Why I Just Signed Up for the American Express Gold Card
As 2021 wraps up, I am planning a move into a new apartment, preparing our home for a new baby, and doing some holiday shopping. This means you can expect a lot more content about how to maximize spending and a little bit less travel reviews over here as we head into winter.
To prepare for this spending, I am in a bit of a credit card application surge. I just met the minimum spend requirement on my new Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card, so I wanted a new card this week. For more about why I chose that card, visit this Instagram post.
Why Amex Gold?
After the Marriott card, I really wanted to prioritize a card with transferable points. I’m starting to come to terms with the fact that I don’t really know what travel will look like next year with a newborn, so I figured points that can have multiple uses would provide the greatest ease of use in the short term.
Considering this, and current sign up bonuses available, I narrowed down my card wishlist to two cards - either the Amex Gold or the Citi Premier. While the Citi Premier technically offers more points in the sign up bonus for a lower annual fee, the Amex Gold offers higher earning at groceries and restaurants (my two highest spend categories) than any other card I have, plus a few credits that I can get value out of.
Ultimately, I decided that since I already have many American Express cards, it would be more beneficial (and easier) for me to build up my points stash there than to start building up a stash of Citi points and have to learn how to use them.
Using the Card
Sign Up Bonus
The first step when signing up for a credit card is making a plan to earn your sign up bonus in the allotted time. My sign up bonus has two parts. First, earn 75,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $4,000 in the first six months of card membership. Given my elevated spending needs right now, I do not anticipate this to be a problem. I plan to switch all of my spending to this card immediately until I reach $4,000. American Express makes this easy because they allow you to get your card information and add it to your digital wallet right away, so I started spending already, even before I received the physical card in the mail.
The second part of my sign up bonus is to receive 20% back as a statement credit on purchases made at restaurants with the card within the first 12 months of membership, up to $250 back. To make sure I get the maximum value here, I plan to put all of my restaurant spending on this card, until I know that I have spent $1250 at restaurants to maximize the benefit. I tend to spend a lot on restaurants, so I do not anticipate this to be an issue.
Earning Categories
4x points restaurants - This card provides higher earnings than my Chase Sapphire Reserve card that gives me 3x points on restaurants, so I plan to switch my regular restaurant spending to this card. The exception to this is that my Amex Hilton Aspire card temporarily gives me a $20 credit for restaurants each month, so I will continue to spend $20 at restaurants each month through the end of the year to take advantage of this credit.
4x points supermarkets - This card provides higher earnings than my American Express Blue Cash Everyday card that gives me 3x points on groceries, so I will also switch my grocery spending to this card. Good news, this source says that Instacart counts as supermarkets to Amex, which is great because I tend to do a lot of my regular shopping there and expect that to increase when baby arrives in February.
3x points flights - I tend not to purchase flights with cash, so I don’t maximize this spending category, but when I do pay for flights with cash, I will continue to use the American Express Platinum card because it earns 5x points when booking flights directly with airlines.
Credits
$120 Uber Cash - When you connect your Amex Gold card to your Uber account, $10 per month will be added to your Uber Cash balance. This credit disappears at the end of the month if unused, so it’s important to remember to use it. I have a similar credit from my Amex Platinum card, so I’m confident that I can use it. Until now, I’ve taken Uber frequently enough that it isn’t hard for me to spend >$20 per month on rides. Now that I’m moving out of the city center, I may shift to ordering Uber Eats once per month to take advantage of the credit. I also will receive a free Uber Eats Pass for one year which makes delivery fees $0.
$120 Dining Credit - When you pay for Grubhub, Seamless, or Boxed with your Amex Gold card, you will earn a $10 per month statement credit on the purchase. While I’ve typically gotten full value out of the Uber credit without trying too hard, I find this one annoying. I plan to set a reminder on my calendar to order from one of these services once a month so I make sure to get full value out of this one. I typically would not purchase from these services, but I do get food delivery somewhat regularly so I just need to shift my spending habits from other companies.
Was it worth it?
The sign up bonus for this card includes a $250 rebate. Since I’m able to fully take advantage of that rebate, I will effectively be getting 75,000 points for free. I’m not sure what I’ll use them for yet, but even if I used them for a relatively low value purchase, I could redeem them for at least $750 in travel rewards. That makes this a great deal! I do think the credits are annoying and could be more customer friendly, but I should be able to net at least $200 in free food from those as well. The question will be whether I should keep the card beyond the first year. I am leaning towards yes, but I guess it depends on what great uses I find for those points! Stay tuned for some upcoming points on how I might use my American Express Membership Rewards points next year. Once I receive this sign up bonus I will have more than 200,000 points to put to good use!
