Review: American Express Business Gold Card

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American Express Business Gold Card

The American Express Business Gold Card is one of the best business charge cards in the industry for business expenses. It is primarily for business owners who have heavy spend within its bonus categories. Business owners who want a charge card instead of a revolving credit card will also like this card.

Furthermore, the Business Gold Card is one of the best standalone business charge cards. That’s because its earning structure contains a plethora of bonus categories. It also offers a nice sign-up bonus and some great perks for business owners and entrepreneurs. However, the Business Gold Card has an annual fee of $295 (NOT waived the first year).

 

Earning

The Business Gold Card earns 4x Membership Rewards (MR) points on two categories of choice (for the first $150,000 in purchases). It also earns 2x points on the remaining categories and one point on all other purchases.

The categories to choose from are:

  • Advertising (TV, radio, and online only)
  • Airfare (booked directly with the airline)
  • Select Computing Merchants
  • Shipping
  • US Gas Stations
  • US Restaurants

These categories are common expenses for many businesses, making the Business Gold Card a versatile option. What’s nice is that you can pick two from the list to maximize your earning potential. Just be sure to check your expenses before deciding.

Furthermore, American Express is offering a sign-up bonus worth 70,000 MR points for the Business Gold Card. You can earn the points by spending $10,000 within the first three months. This is a nice sign-up bonus even compared to competitors, particularly the Chase Ink Business Preferred.

 

Burning

Earning points is fantastic, but points earned are useless if you cannot redeem them for anything of value. Amex has multiple options for redemption:

Transfer Partners

American Express’ transfer partners are this card’s most valuable redemption option. They are the reason why points and miles enthusiasts love the Membership Rewards family of credit cards so much. Amex transfers points at a 1 MR to 1 partner currency ratio unless otherwise noted.

Hotels
  • Choice Privileges
  • Hilton (1 MR = 2 Hilton Honors Points)
  • Marriott
Airlines
  • Aer Lingus
  • Aeromexico (5 MR = 8 Premier Points)
  • Air Canada
  • Air Italia Millemiglia
  • Asia Miles / Cathay Pacific
  • Avianca Lifemiles
  • British Airways
  • Delta Airlines
  • Emirates
  • Etihad Guest
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • Iberia
  • JetBlue (5 MR = 4 TrueBlue Points)
  • KLM Flying Blue / Air France
  • Nippon Airways
  • Qantas
  • Singapore Airlines
  • Virgin Atlantic

Your mileage may vary for each partner. But for most partners, you should be able to easily redeem your points for at least 1.5 cents per point (CPP).

Other Options

Amextravel.com is Amex’s travel website that can be used to book hotels and flights. Amex will give you back 25% of the points paid to pay for your flight.

I do not recommend redeeming for gift cards, merchandise, or statement credits. This is because you will earn less than 1 CPP using these options. If cash back or gift cards are what you want, this card is probably not for you.

 

Benefits

The Business Gold Card doesn’t have the benefits of the Business Platinum Card. But it does include many great benefits to make life easier when away from home.

Baggage Insurance

This benefit is a great one to have if your luggage goes missing while traveling. Amex’s Baggage Insurance covers up to $500 for checked bags and $1,250 for carry-on bags.

Employee Cards

Amex gives you the opportunity to give employees cards. Additional Green Cards have no annual fee. And additional Gold Cards have an annual fee of $50 (waived the first year) for the first one and no annual fee for more.

Extended Warranty

You will receive an extra year of warranty on purchases with warranties of five years or less. This is a standard benefit on most Amex cards, the Business Gold Card being one of them.

Hotel Collection

After booking a hotel room through amextravel.com and using your Gold card to pay for everything, you will receive a $75 statement credit and a room upgrade. The room upgrade could be worth hundreds of dollars (and possibly justify the card’s annual fee), depending on where you stay.

No Foreign Exchange Fees

You will save 2.7% on all purchases made outside the United States with the Business Gold Card.

QuickBooks

Most business owners know that programs like QuickBooks are very helpful for your business’ financial organization. As a Business Gold cardholder, you can connect your card to your business’ QuickBooks account.

Pay Over Time

This feature enables you to finance larger expenses over time for a high interest rate. Amex automatically enrolls you in this benefit with the Business Gold Card. This is not the case for any of their personal charge cards.

Secondary Car Rental Insurance

This benefit covers the entire loss, damage, or theft of your car rental after your regular insurance’s policy kicks in.

Trip Delay Insurance

Amex’s Trip Delay Insurance can reimburse you up to $300 if your flight gets delayed at least six hours. One use of any of this insurance can justify the card’s annual fee. This benefit was added to both the personal and business versions of the Gold Card in January 2020.

 

Similar Cards

Check out these alternatives if the Business Gold Card is not right for you or your business:

Chase Ink Business Preferred

The Chase Ink Business Preferred is one of the best alternatives to the Business Gold Card. That’s because it earns 3x Ultimate Rewards (UR) points on general travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, and on online advertising purchases. Like the Business Gold Card, all categories have an annual limit of $150,000.

This card has a $95 annual fee (NOT waived the first year), which is about 1/3 of that of the Business Gold Card. That means the Ink Business Preferred is the better option if you do not want to pay more than $100 for an annual fee.

Furthermore, Chase is offering a sign-up bonus worth 100,000 UR points on the Ink Business Preferred. Chase’s largest sign-up bonus can be yours after spending $5,000 within the first three months. This bonus has the same minimum spend requirement as the Business Gold Card. But you are receiving almost triple the points with the Ink Business Preferred.

The Ink Business Preferred is the better card overall. And this is especially true if you prefer Chase’s transfer partners and spend heavily within its categories.

American Express Blue Business Plus

The Blue Business Plus Card is a very simple and generous alternative to the Business Gold Card. It earns 2x MR points on the first $50,000 spent annually and only one point thereafter. That means you can earn up to 100,000 MR points per year. The Blue Business Plus has no annual fee and it’s a traditional credit card. Amex is not offering a public sign-up bonus on this card.

The Blue Business Plus is better for smaller businesses, entrepreneurs, and businesses that don’t have steady cash flow. It’s also better for businesses with varied spend and those with less than $50,000 per year in expenses.

 

Final Draw

The American Express Business Gold Card is a nice option for entrepreneurs and business owners who spend heavily within the bonus categories and can benefit from Amex’s transfer partners. It is a great charge card for businesses with medium-sized travel budgets. It is also nice for business owners who are more focused on earning points than realizing value from travel benefits.

 

Apply Today: American Express Business Gold Card

PYCR Credit Card Rating

PYCR Credit Card Rating
75 100 0 1
75/100
Total Score
  • Sign-Up Bonus
    48/100
  • Earning
    100/100
  • Burning
    80/100
  • Perks
    72/100
Total
0
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