American Express Gold
100,000 points welcome · 5x on hotels (via portal) · $325/yr
The Gold is built for people who spend heavily on food: 4x points at restaurants on up to $50,000 a year and 4x at grocery stores on up to $25,000, plus 3x on flights and 5x on hotels prepaid through Amex Travel. That earning power is why it ranks as the premium pick on our dining and groceries list, and the 100,000-point welcome offer after $8,000 in spend over six months is one of the larger bonuses around. The catch is the $325 annual fee, which you only offset by actually using a stack of monthly credits: $10 a month in Uber Cash, $10 a month at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys, up to $7 a month at Dunkin', and up to $50 twice a year at Resy. Each requires enrollment and comes in small installments, so if you would not naturally spend at those merchants, the math gets worse quickly. Everything outside the bonus categories earns just 1x, which makes it a strong partner card rather than a one-card wallet.
Earn rates & credits
| Category | Rate |
|---|---|
Hotels (via Portal) Hotels prepaid through Amex Travel | 5x |
Dining on first $50,000/yr, then 1x | 4x |
Groceries on first $25,000/yr, then 1x | 4x |
Airlines | 3x |
Travel (via Portal) Prepaid car rentals and cruises booked through AmexTravel.com | 2x |
Everything Else | 1x |
| Benefit | Value |
|---|---|
Uber Cash $10/month in Uber Cash for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides | $10 /mo |
Dining Credit $10/month in statement credits at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys | $10 /mo |
Dunkin' Credit Up to $7/month in statement credits on eligible purchases at U.S. Dunkin' locations | $7 /mo |
Resy Credit Up to $50 semiannually at U.S. Resy restaurants and other eligible Resy purchases | $50 / 6 mo |
The Hotel Collection Credit $100 credit towards eligible charges at over 1,300 upscale hotels worldwide every time you book through AmexTravel.com or Amex Travel App (requires two-night minimum). | $100 |
| Total annual credits | $424 |
Card details
Regular APR | 19.49%–28.49% variable |
Foreign transaction fee | None |
Approval odds
Product changes
Where cardholders came from before landing on this card, and what they moved it to afterwards. Thicker flows carry a larger share of the changes in that direction.
Based on 5 reported product changes. Percentages are shares of each direction, not of all cardholders, and a small sample can swing a long way.