The American Express® Business Gold Card is a popular travel rewards card. It comes with a solid welcome offer and benefits, but doesn’t carry the enormous fee associated with the American Express® Business Platinum Card®. Let’s look at all the need-to-know info about the Amex Business Gold, so you can decide if it’s a good fit for your wallet.

Amex Business Gold Card Details

Welcome Offer: As high as 200,000 Membership Rewards^® Points after you spend $15,000 in purchases on your new card within the first 3 months of card membership.

Here’s how it works:

1. Apply and find out your offer amount
2. Continue to see if you’re approved
3. If approved, accept the card with your offer
4. Spend $15,000 in 3 months
5. Receive the points

Note: welcome offers vary, and you may not be eligible for an offer.

Annual fee: $375 (rates & fees).

Amex Business Gold Card Benefits

Amex cards tend to have a lot of small credits and perks, which can make them a bit harder to manage. I highly recommend using CardPointers to help you keep track of your credits, especially since some are monthly and some are yearly.

Amex Business Gold Benefits and Credits

• Earn up to $20 in statement credits each month after you use the Business Gold Card for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and Office Supply Stores. This can be an annual savings of up to $240.
• Receive a statement credit for one monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) after you pay for Walmart+ each month with your Business Gold Card. Up to $12.95 per month plus applicable local sales tax.
• The Hotel Collection benefits: With The Hotel Collection, receive elevated benefits when you book a minimum two-night stay through AmexTravel.com, including a $100 credit to use towards eligible charges, which may include food and beverage, spa, or other on-property charges, and room upgrade upon arrival, when available.
• Baggage insurance, car rental loss and damage insurance, global assist hotline, and trip delay insurance*
• No foreign transaction fees.

*Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by Amex Assurance Company.

Amex Business Gold Earning Rates

The earning rates for the Amex Business Gold work a bit differently than many other cards. You will earn 4x on your top two spending categories each month, up to $150,000 spent per year, then 1x thereafter.

Here are the categories:

• Advertising purchases at U.S. media providers
• Electronic goods retailers and software and cloud system providers
• U.S. restaurants, including takeout and delivery
• U.S. gas stations
• Transit purchases, including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
• Monthly cell phone service charges made directly from a U.S. cell phone service provider in the U.S

Other spending categories are:

• 3x on flights and prepaid hotels through Amex Travel
• 1x on all other purchases

Eligibility

FAMILY LANGUAGE

Amex has some tricky rules when it comes to its cards. Basically, if you already have (or have had) a higher-level card, you can’t go back and open a lower one. For example, you won’t be eligible for the Amex Business Gold if you currently have (or once had) the Amex Business Platinum.

So, if your goal is to earn the welcome offers on all of the cards, you’ll want to start at the bottom and work your way up.

For example:

1. American Express® Business Green Rewards Card (though honestly, I think this one is worth skipping)
2. American Express® Business Gold Card®
3. American Express® Business Platinum Card®

<All information about the American Express® Business Green Rewards Card has been collected independently by The Traveling Hansens. American Express® Business Green Rewards Card is no longer available through The Traveling Hansens.>

LIFETIME LANGUAGE

Amex also has what’s called “lifetime language,” which says: “Welcome offer not available to applicants who have or have had this Card or previous versions of this Card.” In other words, you can only earn a welcome bonus once per card.

However, there are some times this may not apply:

• Many data points show that Amex defines a “lifetime” as around seven years.
• Oftentimes, you’ll find targeted offers (in the mail, in your email, or in your Amex account online) that don’t include lifetime language. If you see a targeted offer, it means you may be able to earn the bonus again, even if you’ve had the card before. This has happened to me multiple times.

The other good thing? Amex is upfront about your eligibility. When you apply, a pop-up will tell you if you’re not eligible for the welcome bonus. This is what people sometimes call “Amex pop-up jail.” If you get this, just back out of the application. There will be no credit pull, and you can try again at a different time.

Using Your Points

This card earns valuable Membership Rewards®, which can be used in multiple ways.

Transferring points to travel partners is my favorite way to use our points because it gives us the most value. However, there are a few other options.

• You can transfer them to one of Amex’s 21 airline and hotel partners.
• You can book flights, hotels, and more through the Amex Travel portal.
• You can cash out your points to cover expenses; however, this typically nets a lower than one cent per point value, so I try to avoid this.

Wrapping it up

We have at least one of these cards open at all times. The fee is manageable, it has decent credits, and the welcome offers earn a lot of points. Plus, being able to earn 4X on many categories is a big win in my book.