Guide: How The American Express Gold Card Travel Benefits Stack Up

American Express offers several travel credit cards that allow members to earn points on everyday purchases and redeem them for travel. The American Express Gold Card comes with several benefits, which can be particularly advantageous for frequent flyers as points can be redeemed with various travel partners. Let us take a look at the card and its benefits.

Becoming an AMEX Gold Card Member

The American Express Gold Card has an annual fee of $250. However, as per Bankrate, the card comes with hundreds of dollars worth of monthly credit, which can help offset the annual fee. It also has numerous ongoing rewards for airline tickets, restaurants, and supermarket purchases in the US. You can earn the following points with the card:

American Express has a gold card welcome offer of 60,000 membership rewards points after you spend $6,000 on purchases on your new card in your first six months. This special offer currently goes up to 90,000 membership rewards points. This starts from the date you open an account, and purchases can be made by the basic card member and any additional card members on the account. Eligible purchases include goods and services minus returns and other credits. The following purchases are not included:

• Fees or interest charges
• Travelers checks
• Reloading or prepaid cards
• Gift cards
• Person-to-person payments

Photo: Delta Air Lines

You can expect points to be credited to your account within eight to twelve weeks of meeting the threshold amount. While the annual fee for the Gold Card is $250, there is no annual fee for up to five additional cards. However, if you add six or more cards, each card will have an annual fee of $35.

Amex Gold Card Travel Benefits

The Amex Gold Card has generous travel rewards rates on restaurant and supermarket purchases. Additionally, with no foreign transaction fees from American Express, you can make purchases abroad without incurring additional fees. However, unlike some competing premium rewards cards, it doesn’t offer lounge access or travel protection in the US.

Redeeming points for travel

You can earn 3x membership points on flights booked directly with airlines or on American Express Travel. When redeeming membership rewards points, the most valuable options include booking travel tickets or transferring points to American Express travel partners. Points are usually transferred at a value of 1:1 but may vary depending on the travel partner.

Photo: Arseniy Shemyakin Photo | Shutterstock

The American Express Membership Rewards program offers a variety of transfer partners, including many popular hotels and airlines. To transfer points, you must enroll in a participating loyalty program. Luckily, many major airlines are part of alliances, so there are many transfer opportunities. According to Bankrate, American Express travel partners include the following:

It is important to note that all airline tickets are subject to availability. For each points transfer to a US airline, you are charged $0.0006 per point, with a maximum fee of $99. When you transfer points to travel partners, you can get higher redemption values for your points and great deals for first and business class award fares. However, blackout dates still apply, and reward transfer transactions are not immediate.

Amex travel protection

Baggage Insurance

With the Gold Card, you can be covered for lost, damaged, or stolen baggage when you purchase the entire fare for a plane ticket on an eligible card. In addition to coverage provided by the airline, you can be covered up to $1,250 for carry-on baggage and up to $500 for checked baggage. For travelers residing in New York, there is a $10,000 aggregate maximum limit for all travelers on a covered trip.

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Car rental insurance

When you use your Amex Gold Card to reserve and pay for the entire rental and decline the collision damage waiver (CDW), you can be covered for damage or theft of the rental car when traveling within a covered territory. However, not all vehicle types or rentals are covered, and vehicles rented in Australia, Italy, New Zealand, or any country subject to comprehensive sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Photo: ShutterStockStudio | Shutterstock

The Gold Card has other benefits, including getting as much as $120 in annual dining credits (up to $10 in monthly statement credits) when you make purchases with GrubHub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar, and select Shake Shack locations.

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You can also get up to $120 annual credits for Uber Cash (as $10 in automatic monthly Uber Cash), which can be used for ordering food on Uber Eats or for rides in the US. Ultimately, the AMEX Gold Card is a great choice for foodies who like to travel, especially using Uber services.

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