Bottom Line

If you’ve already maximized the recommended Chase cards and need a break after a denial, the American Express Gold personal card is a great alternative. It’s especially appealing if you can find an elevated sign-up bonus (recently, I spotted one for 90k points!). With 4x points on dining out and groceries, it offers one of the best multipliers in those categories. American Express has 18 airline transfer partners and three hotel partners, providing plenty of flexibility for using your Member Rewards points.

Why You Might Want This Card

If you open new browsers or use incognito windows, you can often find sign-up bonuses of up to 90,000 points, making it a great way to build your American Express points. Beyond the sign-up bonus, this card is perfect if you spend heavily on food—both in restaurants and at the grocery store—because of its 4x points on dining and groceries. The card also offers extra perks, such as:

• Annual $100 in statement credits when dining at U.S. Resy restaurants
• $7 in monthly statement credits at Dunkin’ Donuts
• $10 in monthly statement credits with Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys
• $10 in Uber Cash each month for rides or Uber Eats

These perks alone can add up to $420 in annual savings, which more than offsets the $325 annual fee.

Exceptions To The Rule

Here are some exceptions where the card might not be good for you:

About Amex Member Rewards

American Express points are relatively easy to earn and use. The rub is, it takes a little more strategy to maximize value.

The simplest option is using the travel portal, which works similarly to Chase. Unfortunately each point is worth only 1 cent toward airfare, making it similar to Capital One valuation if used this way. But if you have the Business Platinum card, your points become worth 1.54 cents each (although it is through a points rebate, not for the current booking), making it a solid valuation with a ton of flexibility. Two quick notes:

1. If you don’t see a desired flight (e.g. Southwest) you can call 800-297-2977 as Amex has access to more flights and you can still pay with points
2. Bookings through Amex travel generally DO NOT show as award travel, so you should receive miles for the flight with the carrier’s system. In this way, it is better than Chase.

Buying gift cards through the Amex Portal will also yield 1 cent per point, sometimes slightly better if there’s a special offer.

Generally, 1 cent is a poor return on Amex points. So if you don’t have the Platinum card, the best way to maximize value is to transfer to a partner. Here are the top choices:

1. Delta Airlines is a 1-to-1 transfer partner of Amex, making your points worth about 1.3 cents each. The trick here is to use Virgin Atlantic (A star alliance partner of Delta) to book international business class and Delta for U.S. domestic flights.
2. Air France via Flying Blue is a great option for International Business Class Flights. You’ll pay some surcharges, but they are relatively small for business class seats.
3. Singapore Airlines, if your destination aligns with theirs, could be a great value for your seats. Here’s why: Singapore’s coach is better than most other carriers' “comfort” seats but cost fewer points.
4. Other potential transfer partners which are slightly more complicated include:
   1. British Airways
   2. Etihad (booking partners through their site)
   3. Avianca (booking partners through their site)

Where Amex Gold Fits In This Point Ecosystem

American Express personal cards have a unique order requirement when it comes to sign-up bonuses, which means you need to obtain the Green, then Gold, and finally Platinum if you want to earn the bonuses on all three. If you jump straight to the Platinum card, you’ll forfeit eligibility for the Green or Gold bonuses in the future, so it’s best to plan ahead and consider the overall benefits and potential rewards across the entire lineup.

They also count against your 5/24 status, making it essential to evaluate your timing and card strategy if you’re actively pursuing multiple rewards cards. While focusing on personal cards, it can be easy to overlook the strong sign-up bonus offers on Amex business cards, but remember that we’ve seen especially high ones, such as 250k points for the American Express Business Platinum. If you’re near that 5/24 threshold, these business versions might be a better fit.

By understanding how each American Express card fits into the broader points ecosystem, you can ensure that you not only collect as many valuable Membership Rewards points as possible but also position yourself to unlock benefits across a range of programs. This is especially important if you plan to hold onto these cards long-term and make full use of everything Amex has to offer, including high-value airline and hotel transfer partners.

Personal Experience

My wife and I focused on Chase cards for 18 months until she was denied for a business card, so we decided to cool off and found a 90k sign-up bonus for the Amex Gold personal. We didn’t have any American Express cards yet, so we jumped on it. We skipped the Green card’s smaller 40k offer, knowing we’d lose out on that sign-up bonus in the future. The 4x points on dining and groceries really suit our family of five, since that’s our biggest spending category. We don’t use many of the other restaurant perks and may downgrade after a year, but it’s great to have more transfer partner options and diversify beyond Chase and Capital One.