Opening a credit card is a significant decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. It involves taking on the responsibility of managing the card diligently and ensuring timely payments each month. Failure to pay the balance in full can seriously impact your financial well-being. While having multiple cards may offer perks and benefits, it also means taking on the task of paying balances promptly and covering annual fees. Therefore, it’s essential to carefully evaluate whether a particular card is the right fit for your financial needs before making a commitment.
After the parental advice, we want to introduce you to the Amex Gold Card and explain why it’s our new bestie. Initially, we hesitated to open this credit card because of its high annual fee. However, we’ve discovered that this card is ideal for everyday spending. Now that we have it, it’s quickly become one of our favorite cards in our wallets.
Sign-up Bonus And Rewards
The Amex Gold card presents a tempting offer—a targeted welcome bonus of 60,000 reward points after spending $6,000 in the first six months—that is just $1,000 a month.
However, what really drew us to this card is its rewards earning potential for everyday use, particularly for grocery shopping and dining/drinking outings. You earn 4 points per dollar spent on grocery shopping (excluding Target and Walmart) and 4 points on purchases at bars and restaurants. Talk about maximizing points while tackling your regular expenses!
And if that’s not enough, it even throws in 3 points per dollar on flights purchased directly from airlines or Amextravel.com. What more could you ask for? Well, how about a private plane? Okay, maybe not that, but you can certainly ride in a commercial one by redeeming your miles and transferring them to Amex’s extensive travel partners.
Annual Fee And Benefits
Let’s cut straight to the chase: a $325 annual fee. Yeah, it’s a lot, which made us think twice about opening this card. But after diving into the details, we figured out how to maximize its perks, turning that annual fee into something that adds to our enjoyment. Think of this card as a discount coupon book packed with credits you need to use before they expire:
- $10 food credit every month, usable at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys.
- $10 Uber or Uber Eats credit, so you can use it for rides, delivery, or even Uber Eats pickup—which we often do to avoid those delivery fees.
- $100 Resy credit (yes, the dining reservation site). Just pay with your Amex at participating restaurants, and you’ll get a statement credit for up to $50 every six months.
- $7 Dunkin’ credit: If you don’t go to Dunkin’ every month, sign up for Dunkin’ Rewards and load $7 onto a digital gift card each month. You don’t have to use it right away—save it up and, before you know it, you can treat your coworkers to coffee and donuts. Instant office hero status. You’re welcome.
Make sure you use all the credits — and trust us, we are taking full advantage every month — because they don’t roll over. By doing so, the annual fee effectively is -$99!!
Sure, it takes a little effort to maximize them, but if you plan it right, this card is basically handing you free money. Yes, you might end up spending at places you wouldn’t usually go, but just think of it as part of your dining-out budget, and suddenly, you’re the one tricking the system!
Final Thoughts
Even though we won’t be getting that shiny sign-up bonus next year, we plan to keep this card in our wallets. We’ve mastered the art of dodging the annual fee, and it’s boosting our earning potential in our major spending categories, bringing us closer to our next holiday. And all it takes is using the right card in the right places.
Our only advice is to steer clear of using it for card roulette with your friends, as it might give the impression of an expensive card, leaving you potentially stuck with the bill—though on the bright side, you’ll rack up 4x points, so it’s not the worst-case scenario. Ready to apply? Click here.
