Gold Vs Platinum Amex Card: An Overview
Lets face it, theres a secret pleasure attached to American Express precious metal cards, whether Gold or Platinum. Whether it’s from decades of tv brand advertising or simply because you know your boss carries one, you have decided to join the club because membership has its privileges. You can imagine your restaurant server or local merchant lifting taking notice when you hand over the iconic card brand with the metallic sheen. Perhaps the status buzz comes from the cards being charge rather than credit, which means the bill is paid off in full at the end of the month. The subtle message it conveys is: I can afford to spend freely on everything I want and need and not go into long-term debt to pay for it.
But when it comes time to choose a premium Amex card, how do the gold and platinum cards compare? The American Express Gold card carries a $250 annual fee while the Platinum card has an eye-popping $550 annual fee, as of June 2020.
Over 10 years of use, the Platinum will cost you an additional $5,500, and a side-by-side comparison confirms that the Platinum card is basically a Gold card with some attractive add-ons. As a result, it’s best to make your decision based on whether you will value and use the additional features year in and year out. If so, the Platinum card may well be worth the higher annual fee.
How To Use Amex Membership Rewards Points
Read more: How to earn, redeem, and maximize Amex Membership Rewards points
There are lots of Amex Membership Rewards redemption options for those who aren’t traveling, but you’ll typically get the most value when you use points for travel. You can transfer points to nearly two dozen American Express airline and hotel partners for award flights and stays, and depending on what you book, you could get a value of 2 or more cents for each point. This can be an especially good deal for international first-class and business-class flights.
If you don’t want to worry about award charts or blackout dates, you can also redeem points at a rate of 1 cent apiece for flights, and at a slightly lower rate for hotels, rental cars, and more through American Express Travel.
Amex points won’t expire as long as your card is open and in good standing, so even if you’re not ready to travel now, there’s no harm in building up your balance for when you’re ready to take a trip after the pandemic ends.
Other options for redeeming Amex Membership Rewards points include:
- Cash in points for statement credits toward purchases made on your card
- , Best Buy, Walmart, Saks Fifth Avenue, Boxed.com, Dell.com, Staples, and more
- Redeem points for food delivery with GrubHub and Seamless
- Use points to pay for New York City taxi fare in vehicles using enabled point-of-sale devices
- Shop with points for merchandise and gifts through Amex
Statement Credits And Bonus Category Spending
This is the easiest way to offset the annual fee. Using the full $120 dining credit and $120 Uber Cash credit puts you at $240. You then only need to spend $250 in 4x bonus point categories to earn 1,000 points. Assuming you redeem the 1,000 points at a rate of 1 cent per point, you will have the remaining $10 necessary to offset the $250 fee. If you redeem the points at 2 cents per point, you only need to spend $125!
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How Does The Amex Gold Card Compare To Other Rewards Cards
While the Amex Gold card offers one of the best rewards rates on both restaurant and U.S. supermarket purchases, its high annual fee can limit its earnings. Plus, while it comes with a few valuable credits, its dining credit has a limited scope, potentially decreasing the overall value you can get from the cards extras.
To get a sense of where the Amex Gold stands in todays marketplace, our team of researched hundreds of credit cards to rank the Amex Gold based on factors like its rewards rate, welcome bonus, annual fee and more. The card fared quite well, especially in its rewards rate, welcome bonus and annual bonus . It does charge a higher annual fee than the average rewards card, however.
What Credit Bureau Will Amex Pull
If Amex does conduct a hard pull on your credit report, they will usually pull Experian, although its not guaranteed. If you want to learn more about which banks pull which credit bureaus you can read more about them here. Youll find that there are certain trends with many issuers where they tend to pull one specific bureau.
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Donate To Charity Via Justgiving
While donating to charity is important, it is not the best way to redeem Membership Rewards points. JustGiving allows you to redeem points at a rate of $0.007 per point when donating to a selection of more than 1.5 million charities. To get started, create an account at JustGiving and find a charity you wish to support. You can then use your points to fund your donation.
Digging Into The American Express Gold
The American Express Gold is a standout card, largely due to its clear efforts to be top-of-wallet in a few categories that are significant to many US households. Take a look at your budget do you spend a fair amount of your cash on food right now? Chances are, the answer is yes.
Amex designed the Gold Card to cater to those who spend nontrivial amounts at restaurants and on groceries, offering 4 points for every dollar you spend at restaurants worldwide and at supermarkets in the United States. Youll also net 3 points per dollar on flights booked directly with airlines, which isnt too shabby.
The current 60,000-point welcome bonus available after you spend $4,000 on purchases in your first six months of card membership is the highest bonus offer weve ever seen available on this card. And those Membership Rewards points are worth at least $600 when you redeem them via Amex Travel for airfare, and potentially a lot more than that with Amexs transfer partners.
Also, in 2018, American Express introduced a limited-time Rose Gold design for the Amex Gold, which was so popular that it was brought back again for a short while in 2019. Now, the issuer has announced that Rose Gold will be a permanent option for new card members going forward. That means you can choose between either the original Gold or Rose Gold design when youre approved for the card.
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Other Credit Cards Similar To The Amex Gold
For foodies, theres one other notable credit card to consider: the Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card. This cash back credit card has a $95 annual fee and offers unlimited 4% cash back on dining and entertainment, 2% cash back at grocery stores and 1% cash back on all other purchases. If you prefer cash back over travel points or miles, the Savor card may be the way to go particularly if you cant easily leverage the annual credits on the Amex Gold.
However, while cash back is infinitely more flexible than travel rewards you can spend cash anywhere you also cant increase the value of cash back the way you potentially can with points or miles. Membership Rewards points can be used with Amexs transfer partners to score premium trips for much less than youd normally pay in cash, effectively increasing the value of your points when you redeem them.
Also, although it may not be immediately apparent, folks who are fond of the bonus categories on the Amex Gold should also look at the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card. With a $95 annual fee, this card earns 6 Hilton Honors points for every dollar you spend at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets and U.S. gas stations.
All information about the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card has been collected independently by CNN. The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card is no longer available through CNN.
Is The Amex Gold Card Hard To Get
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Credit Needed: Good Credit or excellent. For good Amex Gold approval odds, you’ll want a credit score of 700 or higher. You can check your latest credit score for free on WalletHub.
Subsequently, question is, is the Gold Amex worth it? The American Express Gold card offers the highest combined rewards rate you can find on both U.S. supermarket and restaurant purchases â making it ideal for foodies. Plus, it comes with several travel protections and credits that can help offset its high annual fee.
Likewise, what credit score do you need for Amex Gold?
American Express doesn’t publish a minimum , but you’ll have a better chance of approval if you apply with a good to excellent score of 680 or higher.
Are Amex cards hard to get?
Why it’s one of the hardest credit cards to get: The hardest credit card to get is the American Express Centurion Card. Known simply as the âBlack Card,â you need an invitation to get Amex Centurion. Why it’s one of the hardest credit cards to get: The hardest credit card to get is the American Express Centurion Card.
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Purchase And Extended Warranty Protection
Purchase and Extended Warranty Protection allow you to shop with more peace of mind. Here are the details.
Purchase Protection: Purchases are covered 90 days from the Covered Purchase Date for theft, loss, and damage . Enrollment is not required, but you must use your Amex Gold card to activate coverage. Exclusions on covered purchases apply, so I recommend reading the purchase plan documents before filing a claim.
Extended Warranty Protection: Covered purchases made with your Amex Gold card are eligible for an extra year of warranty covered after the manufacturers warranty expires. Here are a few important details.
- Protection only applies to warranties 5 years or less
- Coverage maxes out at $10,000 per item .
Exclusions apply and different states have different rules, so I recommend reading the extended warranty plan documents before filing a claim.
American Express Gold Card Vs The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
The better card between these two will depend on your spending habits. If you’re a traveler, apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, but if you’re more of a diner, apply for the American Express® Gold Card. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is better for travelers because it earns around 2.5% back on travel . On the other hand, the American Express® Gold Card only lets you earn points on directly booked flights that’s much more restrictive than the broad travel category offered up by the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
The main reason people who spend a lot of money on dining would be better off with the American Express® Gold Card is the outstanding 4X rewards rate it offers at restaurants despite being a solid all-around card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card only offers 2X points on dining. The argument for the American Express® Gold Card is even stronger once you consider other benefits like its dining credit.
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What Other Issuers To Consider If Amex Doesnt Approve You
If your application for an Amex card is denied, your best bet is to try and figure out why you werent approved and what you can do about it. That advice goes for Amex and all other issuers.
For example, if your credit score needs work, use our tips to improve your score, which will increase your odds of approval next time you want a rewards card. Regardless of whether youre applying for an Amex card, Chase card, Capital One card or Citi card, most of the top rewards cards require good to excellent credit scores and a solid credit history.
Does Amex Perform A Soft Pull Or Hard Pull
Amex will perform a soft pull on your credit report when they conduct the pre-approval.
They even state:
Check with confidence: this is not a Credit Card application and your credit score wont be affected.
It seems that its becoming more and more common for Amex to perform soft pulls for their existing customers when they apply for cards.
It used to be that only soft pulls were done when an applicant was denied but now even some approvals are resulting in soft pulls.
You should always be prepared for a possible hard pull when applying for an Amex card but theres definitely a possibility that you wont have a hard pull if youre already an Amex customer.
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American Express Gold: Best For Dining
Foodies will love the American Express Gold card, thanks to the huge number of points you can earn on food-related purchases, along with the cards annual dining credits.
With the Amex Gold which earns Membership Rewards points youll earn 4 points for every dollar you spend at restaurants worldwide, as well as up to $25,000 per year at U.S. supermarkets . Best of all, many food delivery services also code as restaurants, which means youll continue to earn 4x points when you order food to your home.
Youll also get up to $120 in annual dining credits broken up into credits of up to $10 each month when you pay with the Amex Gold at Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruths Chris Steak House, Boxed and participating Shake Shack locations.
Related: Heres how the American Express Gold Card practically pays for itself.
Youll also receive up to $10 each month in Uber Cash with the Amex Gold, as well as a complimentary Uber Eats Pass membership for up to 12 months when you enroll by Dec. 31, 2021. This Uber Cash can be used either for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides within the US.
Although the Amex Gold has a substantial $250 annual fee , new card members can also earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months after opening the account. Add it all together and youre looking at a great overall dining card.
Capital One Savorone Card
Designed with foodies in mind, the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card offers unlimited 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and at grocery stores . Although the bonuses are fewer than the Amex Gold Card, the lack of an annual fee makes this an interesting alternative, especially if you find cash back more appealing than travel rewards. On the downside, the card doesnt offer much in the way of perks.
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American Express Preferred Seating
Do you enjoy going to sporting events, musicals, and concerts? American Express Gold cardholders have exclusive access to preferred seating only available to AMEX cardholders. Depending on the event, you may have to enter the phone number on the back of your card or part of your card number to gain access.
Redeem Points For Valuable Travel Rewards
Redeeming points earned with the American Express® Gold Card is easy. When you log on to your Membership Rewards account, you can select any of the redemption options mentioned in the table below.
But not all redemption options yield the same value. Ultimately, the best ways to use Membership Rewards points are for flights, whether through the Amex portal or by transferring your points.
You’ll get 1 cent per point for flights booked through the Amex Travel portal, and potentially more than double that if you transfer them to an Amex transfer partner, making those the two best redemption options.
These transfer partners include more than a dozen frequent flyer programs, and in most cases, you can transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio. You’ll want to have a specific flight in mind and know how many miles you need before you transfer your points though, as transfers are non-reversible.
Other travel redemptions are less lucrative. Redeeming your points for a hotel, rental car, cruise or vacation package will only get you 0.7 cents per point. This is still better than non-travel redemptions like gift cards, statement credits and shopping with points, which will get you as little as 0.5 cents per point. If you want to redeem rewards for something other than travel, understanding the difference between cash back, miles and points will help you pick a card that better suits your preferences.
| Redemption option | |
|---|---|
| Cover your card charges and receive a statement credit | 0.6 cents |
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How To Get American Express Pre
Are you looking to see if youre eligible for American Express pre-qualify offers for credit cards?
This article will walk you through how to check for your American Express pre-qualified offers and show you some things you can do to increase your chances of getting an offer.
Ill also show links where you can get pre-qualified offers for other major banks like Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, etc.
Update: Some offers are no longer available !
Amex Gold Vs Platinum: Annual Fee
Winner: Amex Gold
Given that Amex Gold Cards annual fee is $445 cheaper, its not a huge surprise that it comes out the winner here. The reality is that not everyone can justify paying an annual fee of $695 for a credit card. Considering all the perks the Amex Gold Card gives you for an annual fee of $250, this card could make considerably more sense.
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