The American Express Gold Card is one of those cards frequent travelers have been using for years. It still offers premium benefits, though it has a premium price tag. The annual fee is $195, but you don’t have to pay it in the first year of usage. Also, new cardmembers get a generous bonus as long as they commit to pay their balances in full each month. This isn’t a credit card, remember? Let’s look at the details…
- 25,000 sign-up bonus points
- $100 annual airline fee credit + $75 hotel credit
- This isn’t a credit card, you must pay your balance in full each month
- Shopping and travel perks
- $195 annual fee, waived in the first year
How It Works
Charge, not credit card: This means that you are required to pay your balance in full each month. That, however, means that interest rate does not apply.
Points: Get 3x points for flights booked directly with airlines; 2x points for purchases at U.S. supermarkets, at U.S. gas stations, and at U.S. restaurants, and 1x point on all other purchases. Once earned, these points can be transferred to frequent flyer programs or redeemed for rewards from leading brands in travel, gift cards, merchandise, or entertainment.
Sign up offer: The card offers 25,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of card membership.
Travel benefits: The Premier Rewards Gold card offers a number of travel, perks including:
- Standard AMEX stuff such as car rental insurance, baggage insurance, and access to American Express’ Global Assist Hotline.
- Annual airline fee credit – Every cardholder will receive up to $100 per calendar year in statement credit that can be used to pay for incidental airline fees that are charged to the card, including checked bags, in-flight refreshments, flight-change fees, and airport lounge day-passes.
- Hotel credit – Cardholders also get a $75 hotel credit on qualifying charges, plus a room upgrade upon arrival, if available with The Hotel Collection.
- No foreign transaction fees – so you can carry the Premier Rewards Gold card on your trips to other countries.
Shopping benefits: Like pretty much any Amex card, this one also offers extended warranty and purchase protection. The former adds an extra year of warranty to the item with a warranty of five years or less. Also, cardmembers receive purchase and return protection which can cover refunds, theft, and damage for 90 days.
Costs
- No APR (balance must be paid in full each month)
- No Foreign Transaction Fee
- $195 Annual Fee, waived for the first year
At American Express’ secure website
Pros
- Generous sign-up bonus.
- Great for travel, offering more points than many cobranded airline credit cards.
- Bonuses that come included as part of the Membership Rewards program. During the year, you can benefit from bonuses of as much as 50% or 100%.
- A ton of shopping and travel benefits.
Cons
- Even though it can be easily recouped by any frequent traveler and the fact that it is waived in the first year, we still mind the (rather high) annual fee.
- This isn’t the credit card, and if you can’t pay your balance in full each month you are better off getting some other (credit) card.
Is This The Card For You?
This is, obviously, a card made for frequent travelers. Folks in this group will surely benefit from all the bells and whistles American Express’ Premier Rewards Gold Card has to offer. They will get the sign-up bonus and run with it. Also, they will be collecting points and redeem them for additional travel perks, while taking advantage of the lack of foreign transaction fees on their trips to other countries. If you are in that group, or want to be in that group — click the link below and follow instructions provided on the next page. 😉