Quick facts
Time
10-minute read
Cost
$325 annual fee; no foreign transaction fees
Potential value
a welcome bonus (amount varies by applicant), plus up to $424 a year in dining, Uber, Resy, and Dunkin’ credits
Best for
people who spend a lot at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets and will actually use monthly credits
TL;DR
- The American Express Gold Card costs $325 a year and earns 4X Membership Rewards points at restaurants worldwide (on up to $50,000 a year) and 4X at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 a year), then 1X.
- Travel earning: 5X on prepaid hotels and 2X on prepaid car rentals booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel app, plus 3X on flights booked directly with airlines or through Amex Travel.
- Welcome offer (checked October 25, 2026): Amex shows the welcome offer on its card page, and the amount can vary by applicant and over time. Amex’s site did not let us confirm the public number on October 25, 2026, so open the Gold Card page to see the offer you’re shown before you apply.
- Credits: up to $120 a year in dining credits, $120 in Uber Cash, $100 at Resy restaurants, and $84 at Dunkin’. That’s $424 if you use every one, but most come in monthly pieces and several need enrollment.
- No lounge access. Amex says so directly on the card page.
- Skip it if you don’t spend much on dining and groceries, you won’t use Uber, Grubhub, Resy, or Dunkin’, or you have ever held the Platinum Card (it can block the Gold bonus; details below).
Every card fact below was checked October 25, 2026 on American Express’s Gold Card page. If we could not confirm a detail on an official Amex page that day, we left it out or say so.
The card at a glance
| American Express Gold Card | |
|---|---|
| Issuer | American Express |
| Annual fee | $325 (up to 5 Additional Cards at $0; $35 each after that) |
| Foreign transaction fee | None |
| Welcome offer | Varies by applicant; shown on Amex’s card page and again before you accept |
| Restaurants worldwide | 4X on up to $50,000 per calendar year, then 1X |
| U.S. supermarkets | 4X on up to $25,000 per calendar year, then 1X |
| Prepaid hotels via Amex Travel | 5X |
| Flights (direct with airlines or via Amex Travel) | 3X |
| Prepaid car rentals via Amex Travel, and cruises booked and paid through AmexTravel.com | 2X |
| Everything else | 1X |
| Annual credits | $120 dining, $120 Uber Cash, $100 Resy, $84 Dunkin’ |
| Lounge access | None |
| Transfer partners | 20 airline and hotel programs, per Amex |
How you earn points
The Gold Card is built around two everyday categories, and they carry most of the value.
Restaurants worldwide: 4X on up to $50,000 a year. That cap is high enough that very few households hit it. Takeout and delivery from restaurants count too, according to Amex’s card page.
U.S. supermarkets: 4X on up to $25,000 a year. That works out to a little over $2,000 a month before you drop to 1X. Note the “U.S.” part: supermarkets abroad don’t earn 4X. Amex’s terms define which merchants count, so check them if you shop at a warehouse club or superstore.
Travel: 3X on flights booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel, 5X on prepaid hotels and 2X on prepaid car rentals through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel app, and 2X on cruises booked and paid through AmexTravel.com. Before you chase 5X, check whether the hotel chain gives loyalty points and elite credit on stays booked through a travel agency like Amex Travel; policies vary by chain.
Everything else: 1X. The Gold is a poor card for spending outside its categories, which is why many people pair it with a flat-rate card. Choosing between the Gold and Chase’s $95 card? See our Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred comparison.
What 4X is worth in practice
Our points valuations table puts Amex Membership Rewards at 1.2 cents each, based on real award searches. At that value, 4X is roughly a 4.8% return at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets. If you just redeem for a statement credit, Amex pays far less (our table lists 0.6 cents), so the Gold only makes sense if you plan to transfer points or book through Amex Travel.
A quick example with hypothetical numbers: a household spending $800 a month at restaurants and $700 a month at U.S. supermarkets would earn 72,000 points a year from those two categories alone ($18,000 x 4). At 1.2 cents, that’s about $864 in travel value before credits, against a $325 fee.
The welcome offer
We couldn’t confirm the current public Gold welcome offer on Amex’s site on October 25, 2026, so we’re not printing a number here. Amex displays the offer on the Gold Card page, and it can differ from person to person.
The eligibility catch: when we checked Amex’s Gold offer terms on October 14, 2026, they said you may not be eligible for the bonus if you have or have had the Gold Card, the Premier Rewards Gold Card, the Platinum Card, the Schwab or Morgan Stanley Platinum, or previous versions of those cards. In other words, a past Platinum can block the Gold bonus. If you want both cards someday, getting the Gold first is the order that wording allows. Read the offer terms on the application page before you apply, since they can change.
Amex shows you the exact offer you’ll get after you apply and before you accept the card, and Amex says on the card page that you can find out whether you’re approved with no impact to your credit score. Your score can be affected only if you accept.
If you’re comparing bonuses across issuers, our best credit card welcome bonuses page is updated as offers change.
The credits: $424 a year, if you use them
Amex says the Gold Card can unlock “$500+ in annual value,” which includes The Hotel Collection benefit below. Here are the four recurring credits, as listed on the card page:
| Credit | How it works | Max per year |
|---|---|---|
| Dining credit | Up to $10 back each month when you pay with the Gold at Grubhub (including Seamless), Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, The Cheesecake Factory, and Wonder. Enrollment required | $120 |
| Uber Cash | $10 in Uber Cash each month after you add the Gold to your Uber account; usable on U.S. Uber rides and Uber Eats orders when you pay with an Amex card | $120 |
| Resy credit | Up to $50 from January through June and up to $50 from July through December at qualifying U.S. Resy restaurants. Enrollment required | $100 |
| Dunkin’ credit | Up to $7 back each month at U.S. Dunkin’ locations. Enrollment required | $84 |
Watch Out
Monthly credits don’t roll over. Miss a month of Uber Cash or the dining credit and that $10 is gone. Be honest with yourself: if you’d only use two of the four, count the card as costing more like $100 to $200 a year net, not zero.
The Hotel Collection: book two nights or more through AmexTravel.com and get a $100 credit toward eligible charges at participating hotels (Amex lists over 1,300). Eligible charges vary by property. It’s worth it only if you’d book that hotel anyway, so compare the price with booking direct.
Does the Gold pay for itself?
Here’s a simple break-even check using the official numbers:
| If you use… | Credit value | Net cost of the $325 fee |
|---|---|---|
| All four credits | $424 | You come out $99 ahead before earning a single point |
| Uber Cash and dining credit only | $240 | $85 a year |
| Uber Cash only | $120 | $205 a year |
| None of them | $0 | $325 a year |
Then add the value of your points. In the hypothetical household above, about $864 in yearly points value covers the fee comfortably even with zero credits used.
Other benefits worth knowing
- No foreign transaction fees, so purchases abroad don’t carry an extra fee.
- Trip delay insurance: if a round trip is paid entirely with the card and a covered reason delays it more than 12 hours, Amex lists reimbursement of certain expenses up to $300 per trip, with a maximum of 2 claims per 12 months. Terms and exclusions apply.
- Baggage insurance: up to $1,250 for carry-on bags and $500 for checked bags, beyond what the carrier covers, when you buy the entire fare on the card.
- Car rental loss and damage insurance: secondary coverage when you decline the rental company’s collision waiver. Not available in Australia, Italy, or New Zealand, and no liability coverage.
- Purchase protection: up to 90 days against accidental damage, theft, or loss, up to $10,000 per purchase and $50,000 a year.
- Extended warranty: up to one extra year on warranties of 5 years or less.
- Hertz Five Star status after enrollment.
- No preset spending limit, which Amex says adapts to your purchase, payment, and credit history. You can also carry a balance with interest using Pay Over Time, but carrying a balance would wipe out the value of the rewards.
Transfer partners
Membership Rewards points transfer to 20 airline and hotel partners, according to Amex’s Gold Card page. Ratios vary by partner and can change, so check our credit card transfer partners chart and Amex’s own transfer page before you move points. Transfers are one way: once points leave Amex, you can’t move them back.
If you’re new to transfers, start with our beginner’s guide to credit card rewards for travel and use the points value calculator to check whether an award beats paying cash.
Amex Gold vs. the alternatives
| Card | Annual fee | Strongest earning | Main reason to pick it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amex Gold | $325 | 4X restaurants and U.S. supermarkets | Heavy food spend plus credits you’ll use |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | See our review | Dining and travel | Lower fee and Chase’s Hyatt transfer partner |
| Capital One Venture X | $395 | 2X on everything | Simple earning plus lounge access |
Card fees and earn rates for the other cards are in their reviews, each checked on the issuer’s page on the date shown there. For the full lineup by type of traveler, see our best travel credit cards guide.
Who should get the Amex Gold
Get it if:
- You spend several hundred dollars a month at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets.
- You already use Uber or Uber Eats, and at least one of Grubhub, Resy restaurants, or Dunkin’.
- You plan to transfer points to airlines or hotels rather than cash them out.
- You haven’t held the Platinum Card, if you want the welcome bonus.
Skip it if:
- Most of your spending falls outside dining and groceries.
- You’d forget monthly credits or find tracking them annoying.
- You want airport lounge access; the Gold has none.
- You’d carry a balance. Interest would cost more than the points are worth.
FAQ
What is the Amex Gold annual fee?
$325 for the primary card, according to Amex’s card page checked October 25, 2026. The first five Additional Cards have no annual fee; after that, each one is $35.
Does the Amex Gold have lounge access?
No. Amex’s own FAQ says the Gold Card does not currently have lounge access benefits and points to the Platinum Card or the Delta SkyMiles Reserve card instead.
What’s the welcome offer right now?
Amex’s card page shows the current offer, and it can vary by applicant. We couldn’t confirm the public number on October 25, 2026, so check the Gold Card page directly, and see our best credit card welcome bonuses page for how it compares.
How much is an Amex point worth?
We value Membership Rewards points at 1.2 cents each when transferred to airline partners, and as little as 0.6 cents as a statement credit. See our points valuations for how we got those numbers.
Have Amex points too? Our Amex Membership Rewards transfer partners guide lists all 20 partners with exact ratios, the U.S. airline transfer fee, and the sweet spots worth checking first.
Bottom line
Bottom Line
The Amex Gold is one of the best cards for food spending: 4X at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets, plus up to $424 a year in credits that can cover the $325 fee on their own. The catch is effort. Most credits arrive in monthly pieces, several need enrollment, and the card earns only 1X outside its categories. Get it if dining and groceries are a big part of your budget and you’ll use at least the Uber and dining credits. Skip it if you want lounges, simple flat earning, or have held the Platinum Card.
Want a heads-up when the Gold’s offer changes or Amex runs a transfer bonus? We cover it in Points & Miles Weekly, our free newsletter. Sign up here.
Related: Best Airline Miles for Beginners
Related: Hotel Transfer Partners
The Points Quest
Points Quest is educational content only, not personalized financial advice. Annual fees, earning rates, credits, and benefits were checked on americanexpress.com on October 25, 2026; offer eligibility terms were last checked October 14, 2026. They can change at any time; terms apply. Point values in examples use The Points Quest’s own valuations unless we say otherwise. Targeted offers may differ from public ones. Advertiser Disclosure