My Seven-Year Journey with the Amex Gold: The 2025 Truth

There's this beaten-up gold card sitting in my wallet right now that's been through more restaurants, grocery stores, and airport terminals than I care to count. Seven years. That's how long this little piece of metal has been my constant companion, and honestly? The relationship has been... complicated.

When I first got this card back in the day, American Express was a completely different beast. The benefits were simpler, the earning structure was straightforward, and you didn't need a PhD in credit card optimization to figure out if you were getting a good deal. Fast forward to 2025, and everything's changed - some for the better, some not so much.

So let me give you the real story. Not the marketing fluff you'll find on Amex's website, but the honest truth about whether this card deserves a spot in your wallet this year.

The Welcome Bonus Hunt: Playing Detective for Points

Here's where things get interesting, and frankly, a bit annoying. The standard welcome offer you'll see advertised everywhere is 60,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $6,000 in your first six months. It's... fine. Not terrible, but nothing that'll make your heart race either.

But here's the thing - and this drives me absolutely nuts about American Express these days - there are these secret, personalized offers floating around that can be worth significantly more. I'm talking about 100,000-point bonuses for the exact same spending requirement. Same card, same terms, but nearly double the points if you happen to be one of the chosen ones.

The process is weird too. You have to go through this preliminary application where you submit basic information, and then Amex decides what they think you're worth. If they like what they see, boom - you might get offered the higher bonus. If not, well, you're stuck with the standard deal.

It's like being at a restaurant where some people get the secret menu and others don't. Frustrating? Absolutely. Worth checking before you apply? You bet. I'd say anything over 75,000 points is worth jumping on, especially if you can naturally hit that spending requirement without going crazy.

Where This Card Actually Shines: Your Daily Spending Habits

Now we're getting to the good stuff - how this card performs when you're just living your normal life. And honestly? If you're someone who spends money on food (which, let's face it, is pretty much everyone), this card is kind of brilliant.

The earning structure is beautifully simple: 4X points on dining worldwide, 4X points at U.S. supermarkets up to $25,000 annually, 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines or through Amex Travel, and 1X on everything else.

That 4X on restaurants has been a game-changer for me. Whether I'm grabbing a quick lunch, treating myself to a nice dinner, or ordering delivery on a lazy Sunday, every dollar is working harder. Same goes for grocery shopping - that 4X rate on supermarket spending up to $25k per year covers most people's entire grocery budget.

The airline spending bonus is solid too, though I'll be honest - I don't always book directly with airlines. Sometimes third-party sites have better deals, but when the prices are close, getting 3X points makes the decision easy.

The Benefits Package: More Complex Than It Used to Be

This is where my feelings about the card get really mixed. On one hand, there are some genuinely valuable perks that have saved me money and hassle over the years. On the other hand, Amex has turned the benefits into this complicated system of monthly credits that feels more like managing a coupon book than using a premium credit card.

The Transfer Partners: This Is Where Magic Happens

The real value of Membership Rewards points isn't in redeeming them for cash back or gift cards - it's in transferring them to airline and hotel partners. This is where you can get absolutely incredible value if you know what you're doing.

Take Virgin Atlantic, for example. You can transfer points to them and book business class flights to London for as little as 35,000 points plus some taxes and fees. I've seen that same flight cost over $2,500 when paying cash. That's getting nearly 7 cents per point in value, which is phenomenal.

Or consider ANA - their business class product is absolutely incredible, and you can book flights to Tokyo for around 50,000 points plus about $170 in fees. I've priced that same flight at nearly $6,000 when booking with cash. It's these kinds of redemptions that make the whole points game worthwhile.

The Credit Maze: Good Value, Annoying Execution

Here's where I get a bit frustrated with what this card has become. Instead of just having straightforward benefits, everything's been turned into these monthly or semi-annual credits:

You get $120 annually in Uber Cash, doled out at $10 per month. It works for both Uber rides and Uber Eats, which is convenient if you use either service regularly.

There's another $120 annually in dining credits through select partners like Grubhub and The Cheesecake Factory. Again, $10 monthly, and you have to use specific merchants.

The Resy credit gives you $100 annually - $50 in the first half of the year, $50 in the second half. Resy is Amex's restaurant reservation platform, and while it's useful, it's another hoop to jump through.

Then there's the Dunkin' credit - $84 annually at $7 per month. This one feels almost insulting to me. Seven dollars? Really?

The Underrated Hero: Purchase Protection

One benefit that doesn't get enough attention is Purchase Protection. If something you buy with the card gets damaged, stolen, or lost within 90 days, you're covered up to $10k per claim.

I had to use this once when my brand-new AirPods took an unexpected swim in a storm drain about a week after I bought them. Apple basically shrugged and said "tough luck," but because I'd used my Amex Gold, I filed a claim and got fully reimbursed. It's the kind of protection you don't think about until you need it, and then it's incredibly valuable.

The Annual Fee Math: Am I Actually Making Money?

Here's where things get interesting from a pure numbers perspective. The annual fee is $325, which sounds like a lot until you start adding up the credits.

If I use the $120 Uber Cash (which I do), the $120 dining credit (easy enough with Grubhub), and the $100 Resy credit (takes a bit more effort but doable), that's $340 in value right there.

So I'm paying $325 in fees but getting $340 back in credits. Technically, American Express is paying me $15 to hold their card. When you frame it that way, the fee becomes not just reasonable, but actually profitable.

Of course, this assumes you can naturally use all these credits without changing your spending habits just to maximize them. If you have to force it, then you're not really saving money - you're just spending differently.

My Honest Recommendation: Is This Card Right for You?

After seven years of living with this card, I'm keeping it. It's become my automatic choice for any food-related spending, and it pairs perfectly with some of my other cards for different spending categories.

But should you get it? That depends entirely on how you spend money and what you value.

If you're a normal person who eats food regularly (which is most of us), this card makes a ton of sense. The 4X earning on dining and groceries is genuinely hard to beat, and if you can use even some of the credits, the annual fee becomes very manageable.

If you're someone who travels occasionally and wants to maximize point value, the transfer partners alone make this card worthwhile. Being able to book premium cabin flights for a fraction of the cash price is incredibly powerful.

If you hate dealing with monthly credits and prefer simple, straightforward benefits, this might not be the card for you. The whole coupon book approach can be annoying, and if you don't want to think about maximizing different credits every month, there are simpler options out there.

The bottom line? This card has evolved significantly over the years, not always in ways I love. But the core value proposition - incredible earning rates on food spending and access to valuable transfer partners - remains strong. If those things align with your spending and travel goals, it's still one of the best options available in 2025.

Just make sure to check for that elevated welcome bonus before you apply. Trust me, it's worth the extra few minutes of detective work.