American Express Business Gold Card Overview
This American Express® Business Gold Card The 4-point-per-dollar bonus categories that automatically reflect your highest spending areas each billing cycle (capped at $150,000 in combined purchases per calendar year) are a great choice for business owners looking to increase their earnings with a single card. However, the biggest drawback is its relatively high annual fee. Card Rating*: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
*Card ratings are based on the opinion of TPG’s editors and are not influenced by the card issuer.
This American Express® Business Gold Card Sports business-friendly bonus categories and valuable benefits. But the card also comes with a hefty annual fee of $375 (see Rates and Fees).
If you have a credit score of at least 670 and you’re a small-business owner, you’re probably wondering if Amex Business Gold fits your needs.
Below, we’ll explain the card’s pros and cons to help you decide.
Amex Business Gold Card Advantages and Disadvantages
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Amex Business Gold Card Welcome Offer
New applicants for Amex Business Gold Earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases in the first three months of card membership.
TPG’s July 2024 Valuations offer Membership Rewards points at 2 cents each, making this bonus worth a solid $2,000.
This offer is much better than the usual offers offered by the card and is close to the best we’ve seen.
It is worth noting that if you have ever received a welcome offer for this card, you may not be eligible for the welcome offer again. However, you can downgrade this card from other Amex business cards, viz The Business Platinum Card® from American Express.
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Related: Best Time to Apply for These Amex Cards Based on Offer History
Amex Business Gold Benefits
along with Amex Business GoldYou won’t get luxury benefits like airport lounge access, but the card has some valuable perks.
Statement credits
The most notable Amex Business Gold benefit is the up to $395 in annual statement credits it offers, with the following features:
- Up to $240 annually ($20 back per month) on eligible purchases at FedEx, Grubhub and office supply stores
- Up to $155 back per year for a monthly Walmart+ membership (up to $12.95 per month plus a membership fee applied)
If you’re able to max out these credits, you’ll make more than the card’s annual fee from this benefit alone.
Registration is required.
Gain in business
This Amex Business Gold Also offers many great tools to help you manage your business expenses. You can add up to 99 employee cards ($95 annual fee for first 5, then $95 annual fee for each card thereafter; see Rates and Fees), and earn points on their purchases. You can easily designate an employee as an account manager, allowing someone other than the primary account holder to review statements, add new employees, and make payments.
It also gives you year-end summaries, automatic expense classification in Intuit QuickBooks, complimentary vendor pay through Bill.com membership for the first user and discounted membership for the second user, no preset spending limits, and a paid overtime option. Registration is required for select benefits.
Protection
Cardholders enjoy several valuable travel and purchase protections Amex Business Gold:
- Travel Security: Cardmembers get a range of travel protections including baggage insurance,* trip delay insurance** and rental car insurance***.
- Cellphone Security: Cardmembers can be reimbursed up to $800 per claim for up to two approved claims per year (with a $50 deductible for each claim) for the cost of repairing or replacing their stolen or damaged cellphone.**
- Extended Warranty: A valid warranty of five years or less may be extended to one year*
- Purchase Security: Eligible purchases are covered for 90 days from the date of covered purchase if they are stolen or damaged (limited to $1,000 per account per calendar year)*
*Eligibility and benefit levels vary by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. Policies are underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
**Eligibility and benefit levels vary by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. Policies are underwritten by AIG Company New Hampshire Insurance Company.
***Eligibility and benefit levels vary by card. Not all types of vehicles or rentals are covered and geographic restrictions apply. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. Policies are underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Coverage provided by American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
Access
Cardholders also get access to the Hotel Collection, which includes a $100 property credit for stays of two nights or more, as well as valuable Amex offers.
Again, you can get more travel and business benefits on other cards, but the statement credits, business benefits and security you’ll get with Amex Business Gold make it a good fit for many businesses.
And if you like aesthetics, you can choose a rose gold or white gold version of the metal card instead of the standard gold color.
Related: Is Amex Business Gold Worth the Annual Fee?
Earn points on Amex Business Gold
One of the unique features of Amex Business Gold is that your bonus categories can shift each billing cycle to match your spending patterns. You’ll automatically earn 4 points per dollar spent in your top two spending categories each billing cycle, meaning you don’t have to choose a category and commit to it.
If your spending habits fluctuate from month to month, Amex will help you earn as many bonus points as possible. Eligible categories are:
- Transit purchases, including trains, taxicabs, ride-hailing services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses and subways
- US purchases from electronic goods retailers and software and cloud system providers
- Monthly wireless telephone service charges charged directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the US
- US purchases at gas stations
- US purchases at restaurants including takeout and delivery
- Purchases from US media providers for advertising in selected media (online, TV, radio).
Your 4-points-per-dollar rate, which equates to an 8% return based on TPG’s July 2024 Membership Rewards point valuation, is capped at $150,000 per calendar year (1 point per dollar thereafter) in each bonus category. .
In addition to these bonus categories, you’ll earn 3 points per dollar on flights, prepaid hotels, and prepaid flight and hotel packages booked through Amex Travel or AmexTravel.com, as well as 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.
If you earn a maximum of $150,000 in spending in a year, you’ll earn 600,000 Membership Rewards points, which have a TPG value of $12,000. This huge earning potential alone can be enough to encourage businesses to opt for this card.
Related: Maximize Your Earnings With Amex Business Gold
Redeeming Points on Amex Business Gold
Earn the Amex Business Gold Card Membership Rewards points, which you can transfer to any of Amex’s 21 airline and hotel partners.
You can also redeem your points by booking travel through Amex Travel, cashing in for a statement credit or gift card, or using them to pay for your purchases on Amazon or in the Membership Rewards online shopping mall. However, these options will yield 0.5-1 percent of value per point, so we recommend continuing to transfer your points to get the most value out of them.
Related: How to Redeem American Express Membership Rewards for Maximum Value
Transferring points to Amex Business Gold
Again, the most valuable redemption option for the points you earn on you Amex Business Gold Air France-KLM is to transfer to Amex’s hotel and airline partners, including Flying Blue, Iberia Plus and Marriott Bonvoy.
TPG senior points and miles writer Ben Smithson likes to transfer his Amex points to Air Canada’s Aeroplan program, which offers a wide range of airline redemption partners at sensible fixed award chart rates. He also likes to transfer to British Airways Executive Club and short-haul flights from the United Kingdom to Europe on British Airways are under 5,000 points each way.
Amex regularly offers transfer bonuses, allowing you to get more value from your points. Regardless of your travel preferences and goals, you’re sure to find something that works for you in Amex’s extensive list of partners.
Related: Best Ways to Use Membership Rewards Points
Which cards compete with Amex Business Gold?
If you want more statement credit or have a hard time justifying the Amex Business Gold annual fee, you might get more value from one of these cards:
- If you want more statement credit: The Business Platinum Card® from American Express Dell, in fact, comes with over $1,400 per year in statement credits for Adobe and wireless phone service purchases (see rates and fees). For more details, check out our full Amex Business Platinum review. Registration is required.
- If you want to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards: The Ink Business Preferred® credit card earns 3 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on shipping, Internet, cable and phone services, and advertising with social media sites and search engines — as well as on travel purchases (per year on the first $150,000 in total spending ). It also comes with a very low $95 annual fee. For more details, check out our full review of Ink Business Preferred.
- If you want to earn membership rewards with no annual fee: Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express Earn 2 Membership Rewards points on all eligible business purchases (up to $50,000 spent per calendar year, 1 point per dollar thereafter) and has no annual fee (see Rates and Fees). For more details, check out our full review of Blue Business Plus.
For additional options, see our lists of the best business credit cards and the best Amex credit cards.
Related: Amex Business Gold Vs. Amex Business Platinum
Bottom line
If you can maximize bonus-earning categories and statement credits, Amex Business Gold is a great option for your small business. Bonus categories that adjust your spending and additional business benefits make this an attractive card for many business owners.
However, if you’re looking for more business benefits or need to keep the cost of your annual fee down, you may find that this card doesn’t really win a gold medal for your wallet.
Apply here: American Express Business Gold
For Amex Business Gold rates and fees, click here.
For Amex Business Platinum rates and fees, click here.
For Amex Blue Business Plus rates and fees, click here.