Rewards Rates
Current Intro Bonus
Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $4,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months.
Key Cardholder Benefits
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and each month automatically get $10 in Uber Cash for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides in the U.S., totaling up to $120 per year.
- Updated $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings and earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at GrubHub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar and select Shake Shack locations. Enrollment required.
- As an American Express Gold Card member, you will be able to book hotels through The Hotel Collection with American Express Travel. When booking at least a two consecutive night stay you will receive a $100 hotel credit and room upgrade upon arrival (when available).
- As an American Express Gold Card member, you can enjoy complimentary ShopRunner Membership which gives you free 2-day shipping and free returns at 100+ stores. Enrollment required.
Rewards Value
Membership Rewards Points earned with the American Express Gold Card are worth 1 cent each when redeemed for airfare through American Express Travel.
If you're looking to maximize the value of your points, you can transfer points to AMEX's travel partners and redeem them for airfare and hotel stays. This can get you significantly more value than redeeming points directly with American Express.
Redemption Option | Average Value (in cents) |
---|---|
Point transfers to airline and hotel partners | 0.6 - 2 |
Booking flights through American Express Travel | 1 |
Booking other travel through American Express Travel | 0.7 |
Paying with points at checkout | 0.7 |
Using points for card charges (statement credit) | 0.6 |
Redeeming points for gift cards | 0.5 - 1 |
Transfer Partners
Points earned with the American Express Gold Card can be transferred to 20 travel partners, with the majority of the partners having a 1:1 transfer ratio.
Annual Fees
The American Express Gold Card has a $250 annual fee. Additional users can be added at a cost of $0 for the first five cards, then $35 per card for the sixth card onward.
While the 4X earning rates can hold their own at offsetting the annual fee (assuming you spend moderately in these categories), the $240 in annual credits should easily help reduce the overall cost of the card.
AMEX Points Calculator
Use the AMEX Gold Points Calculator to determine how many points you can earn based on the monthly or yearly spending amounts you enter.
You can calculate the cash value of the AMEX Gold alongside up to two other credit cards from any issuer.
Any spend entered into the primary card column (the first column) will carry over to all credit card calculators on the site. This means there's no need to re-enter spend when jumping to other credit card pages on the site.
Other Ways To Earn
If you frequently makes purchases online and you're looking to earn more Membership Rewards Points, you should consider using Rakuten Rewards.
Rakuten is an online shopping portal that pays you for shopping online. Basically, they run a website full of affiliate links to different retailers and pay you, the user, some of their commission when you make an online purchase using those links.
The best thing about Rakuten is that they are partnered with American Express Membership Rewards. So instead of earning cash back on your purchases, you can opt in to earn Membership Rewards Points.
So if Rakuten is offering 10% cash back with a certain retailer, you'll be able to earn 10X Membership Rewards Points. Sounds amazing, right? That's because it is.
I've been using Rakuten Rewards as my main online shopping portal since the start of 2017. Once the ability to earn Membership Rewards Points became available, I never looked back.
I use the portal for all of my personal and business online purchases... from buying gifts to booking travel. Since Rakuten uses affiliate links, you're always dropped off on the retailers website. So you're not booking or buying through a third party.
For example, if I click on the Marriott affiliate link on the Rakuten website, it's going to take me to Marriott.com. I can then book my travel as normal and Marriott will notify Rakuten that I have done such. So I still get to earn my Marriott Bonvoy Points from my Marriott booking as well as earn additional Membership Rewards Points based on what Rakuten is offering for Marriott.
You can sign up for Rakuten Rewards for free through our affiliate link and earn bonus Membership Rewards Points (or cash back) on your first purchase. If you're looking to get the most out of the Membership Rewards program, you don't want to ignore this program.
FAQ
How many American Express Gold Points do you earn per dollar?
The American Express Gold Card earns 4 Membership Rewards Points per $1 spent on restaurant and U.S. supermarket purchases, 3 points per $1 spent on airfare, and 1 point per $1 spent everywhere else.
How much are American Express Gold Points worth?
Points earned with the American Express Gold Card can be redeemed for 1 cent each towards airfare via American Express Travel. You can obtain higher value by transferring points to AMEX's airline and hotel partners.
Can you transfer American Express Gold Points to The Platinum Card?
Membership Rewards credit cards linked to the same account will all pool together and share the same balance.
Do Membership Rewards Points expire?
No. Membership Rewards Points are valid as long as you have an open Membership Rewards credit card.
What can you redeem American Express Gold Points for?
Points earned with the American Express Gold Card can be used towards travel, statement credits, gift cards, and much more. You can also transfer them to airline and hotel rewards programs.