American Express Gold Card: rewards for dining and groceries

The American Express® Gold Card is a rewards card built around dining and groceries. It earns 4 Membership Rewards® points per dollar at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets, up to annual spending caps, and comes with a set of monthly dining and ride credits. The annual fee is $325.

The card makes the most sense for people who already spend a lot on food and will use the credits it offers. Below, we cover how you earn points, what the credits and travel protections include, and what the card costs.

How you earn points

• 4 points per dollar at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1 point
• 4 points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1 point
• 5 points per dollar on prepaid hotels booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App™
• 3 points per dollar on flights booked directly with airlines or through Amex Travel
• 2 points per dollar on prepaid car rentals booked through Amex Travel and on cruises booked and paid through AmexTravel.com
• 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases

You can redeem points for travel, gift cards and other options, use them to pay for flights and prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel, or transfer them to 20 airline and hotel partners.

Dining and travel credits

The Gold Card includes four recurring credits. Most of them are paid in monthly or semiannual amounts, so you only get the full value if you use them throughout the year.

• Uber Cash: $10 per month, up to $120 a year, for Uber rides and Uber Eats orders in the U.S. You need to add the card to your Uber account.
• Dining credit: up to $10 per month, up to $120 a year, at Grubhub (including Seamless), Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, The Cheesecake Factory and Wonder. Enrollment required.
• Resy credit: up to $50 from January through June and up to $50 from July through December at qualifying U.S. Resy restaurants. Enrollment required.
• Dunkin’ credit: up to $7 per month, up to $84 a year, at U.S. Dunkin’ locations. Enrollment required.

Added up, the credits come to $424 a year. They only offset the annual fee if you would spend money at these merchants anyway.

When you book two nights or more with The Hotel Collection through AmexTravel.com, you also get a $100 credit toward eligible charges at the hotel. Eligible charges vary by property.

Travel and purchase protections

The card has no foreign transaction fees. When you pay for a round trip with the card, Trip Delay Insurance can reimburse certain expenses of up to $300 per trip if a covered reason delays you more than 12 hours, with a limit of 2 claims in 12 months. Baggage insurance covers up to $1,250 for carry-on bags and $500 for checked bags when you pay the full fare with the card.

Car rental loss and damage coverage applies when you pay for the entire rental with the card and decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver. It is secondary coverage, doesn’t include liability and doesn’t cover rentals in Australia, Italy and New Zealand.

For purchases, the card offers purchase protection for up to 90 days against accidental damage, theft or loss, and extended warranty coverage that adds up to one year to manufacturer warranties of 5 years or less. Terms, limits and exclusions apply to all these benefits.

Pros of the American Express® Gold Card

• 4 points per dollar at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets
• Up to $424 a year in dining, Uber and Dunkin’ credits
• No foreign transaction fees
• Points can be transferred to 20 airline and hotel partners

Cons of the American Express® Gold Card

• $325 annual fee
• Credits are tied to specific merchants and paid monthly or twice a year
• No airport lounge access
• High APR if you carry a balance with Pay Over Time

American Express® Gold Card rates and fees

• Annual fee: $325. The first five additional cards have no annual fee; each additional card after that costs $35 a year.
• Welcome offer: varies by applicant. Recent offers have been as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 6 months. American Express shows your offer during the application.
• Pay Over Time APR: 19.74% to 28.74% variable, based on your creditworthiness
• Foreign transaction fee: none
• Spending limit: no preset spending limit. The amount you can spend adjusts based on your purchase, payment and credit history, and American Express may assign a limit in some cases.

Terms checked in September 2026. Card offers change often, so confirm the current rates, fees and welcome offer on American Express’s official website before you apply.

About American Express

American Express was founded in 1850 and is based in New York. It is a bank holding company that issues credit and charge cards and runs its own payment network.

The American Express® App

The app is where you activate the card and enroll in the credits that require enrollment, so it’s worth setting up right away. You can also track spending and rewards, make payments and get account alerts. If you’re approved and eligible, American Express can give you an instant card number to use online and in digital wallets before the physical card arrives.

Our take on the American Express® Gold Card

The American Express® Gold Card is a good fit if you spend heavily at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets and will actually use the monthly credits. For someone in that situation, the points and credits can outweigh the $325 annual fee.

It’s harder to justify if you rarely eat out, don’t use Uber or the partner restaurants, or want airport lounge access, which this card doesn’t offer. And like any rewards card, it works best if you pay the balance in full, since the Pay Over Time APR is high.

Approval depends on your credit profile, and American Express doesn’t publish a minimum credit score. Amex lets you find out whether you’re approved without any impact on your credit score. If you accept the card, your credit score may be affected.

In the next article, we walk through how to apply for the American Express® Gold Card.

READ FULL REVIEW

*You will remain on the current site*

Editorial Notice: All content published on this website is completely independent and aims to provide clear, useful, and up-to-date information about personal finance. We have no ties to banks, financial institutions or credit card companies. We are not affiliates and do not receive commissions or payments to promote products or services. Our website is monetized exclusively through the advertisements displayed on our pages. This content is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice.