Amex Gold Card Changes Coming Soon?
Talks of an American Express Gold Card changes have been on going for months now. We already wrote about the annual fee possibly jumping up to $325. We have also seen a possible new design option of White Gold.
These rumors seems to have been confirmed by Steve Squeri, Amex Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said that “we look forward to announcing our refreshed U.S. Consumer Gold Card in the coming weeks”.
New leaked data from the internal Amex test site, conforms that the annual fee is likely going to be $325. But we also see some new benefits and other changes that might not be so well received.
Amex Gold Card Changes
- Annual fee will increase from $250 to $325
- New signup bonus of 60,000 Membership Rewards Points and 20% back at restaurants, up to a maximum of $100.
- 4X earning at restaurants will be limited to $50,000 per year.
- Five Guys will be added to eligible merchants for $120 Dining Credit, but Milk Bar and Shake Shack will be removed.
- $100 Resy Credit: Receive up to $50 in statement credit from January through June, and up to $50 July through December for eligible Resy purchases. That includes purchases at restaurants that are listed on Resy, and direct purchases through resy.com.
- $84 Dunkin Credit: Get up to $7 in statement credit per month for Dunkin purchases.
Conclusion
The information comes from qwww pages which American Express using for internal testing. We often see these offers become public soon after. And since the CEO also confirmed upcoming changes, I would think that this is exactly what cardholders will see in the coming weeks.
The annul fee is going up by $75, and you are getting two new benefits that are not very exciting. They just make the card more of a coupon book, similar to Amex Platinum. There’s also a cap coming for 4X on dining and reshuffling of the $120 Dining Credit. The new signup bonus is not that exciting either.
Let us know what you think!
HT: Doctor of Credit and USCardforum
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The problem with coupon books is that, if you don’t live near a Dunkin Donuts, you’re just subsidizing those who do. It’s an arbitrary criteria for Amex to steer their customer base towards.
If you don’t like coupon books, just get the Green Card, which arguably has a better bonus structure.
No thank you. Time to finally cancel.
Why do people whine about $325 a year. That is one decent meal out for me. I get value from my Amex Gold and Platinum cards plus my Chase Sapphire Reserve. If you complain about the AF you obviously can’t afford the card so move along
You know there are no annual fee cards that provide 5% cash back on dining? Do the research and you will find that you are being hosed by Amex. At least Sapphire Reserve has the 50% back when redeeming points for travel. Amex coupon book entices you to use things that you may not have even needed….
“Why do people whine about $325 a year. That is one decent meal out for me” – We found that one special customer AMEX is targeting: doesn’t mind dropping $325 on a meal or an annual fee, but is also excited about saving $7 at Dunkin or Five Guys! I guess you win. Enjoy your card.
An arrogant a** you are.
Loved my Gold card but dropped it a couple years back as it was hard justifying the AF with my usage. While I sometimes miss it, the upcoming changes only validate (for me) that dropping it was only inevitable and I’m not going to miss it that much.
having amex for 41 years…….this is the straw that breaks the camel’s back and I think they will realize the mistake soon enough. Cook at home – not a restaurant user – have the card for the grocery benefit. Problem is I can only upgrade to platinum whic his another coupon book or downgrade to green which is still $150 and not worth it. Must be within the family – can’t go to everyday or blue. Cancelling will in the short term affect my credit rating as dropping a 41 year card will damage my average amount of time the other cards have been held – so what to do?????
At some point people need to say enough with this garbage and cancel their cards. Who the hell wants to pay $325 for this piece of dump?!?!?!?!?! You can literally get the Venture X card for $395/year and that comes with a slew of benefits that 95% of their cardholders can easily make use of. WTF is this coupon book that they keep giving us barely usable credits while constantly increasing the annual fee? Do they think we are THAT dumb?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
I’m probably going to be out when the card year expires. I’ve been seeing about if the fiscals are working for me with the spending on the card. $7 at Dunkin? Who thought of that? I may use Five Guys, but I don’t think their food is so great. There are only so many groceries we buy as a family of 2 – and if we buy from Target Grocery or Walmart Grocery, those won’t credit as a grocery purchase. If they offer me a retention credit, maybe another year.