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American Express Gold Card Offering “Up to” 100K Point Bonus
American Express is (potentially) upping the welcome bonus for another one of its signature cards.
About the Amex Gold Card’s Elevated Offer:
The American Express Gold Card is now offering an enhanced welcome bonus — for some, that is. Now, new cardmembers can earn up to 100,000 bonus Amex Membership Rewards points after spending at least $6,000 on the card within their first six months. However, this “up to” 100,000 points offer means that some applicants may not qualify for this deal. Instead, prospective cardholders can apply with a soft credit pull in order to view the offer they’re eligible for. Then, they can decide whether to accept (which will then result in a hard credit pull).
When the Gold Card was refreshed nearly a year ago, it launched with a welcome offer of 75,000 bonus points after $6,000 in spending during the first six months.
The format of this welcome offer is similar to one that the American Express Platinum card is currently featuring. With that, new Platinum cardmembers can earn up to 175,000 bonus Membership Rewards points after spending at least $8,000 in purchases on the card within their first six months from account opening. For context, the standard offer for this card is just 80,000 points after $8,000 in spending.
More About the American Express Gold Card:
While the Amex Gold Card now carries a $325 annual fee, that can be offset via some key credits as well as an enticing rewards structure. First, the card includes $120 a year ($10 a month) in Uber Cash as well as up to $120 per year ($10 a month) in dining credits, valid on purchases at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Gold cardmembers also enjoy up to $100 per year ($50 semiannually) in credits for Resy restaurant purchases and up to $84 per year ($7 per month) at Dunkin’ Donuts.
In terms of rewards, the card earns 4x points on purchases at restaurants worldwide (up to $50,000 in category purchases per year) and 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 in category purchases per year). Cardholders can also earn 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or via AmexTravel.com and 2x points on other eligible travel purchases booked using Amex Travel. All other purchases earn 1x points.
My Thoughts:
I think it’s pretty obvious that American Express is rolling out these big offers in a bid to take attention away from Chase following that bank’s big Sapphire Reserve refresh. And while any 100,000-point offer is sure to make headlines, there’s also strong emphasis on the “up to” element of this deal. Personally, I’d be very curious to know what percentage of applicants are approved for the full offer and what the alternative bonuses presented might be.
As annoying as this “up to” structure is, if you can secure the full 100K offer, I think this is a deal worth taking advantage of. That’s especially true if you live in an area with multiple Resy restaurants (the lack of options in my area was a key reason why I downgraded my Gold card). If you’re instead presented with a lower offer, it’s up to you to decide what makes sense — but I’d be inclined to turn Amex down and hopefully encourage them to stop this dynamic offer nonsense.
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