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American Express Refreshes Gold Card, Increases Annual Fee
American Express has announced a major refresh for one of its flagship cards.
About the updates:
The Amex Gold Card is getting a revamp for the first time in three years. First, the card will be gaining two new credits. Now, cardholders will be able to earn up to $84 a year ($7 a month) in statement credits for purchases at Dunkin Donuts. Additionally, Gold cardmembers will earn up to $100 per year in statement credits when they make purchases at participating Resy dining locations. This credit is broken down into two semi-annual $50 credits — meaning $50 between January and June as well as another $50 between July and December.
Beyond these additions, Amex is also making some tweaks to the Gold Card’s current offerings. Effective September 26th, Milk Bar and Shake Shack will be removed from the card’s $10 monthly dining credit offering. However, Five Guys has come aboard as an eligible option.
Another update is that the Gold Card’s headlining rewards category will now include a cap. Now, the 4x American Express Membership Rewards at restaurants worldwide feature will be limited to $50,000 in category spending per calendar year. Meanwhile, the 4x at U.S. grocery stores category will continue to be capped at $25,000 in annual category spending. Gold cardmembers can also continue to earn 3x on flights booked directly with airlines or via Amex Travel. Additionally, in a less-known perk that Amex is now calling out, the card earns 2x points on prepaid hotels, car rentals, and cruises booked using Amex Travel.
With this refresh, American Express has announced an annual fee hike for the card. Now, the Amex Gold Card will carry a $325 annual fee — which is up $75 from the previous $250 fee. The update will also bring a new card design option as a White Gold variant will be available to new and existing cardmembers.
To celebrate this refresh, Amex is also offering an enhanced welcome bonus. Currently, new cardholders can earn 75,000 Membership Rewards points after spending at least $6,000 on the card within their first six months. On top of that, new cardholders will receive 20% back on eligible purchases made at restaurants worldwide within the first 6 months of Card Membership, up to $100 back. This special offer is set to expire on November 6th.
My thoughts:
As an Amex Gold Card customer, I definitely have some thoughts on these updates. Starting with the bad, the $75 fee hike is steep. To me, paying $325 for this card is far harder to justify. The other negative change would be the $50,000 cap on dining — but, honestly, there’s no chance in hell this is ever going to affect me, so I don’t care about that.
Of course, for that extra $75 annual fee, cardholders are getting $184 in credits. That may technically be true, but there are some major considerations to make. For one, while there’s a Dunkin’ less than a mile from my house, I can’t say I regularly visit there. So, while I could use this credit easily enough, I’d feel as though I’d basically be pre-paying for something I didn’t intend on buying rather than receiving an actual benefit.
Turning to the Resy credit, the bad news here is that there aren’t any Resy locations in my city. On the other hand, I’m very glad to see that Amex made this a semi-annual credit with the Gold Card in contrast to the monthly credit that was added to Delta SkyMiles Reserve card. This structure should make it much easier for me to use this credit while traveling or visiting friends.
Lastly, although I’ll miss Shake Shack as an option for the Dining Credit, the swap to Five Guys is better for me. Once again, that’s mostly due to availability in my area. This is to say that there is a Five Guys in Springfield, whereas I’d only be able to use my Shake Shack credit when on the road. On that note, I’m also glad to see that Grubhub is still an option as that’s our go-to.
With all of that considered, while I’m not looking forward to paying the increased fee, I think I’ll at least give the updated Gold Card a try — which is easy to do since the new benefits are now live. Then, whether or not I keep it beyond that will depend on my ability to use that Resy credit (and grow a taste for Dunkin’ I guess). Meanwhile, the increased fee will also make the American Express Gold Card a bit harder to recommend overall.
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