The American Express® Gold Card offers plenty of value in your first few months of card membership — but it will take some work to access all of it.
From the welcome bonus to the restaurant credits, this card features several ways to start earning back your $325 annual fee. But knowing how to access all the credits and perks is crucial to maximizing your value.
- Earn the welcome bonus
- Enroll to access the monthly dining credits
- Activate your monthly Uber Cash
- Sign up for Resy credits
- Enroll to access the monthly Dunkin’ credits
- Learn your bonus spending categories
1. Earn the welcome bonus
The best way to maximize the value of the American Express® Gold Card in your first few months of card ownership is to make sure you earn its welcome bonus.
Currently, the card offers a bonus of 60,000 Membership Rewards® points when you spend at least $6,000 in eligible purchases in the first 6 months after opening the account.
Those points are worth $600 when redeemed through AmexTravel.com, and possibly more if transferred to one of American Express’s partner programs. Your bonus points may even be enough to get you to your first travel redemption.
2. Enroll to access the monthly dining credits
One of the American Express® Gold Card’s best perks might require some extra consideration to earn full value.
You can earn up to $10 a month — $120 a year — in statement credits when you use your card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com and Five Guys.
To receive this credit, you must enroll online or call the number on the back of your card. And the credits don’t carry over, so you’ll need to make a qualifying purchase every month to get the full $120 annual value.
Depending on your current habits, this credit might not immediately seem useful to you. But if you place a delivery order through Grubhub once per month, you should be able to take full advantage.
3. Activate your monthly Uber Cash
You can get $10 in Uber Cash each month with your American Express® Gold Card, saving you up to $120 a year on Uber rides and Uber Eats.
This perk is a little easier to use — all you have to do is add your American Express® Gold Card as your payment method on your Uber or Uber Eats app. But like with the dining credit, unused value won’t carry over from month to month.
If you’re not in the habit of using Uber, this perk might not seem valuable. But you should be able to get the full value every month if you make one Uber Eats order or take one Uber ride.
4. Sign up for Resy credits
The American Express® Gold Card offers yet more value with restaurants with this benefit.
Make a dinner reservation through Resy and unlock up to $100 in statement credits each year (up to $50 from January through June and up to $50 from July through December) when you use your American Express® Gold Card. To enroll, you’ll need to visit your card account online or call the number on the back of your card.
There’s no guarantee that your favorite restaurant will be available on Resy — or that it’s used by many restaurants where you live — but this credit could be a nice way to try a new spot at a discount.
5. Enroll to access the monthly Dunkin’ credits
Dunkin’ devotees will appreciate this monthly credit (that also doesn’t roll over), which allows you to earn up to $7 in statement credits monthly for purchases using your card. To get the benefit — up to $84 a year — enroll by calling the number on the back of your credit card.
Even if you don’t frequent Dunkin’, this credit could come in handy every so often if you’re in need of a drink or quick snack, even if only at an airport.
6. Learn your bonus spending categories
While activating and enrolling in the American Express® Gold Card’s perks and credits are great ways to maximize value right after getting the card, your first few months of card membership are also a great time to start building your rewards balance.
Apart from the welcome bonus, the best way to do that is by using your card whenever you spend in its bonus categories. You’ll earn:
- 4 points per $1 on restaurants worldwide plus takeout and delivery in the U.S. (on up to $50,000 in spending per year, then 1 point per $1)
- 4 points per $1 on groceries at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 in purchases per year, then 1 point per $1)
- 3 points per $1 on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com
- 2 points per $1 on other travel booked via AmexTravel.com
- 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
It’s possible that you have another card that gets you more value in one of these categories, and it won’t be right for everyone to shift all their spending to the American Express® Gold Card. But if you’re looking to maximize this card’s value over time, you’ll need to spend enough to keep a high point balance that you can redeem for travel.
Next steps
The American Express® Gold Card has other perks that can earn value, like a $100 experience credit at The Hotel Collection properties. But the benefits we’ve called out above are most likely to help you find value early in your card membership.
Once you start using your American Express® Gold Card more often, you might find that it has some gaps you’d like to fill. For instance, if you do a lot of driving, for example, you can save big on fill-ups with a gas credit card. Or if you’re looking to relax before boarding your next flight, you might want to check out the top credit cards for airport lounge access.