60,000 Points + $470 in Year 1: Why now is the best time to get the Amex Gold Card

I’ve carried the Amex Gold card in my wallet right from the time it had the good old $95 annual fee. Over the last decade or so, we’ve seen Amex make a slew of changes to the card, including increasing the annual fee all the way up to $250. A few weeks back, Amex announced more changes to the card. However, these changes present a great limited time opportunity. Here’s why now is a great time to go for the card, if you’re eligible. As per Amex’s rules, Amex may deny you the welcome bonus for a card if you’ve received the bonus before.

Amex Gold Card

Amex recently announced that they’ll be doing away with the Airline Fee Credit benefit in 2022. From 2021 onwards, they’ll be offering a monthly credit of $10 on Uber (which includes Uber Eats). However, if you get the card this month, you can earn a ton of benefits and points in the first year itself, for the $250 annual fee. Let’s have a look.

60,000 Membership Rewards Points

Currently, Amex is offering a limited time welcome bonus of 60,000 Membership Rewards points. You’ll earn a welcome bonus of 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 in the first 6 months. If you simply want to cash the points out, then you’d get a minimum of $360. You can simply use your points to wipe off charges from your statement. If you transfer to Amex’s partners, you can easily get anywhere upwards of $600 just from this one welcome bonus.

$200 in Airline Credits

Amex offers its airline fee credit benefits based on calendar year. Therefore, if you get the card right now, you can earn a total of $200 in credits. You’ll get one airline fee credit of $100 for 2020 now in December and another $100 for 2021 when the new year begins.

$140 in Dining Credits

With the Amex Gold Card, you’ll get a dining credit of $10 each month. If you sign up for the card now, you’ll get $10 for December 2020 and $120 for the entire year in 2021. If you cancel the card after the first year, you can still get another $10 before you cancel in January 2022 prior to the closing date on your statement.

You can earn these monthly credits simply when you use your Gold card to pay at Grubhub, Seamless, Boxed, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House or Shake Shack.

$130 in Uber Credits

If you sign up for the card in December, you’ll earn a total of $120 in Uber/Uber Eats credits in 2021 and another $10 in January 2022 before your statement closes.

Uber Pass

If you get the Amex Gold card and sign up for Uber Pass, your pass will be valid for 12 months. You’ll get the following benefits:

• No delivery fees
• 5% discount for restaurant orders over $15

Earning Points

Now, you may want to sign up for the card primarily for the amazing welcome bonus and $470 in credits that you can earn. However, the card gives you enough reasons to keep it in your wallet year after year. The points earning structure on this card makes it really easy to earn hundreds of thousands of points each year simply by using the card and paying for stuff that you’d usually purchase anyway.

• 4X Membership Rewards points at restaurants worldwide
• 4X Membership Rewards points at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases
• 3X Membership Rewards points for flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
• 1X Membership Rewards points on everything else

The Pundit’s Mantra

For a card that charges a $250 annual fee, you can easily get ahead with the 60,000 points bonus and $470 in credits in the first year of holding the card. I’ve carried the card in my wallet for a decade and continue to renew it, particularly because of the ability to rack up points on a frequent basis for everyday purchases like dining and grocery.

Apply Now

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Disclosure: Our Advertising partners may pay us a small commission if you click on some of the links in this blog post, at no extra cost to you. The Points Pundit receives NO compensation from credit card affiliate partnerships. Support the blog by applying for a card through my personal referral links. This article is meant for information purposes only and doesn’t constitute personal finance, health or investment advice. Please consult a licensed professional for advice pertaining to your situation.

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