American Express Gold Card

Is the annual fee worth it?

It earns about $1,153 a year on the illustrative household's spending, which is $828 once the fee is paid. The best card with no fee, American Express Blue Business Plus, nets $1,058 on the same spending — so this card is $230 a year behind. It pulls ahead of the free card once spending passes about $4,682 a month.

Price its credits, perks and sign-up bonus your way — tick what you would use and say what it is worth to you.

Priced on an illustrative household spending $2,205 a month on a card — the assumption, in full. Credits and perks are not priced: they are worth their face value only if you would have spent that money anyway.

Where it ranks

Against every card in the catalogue, scored in dollars per $100 with no rotating categories switched on:

• #1 of 117 for food delivery — $8.00 per $100
• #3 of 117 for groceries — $8.00 per $100
• #3 of 117 for dining out — $8.00 per $100

Where a year's rewards come from

Priced on an illustrative household spending $2,205 a month on a card — the assumption, in full. Credits and perks are not priced: they are worth their face value only if you would have spent that money anyway.

Protections and travel benefits

From the issuer's own benefit summary as of 2026-09. These are read from summaries rather than the full guide to benefits, which has the exclusions — check it before relying on one.

• Rental car — secondary cover · how it works on this card
• Purchase protection — 90 days · how it works on this card
• Extended warranty · how it works on this card
• Trip delay · how it works on this card
• Baggage · how it works on this card

What the issuer lists besides rewards

• Monthly dining credit at select partners, claimed in monthly chunks
• Monthly Uber Cash for rides and Uber Eats orders
• Annual resort and hotel credits on eligible bookings
• No foreign transaction fees
• Secondary rental car coverage, trip delay after 12 hours, and baggage insurance
• Purchase protection for 90 days after you buy
• Extended warranty adds a year to manufacturer warranties of five years or less

Similar cards

• American Express Business Gold Card — annual fee $375 a year
• Capital One Venture X — annual fee $395 a year
• American Express Classic Green Card — annual fee $150 a year
• American Express Amex EveryDay Preferred — annual fee $95 a year
• Every travel card, ranked
• When an annual fee pays for itself
• The best two- and three-card combinations