Amex Business Gold review: New benefits available now, annual fee increase coming soon
American Express® Business Gold Card Review

Welcome bonus

Benefits and perks

The Amex Business Gold Card has two monthly statement credits, which can be more valuable than its annual fee (see rates and fees). Cardholders can earn: Up to $240 in statement credits per year (up to $20 a month) for eligible purchases at FedEx, Grubhub and office supply stores. Enrollment required.

A monthly Walmart+ membership credit (worth $155 annually) It also offers a handful of **purchase and travel protections, including: Baggage insurance (Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company)

Rental car loss and damage insurance (secondary) (Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.)

Trip delay insurance (Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company)

Purchase protection (Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company)

Extended warranty protection (Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company)

Cell phone insurance (Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company) Until Feb. 1, 2024, you can get a 25% points rebate when you use the Pay with Points feature to book certain types of flights through the Amex Travel site. Airfare that qualifies for the 25% points rebate includes all flights with your selected airline and any first- or business-class flight. The airlines you can choose as your selected airline are: Alaska Airlines

American Airlines

Delta

Hawaiian Airlines

JetBlue

Spirit Airlines

Southwest Airlines

United Airlines You can select your airline when you open an account and you can change this selection each January. This rebate is limited to up to 250,000 points back per calendar year. Card members receive elite-like perks with Amex's The Hotel Collection program. Eligible bookings qualify for: Room upgrades at check-in (when available)

Experience credit of up to $100 To be eligible for these benefits, you have to book through Amex Travel and the stay must be for two or more nights.

How to earn and use Amex Membership Rewards points

Earning The Amex Business Gold Card earns 4X Membership Rewards points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases you make in the two select categories where you spend the most each month (then 1X points). Until Feb. 1, 2024, the categories are: Airfare purchased directly from airlines

U.S. shipping purchases

U.S. dining purchases (including takeout and delivery)

U.S. gas station purchases

U.S. advertising purchases in select media (online, TV, radio)

U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software and cloud system providers

Transit purchases, including trains, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, subways, taxis and rideshare services

Monthly wireless phone service charges made directly from a service provider in the U.S.

Terms apply Starting Feb. 1, 2024, the shipping and airfare categories will no longer be eligible for 4X bonus points with this card. Other purchases earn Amex points at the following rates: 3X points on travel purchased through Amex Travel

1X points on all other purchases Redeeming You can redeem American Express Membership Rewards points for statement credits, travel (booked through Amex Travel), shopping, seat upgrades, gift cards and more. These redemptions generally have a value of one cent per point or less. If you want to maximize the value of Amex points, then you'll want to transfer them to Amex's partner travel loyalty programs. You can transfer Amex points to the following airlines and hotels: Aeroplan (Air Canada)

Avianca

Delta

Etihad

Marriott Bonvoy

Aer Lingus

AeroMexico

Flying Blue (Air France & KLM)

ANA

British Airways

Cathay Pacific

Choice Hotels

Emirates

Hawaiian Airlines

Hilton

Iberia

JetBlue

Qantas

Qatar

Singapore

Virgin Atlantic By taking advantage of partner award sweet spots, you can unlock incredible value. For example, you can transfer 88,000 points to ANA and book a round-trip business-class flight from the U.S. to Europe on a Star Alliance airline. If you paid out of pocket for the same ticket it could easily cost $3,000+, which means you could get a value of over 3.4 cents per point with that type of transfer.

Rates and fees

The Amex Business Gold Card has a *$295 annual fee and you can add up to 99 employee cards for no additional cost. The annual fee* is increasing to $375 on Feb. 1, 2024 for new cardmembers and account renewals. There are *no foreign transaction fees and it has a variable *APR of 19.49%-28.49%. The returned payment fee is *$39 and there is a late payment fee of the greater of $39 or 2.99% of any past due amount. *See rates and fees.

Alternatives to the Amex Business Gold Card

Amex Business Gold Card vs. Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card Learn More On Chase's secure site Rewards Earn 3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases in select categories each account anniversary year (travel; shipping purchases; internet, cable and phone services; and advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines), 1X point per $1 on all other purchases

Welcome bonus Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Annual fee $95

Intro APR None

Regular APR 21.24% - 26.24% variable

Balance transfer fee Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater

Foreign transaction fee None

Credit needed Good/Excellent

Terms apply. Read our Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card review.

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is a more affordable alternative to the Amex Business Gold Card. It has a $95 annual fee and earns Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, which have a comparable value to Amex Membership Rewards points. This card is also exceptionally rewarding for many common business expenses. It earns 3X Chase points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases per calendar year (then 1X points) in these categories: Shipping

Advertising with social media sites and search engines

Internet, cable and phone services

Travel The Ink Business Preferred also has a strong suite of insurance protections, including primary rental car coverage, and cell phone insurance. Amex Business Gold Card vs. The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express Learn More On the American Express secure site Rewards Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on AmexTravel.com and 1X points for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases. Also, earn 1.5X points (that's an extra half point per dollar) on each eligible purchases at US construction material, hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else, on up to $2 million of these purchases per calendar year.

Welcome bonus Earn 120,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months of card membership

Annual fee $695

Intro APR N/A

Regular APR 19.49% - 28.49% variable

Balance transfer fee N/A

Foreign transaction fee None

Credit needed Excellent/Good See rates and fees, terms apply.

Anyone who wants a business card that's loaded with luxury benefits will prefer The Business Platinum Card® from American Express over the Amex Business Gold Card. The Amex Business Platinum Card isn't as rewarding for business purchases and it does have a higher $695 annual fee (see rates and fees). But it has a suite of benefits that far exceeds the value offered by Amex Business Gold's perks, including: Up to $400 in Dell statement credits every year (up to $200 semi-annually). Enrollment required.

Up to $360 in Indeed credit each year, up to $90 per quarter

Up to $150 for select Adobe prepaid business subscriptions. Enrollment required.

Up to $120 in wireless telephone provider credit each year (up to $10 per month). Enrollment required.

Up to $189 in CLEAR® Plus membership fee credits each year

Up to $200 in airline fee credits per calendar year

Up to $100 Global Entry or up to $85 TSA PreCheck® application fee credit

Access to 1,400+ airport lounges

35% points rebate (up to one million points per calendar year) when you use the Pay with Points feature to book business- or first-class flights or any flights with your selected airline

**Cell phone insurance (Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.)

**Purchase protection (Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.)

**Extended warranty (Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.)

Marriott and Hilton Gold status

Is the Amex Business Gold Card right for you?

The Amex Business Gold Card is useful for small business owners who can take advantage of the card's generous bonus spending categories. This card is hard to beat for purchases such as advertising, dining and transit. However, you only receive 4X bonus points on the two categories you spend the most in each month. So in some instances, a card with fixed bonus categories could be more valuable. If you won't be spending a lot in the card's 4X bonus categories, the card's other benefits can still make it worthwhile. Even if you won't take advantage of the monthly Walmart+ credit, the up to $20 a month in statement credits for FedEx, Grubhub and office supply stores is easy to use. That credit cuts your yearly out-of-pocket cost down to a more manageable $135.

Bottom line

The Amex Business Gold Card is one of the most rewarding cards for business spending. Plus, it earns Amex Membership Rewards points, which are extremely flexible and surprisingly valuable. Now it has valuable statement credits that can be worth more than the annual fee, even after it increases on Feb. 1, 2024 (see rates and fees).

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For rates and fees of the Business Gold Card® from American Express, click here. For rates and fees of The Business Platinum® Card from American Express, click here. **Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.

Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.