July 25, 2024: Today, American Express announced changes to the American Express® Gold Card, including an increase in the card’s annual fee, changes to its earnings and the addition of a few new statement credits.
In addition Amex announced a limited-time welcome offer for new cardmembers, which we will cover in a separate post.
Here’s what has changed with the American Express® Gold Card and our take.
In this article…
Summary of changes to the American Express® Gold Card
| Previous (Prior to July 25, 2024) | Updated (as of July 25, 2024) | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $250 | $325 |
| Rewards at restaurants Rewards are earned as Membership Rewards® points. | 4x points at restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S. | 4x points per dollar spent at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1x points for the rest of the year. |
| $120 dining credit Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with your card at select restaurants. Enrollment required. | Grubhub The Cheesecake Factory Goldbelly Wine.com Select Shake Shack locations. | Grubhub The Cheesecake Factory Goldbelly Wine.com Five Guys |
| Resy credit Enrollment required. | – | Earn up to $50 in credits, semi-annually when you dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. (Up to $100 per calendar year.) |
| Dunkin’ credit Enrollment required. | – | Earn up to $7 in credits, monthly. (Up to $84 per calendar year.) |
What changed with the American Express® Gold Card?
Here’s the complete rundown of the changes to the American Express® Gold Card.
Annual fee: Increased from $250 to $325
As of July 25, 2024, the annual fee on the American Express® Gold Card has increased from $250 to $325. Cardmembers who have already renewed their card or whose renewal comes before October 1, 2024 will pay the old annual fee. Renewals after October 1, 2024 and new card applicants will be charged the new annual fee.
Rewards for restaurants: Capped at $50k in spending each year, plus fewer rewards for takeout and delivery
Prior to the changes, the American Express® Gold Card earned 4 Membership Rewards® points per dollar at restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S. on an unlimited amount of spending each year.
The updated Gold card earns 4x points at restaurants until you hit $50k in spending at restaurants during the calendar year. Once you’ve hit $50k of spending, you’ll earn 1x points on your restaurant purchases through the end of the year.
Amex also dropped the language including takeout and delivery in the U.S. from its terms. Conceivably this means that some food delivery will only earn 1x Membership Rewards points after these changes, but this is likely highly dependent on how restaurants process charges for takeout or delivery.
Dining credit: Eligible dining partners changed
The American Express® Gold Card offers up to $10 in monthly dining credits that can be used at select merchants, including Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys.
The only change to the dining credit is that it no longer applies to select Shake Shack locations and Five Guys has been added to the list of eligible restaurants.
Resy credits: $50 semiannual credits
With the American Express® Gold Card, you’ll now be able to earn up to $100 in statement credits for purchases made with U.S. Resy restaurants, purchases made directly on Resy.com, or purchases in the Resy app. Enrollment required.
Unlike the recently-added Delta Resy credits, which are meted out monthly, the Resy credits on the American Express® Gold card are awarded semi-annually, making them much more useful.
Dunkin’ credits: $7 monthly
Amex also added a $7 monthly credit for Dunkin’ purchases. When you use your American Express® Gold Card for Dunkin’ purchases, you’ll receive up to $7 in credits monthly. Enrollment required.
My take on the changes to the American Express® Gold Card
I’m not a fan of these changes. Here’s why…
First, let’s talk about the cap on earnings at restaurants. I’m not excited about any issuer adding a cap on rewards, but I would imagine that the vast majority of people will be unaffected by a cap on bonus rewards on dining after $50k spending. While this is a negative change, I don’t think that this is a substantive change for most people.
The part of the changes that I really don’t like is the increased in an annual fee that is supposedly offset by more statement credits. For an annual fee increase of $75, we get a few new statement credits:
- Up to $84 in credits at Dunkin’ each year.
- Up to $100 in credits at Resy restaurants per year.
Practically, I see the Dunkin’ credits as being fairly worthless. I’m no connoisseur of coffee—I enjoy a cup of drip coffee at home and will visit Starbucks on occasion. Do I want to make 1-2 trips a month to Dunkin’ just to capture the value of the statement credit? No? If you’re going to Dunkin’ frequently anyway, then maybe those credits are worth something to you, but for me they aren’t worth much.
All things considered, the Resy credits are inoffensive. They’re not broken up into monthly credits like you’ll get on the Delta credit cards—the Gold Card’s credits are awarded semiannually, making them much more usable. Still I don’t like needing to jump through an additional hoop just to get the same amount of value I previously got on the card.
Bottom line on the changes
Amex recently announced changes to the American Express® Gold Card, including a raised annual fee and new statement credits for Resy and Dunkin’. If you currently hold the American Express® Gold Card for dining rewards, you’ll likely get just as much value from the card going forward, but you may have to jump through a few extra hoops to capture the value of the new statement credits.
