Credit card showdown: Amex Gold vs. Amex Business Gold

Editor’s Note: This post has been updated with new information.

If you’re looking for cards that offer generous points rewards across a variety of categories, the Gold lineup of American Express portfolios is worth a closer look.

both personally American Express® Gold Card and American Express® Business Gold Card Crosses the line between mid-tier and super-premium cards.

With an annual fee of $250 (see rates and fees) and $295 (see rates and fees), respectively, these cards don’t come cheap. But they also did not venture into the territory of Platinum Card® from American Express or Business Platinum® Card from American Expressboth have an annual fee of $695 (see rates and fees for Platinum and Business Platinum).

The Yellow cards are at a sweet spot. They have ample earning potential that can significantly offset their annual fees — without the shock of having a more expensive card.

However, the Gold Amex and Gold trading Amex There is a big difference beyond the obvious point that one is a personal business card and the other is a business card.

Let’s dive in and compare these two Gold cards to see which is right for you.

both Gold Amex and Gold trading Amex are cards with no fixed spending limit. Traditionally, you have to pay off your balance in full each month.

However, with the advent of a Payment by time feature, it is now possible to carry balances from month to month, with variable interest rates applied. With that said, TPG always recommends paying your card in full and on time to avoid accruing interest if possible (this is one of the Our 10 Commandments for Travel Rewards). In this respect, the cards are quite similar.

Business card or personal card?

Perhaps the biggest question is whether a business card or a personal business card is better for you. Business credit card (naturally) designed for business use, while anyone can use a personal credit card. But it’s not quite as rigid.

For example, even if you don’t have an official business with a tax identification number, you can open a business credit card. Maybe you regularly sell online, there is a side hustle or undertake Freedom quest. In any of these cases, you may want to separate your business expenses from other purchases.

As we’ll outline below, Amex Business Gold may be better suited for larger, older businesses with multiple costs.

Related: Why can’t I imagine my life without a business credit card

welcome offer

The Gold Amex there is a generous welcome offer of 60,000 Membership Rewards after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first six months of card opening. Meanwhile, Amex Business Gold offers a higher 70,000 Membership Rewards Points offer, but requires a $10,000 spend within the first three months.

You can get an even higher welcome offer for Amex Gold by using CardMatch . tool (offers subject to change at any time) or by receiving a referral offer from the bearer of either card.

TPG rates Membership Rewards points at 2 cents per pointmaking a 60,000 point reward worth $1,200 and a 70,000 point reward worth $1,400.

Personal Amex Gold also has a Rose gold color option available. Originally offered in late 2018 (and only briefly introduced in 2019), the card color is now back due to popular demand among new cardholders.

Remember that Amex has strict rules when earning welcome bonus. Since 2014, Amex has tightly controlled applications and started limiting customers to one reward per card for the duration of its existence, regardless of how much time has passed since you last applied for the card there. So if you previously had either of these cards, then you may not be eligible to receive its referral offer again.

Winner: Amex Gold. Almost as many points for meeting the much lower spending requirement.

both Gold Amex and Gold trading Amex offers up to 4 points per dollar on selected categories. That rate equates to 8% return on spending, based on TPG’s valuation of Membership Rewards Points is 2 cents per point.

Gold Amex

For individual Amex Gold, you will earn points for the following categories:

• 4 points per dollar about dining in restaurants and in supermarkets in the United States (US supermarkets limit to $25,000 per calendar year, then 1 point per dollar).
• 3 points per dollar on flights booked directly from the airline or through amextravel.com.
• 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases.

4 points per dollar at restaurants and supermarkets in the US is a particularly strong ratio compared to other cards and helps make Amex Gold on our list Best card for groceries and best card to eat out.

Gold trading Amex

The Gold trading Amex features powerful, business-friendly 4-point-per-dollar bonus categories. What’s unique is that you’ll automatically earn 4 points for every dollar in your top two spending categories each month, meaning you don’t have to choose one and commit to it. Eligible categories are:

• Air tickets purchased directly from airlines.
• The United States buys advertising in select media.
• USA buy goods for shipping.
• America buys goods at gas stations.
• America buys goods at a restaurant.
• Purchases in the United States are made from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions.

The structure of these categories means that this card will likely appeal to those looking to win travel rewards without having to do too much. Specifically, you will automatically earn 4 points per dollar in your top two spending categories from the list of eligible bonus categories over the first $150,000 in purchases combined each. calendar year.

This card is considered a one-stop shop where you can swipe to get everything, giving you more bandwidth to focus on your business.

Winner: Draw.

Related: Best business credit card

both personally Gold Amex and Gold trading Amex there is some overlap buy and travel protection. All of these are virtually identical on both cards. Registration required for selected benefits.

Both cards do not charge foreign transaction fees (see rates and fees for Amex Gold; see rates and fees for Amex Business Gold) and both cards also provide access to reservations through Amex’s Hotel Collectionincluding perks like onsite credits, room upgrades, etc.

Gold Amex

Individual Gold Amex There are several exclusive statement credit benefits to help offset the $250 annual fee:

Up to $120 annual meal credit. Earn up to $10 in monthly statement credits when you pay with Amex Gold at participating dining partners, including Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar, and select Shake Shack locations . Enrollment is required. This perk is a monthly statement credit similar to the above Uber credit Platinum Card® from American Express. You just need to register through the Amex website to get this benefit.

To $120 annually ($10 per month) in Uber Cash. This can be used for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides in the US. Just make sure to sign up for the Gold Card with your Uber account first and use it to pay.

Unfortunately Gold trading Amex does not offer such statement credits but has substantial redemption rewards.

Winner: Amex Gold.

both Gold Amex and Gold trading Amex earn Membership Rewards points that you can transfer to Amex .’s airline and hotel partners. With many options to choose from, you’ll be able to find transfer partners in any of the three major airline alliances and some carriers that are not part of the alliance.

However, the special thing of Gold trading Amex Is one Pay with points Redemption rewards when booking flight tickets through Amex Travel. You’ll get 25% off when you pay with points through your Corporate Gold Card (up to 250,000 points per calendar year) on business or first class tickets on any airline or any fare class of the US airline you have selected. This is similar to Business Platinum Card from American Express35% off Pay in Points (up to 1 million points per calendar year).

By using Pay with Flights in conjunction with your Amex Business Gold card, you’ll receive a redemption value of 1.33 cents per point on eligible tickets compared to just 1 cent per point with Amex Gold.

Winner: Amex Business Gold.

While there are some interesting and redeeming bonuses with Amex Business Gold, the advantage in this match is personal Gold Amex.

The Personal Card is a strong option for all food purchases, and its statement credits mostly offset the annual fee. It certainly has broader appeal and may be better for cardholders who don’t have large business expenses.

The Gold trading Amex is targeted at larger, older businesses. There is no statement credit to cover the annual fee, and in general, this card works better for a company that can erase its expenses. You will have to spend a lot to earn enough points to make the annual fee worth it.

Those considerations aside, Amex Business Gold’s bonus categories and income structure will appeal to many businesses, as these categories include everything from spending at U.S. restaurants to buying stores in the United States for advertising and at select technology providers.

Official app link: Amex Gold Card.

Official app link: Amex corporate yellow card.

For Amex Gold Card rates and fees, please click here.
For Amex Business Gold Card rates and fees, please click here.
For Amex Platinum card rates and fees, click here.
For Amex Business Platinum card rates and fees, click here.

Additional reporting by Ryan Wilcox.