Get Started

Learn more about Credit Cards, Travel Programs, Deals, and more.

New Amex Gold Card: 4X at Restaurants & Supermarkets, Increased Fee and 50K Welcome Offer

This post may contain affiliate links - Advertiser Disclosure. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Links in this post may provide us with a commission.

Amex Gold Card

New Amex Gold Card

American Express announced a new version of its popular Premier Rewards Gold Card, which will now be called the “American Express Gold Card” and come in a chic, limited edition rose gold metal design. The new Gold Card is designed to give Card Members more rewards in some of the most popular categories such as food and travel. The annual fee is going up and the Amex Gold Card is losing one benefit.

The Welcome Offer

Receive 20% back as a statement credit at U.S. Restaurants with the Gold Card within the first 3 months of your Card Membership, up to $100 back. Offer available to new Card Members who apply by 1/9/2019.

Plus, earn 25,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $2,000 on eligible purchases with your new card within the first 3 months.

Limited time 50K Welcome Bonus being offered!

Card Benefits

The new Amex Gold Card will have the following new benefits:

  • 4X Membership Rewards points at U.S. Restaurants
  • 4X Membership Rewards points at U.S. Supermarkets (on up to $25,000 in purchases annually)
  • A new $120 dining credit which gives enrolled Card Members up to $10 per month in statement credits when they use their Card at eligible dining partners including participating Shake Shack locations, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Grubhub/Seamless

It’s retaining the following benefits:

  • 3X Membership Rewards points on flights booked directly with airlines and amextravel.com
  • $100 airline fee credit: up to $100 in statement credits per year for incidental expenses like baggage fees at one selected airline
  • The Hotel Collection: Gold Card Members get a $75 hotel credit on qualifying charges, plus a room upgrade upon check-in, when available, when they book a stay of at least two consecutive nights at hotels in the collection
  • Personalized Travel Service: provides access to a team of Travel Professionals who can help with travel bookings and vacation packages across air, hotels, transportation, cruise and tour

And, it’s losing one benefit that the old Premier Rewards Golf Card had:

  • No more 2X Membership Rewards points on spend at U.S. Gas Stations. Current Premier Rewards Gold Card Members will continue to receive this benefit until October 4, 2019, when this benefit will be discontinued.

The benefit changes have already gone into effect for current cardholders.

Metal Design

American Express is also elevating the look and feel of the beloved Gold Card, by introducing a new sleek metal design. There’s also a limited time opportunity to request a limited edition rose gold version of the Card through January 9, 2019. This is available for current card members as well.

Annual Fee

The annual fee on the card will be $250 and it is not waived the first year. That’s a $55 increase compared to the old Premier Rewards Gold Card. The fee used to be waived the first year on the old PRG card as well. If you already have the card, The new fee will go into effect beginning April 1, 2019 on the account renewal date.

RELATED: Check Here To See If You Are Targeted For An Increased 50K Offer

Conclusion

There’s some significant upgrades in benefits on the Amex Gold card. The 4X Membership Rewards points at U.S. Restaurants and Supermarkets (on up to $25,000 in purchases annually) is huge. $120 dining credit is also a nice bonus that most people should be able to take advantage of.

But the annual fee is going up to $250 and the welcome bonus is only 25K plus 20% back at restaurants up to $100. I think the news is great for current cardholders who can take advantage of the new benefits already, but for those wanting to apply, the news is not as great.  Some people have reported seeing higher offers on the card in the past.

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the old king of travel rewards cards. Right now bonus_miles_full

Learn more about this card and its features!


Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
DDG
DDGhttp://dannydealguru.com
Based in NYC. Points/miles enthusiast for years and actively writing about it for the last 6+ years at Danny the Deal Guru. I'm always looking out for deals. Making a few bucks is always nice, but the traveling is by far the best part of this business.

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

15 COMMENTS

  1. just came across this great website, thanks for the level of detail..

    i received a prequalified from amex for their gold card of 1k spend for 50k points, i also saw the unicorn 100k platinum offer. I am new to the amex fold and have great DPs, i havnt heard of too many 50kpts for 1k spend floating around.

    But both offers do exist!

    • Not sure why there would be a risk? Buying $500 worth of groceries at a time is not unheard of. Just don’t go crazy.

      • Let’s hazard being “candid” here…. The enthusiasm surrounding this offer centers on the 25k limit for 4x grocery purchases…. Most travel hackers (um, fellow reputable citizens) in this realm will be licking their chops at the prospects of buying lots of “groceries” — (wink, wink) — oh never mind, it’s obvious, n’est pa? — e.g. $500 visa or mc gift cards…. 3-4 per month over the year would do it (plus another $200 or so in gc fees)– and that would stack extra nice when Martin’s/Giant etc. put on their fuel point promotions…. One wonders though if the Amex “RAT” teams will at some point down the road declare all such purchases a violation of some provision in their fine print. (re. “cash equivalents”)

        25k in grocery purchases in itself to many might well be deemed “crazy”…. (esp. if you didn’t put a six+ figure income on your application) and may invite eyes on accounts…. Can anyone assure us that points earned for GC purchases at grocery stores aren’t going to get yanked back, say nine months from now? Part of the reason I’m inclined to hold on this one, as yet.

  2. I remember data points on Amex clawbacks due to referrals where the referred party engaged in MS or something Amex didn’t like. There could be a risk to publicly posting referral links.

    • Did you click the updated public link highlighted in red – should take you to 50K. Referrals are also getting the 50K offer.

  3. Reminds me, I have been meaning to cancel the gold card. Had it for a good number of years but it’s not getting used.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Related

7,703FansLike
9,903FollowersFollow
16,444FollowersFollow