In the interest of full disclosure, OMAAT earns a referral bonus for anyone that’s approved through some of the below links. These are the best publicly available offers (terms apply) that we have found for each product or service. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of the bank, credit card issuer, airline, hotel chain, or product manufacturer/service provider, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Please check out our advertiser policy for further details about our partners, and thanks for your support!
In the past several years, credit card issuers have become significantly more competitive when it comes to small business cards.
While many people may be familiar with the American Express® Gold Card (review), there’s a business version of the card that’s also quite rewarding, and which I’d argue is one of the best business cards out there for earning points.
In this post, I wanted to take a look at that card, which is the American Express® Business Gold Card. The card has an improved welcome offer, so let’s take a look at all the details of the card.
For businesses looking to earn Membership Rewards points, the Amex Business Gold Card could prove to be the card for you, given that it earns up to 4x Membership Rewards points for spending in certain categories. While the card has a significant annual fee, the points you earn and the benefits you receive will in many cases more than offset that.
The Amex Business Gold Card has an improved welcome offer of 100,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $15,000 within the first three months. As a point of comparison, previously the card was offering a publicly available bonus of up to 70,000 points. Personally, I value Membership Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, so to me those 100,000 points are worth $1,700.
Note that you’ll sometimes find bigger offers through some links online, including through refer-a-friend offers, but this is the publicly available offer.
Be aware of Amex’s general restrictions on applying for cards, including the “once in a lifetime rule.” That means you’re not eligible for the bonus on the card if you’ve already had this card, though you are potentially eligible for the bonus if you’ve had other Amex cards.
The Amex Business Gold Card has an annual fee of $375 (Rates & Fees). You can add additional cardmembers to your account at no extra cost. This is one of the higher annual fee business cards out there, but fortunately the card offers some perks that will help offset that.
One of the primary reasons you may want to consider the Amex Business Gold Card (other than the great welcome offer) is because of the bonus categories that it offers on purchases. The card offers up to 4x points, though the way in which these bonus points are awarded is pretty nuanced.
Amex takes an interesting approach to offering bonus points with the Amex Business Gold, because the categories in which you earn 4x points adjusts along with your spending every billing cycle.
Each billing cycle you earn 4x Membership Rewards points in the two categories where your business spends the most each billing cycle. There are a total of six eligible categories to choose from. Note that you earn 4x points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these categories each calendar year, and then 1x points thereafter. Categories eligible for 4x points include:
Based on my valuation of Membership Rewards points, that’s the equivalent of a 6.8% return on spending in those categories, which is incredible.
How does Amex define the bonus categories on the Amex Business Gold? Here are some general guidelines to be aware of:
The gas station, restaurant, and transit categories are mostly self-explanatory. Just keep in mind that gas station and restaurant categories are limited to U.S. locations.
The Amex Business Gold Card limits you to earning 4x points on a total of $150,000 of spending every calendar year. That’s across all the bonus categories, and it doesn’t matter how it’s split up. There’s no limit to the total number of points you can earn with the card, though there is a limit to the 4x points categories.
For categories in which you can’t earn 4x points, the Amex Business Gold Card offers 1x points per dollar spent. There are generally going to be better cards for everyday spending.
The Amex Business Gold Card has no foreign transaction fees (Rates & Fees), so you can use it for purchases globally. Just keep in mind that some of the 4x point categories are restricted to U.S. purchases.
The Amex Business Gold Card earns Membership Rewards points. This is one of the four major transferable points currencies, and is a favorite points currency for many.
These points can efficiently be transferred to airline and hotel partners, and for having the Amex Business Gold Card you also get a special rate at which you can redeem points toward the cost of airfare.
The best way to redeem your Amex points is to transfer them to one of the Membership Rewards airline or hotel partners. Points can be transferred to the below 20 partners, including 17 airline partners and three hotel partners.
While you can redeem Membership Rewards points toward the cost of merchandise, toward gift cards, or to pay off your statement, these aren’t good uses of your points. You’ll typically get less than one cent of value per point, so that’s not how I’d redeem them.
The Amex Business Gold Card offers several benefits that cardmembers may find useful, though do the benefits justify the annual fee? Let’s take a closer look.
To help offset the annual fee, the Amex Business Gold Card offers up to $240 back annually for eligible purchases with FedEx, Grubhub, and office supply stores.
This comes in the form of up to $20 per month in statement credits toward eligible purchases. Enrollment is required for this perk, and for many, this will be worth face value. I’d say that it’s easy enough to spend $20 per month in any of those three categories.
The Amex Business Gold Card offers up to $155 in annual Walmart+ credits annually, with enrollment being required. The way this works, receive a $12.95 monthly credit toward a Walmart+ membership, which covers the entire cost of it. Walmart+ can save you money on shipping and delivery of Walmart purchases, as well as on prescriptions and gas. You need to enroll for the Walmart+ benefit.
One of the great features of Amex cards is access to Amex Offers, which offers savings or bonus points on purchases with all kinds of retailers. The more Amex cards you have, the more offers you’ll have access to.
Amex Offers could save you hundreds of dollars per year. You can access these offers by logging into your account and scrolling down to the bottom of your account summary page.
For having the American Express Business Gold Card you get a ShopRunner membership, which gets you free two-day shipping on eligible items at a network of 100+ online stores. You just have to enroll in your complimentary membership and can then start taking advantage of it.
For staying two or more nights at select luxury hotels you can receive extra benefits through The Hotel Collection. Benefits include a $100 hotel credit and a room upgrade if available. This is different than Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts, which requires having a Platinum Card.
I tend to think that the Amex Business Gold Card is a pretty polarizing card. Either it’s absolutely a no-brainer for your business, or there are probably better cards out there.
Personally, I think it makes sense to get the Amex Business Gold Card if you have a business that spends a significant amount in the categories that are eligible for 4x points, since there are some unique categories there where not many other cards offer bonuses.
If you spend quite a bit in any of those categories, then it should be easy enough to justify the annual fee on the card, especially when taking advantage of the up to $395 in credits offered by the card annually.
There are other good cards to consider as well, though.
If I could get just one Amex business card it would be The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (review), which offers 2x Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 spent every calendar year (1x after that). This is a no annual fee card (Rates & Fees) that should be a no-brainer for just about anyone.
Personally, I think the Ink Preferred is a more well-rounded card with a more reasonable annual fee. If I could only get one card, I would get the Ink Preferred.
However, for some businesses, it could make sense to get both cards, or if you’re already in the Amex card ecosystem, then there’s value in continuing to earn Membership Rewards points.
I’d argue that the Capital One Venture X Business (review) is another card that’s quite a competitor to the Amex Business Gold Card, given how lucrative it is. The card also offers a big bonus of 150,000 bonus miles once you spend $30,000 within three months.
The card offers 2x miles per dollar spent with no foreign transaction fees. While the card has a $395 annual fee, that’s easy to justify thanks to the $300 annual Capital One Travel credit, 10,000 anniversary bonus miles, and much more. Capital One miles can also be transferred to a variety of airline and hotel partners.
The Amex Business Gold Card is one of American Express’ best business cards for earning Membership Rewards points. The card has a steep annual fee, so it’s best for those who can maximize the bonus categories. It’s easy enough to help offset the annual fee by using the up to $395 in annual credits offered by the card.
If you’d benefit from the 4x points categories, the welcome offer, and the ongoing credits, then I think the card is definitely worth it. Otherwise, I think the Ink Business Preferred Card or Capital One Venture X Business are the two most lucrative business cards in general.
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: American Express® Business Gold Card (Rates & Fees), and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees).
