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The American Express® Business Gold Card features lucrative and dynamic bonus categories, enabling cardmembers to potentially earn a massive amount 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 $295 ($375 if application is received on or after 2/1/24) annual fee (Rates & Fees)? Let's take a closer look at what the card offers to determine if it deserves a slot in your wallet.
- Welcome Offer: Earn 70,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $10,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.*
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points on the 2 categories where your business spends the most each billing cycle 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 $12.95 back in statement credits each month when you pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) with your Business Gold Card. $12.95 plus applicable taxes.
- Your Card - Your Choice. Now choose from Gold or Rose Gold.
- *Terms Apply
- Rates & Fees
- Airfare purchased directly from airlines (through 1/31/2024)
- 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
- U.S. purchases for shipping (through 1/31/2024)
- 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 points per dollar in the top two spending categories and up to 3x points on eligible purchases through Amex Travel.
- Has numerous purchase and travel protection benefits.
- Earns valuable American Express Membership Rewards points.
- Monthly statement credits to cover business expenses.
Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
Amex Business Gold Cons
- Has a $295 ($375 if application is received on or after 2/1/24) annual fee (Rates & Fees).
- Only earns 1 point per $1 spent on non-bonused spending.
Amex Business Gold Welcome Offer
The Amex Business Gold is sporting a welcome offer of 70,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $10,000 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 2.15¢. At that rate, this welcome offer is worth nearly $1,500.
The bonus of 70,000 Membership Rewards points is currently the highest publicly available offer for the Amex Business Gold, but it's also worth checking for targeted offers that could result in an even larger welcome bonus.
You can view targeted offers using the CardMatch tool, which will ask for some personal information and run a quick check to see what special credit card offers may be available to you. You might see an offer for a higher welcome bonus; as these are targeted offers, not everyone will see the same thing — and you might not have any offers for this card.
You also might be targeted for a higher offer using different web browsers or via email, regular mail, or even within your Amex account when logged in.
Amex Business Gold Benefits
25% airline bonus via Pay With Points
The Amex Business Gold joins The Business Platinum Card® from American Express in offering a rebate when using Amex’s Pay With Points program. However, you'll get a 25% rebate, rather than the 35% rebate offered by its Platinum stablemate.
All first- and business-class flights qualify for this rebate, as well as any economy fare booked on your selected airline. As you're redeeming points for a cash ticket (Amex books these as a revenue fare), you’ll earn elite status credits and airline miles for flights booked through Pay With Points. This benefit is capped at 250,000 points back annually, and you must select your preferred airline in advance.
Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
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. This doesn't mean unlimited spending power, but it means the card adjusts to how you use it.
Pay Over Time option
Where many small-business cards require you to pay down the entire balance of the card each month, Amex Business Gold cardholders are automatically enrolled in Amex’s Pay Over Time program. This allows you to carry a balance on certain charges and pay interest. We recommend you not carry a balance (thus paying interest) if at all possible; it may be advisable to unenroll from Pay Over Time to avoid this.
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.
Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
Purchase and travel protection benefits
The Amex Business Gold primarily focuses on earning points over perks. With that said, cardholders receive an array of purchase and travel protection benefits, including:
- Trip Delay Reimbursement
- Extended Warranty
- Purchase Protection
- 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 spending categories each month. Thankfully, there's no need to preselect your categories from the list. The two highest spending categories each month will automatically earn 4x points — up to $150,000 per year in combined spending across bonus categories.
The full list of potential bonus categories includes:
- 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.
- Airfare purchased directly from airlines (through 1/31/2024)
- U.S. purchases for shipping (through 1/31/2024)
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 2.15¢ per Membership Rewards point, the points earned on this spend are worth ~$12,840. That equates to an excellent 8.56% return on business spending in these categories!
In October 2023, the Amex Business Gold increased its earning rate from 2x to 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. You can also earn 2x on prepaid car rentals and cruises booked through Amex Travel.
If airfare is one of your business' top spending categories, the better strategy is to purchase it directly from the airlines to earn 4x points (through 1/31/2024) instead of 3x through Amex Travel. However, starting in February 2024, airfare purchased directly from airlines will no longer be an eligible 4x category.
If you want to tackle a multi-card strategy to maximize the points earned on business expenses, pair the Amex Business Gold card with The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express.
The Blue Business Plus earns a solid Earn 2X Membership Rewards® 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.
Redeeming Points With the Amex Business Gold
Transfer to partners
American Express points are some of the most valuable around, especially if you take advantage of the hotel and airline transfer partners. With 18 different airline partners and three hotel partners from which to choose, it's easy to make high-end redemptions a reality. For example, transferring just 88,000 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 Amex's travel portal. You can use your points for flights, hotels, rental cars, 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 will give you poor value on these redemptions. Your points are worth 0.6¢ apiece for statement credits.
Pay With Points
If you have an Amazon account (or 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.
Application Restrictions and Strategy
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.
“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, it’s a perfect card to apply for if you’re holding off on personal card applications to get back under Chase's 5/24 policy. The Amex Business Gold card is a business card and won’t add to 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 [2023]
Cards That Compete With the Amex Business Gold
If you're not sure that this is the right card for your business, options exist.
- 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 up to $1,400 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 Membership Rewards® 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.
Related: Top Small-Business Card Offers
Bottom Line
The Amex Business Gold remains a great choice for those with high spending among the 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 70,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $10,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.*
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points on the 2 categories where your business spends the most each billing cycle 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 $12.95 back in statement credits each month when you pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) with your Business Gold Card. $12.95 plus applicable taxes.
- Your Card - Your Choice. Now choose from Gold or Rose Gold.
- *Terms Apply
- Rates & Fees
- Airfare purchased directly from airlines (through 1/31/2024)
- 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
- U.S. purchases for shipping (through 1/31/2024)
- 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), and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (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.
Clearly not the card for international business travelers, since all the bonus categories would only apply for spending that takes place in the US. This downside deserves an entry in the “cons” list, in my opinion.
Got an even higher offer in my account for 90k points.
Spend and timeframe is the same.
Great to hear. It’s always good to be on the lookout for targeted offers.
My application for this card was rejected despite having a healthy 5 year old business and a personal credit score in the mid-700s. Any idea what AMEX is looking for? The benefits of this card would be great for me and I’m not sure how to improve my application.
a very good offer to take advantage of. good way to rack up MR points to eventually cash out with amex schwab 1.25 redemption rate in my opinion.
I had to investigate your reference to Schwab. It sounded somehow like another MR redemption opportunity. And, it is. But, only if you have the Amercian Express Platinum Card for Schwab, a distinct card.
Are the other Amex cards that are offering points and money in the same boat? Looking to refer my wife to a Hilton card. Is that promotion ending soon?
It looks like we don’t have an end date on the Hilton card offers quite yet.
I hope we could travel again soon
I have 80 paydex 85 experian business but 595 fico 8 experian is there any thing I can get
Hey David, I’m not familiar with the business credit scoring, but those generally don’t matter much for rewards cards that have a personal guarantee. 595 is probably not going to make the cut for rewards cards, but don’t give up on improving your score: Here’s a good resource that may be able to help you find opportunities to improve.
I would recommend looking at secured cards or entry-level credit cards that are designed to build credit if you don’t have one already. That might help you accelerate the process.
I have 13 open accounts 11 perfect payment 2 30 days late but they never were I was victim of identity theft I filled police reports hole year no anything but fraud alert of experian and companies keep screwing me idk perfect 100 % payment history 4 hard inqurires I got damn 599
Wow, that sounds frustrating. You might try an application with one of the issuers for which you have a perfect history. You’ll probably be declined by the automated system, but you may be able to discuss the situation with someone on the reconsideration/credit decisions team. Unfortunately, it seems like applying for new credit will be a hassle until you are able to get your credit file cleaned up.
Looks like some good bonuses for those who hold the Amex Gold card.
Buena promoción pero para Argentina no se si esta disponible y el monto es un poco alto por el tipo de cambio…grs
Not really sure I need to get this on top of the Amex Gold I currently own. Seems redundant.
I’ve found AwardWallet’s free MCC tool to be invaluable for determining, in advance, how certain charges will code on given credit cards. I only wish AwardWallet would restore their tracking for AMEX plyCash and SimplyCash+ Cards.
Froide: I wasn’t aware there was an issue there! I’m highlighting this for our tech team.
I didn’t even know they had an MCC tool. Thanks!
I would love to get this Amex business credit card with the amazing bonus. Unfortunately I would never be able to make the minimum spend in three months.
This is a very good bonus but with a very high threshold of $10k in spend. If you can qualify and have planned a spend of that much, you should try to get this card.
Will this card count in the 5/24 rule? I need to make sure, don’t won’t to go over. Thanks!
As this is an Amex business card, it won’t count toward 5/24
Nice offer to take advantage of. I would take that 70k bonus and the nice 300 of credit!
Can you please advise Amex Corporate we need the ROSE GOLD Card in Canada…
This is the 3rd USA round of rose gold and still not launched in Edmonton , I’ve been waiting patiently for 5 years.
We support Rose Gold for Canada! Sadly, I don’t think they’re likely to take note of our vote in support of your motion. Hang in there, friend.