Amex Hotel Collection Guide [2021]

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American Express offers a number of ways to go about hotel bookings including programs like Amex Travel and Fine Hotels and Resorts. But a lot of people overlook the Amex Hotel Collection.

In this article, I’ll cover all of the benefits you can receive with the program and also will show you if booking through the Amex Hotel Collection is cheaper than booking directly with the hotels.

What is the Amex Hotel Collection?

The Amex Hotel Collection is a program available to select American Express cards that allows you to receive a $100 credit and other benefits at certain hotels when you book a minimum two night stay.

Many of the properties will be high-end properties that are part of a major hotel chain and others might be upscale boutique hotels. However, you can find some properties at lower rates around $200 per night.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Eligible cards

Only select American Express cards will give you access to the Amex Hotel Collection. These are more “premium” cards with higher annual fees and the eligible cards include:

  • Amex Business Gold Card (full review)
  • Amex Gold Card
  • Business Platinum Card
  • Centurion Card
  • Platinum Card (full review)

Note: Since the Gold Card does not have access to FHR (discussed more below), the Amex Hotel Collection really feels like more of a stand out benefit for that card.

How to use the Amex Hotel Collection

It’s very easy to use the Amex Hotel Collection. Simply go to the main website and then input the search criteria for your hotel. Remember, you must stay a minimum two nights to use this benefit.

You can search without logging in but if you would like to book you will be prompted to login. (Sometimes, you may be prompted to login before beginning your search.)

All of the common hotel search filters will be available to use such as filtering by price, map, star rating, neighborhoods, etc. So you can play around with all of those to narrow down your top choices.

Just make sure that when you are searching, that you check the checkbox for the Hotel Collection on the left sidebar. Otherwise, you will see hotels that are not part of the program.

Checkbox for the Hotel Collection
Always remember to select the Hotel Collection checkbox.

Amex Hotel Collection Benefits

  • $100 property credit
  • Room upgrade at check-in if available
  • Gold Card members receive 2X (on prepaid stays)
  • Platinum Card members receive 5X (on prepaid stays)
  • Ability to pay with points

$100 property credit

I would argue that the main benefit of this program is that you can receive a $100 property credit. This credit can be used on qualifying dining, spa, and other resort purchases.

The exact type of credit that you will receive just depends on the type of property that you booked.

My bit of advice would be to make reservations if you plan on utilizing this credit for things like dining and spa treatments.

If you don’t book far enough in advance and inquire about reservations, it’s possible that you could arrive at the property with no way to utilize your property credit.

And if that happens, you may not be given any kind of a refund or credit.

Spa room at Hyatt Ziva
Spa treatments are a common use for the $100 credit.

Room upgrade

By booking through the Hotel Collection, you will also be entitled to a room upgrade if there is availability.

Typically, I would probably expect a room upgrade one class above what you booked. So this could mean your standard room getting upgraded to a larger room or perhaps a room with a better view or on a higher floor.

Benefits for prepaid bookings

While it is possible to book flexible cancellation rates, if you make a prepaid booking, you can actually get a little bit more value out of this program.

If you are using your Gold Card, you can earn 2X Membership Rewards on the booking.

But things are much more lucrative if you have a Platinum Card. With the Platinum, you can earn a whopping 5X Membership Rewards on your prepaid bookings.

If you value Membership Rewards at around two cents per point, that’s like getting 10% back on your hotel spend which is extremely competitive and better than even some of the best hotel credit cards.

For example, the Hilton Aspire earns 14X at Hilton properties and at a valuation of .52 cents per point, that comes out to 7.28% back. So the Platinum could earn you almost 3% more back on a Hilton stay.

As explained more below, just remember that you will likely be missing out on credits toward elite status and points on your stay which set back your earnings quite a bit.

And finally, if you are booking a prepaid stay you can also use your points to pay for the booking. You’ll have to redeem a minimum of 5,000 points and you only get .7 cents in value per point. This is not good value for your points and so I would only use it as an absolute last resort.

Elite status

Many people wonder if you can still receive elite benefits when booking through the Amex Hotel Collection.

Unfortunately, I was not able to find a clear-cut answer but there are a few things to note.

Elite status benefits

When it comes to receiving your elite status benefits tied to your specific level of elite status such as a free breakfast, there’s always a possibility you can receive them when booking through an online travel agency.

A lot of times it depends on the brand but I have booked stays in the last two years and received my elite status benefits with major hotel programs including Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton.

I received these benefits at both cheaper properties and even top luxury brands like the St. Regis. (I’ve even received the benefits on prepaid stays.)

I usually call up the hotel a few hours after booking and ensure that my elite status number is attached to my reservation. Sometimes the hotel automatically adds it and other times I have to get them to add it.

Also, at check-in I usually inquire about potential upgrades based on my elite status.

I’ll ask something like, “So does my Platinum status get me an upgrade on this stay?” If they say yes, then that’s generally an indication that I’ll receive all of my elite status benefits like free breakfast, lounge access, etc.

Elite status credits

Receiving credit towards elite status for your stay is a much different matter. It’s extremely rare in my experience to receive credits for status for your stay when booking through an online travel agency.

Your best odds probably occur when you avoid prepaid bookings. But even then I would not say it is guaranteed at all.

Hotel Collection vs Fine Hotels and Resorts

If you’re wondering how these programs compare to each other, the American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts is a much more robust program.

That program will offer you the following benefits:

  • Noon check-in, when available
  • Guaranteed 4pm late check-out
  • Room upgrade upon arrival, when available
  • Daily breakfast for two people
  • Complimentary Wi-Fi
  • Special amenity unique to each property

So FHR offers a much more complete set of hotel perks. Also, many people report receiving elite credits when staying at an FHR property which is another key difference.

Of course, the other big difference is that you must have a Platinum Card in order to access the FHR program. But if you are looking to receive an “elite-like” experience during your hotel stay, the FHR is definitely the way to go.

Related:

Price comparison

The big question that people usually ask is whether or not the Amex Hotel Collection is cheaper than booking directly with the hotel.

Well, we were highly curious about this question and so we researched 15 different properties and found the exact same room types with the same (or very similar) type of cancellation policy.

And what we found was that the prices on Amex Hotel Collection were usually 10% more expensive per night. The average increase in price was about $25 per night.

That is no surprise considering that you receive additional benefits when you book through the Amex Hotel Collection.

When you factor in those perks like the $100 hotel credit and potentially room upgrades then all of a sudden the value proposition is a little bit different.

In that circumstance, paying something like $25 more to receive a $100 credit can make sense if you already had plans on spending what that credit can cover such as a meal at the hotel.

Of course, you also have to factor in the elite benefits you might be losing by booking through Amex Hotel Collection.

If the prices were the same between booking directly with the hotel and the Amex Hotel Collection, it’s possible that you could still get more value by booking directly with the hotel when you factor in benefits like free breakfast, points earned, and elite credits. This is especially true on longer stays.

If you are curious about the data points that we found, I’ve included all of the research below so you can check it out yourself.

HotelHotel CollectionDirect% Difference
Grand Bohemian Hotel Charleston, Autograph Collection$443$38415.36%
Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa At Gainey Ranch$299$2912.75%
C. Baldwin, Curio Collection by Hilton$199$1914.19%
Andaz Savannah$234$2139.86%
Conrad Chicago$339$3254.31%
InterContinental New York Times Square$299$2787.55%
Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort And Spa$269$24310.70%
The Charter Hotel Seattle, Curio Collection by Hilton$259$2484.44%
InterContinental San Diego$279$2597.72%
W Fort Lauderdale$319$3035.28%
Renaissance Paris Vendome Hotel$550$48912.47%
InterContinental London Park Lane$495$4783.56%
Hilton Tokyo$257$21917.35%
InterContinental Sydney Double Bay$302$20845.19%
Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht $551$593-7.08%
9.58%

Hotel Collection FAQ

Can I get elite status benefits when booking through the Hotel collection?

It may be possible to receive your elite status benefits as long as you add your elite status number to your reservation. However, receiving elite credits is probably much more unlikely.

What are the Amex Hotel Collection benefits?

$100 property credit
Room upgrade at check-in if available
Gold Card members receive 2X (on prepaid stays)
Platinum Card members receive 5X (on prepaid stays)
Ability to pay with points

Are the Amex Hotel Collection properties expensive?

The Hotel Collection contains many luxury properties, which means that these will typically be more expensive properties. Prices will generally be $300 per night or more, although you may find some for around $200 per night.

Is the Amex Hotel Collection more expensive than booking directly with the hotel?

Yes, based on our research looking at various hotels we found that the Amex Hotel Collection is approximately 10% more expensive on average.

What cards are eligible for the Amex Hotel Collection?

Amex Business Gold Card
Amex Gold Card
Business Platinum Card
Centurion Card
Platinum Card

Can I earn 5X when booking through the Amex Hotel Collection?

Yes, if you book a prepaid stay with the Platinum Card you will earn 5X.

Do you get free breakfast with the Amex Hotel Collection?

Unfortunately, no free breakfast is not a benefit.

Final word

As you can see, this can be a great way to receive some perks on a stay of at least two nights — perfect for a weekend getaway.

You just need to be careful about the difference in price which sometimes can be quite high and always remember to do a value analysis on the perks you may or may not be receiving.

Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred [2020]

Offers contained within this article maybe expired.

The new Amex Gold Card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred are two of the most highly sought after travel rewards credit cards. For a while, the Sapphire Preferred had a leg up on the Gold Card but now that the Gold Card comes with a lot of additional perks, the comparison between these two credit cards is much different. Here’s a look at the Amex Gold Card vs the Chase Sapphire Preferred.   

Eligibility

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule which means that you cannot get approved for it if you have opened up five or more accounts in the past 24 months. This means that you should normally pursue the Chase Sapphire Preferred first before going after the Gold Card.

There are additional application rules to consider like the 2/30 rule, 24 month rule, and current card holder rule. Meanwhile the Gold Card is only subject to the Amex once per lifetime rule.

Tip: Use the free app WalletFlo to help you travel the world for free by finding the best travel credit cards and promotions!

Welcome bonus

Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred comes with a 60,000 point sign-up bonus after you spend $4,000 in the first three months after account opening. This is a fantastic offer. 60,000 Ultimate Rewards can take you pretty far and you can transfer these points out to the following partners.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Airlines

  • Aer Lingus
  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
  • Iberia Airways
  • JetBlue
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
  • United MileagePlus
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Chase Ultimate Rewards Hotels

  • World of Hyatt
  • IHG Rewards Club
  • Marriott Rewards
  • The Ritz-Carlton Rewards

If you don’t want to transfer your Ultimate Rewards to these travel partners, you might want to utilize the Chase Travel Portal to book your travel. Unlike Amex, the Chase Travel Portal offers better redemption rates for your points as you’ll get 1.25 cents per point with your Chase Sapphire Preferred (and 1.5 cents per point with the Chase Sapphire Reserve).

This is a key difference for people who don’t like to bother with things like black out dates or with transferring points out to travel programs. If you don’t like to mess around with point transfers, the Sapphire Preferred offers more value when using your points for airfare and hotels. 

Amex Gold Card

The standard Gold Card welcome bonus open to the public is for 60,000 Membership Rewards after you spend $4,000 in the first six months after account opening.

Amex has arguably better transfer partners than Chase and you can move your Membership Rewards over to the following partners.

Airline ProgramRatio (MR to airline)Transfer wait time
Aer Lingus1:1Instant
AeroMexico1:1.6 24 Hours
Air Canada1:1Instant
Alitalia1:1Instant
ANA1:148 Hours
Avianca1:1Instant
British Airways1:1Instant
Cathay Pacific1:148 Hours
Delta1:1Instant
El Al1000:20 Instant
Emirates1:1Instant
Etihad1:1Instant
Flying Blue1:1Instant
Hawaiian Airlines1:1Instant
Iberia1:124 to 72 hours
JetBlue250:200Instant
Qantas1:1Instant
Singapore Airlines1:124 to 72 hours
Virgin Atlantic1:1Instant
    
Airline ProgramRatio (MR to airline)Airline mile value (est.)Expected Transfer Time
Aer LingusJanuary 1, 19701.3Instant
AeroMexicoJanuary 1, 19701.224 Hours
Air CanadaJanuary 1, 19701.4Instant
AlitaliaJanuary 1, 19701.4Instant
ANAJanuary 1, 19701.448 Hours
AviancaJanuary 1, 19701.7Instant
British AirwaysJanuary 1, 19701.3Instant
Cathay PacificJanuary 1, 19701.248 Hours
DeltaJanuary 1, 19701.2Instant
El AlFebruary 9, 1900Instant
EmiratesJanuary 1, 19701.2Instant
EtihadJanuary 1, 19701.4Instant
Flying BlueJanuary 1, 19701.25Instant
Hawaiian AirlinesJanuary 1, 19701Instant
IberiaJanuary 1, 19701.324 to 72 hours
JetBlue250:2001.3Instant
QantasJanuary 1, 19701Instant
Singapore AirlinesJanuary 1, 19701.324 to 48 hours
Virgin AtlanticJanuary 1, 19701.3Instant
Emirates is a transfer partner of Amex.

Bonus categories

Chase Sapphire Preferred

  • 2X on dining
  • 2X on travel 

The Sapphire Preferred earns 2X on dining and travel which is pretty basic but still not bad, especially for travel. Keep in mind that the Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 3X on dining and travel, so if you’re looking to maximize those bonus categories you might want to look to that card.

Amex Gold Card

  • 3X on airfare 
  • 4X points at restaurants
  • 4X points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 in spend per calendar year)

The Amex Gold Card is now a points-earning beast with 4X on restaurants and U.S. supermarkets. Earning 4X on these categories is going to allow a lot of people to rack up Membership Rewards much quicker than they would with the Chase Sapphire Preferred. If you value American Express points at 1.75 cents per point, that 4X rate comes out to 7% back on these purchases which is fantastic.

Earning 4X at U.S. supermarkets is huge.

Annual Fee

Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred comes with a $95 annual fee that is not waived the first year.

Amex Gold Card

The annual fee for the Amex Gold card is $250, which is pretty high and places the Amex Gold card between the $500+ premium cards and premier travel cards that come with $95 annual fees.

But this $250 annual fee can be knocked down by utilizing the credits that come with the Amex Gold Card, which includes the following:

  • $100 airline credit 
  • $120 dining credit
    •  $10 monthly credit that can be used at Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and Shake Shack.

By maximizing those credits, you can get the annual fee down to an effective $30 which is fantastic. However, you need to remember that the dining credit is only $10 per month, so it might not be easy to use for everyone, especially if you don’t dine out at the select restaurants.

Tip: Use the free app WalletFlo to help you travel the world for free by finding the best travel credit cards and promotions!

Primary rental car coverage

The Sapphire Preferred comes with primary rental car coverage which means that you’ll usually be able to avoid filing a claim with your insurance company if you get into an accident.

The Amex Gold Card only offers secondary coverage for car rentals and so you’ll have to purchase coverage as part of a separate plan if you want primary rental car coverage.

The fact that the Sapphire Preferred has this benefit built in to it is huge and it could end up saving you a lot of money and headache depending on how often you rent cars. So if you’re a frequent traveler who is constantly driving around in rental card, you might want to give the Sapphire Preferred the nod here.

Travel and purchase protections

One of the shortcomings of the Amex Gold Card is that it does not come with the same travel protections that the Chase Sapphire Preferred comes with. Instead, you’ll have to purchase those protections. Some of the protections you won’t get with the Amex Gold that you’ll get with the Sapphire Preferred include:

  • Trip Interruption: If your trip is canceled or cut short by covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses,
  • Baggage Delay Reimbursement: If delayed more than 6 hours, you are covered for essential expenses, such as toiletries and clothes for up to one hundred ($100.00) dollars per day for a maximum of five (5) days.
  • Trip Delay Reimbursement: If delayed more than 12 hours you are covered for expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket. (The Gold Card now offers this perk but only with coverage up to $300.)

Don’t underestimate the value of these benefits as they can save you money and make your life a lot easier if and when something unexpected happens. For example, it’s really frustrating and worrying when you arrive in a foreign country only to find out your bags have been lost. But being able to go on a little shopping spree when waiting for your bags to arrive really takes the sting out of that experience.

One area where Amex Gold Card is strong is in the purchase protections department. With the Gold Card you can get coverage up to $10,000 on purchases compared to the Chase Sapphire Preferred which only offers coverage up to a maximum of $500 per claim and up to $50,000 per account. That’s a huge difference though the Sapphire Preferred offers coverage for up to 120 days from the date of purchase but the Gold Card only covers up to 90 days.

The Amex extended warranty can provide one extra year added to the original U.S. manufacturer’s warranty for coverage up to the original cost of the item or $10,000, whichever is less on warranties of five year or less. The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers an extended warranty that extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by one additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less. So when it comes to extended warranties, Amex definitely has the edge.

Refer a friend

Both of these cards have referral programs where you can earn lots of points when your friends or family members are approved for cards when using your link to apply.

For example, with the Gold Card you can earn 10,000 Membership Rewards per referral and you can earn up to 55,000 Membership Rewards per year which is great. You can find out more about the Amex Refer a Friend policy here.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred referral allows you to earn 10,000 Ultimate Rewards per approval up to a maximum of 50,000 points per calendar year. You can read more about the Chase Refer a Friend here.

Shopping perks

The Chase Shopping Portal allows you to earn extra points when shopping online at various retailers. This is a great way to cash in on extra points when making larger purchases or even everyday items.

Amex doesn’t have a shopping portal but they do have Amex Offers, which offers all sorts of different special and promotions at different stores. These allow you to earn extra points or save money and are a great way to put some money back into your wallet.

Both of these programs are nice and it’s hard to pick a winner. I feel that the Chase Shopping Portal is better for earning points when shopping while Amex Offers is better for saving money.

Final word

The best card for you is going to depend on your own spending habits, personal goals, and travel plans. For someone dropping a lot on supermarkets and dining, the Amex Gold Card is hard to pass up. For someone who wants great travel protections like primary rental car coverage and baggage delay reimbursement, the Sapphire Preferred could be the better option.

Ultimately, I think it’s definitely worth getting both of these cards for many people and that’s a route that a lot of people should consider taking, especially if they can utilize all of the travel credits of the Gold Card.

How the Amex Gold Card Dining Credits Work [2020]

The Amex Gold Card is one of the hottest new dining cards and is a revamped version of the Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express. One of the key features of this card is the $120 dining credit. But how exactly does this credit work and what restaurants can you use it for? This article will explain everything you need to know about the Gold Card’s $120 dining credit.

Update: Some offers below are no longer available — click here for the latest deals!

Amex Gold Card

Before getting into all of the dining credits, here’s an overview of the Amex Gold Card.

  • Standard public offer is for 35,000 Membership Rewards but you can find offers for 60,000 Membership Rewards!
  • 3X on airfare 
  • 4X points at U.S. Restaurants
  • 4X points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 in spend per calendar year)
  • $100 airline credit 
  • $120 dining credit

The strongest point of the Amex Gold Card is the bonus earning potential which consists of 4X at US restaurants and 4x at US supermarkets. That point earning potential is what makes the card truly special in my eyes. However, if you can utilize the annual credits, then you knock the annual fee down to only $30 so it’s a good idea to know how these credits work. You can read my full review of the card here.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

$100 US restaurant statement credit

As part of a limited time offer, the Amex Gold Card was offering a statement credit where you could receive 20% back as a statement credit at US restaurants up to $100. This credit automatically applies when a purchase codes as a US restaurant but note that it only applies in the 3 months after opening your account.

It’s not clear if this statement credit will be offered in future offers.

$120 dining credit

The Amex Gold Card provides you with $10 monthly dining credits. These credits work on a monthly calendar basis. This means that they will reset at the end of each month, regardless of when you originally opened your credit card.

These credits can also only be used at select establishments, such as:

  • Boxed
  • Grubhub
  • Seamless
  • The Cheesecake Factory
  • Ruth’s Chris Steak House
  • Shake Shack

Boxed

Boxed is a home delivery service you can use to order products in bulk like groceries, wine and liquor, household items, pet food, office needs, etc. If you are struggling to find dining establishments to use the credit at, this is a good alternative.

Grubhub

Grubhub is a service you can use like Uber Eats where you can have food delivered to you from a variety of restaurants (take out is a possibility, too). Thus, this $10 credit can actually be used at a lot of different dining establishments. You can enter in your location here to see which places can deliver to you. 

You’ll need to factor in potential delivery fees/tips into your orders though which can reduce the value of your credit and that’s one reason I recommend take-out as an option.

Seamless

Seamless is another food delivery service that you can look into and they are part of the same company as Grubhub. You can search for what delivers near you here. 

In the past, the terms and conditions stated that the prices for Grubhub and Seamless would remain the same as in-restaurant menu prices but they removed that language and now it’s possible that prices could be higher when ordering through Grubhub or Seamless so this is just something to keep an eye out for.

The Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory operates over 210 full-service restaurants. Here’s a sample menu. A classic burger will set you back about $13 and many dishes will remain under $20. You can search for locations here. 

Ruth’s Chris Steak House

Ruth’s Chris Steak House is an upscale chain of over 100 steakhouses across the United States, Canada and Mexico. For many steak dishes, you’re going to be shelling out $40 to $60+. You can search for locations here. 

Shake Shack

Shake Shack serves up some of the best burgers in the country for a fast food joint. Shake Shack is still growing and plans to have at least 200 locations in the U.S. and 120 globally licensed locations by 2020. You can have a single burger for around $4.85 and a double burger for about $7.40. You can search for locations here. 

Note that this excludes Shake Shack locations in ballparks, stadiums, airports and racetracks.

Only valid at US locations

Many of these restaurants have locations outside the US, but per the terms and conditions, these credits are “Only valid for transactions completed in the United States of America, and US Territories.”

Gift cards

The terms and conditions state that the credit is “Not valid on gift cards or merchandise purchases.”

However, some people have had success with purchasing gift cards from some of these restaurants like the Cheesecake Factory and Shake Shack. Data points are still rolling in on this but if you can purchase a gift card in the restaurant, you probably stand a good chance of that transaction successfully coding.

(Grubhub/Seamless doesn’t seem to work.)

You must enroll!

In order to receive the dining credit, you must enroll your card in the program. You can easily do this by simply signing into your online account or you can call the number on the back of your card.

Authorized users

If the purchase is made by an authorized user, they can activate the credit. But note that you’re only given $120 worth of annual credit across all cards on a $10 monthly basis, so each authorized user does not receive their own $10 monthly credit.

When will the credits post?

Amex states, “Please allow 2-4 weeks after an eligible purchase is charged to your Card Account for statement credit(s) to be posted to the Account.” In reality, your credit might hit within a few days after you make your purchase.

Call the number on the back of your card if statement credits have not posted after 4 weeks from the date of purchase.

Date of purchase or date of processing?

You might be wondering what happens if you make a purchase at the end of the month but it doesn’t process until the next month… does that mean the credit applies to the month you made the purchase or the month that it processes?

Amex provides an answer for this:

American Express relies on the merchant to process transactions within the same calendar month that you made the purchase in order to apply the $10 monthly statement credit in the month that it was intended. For example, if you make an eligible purchase on the last day of the month, but the merchant doesn’t process that transaction until the next day, then the statement credit would be applied in the following month.

What about mobile wallets?

Amex notes that in most cases, you may not receive the statement credit if your transaction is made with an electronic wallet or through a third party or if the merchant uses a mobile or wireless card reader to process the payment.

Are other Gold cards eligible?

No, Traditional Gold, Senior Gold, Classic Gold and Ameriprise Gold Cards are not eligible.

Amex Offers

You can sometimes stack these credits with special Amex Offers for these restaurants so be on the lookout for those. For example, you might be able to earn extra Membership Rewards during your visit. 

Tip: Use the free app WalletFlo to keep track of all of your credits!

Amex Gold Card dining credit FAQ

Where can you use the Amex Gold Card dining credit?

Boxed
Grubhub
Seamless
The Cheesecake Factory
Ruth’s Chris Steak House
Shake Shack

How much is the Amex Gold Card dining credit?

The dining credit is $10 per month.

Do I have to activate the Amex Gold Card dining credit?

Yes, in order to use the credit you must enroll your card. You can do this online or by calling the number on the back of your card.

How can I keep track of my Amex Gold Card dining credit?

To keep track of all of your credit card credits it’s recommended to use the app WalletFlo.

Can authorized users use the Amex Gold Card dining credit?

Yes, authorized users can trigger the credit but authorized users are not given additional credits.

Does the Amex Gold Card dining credit work on gift cards?

The terms and conditions state that the credit is not valid on gift cards. However, some people have had success using the credit to buy gift cards in the restaurant.

Final word

These $10 monthly credits are great for those who already frequent these restaurants and obviously less useful for those who avoid these places. If you’re not a fan of places like Shake Shack, you should still be able to find some place you like with the food delivery services like Grubhub and Seamless.

Amex Gold Card Review (50,000 Point Offers?) [2020]

Offers contained within this article maybe expired.

The American Express Gold Card is definitely one of the most valuable travel credit cards out there. It shines with its lucrative bonus categories and mid-range annual fee (not to mention the metal). However, the card does have some faults that you want to be aware of. In this comprehensive review article, I will tell you everything you need to know about the American Express Gold Card.

The Amex Gold Card intro

The American Express Gold Card is one of the most valuable travel rewards credit cards available because of the potential to earn so many points on dining and groceries. While this is an amazing card, I would first get a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred since that card is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule (and also has better travel protections).

The 5/24 rule means that you cannot get approved for a Chase card if you have opened up five or more accounts in the past two years. So it is almost always better to prioritize Chase cards before jumping on American Express cards if you want to have the best available options.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Eligibility

Because the Gold Card is a charge card and not a credit card, it is not subject to all of the American Express application rules like the 1/5 rule, the 2/90 rule, and the four or five card limit.

However, this card is still subject to the Amex once per lifetime rule which states that if you have ever had this card before you cannot receive the welcome bonus again.

It is also worth noting that if you had the Premier Rewards Gold Card in the past, the welcome bonus for this card will not be available to you.

By the way, if you want to automate the calculations for all of these credit card rules, you should check out WalletFlo which will help you optimize your cards and automate all of these things.

Welcome bonus

  • 35,000 points to 60,000 points

The bonus on this card can range from 35,000 points to 60,000 points, depending on the offer.

The standard offer available to the public is for 60,000 Membership Rewards after you spend $4,000 in the first 6 months.

(Update: we recently saw an offer for 60,000 points!)

But you can get a lot more value with your points if you transfer them out to partners like the ones listed below and use your points for premium cabins, such as business class and first class.

Below you can see the list of airline partners and a valuation for each. (The valuation is lower because those valuations are not focused on premium redemptions which can often be close to $.10 per point!)

Airline ProgramRatio (MR to airline)Transfer wait time
Aer Lingus1:1Instant
AeroMexico1:1.6 24 Hours
Air Canada1:1Instant
Alitalia1:1Instant
ANA1:148 Hours
Avianca1:1Instant
British Airways1:1Instant
Cathay Pacific1:148 Hours
Delta1:1Instant
El Al1000:20 Instant
Emirates1:1Instant
Etihad1:1Instant
Flying Blue1:1Instant
Hawaiian Airlines1:1Instant
Iberia1:124 to 72 hours
JetBlue250:200Instant
Qantas1:1Instant
Singapore Airlines1:124 to 72 hours
Virgin Atlantic1:1Instant

Here is a look at the hotel partners:

Hotel ProgramRatio (MR to partner)Transfer wait time
Choice1:1Instant
Hilton1:2 Instant
Marriott1:1Instant
Emirates A380 First Class.

Bonus categories

  • 4X points at Restaurants
  • 4X points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 in spend per calendar year)
  • 3X on airfare 

4X points at Restaurants

4X at restaurants is one of the features that makes this card so special. When compared to other cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve which only earn 3X on dining, this 4X at restaurants worldwide really stands out.

You might be curious about other dining cards like the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card that earn 4% back on all dining purchases.

The important distinction here is that the Savor Card earns only cash back while the Gold Card earns points that can be transferred out to travel partners allowing you to earn wayyy more than 4% back. I’ll talk a little bit more about the valuations below.

4X points at U.S. supermarkets

I also really love the 4X at US supermarkets. There is the limitation of up to $25,000 in spend per calendar year but that is a lot of spend each year. I feel like I spend a lot in grocery stores each month and still have plenty of room for these 4X earnings.

3X on airfare

Earning 3X on airfare is not too bad. You can earn this on airfare purchases made directly with the airline or through Amex Travel. It is worth pointing out that the Platinum Card earns 5X on airfare though and that the travel protections are not that great for the Gold Card (more on that below).

If you value American Express points at 1.75 cents per point, earning 4X is like getting 7% back on your purchases. That is a ton of value going back into your wallet and it is the reason why I use this card for almost all of my dining and grocery expenses.

It does not take much spend to offset the annual fee for this card entirely. If you spent $3,571 on US supermarkets and restaurants that would earn you approximately $250 worth of Membership Rewards at 1.75 cents per point.

Now imagine if you utilized the dining credit and airline credit that I discuss below which would knock the effective annual fee down to a mere $30. In that case, if you spent just $428 in one year on dining and supermarkets, you would earn enough points to offset that effective annual fee. 

This is why the $250 annual fee does not bother me at all. I know without question that I am coming out on top with the Gold Card and it is not even close.

Earn 4X at US supermarkets.

$120 dining credit

The Amex Gold Card provides you with $10 monthly dining credits. These credits work on a monthly calendar basis. This means that they will reset at the end of each month, regardless of when you originally opened your credit card.

These credits can also only be used at select establishments, such as:

  • Boxed
  • Grubhub
  • Seamless
  • The Cheesecake Factory
  • Ruth’s Chris Steak House
  • Shake Shack

Grubhub

Grubhub is a service you can use like Uber Eats where you can have food delivered to you from a variety of restaurants (take out is a possibility, too). Thus, this $10 credit can actually be used at a lot of different dining establishments. You can enter in your location here to see which places can deliver to you. 

You’ll need to factor in potential delivery fees/tips into your orders though which can reduce the value of your credit and that’s one reason I recommend take-out as an option.

Seamless

Seamless is another food delivery service that you can look into and they are part of the same company as Grubhub. You can search for what delivers near you here. 

In the past, the terms and conditions stated that the prices for Grubhub and Seamless would remain the same as in-restaurant menu prices but they removed that language and now it’s possible that prices could be higher when ordering through Grubhub or Seamless so this is just something to keep an eye out for.

The Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory operates over 210 full-service restaurants. Here’s a sample menu. A classic burger will set you back about $13 and many dishes will remain under $20. You can search for locations here. 

Ruth’s Chris Steak House

Ruth’s Chris Steak House is an upscale chain of over 100 steakhouses across the United States, Canada and Mexico. For many steak dishes, you’re going to be shelling out $40 to $60+. You can search for locations here. 

Shake Shack

Shake Shack serves up some of the best burgers in the country for a fast food joint. Shake Shack is still growing and plans to have at least 200 locations in the U.S. and 120 globally licensed locations by 2020. You can have a single burger for around $4.85 and a double burger for about $7.40. You can search for locations here. 

Note that this excludes Shake Shack locations in ballparks, stadiums, airports and racetracks.

$100 airline credit

The Amex Gold Card allows you to receive a $100 airline credit every year. This is a credit that can be used on things like incidentals. This credit must be activated each year and you must choose a qualifying airline to use your credit on.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

What airlines work for the Amex airline credit?

Qualifying airlines include:

  • Alaska Airlines
  • American Airlines
  • Delta Airlines
  • Frontier Airlines
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • JetBlue Airways
  • Spirit Airlines
  • Southwest Airlines
  • United Airlines

Only the Basic Card Member or Authorized Account Manager(s) on the Card Account can select the qualifying airline.

It’s a good idea to review what types of purchases actually qualify for the airline credit because some of the exclusions might surprise you.

American Express officially states that the following qualify for the airline credit:

  • Checked baggage fees (including overweight/oversize)
  • Itinerary change fees
  • Phone reservation fees
  • Pet flight fees
  • Seat assignment fees
  • In-flight amenity fees (beverages, food, pillows/blankets, headphones)
  • In-flight entertainment fees (excluding wireless internet because it’s not charged by the airline)
  • Airport lounge day passes & annual memberships

Baggage fees are typically $30 for your first checked bag for a one-way flight with most domestic carriers like United. So with this credit you could cover one and a half round trips and not have to worry about paying for checked baggage.

The reimbursement for change fees is also very handy since that could slice those expensive $200 change fees in half. And you should also be able to cover unaccompanied minor fees which can be over $100.

The other nice way to use this fee is for an airport day pass. I actually used my credit once for admission into the Admirals Club lounge which was nice because I got to enter the lounge in Houston and also in Dallas for my connection.

The following items are explicitly excluded:

  • Airline tickets
  • Mileage points purchases or mileage points transfer fees
  • Gift cards
  • Upgrades
  • Duty–free purchases
  • Award tickets

The three biggest exclusions are upgrades, gift cards, and award tickets since those are commonly sought after purchases. There are often exceptions to these exclusions and sometimes these purchases can still trigger the credits but it often depends on the airline and the exact amount of the purchase. 

Gold Card protections

The Gold Card has some solid purchase protections that make it a great card to use when shopping. However, many of the travel protections are on the weaker side. I will go through some of the top protections below to let you see how they compare.

Purchase protection

The Gold Card will protect your purchases for up to 90 days from the date of purchase if the item is stolen, accidentally damaged or lost. The coverage is limited up to $10,000 per occurrence, up to $50,000 per Card Member account per calendar year.

This time period was recently dropped from 120 days down to 90 days. The drop is significant because the Chase Sapphire Reserve still offers protection for up to 120 days so now that benefit will cover you longer.

I usually forgo extra rewards when dealing with large purchases just so that I can ensure the best purchase protection. For example, I have cards that could earn me something like 1.5X on all purchases but I would rather have better purchase protection on a higher limit up to $10,000 then earn some extra points on a purchase.

Extended warranty

For warranties of five years or less, the manufacturer’s warranty can be extended up to one additional year.  In the past, this warranty would be extended for up to two additional years but now it is only extended one additional year.

However, the fact that it covers warrantees up to five years is still very significant because many other cards only cover warrantees for up to three years or less. So I would still rank the Gold Card as one of the best cards to use for the extended warranty benefit.

Trip delay

If your trip is delayed 12 hours or more, you can get coverage for up to $300 for the delay. You can use these funds for necessities like lodging, meals, and toiletries.

This coverage amount is not on par with the best premium cards that offer $500 but the biggest letdown is that it only kicks in after 12 hours versus six hours that other cards offer. Therefore, I would not rely heavily on this card for trip delay protection.

Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance

The Gold Card does not have trip cancellation and interruption insurance.

Unlike other premium American Express cards like the Platinum Card or Hilton Aspire, the Gold Card does not come with any trip cancellation coverage.

Once again, this is a big shortcoming when it comes to travel perks on this card. And it’s one reason why I look to other cards when it comes to things like booking a hotel.

Baggage delay protection?

Another protection missing here is baggage delay which would allow you to go and purchase toiletries and clothing items if your baggage was delayed. You can get this if you purchase the travel insurance through American Express but this benefit is not built into the Gold Card unlike other travel cards such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Other perks

Amex Gold Card FAQ

What are the Gold Card bonus categories?

4X points at Restaurants
4X points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 in spend per calendar year)
3X on airfare

When does the Gold Card lose the airline credit?

Beginning in January 2022, the airline credit will no longer be available.

How can I track my credits?

Use WalletFlo to help you track how much of your credits you’ve used.

Does the Amex Gold Card have foreign transaction fees?

No, the Amex Gold Card does not have foreign transaction fees.

What is the Amex Gold Card annual fee?

The annual fee is $250.

Is the Amex Gold Card annual fee waived the first year?

No, the annual fee is not waived the first year.

What places can I use the Amex Gold Card dining credit on?

Boxed
Grubhub
Seamless
The Cheesecake Factory
Ruth’s Chris Steak House
Shake Shack

What airlines can I use the Amex airline credit on?

Alaska Airlines
American Airlines
Delta Airlines
Frontier Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines
JetBlue Airways
Spirit Airlines
Southwest Airlines
United Airlines

Does the Gold Card have purchase protection?

Yes, you can get purchase protection for up to 90 days from the date of purchase and the coverage limit is $10,000.

Final word

I am absolutely in love with the American Express Gold Card when it comes to earning rewards with my every day spend in dining and groceries. That 4X really adds up in a hurry and I have netted a ton of value from this card and offset the annual fee really quickly.

The problem is that it does not have the best travel protections and so I don’t usually use this card for any travel purchases because I get so much better protections with other cards.

If you can catch the high 50,000 point offers for this card it is an absolute bargain but even if you have to settle for the 35,000 point offers, this can still be one of the most valuable travel cards that you will come across.

 

Amex Platinum vs Amex Gold Card [2020]

Offers contained within this article maybe expired.

The Amex Platinum and Amex Gold Card are two of the hottest travel cards offered by American Express. But how do these two cards compare against each other? There are a number of factors to consider in order to make the best decision between these two cards and in this article I will go over all of those factors.

American Express Membership Rewards

Both of these cards will earn you American Express Membership Rewards. Out of all of the different transferable points that you can earn with credit cards, I value Membership Rewards the most. That is because I like their airline transfer partners the best.

In the past, I have used Membership Rewards to fly on some of the most premium airline products including:

Emirates bar on the A380.

Here is a full list of all of the different Membership Rewards airline partners:

  • Aeromexico 
  • Aer Lingus 
  • Air Canada
  • Avianca 
  • Flying Blue 
  • Alitalia Millemiglia 
  • ANA 
  • Cathay Pacific
  • British Airways 
  • Delta
  • El Al Israel Airlines
  • Emirates 
  • Etihad Airways
  • Hawaiian Airlines 
  • Iberia Plus 
  • JetBlue
  • Singapore Airlines 
  • Virgin Atlantic 

Points earned by the Platinum or Gold Card all go into one Memberships Rewards account, so you don’t have to worry about them getting deposited into separate accounts like some other banks do.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Welcome bonuses

Amex Platinum Card 

The American Express Platinum Card has one of the most valuable welcome bonuses out of any travel credit card. The standard offer is 60,000 points after spending $5,000 within the first 3 months. By comparison its competitor the Chase Sapphire Reserve only offers a bonus of 50,000 points after hitting the minimum spend. If you value Membership Rewards at 2 cents per point (a little on the higher side), that’s $1,200 worth of value!

It’s worth noting that sometimes you can get even higher bonuses of 75K (link sometimes may not work) with Google Incognito browsers and some lucky people even get targeted for the Platinum 100K offers.

Amex Gold Card

The American Express Gold Card has a welcome bonus that fluctuates a lot more than the Platinum Card. You might see the standard offer at 35,000 points after you make $2,000 in purchases within the first 3 months or you might see it at as high as 40,000 or 50,000 Membership Rewards (link sometimes may not work). So with the Gold Card you want to try to time your application to go for the highest bonus if possible.

Overall, the winner to me is clear since the Platinum Card offers the higher bonus on a consistent basis and even sometimes offers special opportunities to earn even more points. However, both welcome offers can be very strong, especially when the timing is just right.

Bonus spending

Both of these cards earn some great bonus points on spend but the categories are very different for the most part.

Amex Platinum Card 

  • 5X on airfare
  • 5X on hotels booked through the Amex Travel portal
  • 5X on some pre-paid FHR bookings 

It is very difficult to beat the 5X earnings on airfare. Considering how expensive airfare can be, this is an opportunity to earn a lot of points. The only issue with going this route is that the Platinum Card does not have the same depth of protections offered by other cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Instead, you have to purchase protections like trip cancellation which makes earning that 5X on airfare less appealing.

The 5X earnings on hotels are not as lucrative but they still can be pretty attractive. I’m not a huge fan of booking hotels through the Amex Travel portal because you don’t earn elite night credit and sometimes have to forfeit your elite status benefits.

However, when you book through the Fine Hotels & Resorts program you can still get those elite benefits and you should get the credits, too. The Fine Hotels & Resorts program is a special program that allows you to receive elite like benefits at a lot of luxury properties all around the world.

In addition to those perks you can also get things like free nights and special amenities which allows you to potentially get hundreds of dollars in value per stay. On top of all of those benefits you could also earn 5X on those hotel purchases which is pretty incredible if you ask me. 

Amex Gold Card

  • 3X on airfare 
  • 4X points at Restaurants
  • 4X points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 in spend per calendar year)

The Amex Gold Card is my go to card for everyday spend. I put virtually all dining and supermarket purchases on my Gold Card and I rack up a ton of points every month. The Gold Card did not earn 4X on international dining purchases until recently and now that it earns for 4X at restaurants worldwide it is a much more valuable travel rewards card.

Overall, the winner for bonus categories spend is definitely the Gold Card. I love the ability to earn 5X on airfare with the Platinum but I don’t like giving up some of the travel protections I get with other cards. And while earning 5X with hotels is great it is not always practical or worthwhile. For me it’s all about getting 4X on dining and at supermarkets throughout the year and so if you are looking to earn points on your everyday spend it is hard to beat the Gold Card.

Earning 4X on the Gold Card at restaurants is a great way to rack up points.

Benefits

Amex Platinum Card 

The Platinum Card is arguably the king of all benefits cards. Here is a look at some of the benefits you can get with this card:

The most important benefit that I use from the Platinum Card is airport lounge access. That airport lounge access comes in a variety of forms but my favorite is Amex Centurion Lounge access. These are some of the nicer lounges that you will find around the US.

I’m also a huge fan of the hotel elite status offered by the Platinum Card, especially Hilton Gold. With Hilton Gold, you can get real benefits like free breakfast, late check-out, and upgrades.

And then there are the travel credits. The $200 annual airline credits are not as easy-to-use as they once were but if you can put them to use that’s an easy $200 dollars you can knock off the effective annual fee. The $200 annual annual Uber credits come in the form of $15 monthly credits except for the month of December which receives a $35 credit. If you regularly use Uber this is a very easy way to also knock down that effective annual fee.

There are actually a lot more benefits to unlock with the Platinum Card than those mentioned above. For example, there is the International Airline Program that can save you thousands of dollars on business-class and first-class flights. And you also have other services like the concierge service that can provide you with last-minute dinner reservations. To find out more about some of these benefits click here. 

The Hong Kong Centurion Lounge at HKG.

Amex Gold Card

The Gold Card can’t really compete with the Platinum Card when it comes to benefits. But that does not mean that you can’t receive some decent benefits from the Gold Card. My favorite benefit with the Gold Card is the monthly $10 dining credit that can be used on a variety of places including:

  • Boxed
  • Grubhub
  • Seamless
  • The Cheesecake Factory
  • Ruth’s Chris Steak House
  • Shake Shack

This is an easy way to effectively knock the annual fee down by $120 dollars each year. The Gold Card also comes with a $100 airline credit that works the same as the Platinum Card.

As you can probably guess the clear winner in the benefits department is the Platinum Card and it’s not even close.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Protections

Both cards offer some solid purchase protections and other benefits like roadside assistance.

Premium Roadside assistance

Premium Roadside Assistance provides the following services at no additional cost up to 4 times per calendar year:

  • Towing up to 10 miles (Card Member will be charged for the costs of towing in excess of 10 miles)
  • Winching
  • Jump starts (for dead batteries)
  • Flat tire change when Card Member has a workable spare
  • Lockout service when key is in vehicle (lockout service may be unavailable for vehicles with transponder keys.
  • Delivery of up to 2 gallons of fuel.

Purchase Protection

  • Coverage is limited up to $10,000 per occurrence; not to exceed $50,000 per Card Member account per calendar yea

Return Protection

  • Coverage up to $300 per item, up to a maximum of $1,000 per calendar year per Card account

Annual fee

Amex Platinum Card 

  • $550

The annual fee for the Platinum Card is higher than the Gold Card as you would expect it to be considering that it offers so many more benefits. But as I have already mentioned, it is very easy to offset that with all of the different credits.

If you utilize the travel credits for Uber and for the airlines and also use the $100 worth of Sacks credits then you bring that effective annual fee all the way down to $50 dollars which is just incredible.

Amex Gold Card

  • $250

It’s very easy to get the effective annual fee down just $30 for the Gold Card if you can properly utilize the $100 airline credit. If you can’t, then just utilizing the dining credits will get the effective annual fee down to $130. That is not that bad considering how many points you can earn with the tremendous 4X bonus earning potential.

It’s a little crazy to think about dropping $800 in annual fees for two cards but when you break down the value, it’s often that not difficult to see why it would be worth getting both, especially if you put a lot of spend on the Gold Card and take advantage of some of the Platinum benefits.

Final word

Overall, these are two very different cards. The Platinum Card is a card geared for people who really value travel benefits. Meanwhile, the Gold Card is primarily about earning points through bonus spend on categories like dining and supermarkets. Personally, I hold both of these cards and use them quite frequently so it often is a good idea to get both of these cards. Just make sure that you have done your math and know that you will be getting value from these cards.

Amex Gold Card vs Uber Credit Card [2020]

Two of the most popular cards for dining are the Uber credit card and the Amex Gold Card. While these cards both earn great rewards for dining, they serve very different crowds in terms of the rewards they offer. In this article, I’ll walk though the benefit of both of these cards and showcase which card might be better for you based on your own travel goals. 

Update: Some offers below are no longer available and changes have been made to the Uber Card — click here for the latest deals!

Welcome bonus

Amex Gold Card

The standard welcome bonus open to the public is for 25,000 Membership Rewards after you spend $2,000 in the first three months after account opening. This isn’t a horrible bonus but there are offers out there for 50,000 Membership Rewards after you spend $2,000, so you might want to hold out until you can apply for that offer.

If you value 50,000 Membership Rewards at a rate of 1.8 cents per point, that’s $400 worth of travel, which isn’t bag but the real value with the Gold Card is when you move your Membership Rewards over to the travel partners. With these partners, you can get outsized value for your points when flying business class and first class and easily turn those 50,000 points into thousands of dollars worth of premium travel.

Here’s a list of all of the Amex travel partners.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Airline transfer partners

  • Aeromexico 1:1.6
  • Air Canada (Aeroplan) 1:1
  • Air France KLM (Flying Blue) 1:1
  • Alitalia (Millemiglia) 1:1
  • Avianca LifeMiles 1:1
  • ANA 1:1
  • Cathay Pacific (Asia Miles) 1:1
  • British Airways 1:1
  • Delta Air Lines (SkyMiles) 1:1
  • El Al Israel Airlines 1,000: 20
  • Emirates 1:1
  • Etihad 1:1
  • Hawaiian Airlines 1:1
  • Iberia Plus 1:1
  • JetBlue Airways 250: 200
  • Singapore Airlines 1:1
  • Virgin Atlantic 1:1

Hotel Transfer Partners:

  • Choice Privileges Rewards (1:1)
  • Hilton Honors (1:2)
  • Starwood SPG (1000:333)

You can also redeem your Membership Rewards for cash back but it’s at a very poor rate of .6 cent per point, so I never recommend for people to redeem their Membership Rewards for cash back.

Uber Credit Card

The Uber Credit Card offers a welcome bonus of $100 after spending $500 on purchases in the first 90 days. The Uber card earns straight cash back and currently you can’t transfer your hard-earned points to any travel partners (though it’s rumored that this might happen in the future). 

As you can tell, the Amex Gold Card is much more suited for travelers and offers the potential for much higher value than the Uber card does. But it does come with a higher spend requirement and requires more work to maximize your points.

Bonus categories

Both of these cards are two of the best dining credit cards out the market but they also offer additional ways to earn points with other categories.

Amex Gold Card

  • 3X on airfare
  • 4X points at U.S. restaurants
  • 4X points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 in spend per calendar year)
  • 1X points on all other purchases

The Amex Gold Card is now a points-earning beast with 4X on U.S. restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, two very useful categories for everyday spending.

Earning 4X on these categories is going to allow a lot of people to rack up Membership Rewards very quickly! The biggest thing to note about the Gold Card is that you’re limited to US restaurants and US supermarkets.

Uber Credit Card

  • 4% back on dining
  • 3% back on hotel and airfare
  • 2% back on online purchases
  • 1% back on all other purchases

The Uber credit card earns a strong 4% cash back on dining which is exceptional for a no annual fee credit card. The 3% back on hotel and airfare is respectable but nothing extraordinary since other cards offer similar returns and the 2% back on online purchases isn’t that special since there are no annual fee cards that offer 2% back on all purchases.

If you’re curious about what counts for the 2% back on streaming services, these include the following:

  • Video and music streaming services (including Netflix, Pandora, HBO Now, and Apple Music)
  • Certain online services (including Instacart, Shyp, Angie’s List, Handy, Thumbtack, FlyCleaners and TaskRabbit)
  • Digital purchases of mobile applications and media on platforms (including iTunes and Google Play).

However, there are many merchants that are excluded from the online category. These include:

  • Utilities (such as cable, satellite, telecommunications, gas, water, and electric)
  • Contracted Services (such as landscaping, general contractors, plumbing, heating/air conditioning, roofing, siding, carpentry, electrical, masonry, and concrete, and certain special trade contractors)
  • Government Services (such as court costs, alimony, child support, fines, bail and bond payments, and tax payments)
  • Professional Services (such as doctors, therapists, dentists, opticians, nursing care facilities, hospitals, attorneys, child care services, accounting, and architectural services).

Also, keep in mind that any Online Purchases using third party payment methods including PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay are excluded.

The Amex Gold Card stands out by offering 4X at U.S. restaurants and U.S. supermarkets. For travelers who value Membership Rewards at around 2 cents per point, that’s essentially an 8% return on those purchases.

However, if you’d rather focus on just earning cash back then the Uber card is going to be the better option for you since there’s no subjective value for your points and you know you’re getting 4% back on all dining purchases (that qualify).

Annual Fee

Amex Gold Card

The annual fee for the Amex Gold card is $250, which is pretty high and places the Amex Gold card between the $500+ premium cards and premier travel cards that come with $95 annual fees.

Uber Credit Card

The Uber credit card comes with no annual fee which is very impressive considering the benefits offered by the card.

Special perks

Amex Gold Card

The Gold Card’s $250 annual fee can be knocked down by utilizing the travel credits that come with the Amex Gold Card, which includes the following:

  • $100 airline credit 
  • $120 dining credit
    •  $10 monthly credit that can be used at Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and Shake Shack.

Uber Credit Card

The Uber credit card comes with two potentially money-saving perks that you should consider.

$600 Mobile phone insurance

When you charge your total monthly wireless telephone bill to your Uber Visa Card, the phone lines listed on your wireless account are automatically covered with $600 worth of cell phone insurance.

You’ll be covered for stolen and damaged cell phones as well as involuntary and accidental parting of your cell phone.

Once all other available insurance has been utilized, the insurance will provide coverage up to $600 per claim after the $25.00 deductible, with a maximum of 2 claims and $1,200.00 per 12 month period. 

This is a terrific benefit that could end up saving you hundreds if something happened to your phone. I think that protections like these are very underrated and now there are a few credit cards starting to offer this. Since there’s no annual fee, this essentially like free cell-phone insurance.

$50 Digital subscription benefit

After spending $5,000 in an anniversary year, you may earn up to a $50 credit for Net Purchases from the following eligible digital music, video and shopping subscription services:

  • Apple Music
  • Pandora
  • Spotify
  • Amazon Music
  • Google Music
  • Audible
  • Sirius XM
  • Netflix
  • Hulu
  • HBO NOW
  • DirecTV NOW
  • Amazon Prime
  • Shoprunner

When you meet the $5,000 spend threshold, statement credits will be automatically applied for up to $50 worth of Net Purchases of Eligible Digital Subscription Services that have posted during that Cardmembership Year.

So each 12 months any eligible purchases within that timeframe will be credited up to $50, whether they occur before or after you hit the $5,000 spend. Barclays will also provide a tracker so you can keep tabs on how close you are to meeting the threshold.

This is a nice little perk that isn’t to difficult to meet, requiring only $5,000 worth of spend. If you put $5,000 worth of restaurant spend on your card, that would be a nice way to be rewarded on top of the 4% you’d be getting back.

No foreign transaction fees

Both cards offer no foreign transaction fees.

Refer a friend

The Uber card does not offer referrals but with the Gold Card you can earn 10,000 Membership Rewards per referral and you can earn up to 55,000 Membership Rewards per year which is great. You can find out more about the Amex Refer a Friend policy here.

Final word

These are two of the top dining credit cards but they serve very different purposes. The Amex Gold Card is more geared toward those who value rewards for travel and are looking to maximize bonus earnings with supermarkets. Meanwhile, the Uber credit card is for those who are looking to earn straightforward cash back (though it can be a great dining card to take with you abroad).

New Amex Gold Card 50,000 Membership Rewards Offer (Link)

American Express just announced its new Gold Card which is the former Premier Rewards Gold Card but with revamped benefits. The standard public offer is for 25,000 Membership Rewards but now there’s a referral link with a 50,000 Membership Rewards offer!

Update: Some offers are no longer available — click here for the latest deals!

The 50,000 point offer link

Here’s the referral link to the 50,000 point offer! 

Keep reading on to find out more about this card.

Great bonus categories

The new card comes with some of the most competitive bonus earning rates out of any credit card for dining and groceries. Here’s a look at the bonus categories.

  • 3X on airfare 
  • 4X points at U.S. Restaurants
  • 4X points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 in spend per calendar year)
  • $120 dining credit
    •  $10 monthly credit that can be used at Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and Shake Shack.

Also, as part of a limited time offer, you’ll also be able to receive 20% back as a statement credit at US restaurants within the first three months of Card Membership, up to $100 back.

I plan on putting all of my US dining and supermarket spend on this card for the foreseeable future and am very excited about the prospect of earning more rewards.

Welcome bonus

This new offer provides 50,000 Membership Rewards Points after you make $2,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership.

The standard public offer is usually 25,000 Membership Rewards after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months and you usually have to get a little lucky to pull up the 50,000 point offer with a private browser trick, so it’s fantastic that this offer is now open to the public.

The standard public offer is 25,000 Membership Rewards.

New metal and rose gold cards

I don’t usually get too excited about metal cards since there are so many of them offered now and they don’t offer any real value but I do think this card is going to look very good in metal. You can choose from either the traditional gold or the new rose gold look, which I think is going to look really good as well.

You should see the option to choose on the application page.

Annual Fee

The new annual fee is $250 which is $55 higher than before but with the the $100 airline credit, $120 dining credit, and the 20% back as a statement credit, you’ll be able to offset that annual fee quite easily. Also, if you plan to spend a decent amount on dining and supermarkets you’ll quickly earn enough to cancel out the annual fee.

Assume you spend $8,000 on groceries with this card to earn 32,000 Membership Rewards in one year. At a valuation of 1.8 cents per point, that’s $576 worth of rewards without even factoring in what you’d earn with dining rewards. Obviously, you have to consider that there are other great cards for dining and groceries (with no annual fees), but I really value Membership Rewards a lot so this is a great option for people like myself.

Limited time offer

Limited Time Offer ends 01/09/2019

Can you get the sign-up bonus again?

If you already opened up a Premier Rewards Gold Card in the past, you might be wondering if it’s possible to get approved for the new Gold Card and earn a welcome bonus. The answer to that question is probably no. Amex will likely show you a pop-up when you go to apply explaining that you are no eligible for the welcome bonus.

However, some people have had reported that the pop-up did not show up and they took a chance on the card. Only time will tell if these people will get the new bonus but I would not expect this to work and only try it if you’re one to take risks.

Final word

I think the 50,000 point offer along with the new 4X bonus categories makes this a very strong offer. The key is to make sure that the annual fee is worth it in your case based on your ability to use the credits, travel goals, etc. But if you are really interested in earning Membership Rewards, I think the new Gold Card will be a great option for many people.

Amex to Revamp the Premier Rewards Gold Card (in Major Way)

Offers contained within this article maybe expired.

The Premier Rewards Gold Card has been one of the best cards for earning Membership Rewards with 3X on airfare and 2X on US dining, US gas stations, and US supermarkets. But the card has lost some of its appeal over the last couple of years.

The 2X on US dining hasn’t been very competitive for a while. It’s on par with the Sapphire Preferred but the Sapphire Reserve earns 3X on dining and many other cards offer a higher cash back return like the Capital One® SavorOne® Cash Rewards Credit Card or even the Barclays Uber card which both earn 4% back on dining.

And as for gas and groceries, there are many cards out there that offer higher than a 2% return. You can easily get a 3%+ return on gas with many cards and the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express offers 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year.

The 3X on flights is okay but the Platinum Card earns 5X on airfare so it’s not even the best Amex card for that, either.

So while the Premier Rewards Gold Card has been a good way for earning Membership Rewards it’s really lost its competitive edge over the past few years and didn’t really have one distinctive feature for earning rewards. 

But that’s going to change.

Revamped Premier Rewards Gold Card

Well now the Premier Rewards Gold Card is going to be revamped so that it will earn the following rates:

  • 4X points at U.S. Restaurants
  • 4X points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 in spend per calendar year)
  • $120 dining credit
    •  $10 monthly credit that can be used at Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and Shake Shack.

This is a huge development as it means we finally have a new worthwhile daily driver credit card that could out-earn the Sapphire Reserve!

4X Membership Rewards on U.S. dining

Earning 4X Membership Rewards on dining blows away the competition. My first thought is that I’d much rather earn 4X Membership Rewards with the Premier Rewards Gold Card than 3X with the Chase Sapphire Reserve. And earning 4X Membership Rewards is much more valuable than earning 4% back.

If you value Membership Rewards at 1.8 cents per point, that’s like getting 7.2% back.

The catch here is that it will only be for US restaurants so you’ll still want a better way to rack up your dining points when traveling abroad. That’s always been something I’ve found annoying about Amex but it’s still a great way to earn a lot of points since most of our dining experiences probably take place in the US.

4X Membership Rewards at U.S. supermarkets

Getting 4x Membership Rewards at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 in spend per calendar year) is another huge perk. That’s a very large cap on supermarket spending as many people fall well under that and it opens up a lot of possibilities to cash out for some people who know how to spend a lot at grocery stores.

I will definitely be switching to this card for all of our grocery store spend when these perks are kicked in. 

$120 dining credit

You’ll get a $10 monthly credit that can be used at Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and Shake Shack each month of the year for a total annual credit of $120.

This does not excite me as much because the it’s capped at $10 per month. Using services like Grubhub, you often have pay close to $10 just with the delivery fee and tips alone so it’s not a huge incentive to go out of your way to use. However, if you already use food delivery service Grubhub, this is a nice way to save.

It’s also a great credit to use at Shake Shack which I believe serves some of the best burgers in the country. It wouldn’t surprise me to see other restaurants added in the future, either.

No more 2X on gas

The card will be losing the 2X rate on gas purchases which I don’t think is a very big deal considering the new bonus categories.

New annual fee?

The current annual fee is $195. With the $100 airline credit and the $120 credits for dining, you’d be making a $25 profit with this credit (depending on how you value the credits).

Could Amex really be adding these great perks with no increase in the annual fee? It would be great if they did but it does make you curious about what will happen with the annual fee.

Welcome bonus

Is there going to be a higher welcome bonus up to maybe 50,000 Membership Rewards? Who knows — I doubt we’ll see a higher bonus but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a resurgence in 50,000 Membership Reward Incognito offers.

Should I apply now?

The benefits are said to officially kick in at the beginning of October, so we’ll probably be seeing more official word about these benefits soon. So you may want to wait until the new card perks are officially published.

Final word

The $120 annual credit is nice because it can save money for some people but the huge news for me is the 4X on dining and supermarkets — that’s very impressive and exciting. The big question here is what changes, if any, will happen to the annual fee for this card? If it stays the same then this card is an absolute no-brainer but if goes much higher, the card will require a closer look.

H/T: Churning

American Express Discontinues Gold Card

Via Doctor of Credit, it looks like American Express has decided to discontinue its Gold Card, which was one of the several charge cards offered by the issuer. This is not a major change that should have you worried about missing out if you never got the card and here’s why.

Gold Card =/=Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express

First, note that the American Express Gold Card is different from the Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express (also known as the “PRG”)

The Premier Rewards Gold Card earns 3X on airfare purchased directly with the airline and 2X on supermarkets and gas, and comes with a $100 airline credit which helps to offset the $195 annual fee. It also comes with a worthwhile sign-up bonus of 50,000 Membership Rewards that’s easy enough to find at times and it can even offer higher targeted offers up to 65,000. (There was once an offer for 75,000 but we haven’t seen that return in a long time.)

Meanwhile the American Express Gold Card came with no standard sign-up bonus, earned 2X for flights booked directly with airlines and at US restaurants and came with an annual fee of $125 (waived the first year).

This was one of the worst cards offered by American Express, since the Premier Rewards Gold Card had a much better sign-up bonus, earned much better bonus earning rates, and came with a travel credit to bring the annual fee down to $95.

Still, it wasn’t a complete waste of space since you could often find Incognito offers for this card offering a bonus of 25,000 Membership Rewards after spending $1,000 in 3 months. This was an easy to earn a quick 25K in Membership Rewards and since the annual was waived the first year, it didn’t cost you anything immediately.

Now, it looks like the card will be gone (although you can still probably add free authorized users to your Platinum Card® from American Express which come in the form of Gold Cards).

Final word

Overall, this isn’t a major loss at all but I never like seeing an easy point-earning oppurtunity vanish, which is exactly what this was. In the meantime, the Green Card is still available, which sometimes also offers a 25,000 Membership Rewards sign-up bonus and also waives its fee for the first year, so look out for that.