More changes coming: Time to dump this Amex card soon?

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A few weeks back, I wrote about my recent credit card cancellation spree. More prominently, I wrote about how my relationship with Amex has largely soured, owing to annual fee increases on almost all of my cards, only to be offset by largely meaningless credits at ‘partner’ merchants. It seems like another Amex card is now about to meet the same fate.

Amex Card Changes: Gold Card ‘Refresh’

As per Doctor of Credit, these changes are slated to go live very soon. The Amex Gold card used to be a fantastic card when I first got it in 2011. It used to be called the Premier Rewards Gold card back then and had an annual fee of $95. Amex then increased the fee gradually to $250. With this new refresh, Amex is upping the fee to $325.

Also Read: Are credit card devaluations simply going unnoticed?

Amex Card Benefit Updates

Over the last few years, my biggest pet peeve with Amex has been the addition of monthly, bi-annual and quarterly credits with partner brands, accompanied by a significant increase in annual fee. This latest annual fee is an increase of 30%.

Card Name Year I first opened the card Annual Fee when I opened the card Annual Fee Now Percentage Increase in annual fee between then and now
Amex Platinum Card 2014 $450 $695 55%
Business Platinum Card 2017 $450 $695 55%
Hilton Aspire Card 2018 $450 $550 23%
Hilton Business Card 2019 $95 $195 105%
Business Gold Card 2019 $295 $375 27%

 

While we still don’t have 100% confirmation about these changes, the fact that the Amex test server has the updated details means that there’s a very high probability that these changes are on the horizon.

  • Welcome bonus of 60,000 Membership Rewards points +  20% back up to $100 at restaurants
  • $100 Resy credit (split 50-50 semi-annually)
  • $7 monthly credit at Dunkin
  • 4x points on dining to be capped at a maximum of $50,000 annually
  • $10 monthly dining credit to lose Shake Shack and Milk Bar, to be replaced by Five Guys
  • $10 Uber credit remains the same

Similar to previous card changes, Amex will now offer a ‘White Gold’ card with a new design.

Using the new benefits

If you look at the credit cards that I’m currently carrying, the Amex Gold card isn’t one of them. I dumped the card during the previous annual fee increase to $250. P2 still has the card and there’s every chance she’ll dump it when the next $325 annual fee hits.

I largely see these credits as a net negative when compared to the annual fee increase:

  • To use the Resy credit, the restaurant where you like to eat should be available on via the Resy app when you want to dine. Otherwise, the benefit loses a lot of value.
  • The dining credit is gradually becoming a junk food credit. We don’t visit Dunkin or Five Guys, so there’s very little value to be gained from these credits as well.
  • The 4x points cap is a nothing burger. It doesn’t really affect us as we never hit the $50,000 threshold on dining spend in a year.

The Pundit’s Mantra

One Amex card after the other, we’re seeing the same pattern. Increase the annual fee, redesign the card and then offer credits with partner brands. Similar to a lot of changes to previous Amex card products, I plan to sit this one out.

Since we largely consider these changes as a net negative, we plan to dump the Amex Gold card when P2’s $325 annual fee is charged during the next cycle. We continue to trim our Amex card portfolio, focusing on lower or no annual fee cards like the Blue Business Plus card or the Amex Everyday Card, with a laser sharp focus earning a decent amount of points on everyday spend.

On the other hand, we continue to target limited time welcome bonus offers, whenever they come up, like the current offers on Amex’s co-branded Hilton credit cards, which are ending next week.

What’s your take on these proposed changes to the Amex Gold card? If you’re a current cardholder, do you plan to renew the card again when the $325 fee hits next? Tell us in the comments section.

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Jinxed_K

As much as I don’t like the possible changes to the Gold card, it actually might be a good time for me to dump the Platinum card since I’m getting less value out of that compared to the rumored Gold changes.
That will leave me with BBP, Gold and Green for Amex
CFU, CSP(possible reupgrade to CSR), and Ink Business Cash for Chase
Bilt for rent

Jinxed_K

I got the Plat for lounge access and it worked fairly well with my home airport of BOS and Delta Skyclub or the PP lounges, but I’ve since moved away and my new local airport doesn’t have any lounges (It is also 15min away compared to 1hr with variable traffic going into downtown Boston)
I haven’t been able to visit a Centurion lounge, nor ever get a room upgrade with the Hilton gold status either so it’s been a debatable point of keeping it after the AF increase.

Jinxed_K

Ahh.. that’s another thing, I’ve always found the FHR properties to be way out of my budget range. I’ve used the Hotel Collection properties a few times, but I can’t seem to use it every year since they always aren’t available where I travel to. Grabbed a place in Las Vegas and NYC, but not too much luck in Japan since I’m usually outside of the big cities.

Daviator

I don’t understand your comment about the 4x points for restaurants. That’s a legit perk, up from 3x points now, right? Unless I’m misunderstanding something, the $50,000 is not a threshold you have to meet, it’s a yearly maximum spend for receiving the 4x points. What I don’t know is if (in the unlikely event that) you actually spend $50K on restaurants, does it drop back to 3x points after that? 1x points? or no points for restaurant spend at all? In any case, that threshold doesn’t matter to me, I’m never in my wildest dreams gonna spend $50K in… Read more »

Last edited 4 months ago by Daviator
NJ Riley

I have the Delta Sky Miles AMEX gold card. Last year the annual fee was $99, and I just called them – it is going up to $150 which I will be billed next month. To me it’s worth it as I use my miles on Delta (3 times to the U.K.) and they give you $200 flying credit for the first $10,000 you spend in one year.
P.S. I live near Atlanta which is the Delta hub, so always fly Delta or its partner Virgin Atlantic.

Retired Gambler

How cheap are people that would get rid of a card over a $75 annual increase? That won’t even cover one restaurant meal. This is what I hate about many of the bloggers. They are cheap scam artists that likely can’t afford the card unless they bleed it for every cent then whine if, God forbid, they actually have to spend money to get some benefits. Personally I love my Amex Gold, Amex Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve cards. I have 8-10 others but those are my main ones. Spending $1500-$2000 in AF is nothing given what all they provide… Read more »

Jason Lewis

I don’t think it’s a matter of being “cheap,” but rather a matter of usefulness. As long as the 4x in restaurants continues to work (and the $50k cap won’t affect me), as well as the 4x at supermarkets, I’ll keep it. I agree however that the credits at Dunkin’ and Five Guys are useless (to me). I use Resy a lot, so that benefit will work for me.

OTOH, Amex is driving me nuts with their incessant requests to “upgrade” to the Platinum card, when I see that as an actual DOWNGRADE in earning power.

Charles

Money means a lot to some people, while others just seem to be able to throw it around and think nothing of it. I have been with American Express for over fifty years and have gotten several different AMEX cards during that time. However, now I only have a Marriott Bonvoy and the Gold card I haven’t been traveling much the past few years, so the Bonvoy card (which gives me a free night at Marriotts that do not charge over 40,000 points a night. So, if I do not use it, that is $120 to $200 of value I… Read more »

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