Why I'm Keeping My Amex Gold Card Even With a Higher Annual Fee

American Express announced major changes to its popular American Express® Gold Card recently, sending shockwaves through the credit card fanatics community (yes, that exists). If you are a current cardholder, you should decide to keep or cancel the card soon.

Based on its annual fee, the Gold is something of a mid-tier card — it's not a no-fee everyday card, but it's also not the Platinum Card, which has a whopping annual fee of nearly $700. The Amex Gold Card is a rewards credit card popular for the valuable points you can rack up via restaurants and grocery shopping and convert into flights and hotel stays.

In fact, Kiplinger rates it as one of the best travel rewards credit cards, based on the ease with which you earn points and their value when you use them. I myself am a Gold Card user and evangelist; a bulk of my spending is on food anyways, and I used Amex points from that spending to pay for my honeymoon flight to New Zealand.

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But I also recognize that Amex Gold has some drawbacks, primarily that I can use it to book travel, but then struggle to use it on my travels because many stores and restaurants abroad don't accept American Express cards. Because of that, I also have other credit cards to use.

So when American Express notified Gold Card customers recently that the annual fee was going up, I paused for a moment to consider if I should keep it. Here's how I thought about that fee increase.

Is the Amex Gold Card still worth it after the membership fee increased?

The annual fee for the American Express Gold Card is now $325, up from $250. For existing customers, the new annual fee will take effect on a rolling basis beginning on the Card Members’ annual renewal date.

If you decide it's not worth the additional $75, you must cancel the card at least 30 days before your annual membership fee is due (on your cardholder signup anniversary). See rates and fees.

But in addition to the new membership fee, Amex announced the Gold Card has some new perks. Based on my very basic calculations, these perks easily offset the new membership fee — arguably even better than before.

When I consider offsetting the membership fee, I think in pure dollar signs: Taking points out of the equation, what cash do I get back in return for the membership fee?

The Gold Card perks include:

• $84 Dunkin' Credit: Earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin’ locations. Enrollment required. 
• $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year at over 10,000 qualifying U.S. Resy restaurants after you pay for eligible purchases with the American Express® Gold Card. That’s up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required. 

Now, add those to the existing perks, which are continuing:

• Updated! $120 Dining Credit: Earn up to a total of $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the Gold Card at Grubhub (including Seamless), Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, The Cheesecake Factory, and Wonder. This can be an annual savings of up to $120. Enrollment required.
• $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Enjoy up to $120 in Uber Cash annually with your Gold Card. Just add your Card to your Uber account and you'll get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an Amex Card for your transaction. 

You can also get a $100 credit towards eligible charges if you book two or more nights with The Hotel Collection through AmexTravel.com, but personally speaking, I'm not always sure it's easy to use hotel credits or if I'd just be spending for the sake of using the $100 in credits. But if, say, you love hotel room service and would be spending money on that whether you were given a credit or not, factor that into your own decision tree.

I've found that the two credits above, in particular, are easy to use. I order from Grubhub at least once a month, so I get that $10, which comes in the form of a credit on my Amex statement every month.

Meanwhile, the Uber credit is deposited directly and automatically into my Uber account. I don't have a car, so I tend to use Uber at least once a month, making use of that $10 directly.

If you don't use Uber rides a lot, the credit can also be used for Uber Eats, so maybe if you order food twice a month, one time you use Grubhub and one time you use Uber Eats; there's your $20 from Amex.

So, on a very basic dollar-to-dollar basis, is the new membership fee worth it? Check my math on annual costs and returns:

Based on these calculations, the previous membership fee and the perks it provided left me at a net negative of $10 (I received $240 annually on a $250 annual fee). Now, the new $325 membership fee would leave me with a net positive of $99 (I receive $424 annually on a $325 annual fee), making it a huge improvement.

But that equation comes with some caveats.

First, this is assuming you spend at least $10 via Uber every month, as previously discussed, and purchase something from Grubhub or the other participating "dining credit" options at least once a month.

Next, there's the Resy credit. Resy is a website and app you can use to make reservations at restaurants. At least where I live, in New York City, Resy is fairly widespread, with many restaurants using it as their primary way of making reservations.

To get this Amex Gold Card credit, you actually don't even need to use Resy, you just need to pay at a restaurant that uses Resy. Again, I appreciate that simplicity. But, if you avoid eating out at restaurants or live in a place where Resy isn't very common, you may miss out on this reward.

Then, this assumes you buy something at Dunkin' every month. For me personally, Dunkin' is not part of my regular routine, so there might be some months I miss out on this credit. But even if I were to not get Dunkin' at all in a calendar year, I'm still up a net positive $15 on the annual membership fee.

Please also note that you have to "enroll" to get some of these rewards, which basically means you have to click a button to say you want it.

Here's a summary of the new perks and the welcome offer.

American Express® Gold Card

Annual fee: $325

Welcome offer: You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $8,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.

Earning points: Earn four points for each dollar spent on the first $50,000 of restaurant purchases worldwide each year, then earn one point per dollar on restaurant purchases for the rest of the year. And earn four points per dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets (up to the first $25,000, then earn one point per dollar). The card also provides additional perks for using your card at many chains and restaurants.

Redeeming points: The most lucrative way to redeem points is for airfare booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App, or transfer them to hotel or airline partner programs. Though you can use points to pay for purchases at many retailers, such as Amazon and PayPal, the conversion rate is only 0.7 cents per point.

Interest rate: Pay Over Time APR: 19.49% to 28.49%, based on your creditworthiness and other factors as determined at the time of account opening.

See rates and fees.

Terms apply.

What else does the Amex Gold Card get you?

Now, what I did here was just a basic dollar-to-dollar calculation of what you get from the Amex Gold Card. But the card offers more.

First, the Gold Card periodically provides limited-time "offers" that give money back or accrue additional points if you shop at certain stores throughout the year. Make sure to keep an eye on the "Offers" tab on the American Express app, as you have to "enroll" for those, too.

Finally, there are those points. You earn them just by going through your daily life and you can use them to book flights and hotels. I'm always a little wary of the rates you get through the booking portal, but you can also transfer points to hotel or airline partner programs and then book directly. I'm not nearly as savvy at points tricks as others, but I can't deny that it is a really nice feeling to let the points pile up and then book a flight to the other side of the world for $0.

I would tell you if the numbers didn't pass the sniff test here, but for me at least, the new perks are fairly easily offsetting the increased membership fee.

At the end of the day, it comes down to your own lifestyle. If you'd be going out of your way to get Dunkin' or spending more on takeout just for the sake of the monthly credit, it might not be worth it. Do the simple math for yourself and see what makes sense.

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