines and on amextravel.com
• Terms apply.

So, you'll earn bonus points every time you use your card at the supermarket and when you go out to eat. Its rate of 4X points per $1 is one of the highest I've seen in those categories. You'll earn extra on flight bookings, too.

This card also has an excellent welcome offer of 60,000 bonus points. You earn that by spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 6 months, which is just $1,000 per month. Terms apply.

Valuable travel points are ideal for booking expensive airfare

American Express has an amazing travel rewards program with a ton of travel partners. You can transfer your points to over 20 airlines and hotels. I haven't found a card issuer with more travel partners. Terms apply.

Where this really comes in handy is costly airfare bookings -- think those business-class and first-class tickets that normally cost $3,000 or more. Instead of paying in cash, you could pick an airline partner and turn your American Express points into miles. Here are a few examples of what you could do:

• Transfer your points to Delta Air Lines for a transcontinental flight, a trip abroad, or just a short hop to see family.
• Set out for the United Kingdom by transferring your points to British Airways.
• Take a trip to Japan by sending your points to All Nippon Airways (ANA), the nation's largest airline.

Just so you know, this rewards program does have a learning curve. One of the most common complaints I see is people who have a huge balance of points with no idea what to do with them. If you're new to travel rewards, you'll probably want to spend a little time learning how to use Membership Rewards points.

Top-notch service and protections for a great customer experience

Something I love about American Express is that it does the little things very well. Customer service tends to be fast and responsive, whether you use live chat or call. American Express regularly ranks at the top of J.D. Power's customer satisfaction studies for this reason.

Many American Express cards offer complimentary protections, and this one is no exception. It offers the following types of coverage on eligible purchases:

• Purchase protection
• Extended warranty
• Car rental loss and damage insurance
• Baggage insurance plan
• Terms apply.

Now, you may have seen plenty of credit cards with protections like these. There's a key difference with American Express cards -- American Express handles the insurance itself. It doesn't outsource this to another company.

What does that mean for you? A much more customer-friendly claims process, according to online reports. While claims with other card issuers can be full of hassles, American Express is known for smooth handling of protection and insurance claims.

Spending credits could help you save -- if you can use them

The American Express® Gold Card has several spending credits. Here's what you can get from it:

• $120 in annual dining credits: Receive $10 per month when you use your American Express® Gold Card at select participating restaurants and food delivery services. Options include Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar, and select Shake Shack locations.
• $120 in annual Uber Cash: When you add your American Express® Gold Card to your Uber account, you automatically receive $10 in Uber Cash each month. You can use this for Uber Eats orders and Uber rides in the United States.
• $100 hotel experience credit: When you book The Hotel Collection properties with American Express Travel for stays of at least two nights, you receive a $100 onsite experience credit. This statement credit applies to qualifying activities, such as dining or spa treatments, which vary by property.
• Select enrollment required; terms apply.

Use all those, and you're saving $340, putting you up $90 on the annual fee! But for most people, using all those credits is a stretch. You're also not really saving money if the only reason you're spending money at those restaurants and through Uber is to use your credits.

Before you get this card, consider whether these credits are a good fit for you. If you use Uber already and go to one of those dining partners every month, then this card makes sense. If not, well, forcing yourself to go to Shake Shack and order Uber Eats isn't all that fun.

The annual fee is on the high side

The American Express® Gold Card is in an interesting position cost-wise. At $250 per year, it's much more expensive than many of the popular and affordable travel cards. If you don't want to pay that much, check out other credit card reviews for more options.

It is quite a bit less than the premium travel cards -- those generally range from $395 to as high as $695. But because it costs less, it also doesn't have the premium travel perks those cards offer. For example, you won't get any airport lounge access with this American Express card.

It's time-consuming to get the most out of this card

My No. 1 complaint with the American Express® Gold Card is that using its benefits can start to feel like a chore. Figure out a way to use the $10 monthly dining credit. Don't forget about this month's $10 in Uber Cash, either. Terms apply. Once next month rolls around, repeat the process.

This is seemingly an upscale card for people who spend heavily on dining and travel. There's nothing upscale about tracking $10 credits every month.

Amex Gold Card credit score

A FICO® Score of 670 or higher is recommended to apply for the American Express® Gold Card, as it's intended for consumers with good and excellent credit. Keep in mind that card applications aren't entirely decided by your credit score. It's important, but American Express looks at a number of factors, including your income and overall credit history.

Pre-approval process

American Express lets you see if you're pre-approved for any of its cards online. You can check in your online account if you're already an American Express client, and if not, you can fill out your information in its pre-approval tool. This will match you with American Express card offers, which may or may not include the American Express® Gold Card.

Regular APR

The American Express® Gold Card is a charge card, so it's designed to be paid in full every month. If you use its Pay Over Time feature, that has a 21.24% to 29.24% Variable APR.

Fees

Here are the fees for the American Express® Gold Card:

• Annual fee: $250
• Cash advance fee: 5% ($10 minimum)
• Foreign transaction fee: None
• Late payment fee: Up to $40
• Returned payment fee: Up to $40
• See rates and fees.

Credit limit

The American Express® Gold Card has no preset spending limit. Instead, the amount you can spend adapts based on various factors, including your purchase, payment, and credit history. If you want to see if a large purchase will be approved, you can use the Check Spending Power tool in your online account or the mobile app.

If you want a more affordable travel card: The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card only has a $95 annual fee. Even though it doesn't have as many spending credits, it has an even bigger welcome offer and several bonus categories, including dining and travel.

If you want an American Express card with even more perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express is about as feature-packed as it gets. It's much more expensive, with a $695 annual fee (see rates and fees). For that, you get over $1,500 in annual spending credits and complimentary access to over 1,400 airport lounges. Terms apply.

Our credit card methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria includes rewards rates, welcome bonuses, fees, and perks like travel credits and 0% intro APR offers to evaluate our ratings.

We combine these factors with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best card recommendations. Learn more about how The Ascent rates credit cards.