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The American Express® Business Gold Card features lucrative and dynamic bonus categories, enabling cardmembers to potentially earn boatloads of Membership Rewards points each year. It also has a high-value welcome offer that you'll likely want to redeem by utilizing one of these sweet spots and transfer partners.
But is it worth the $375 annual fee (Rates & Fees)? Let's take a closer look at what the card offers to determine if it deserves a top spot in your wallet.
- Welcome Offer: Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.*
- 0% Intro APR ¤ for 6 months from the date of account opening on purchases eligible for Pay Over Time, then a 18.49% to 29.24% variable APR.*
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points on the top two eligible categories where your business spends the most each month from 6 eligible categories. While your top 2 categories may change, you will earn 4X points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these categories each calendar year (then 1X thereafter). Only the top 2 categories each billing cycle will count towards the $150,000 cap.*
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com using your Business Gold Card.*
- Earn up to $20 in statement credits monthly after you use the Business Gold Card for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and Office Supply Stores. This can be an annual savings of up to $240. Enrollment required.*
- Get up to a $12.95** statement credit back each month after you pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) with your Business Gold Card. **Up to $12.95 plus applicable taxes on one membership fee.*
- The Business Gold Card comes in three metal designs: Gold, Rose Gold and White Gold. Make your selection when you apply on Americanexpress.com.
- *Terms Apply
- Rates & Fees
- U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
- U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers
- U.S. purchases at gas stations
- U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
- Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
- Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
Amex Business Gold Pros
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards points per dollar in the top two eligible spending categories (applicable on the first $150,000 in combined purchases annually, then 1X) and up to 3X points on eligible purchases through American Express Travel®.
- Up to $240 in flexible business credits annually.
- Walmart+ monthly membership credit.
- No preset spending limit.
Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits. No Preset Spending Limit means the amount you can spend adapts based on factors such as your purchase, payment, and credit history.
Amex Business Gold Cons
- Has a $375 annual fee (Rates & Fees).
- Only earns 1 point per $1 spent on non-bonused spending.
- Caps on 4X earnings.
Amex Business Gold Welcome Offer
The Amex Business Gold is sporting a welcome offer of 100,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
In recent AwardWallet user redemptions, the average value of American Express Membership Rewards points is 1.97¢ apiece. At that rate, this welcome offer is worth around $1,880.
The bonus of 100,000 Membership Rewards points is currently the highest publicly available offer for the Amex Business Gold. However, it's worth checking for targeted offers that could result in an even larger bonus.
One of the easiest ways to locate these offers is through the CardMatch tool. CardMatch will ask for some personal information and run a quick check to see what offers might be available to you. You might find an offer targeted just for you and higher than what's publicly available, or possibly not.
Additionally, you can also be targeted for a higher offer using different web browsers, private browsers, via email, regular mail, or even within your Amex account when logged in. As you can tell, Amex doesn't make it easy to distill where to find the best offer possible!
Related: Best Rewards Credit Card Offers This Month
Amex Business Gold Benefits
For a card with a $375 annual fee (Rates & Fees), the Amex Business Gold has a short list of benefits. That said, the benefits it does have can justify the annual fee if you take advantage of them.
No preset spending limit
The Amex Business Gold provides cardholders with increased spending capacity, allowing you to make purchases on the card without hitting a predefined cap. Amex determines the purchasing power of your card by factoring in your previous use of the card, payment history, credit record, and the financial resources available to you.
For businesses that spend a lot of money, this perk is a valuable one to keep in your back pocket. No Preset Spending Limit means the amount you can spend adapts based on factors such as your purchase, payment, and credit history.
Related: Best Credit Cards for Large Purchases
Statement credits
Each month, you can earn up to $20 in statement credits for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and Office Supply Stores. That's up to $240 annually. Plus, use your card to purchase a $12.95 monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) and receive a statement credit to cover the full cost each month (up to $12.95 plus applicable taxes on one membership fee).
Even if you're not a Walmart shopper, there are some great benefits for having Walmart+ membership, including a free Paramount+ membership and saving up to ten cents a gallon on gas!
Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
Pay Over Time
Where many small-business cards require you to pay down the card's entire balance each month, Amex Business Gold cardholders are automatically enrolled in Amex’s Pay Over Time program. This program allows you to carry a balance on certain charges and pay interest. We recommend not carrying a balance (thus paying interest) if at all possible; it may be advisable to unenroll from Pay Over Time to avoid this.
Purchase and travel protection benefits
The Amex Business Gold primarily focuses on earning points rather than travel perks, but important ones exist on the card for when things go wrong, including:
- Trip delay reimbursement
- Extended warranty
- Purchase protection
- Lost baggage insurance
- Secondary Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance
- Cell Phone Protection
And you won't pay foreign transaction fees when using your card in other countries (Rates & Fees).
Amex Business Gold Earning Rates
Amex Business Gold cardholders earn 4x points in the top two eligible spending categories each month. Thankfully, there's no need to preselect your categories from the list. The two highest eligible spending categories each month will automatically earn 4x points — up to $150,000 per year in combined spending across bonus categories.
Those categories are:
- Purchases at US media providers for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
- U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers
- U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
- U.S. purchases at gas stations
- Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
- Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
If you max out the $150,000 in purchases each year in the 4x categories, you’ll earn a whopping 600,000 Membership Rewards points on your business expenses. That's a massive haul of points. Based on our baseline of 1.97¢ per Membership Rewards point, the points earned on this spend are worth ~$11,220. That equates to over a 7% return on business spending in these categories!
The Amex Business Gold also earns 3x for some purchases made online with Amex Travel. Now, you'll earn 3x Membership Rewards on flights, prepaid hotels and prepaid flight + hotel packages.
Pair the Amex Business Gold with other Amex business cards to boost your earning capability
The Amex Business Gold‘s earning categories could be valuable to small and medium-sized business owners. But if you pair the card with other Amex business cards, you can boost your earning potential even more.
If I were to suggest a spending strategy, pick two categories that make sense for your business, and try and put only spending from those categories on the Amex Business Gold. Then, maximize all other spending with a separate Amex card.
If you want to tackle a multi-card strategy to maximize the points earned on business expenses and stick with Amex, pair the Amex Business Gold card with The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express.
The Blue Business Plus earns a solid 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Plus, it charges no annual fee (Rates & Fees). That makes it the perfect companion card to the Amex Business Gold card by providing a minimum of 2x points per dollar on your first $50,000 of business expenses each year.
This way, you never earn one point per dollar on your business spending.
Redeeming Points With the Amex Business Gold
Transfer to partners
American Express points are some of the most valuable around, and one of my personal favorites, especially if you take advantage of the hotel and airline transfer partners. With 17 different airline partners and three hotel partners from which to choose, it's easy to make high-end redemptions a reality. For example, transferring 100,000 Amex points to ANA will snag you a round-trip business-class ticket to Europe.
Beware, however, that not all transfer partners are created equal. Options like Marriott Bonvoy can represent a poor use of your points and should be avoided unless necessary — such as topping off a balance for a redemption.
Related: How to Redeem American Express Membership Rewards Points — And Which Options Are Best
Amex Travel
It's also possible to redeem your points within the Amex Travel portal. You can use your points for flights, hotels, rental cars, vacation rentals, or cruises. However, you should be wary of redeeming in this way. Amex tends to undervalue its own points within the portal and will usually give you a value of less than 1 cent per point for your bookings. The only exception to this is for flights, where you'll receive 1 cent per point in value or even a little more if you're able to find one of Amex's “Insider Fares.”
Gift cards
If shopping is more your speed, you're able to redeem Amex points for gift cards. However, these tend to represent a pretty poor use of points — often 1¢ apiece or less.
Statement credits
Like with gift cards, Amex also allows you to redeem points against any purchases that you've made, but it will give you poor value on these redemptions. Your points are worth 0.6¢ apiece for statement credits, less than one-third of what AwardWallet users typically redeem Amex points for!
Pay With Points
If you have an Amazon account (or an account with any other site where Pay With Points is enabled), you can opt to redeem your Amex points for any purchases that you make. Redeeming a single point will get you one cent in value.
However, the proposition declines from there, making this another bad use of your points. The only time this is a good use of points is when you can redeem a handful of points (or even just one) for big discounts.
Shopping
Finally, Amex has its own shopping portal where you can redeem your points for a variety of items. These include things like headphones, computers, cell phones, and other gifts. Don't use your points here; a recent example required 139,800 points for a $699 iPhone 13 mini, which means you'll get a dismal 0.5 cents per point in value. Yikes!
Application Restrictions
The Amex Business Gold card features the once-per-lifetime language for existing or previous cardholders that applies to all Amex cards. That means you may be restricted from earning the welcome offer if you’ve held this card in the past. Per the application page:
“Welcome offer(s) may not be available to applicants who have or have had this Card or previous versions of this Card. American Express may also consider the number of American Express Cards you have opened and closed as well as other factors in making a decision on your offer eligibility. If an offer is not available to you, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.”
However, this card is great if you’re holding off on personal card applications to get back under Chase's 5/24 count. The Amex Business Gold card is a business card, thus won't count towards your 5/24 count as it doesn't show up on your consumer credit report with any of the three major bureaus.
Related: Understanding Rewards Credit Card Application Rules and Restrictions
Cards That Compete With the Amex Business Gold
If you're looking to shop around for other business card offerings, there are a number of contenders:
- If you want travel perks plus statement credits, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is an excellent premium card, though it does have a hefty $695 annual fee (Rates & Fees). Statement credits for Dell, Indeed, wireless telephone service, airline incidental fees, and CLEAR® Plus provide over $2,000 in annual value. Travel benefits include airline lounge access and hotel elite status. Check out our full review of the Business Platinum Card for more. Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
- If you're under 5/24 and want to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points, consider the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. It has a $95 annual fee and earns 3x on travel purchases, shipping, internet, cable and phone services, and advertising with social media sites and search engines (on the first $150,000 total spent each year, then 1x). Check out our full review of the Ink Preferred for all the details.
- If you want to earn Amex points with no annual fee, the The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express may be a good fit for you. There are no bonus categories to track. You'll earn a flat 2x points on the first $50,000 of purchases each year, then 1x. Learn more in our full review of the Blue Business Plus.
(Terms apply)
- Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase of $5,000 or more.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. shipping providers.
- 1.5X earning rates are subject to a cap of $2 million in purchases per calendar year.
- 3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year
- 1X point per $1 on all other purchases
(Terms Apply)
- Earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply.
Related: Top Small-Business Card Offers
Bottom Line
The Amex Business Gold remains an amazing option for cardmembers with high spending among the eligible 4x categories. When you pair it with other cards in the Membership Rewards business card portfolio, like the Blue Business Plus and Business Platinum Card, you can generate a lot of Membership Rewards points and enjoy plenty of benefits.
While the card doesn't offer many ancillary perks, its earning power can't be understated.
- Welcome Offer: Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.*
- 0% Intro APR ¤ for 6 months from the date of account opening on purchases eligible for Pay Over Time, then a 18.49% to 29.24% variable APR.*
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points on the top two eligible categories where your business spends the most each month from 6 eligible categories. While your top 2 categories may change, you will earn 4X points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these categories each calendar year (then 1X thereafter). Only the top 2 categories each billing cycle will count towards the $150,000 cap.*
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com using your Business Gold Card.*
- Earn up to $20 in statement credits monthly after you use the Business Gold Card for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and Office Supply Stores. This can be an annual savings of up to $240. Enrollment required.*
- Get up to a $12.95** statement credit back each month after you pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) with your Business Gold Card. **Up to $12.95 plus applicable taxes on one membership fee.*
- The Business Gold Card comes in three metal designs: Gold, Rose Gold and White Gold. Make your selection when you apply on Americanexpress.com.
- *Terms Apply
- Rates & Fees
- U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
- U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers
- U.S. purchases at gas stations
- U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
- Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
- Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: American Express® Business Gold Card (Rates & Fees), The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees), The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
