There were rumors a few days ago about a refresh to the popular American Express Gold. Well as of this morning, everything that we thought would be announced were true. The annual fee is increasing but so are the benefits in the form or additional statement credits.

Keep in mind, there are still signup bonus restrictions for the Gold if you are a current Platinum card holder. The signup bonus is only available for someone who is not a current card holder and does not have nor have they had the Platinum.

Annual Fee Increase

Effective immediately for new applicants or starting on your next renewal date on or after October 1st, 2024 if you are an existing card holder, the annual fee will increase from $250 to $325. If you’re lucky and your annual fee isn’t due until September 30th, 2025, you have more than a year to enjoy these benefits at the current rate. Rates & Fees

American Express Gold Benefits

Signup Bonus: 60,000 points plus 20% back on restaurants up to $100 back after spending $6,000 in 6 months. However, you may be targeted for a higher bonus of up to 100,000 points through Card Match or a friends referral link.

4x Points: at Restaurants worldwide now capped at $50,000 in spending annually. After $50,000 in spending you’ll earn 1x point

4x Points: at Grocery Stores in the US on up to $25,000 in spending annually. After $25,000 in spending you’ll earn 1x point. This is unchanged.

3x Points: on airfare spent directly with an airline or at amextravel.com This is unchanged

2x Points: on prepaid hotels, car rentals and cruises booked at amextravel.com.

1x Point: on all other purchases

$120 in Dining Credits: You’ll receive a $10 statement credit each month when you use your card at Five Guys, GrubHub, The Cheesecake Factory, wine.com, and Goldbelly for up to $120 a year in credits. Five Guys was added while Shake Shack and Milk Bar will be removed after September 25th.

$120 in Uber Credits: $10 per month will be added automatically to your linked Uber account. This can be used for rides with Uber or Uber Eats. This is unchanged.

New $100 Resy Credit: You’ll now receive $50 twice a year when you use your card at any restaurant on Resy. This runs like the American Express Platinum card’s biannual Saks credit from January 1st through June 30th and from July 1st through December 31st. Enrollment is required.

New $84 Dunkin’ Credit: Use your card at Dunkin’ and receive up to $7 a month in credits for a total of $84 a year. Enrollment is required.

What Has Changed

While the annual fee has increased from $250 to $325, the amount of annual statement credits has increased from $240 to $424. Before the net annual fee was $10 if you used all your statement credits. Now you can actually make $99 a year with this card.

The addition of the biannual $50 Resy credit should be pretty easy to use as this card is designed for people who go out to eat at restaurants. It’s not ideal however, that they capped the 4x points on restaurant spending at $50,000 per year. If you’re someone who spends that much money on dining and your next best card would be the Citi Strata Premier, Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Sapphire Reserve which all earn 3x points on dining.

I don’t love that they took away Shake Shack and Milk Bar but I never used the credit for those. Granted I don’t have either where I live so I always used that credit with GrubHub. I am a fan of Five Guys and there is one not too far from my house. In fact, I would occasionally order Five Guys via GrubHub so this makes things a bit easier for me to just pay for my meal directly with Five Guys now.

I’m not a coffee drinker so the Dunkin’ Credit won’t be very useful for me, however I know a lot of people that love this. Maybe I’ll find something for $7 or less on the menu that I’ll enjoy.

New White Gold Version

Part of this refresh is the option to get a new White Gold version of the card. This is in addition to the original Rose Gold option. When Amex first relaunched the Gold about 9 years ago, the Rose Gold card was a limited time option but they have since made it permanent. There’s no indication that the White Gold variant is only available for a limited time. But if you’d like to get one, I’d recommend going ahead and getting it now.

If you’re an existing card member, you can order a replacement and select “Change Card Design”. You can do this if you want any of the other versions as well. That was one of the first things I did this morning when I got the email from American Express about the changes.

Why Did They Make These Changes?

We’ve seen American Express increase the annual fee on a number of cards like the Platinum recently while adding more statement credits. All of these changes are geared towards dining as it’s the primary reason people pick up this card.

According to Howard Grosfield, president of U.S. consumer services at American Express: “We’re seeing particularly strong restaurant spend with Millennial and Gen Z consumers, which is our fastest growing customer segment.”

I get it, they want to reward you for using your card and if they can increase the annual fee while adding more credits, more people are likely to use the card. In addition to the annual fee, credit card companies make a percentage of your purchase when you swipe your card. It varies by the type of card and the issuer but it can be anywhere from 1.5% to 2.8%. I doubt most people will only use their card for the exact amount of the credit. Most (including myself) will go to Five Guys for example and spend more than the $10 credit. So American Express will make a fee off the total amount. Certainly American Express isn’t covering the entire credit. I would assume they’re splitting it with Five Guys. American Express bought Resy back in 2019 so it make sense they’re trying to push more people to those restaurants. While you can probably get away with a $50 restaurant bill, the reality is that this is just great marketing for Resy and will push more people to use the app for reservations.

Wrapping Up

American Express just increased the annual fee on the American Express Gold from $250 a year to $325 while increasing the statement credits you can receive. Additionally, they limited the 4x points on dining to $50,000 a year. Overall, the increased annual fee is a bummer but it is more than offset by the increase in statement credits.

Apply for the American Express Gold and get 60,000 points and 20% back on dining up to $100 after spending $6,000 in the first 6 months.

Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

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Confirmed Updates to American Express Gold