Amex Gold Card question

[tennisfan78]

I have received a preselected offer to apply for Amex Gold Card - 15,000 points after spending atleast $1000 in the first 3 months. Annual fee of $175 is waived for the first year.

My question is , why would any one want to have this card with such a high annual fee?

[enthuseyourcurb]

For a $175 fee, you must be talking about the Premier Rewards Gold card, which gives you 3x points on travel, 2x on gas/supermarkets, etc. Plus, I recall reading that these points can be transferred to any rewards program at a 1:1 ratio.

[tennisfan78]

It says The American Express Gold Card 

https://www304.americanexpress.com/personal-card-application/rsvp/preferred-rewards-gold-charge-card...

[nickn86]

No fee waiver for the first year?  Definitely not worth it then and probably not worth it anyway.  The regular Gold card seems to be the same as the Green except there's something about "exclusive event invites."  Those probably only matter if you live in NYC/LA/SF/etc... and even then I'd be surprised if they're that great.  The sign-up offer is also underwhelming (I only bit on the PRG when they offerred 50k points for 1,000 spend in 3 months).

[thom02099]

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@tennisfan78 wrote:

It says The American Express Gold Card 

https://www304.americanexpress.com/personal-card-application/rsvp/preferred-rewards-gold-charge-card...

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While it may say just American Express Gold, if the AF is $175, it's the Premiere Rewards Gold.  The regular Gold card AF is $125.

There are many benefits to both cards, a brief review of the website can provide you with that information.  It's a matter, I suppose, of what's important to you.  There's also the intangibles, such as the legendary AMEX customer service, that is exponentially better as you go up the tiers of the AMEX cards.  The several times that I've had to call customer service for my Gold card have been very satisfying experiences.  There's bonuses too, for example, for AMEX sponsored events, one can get premium tickets before they go on sale to the general public.  Being able to get prime seats to see Fleetwood Mac in concert in June, was an unexpected and delightful benefit to having the Gold card. 

[tennisfan78]

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@nickn86 wrote:

No fee waiver for the first year?  Definitely not worth it then and probably not worth it anyway.  The regular Gold card seems to be the same as the Green except there's something about "exclusive event invites."  Those probably only matter if you live in NYC/LA/SF/etc... and even then I'd be surprised if they're that great.  The sign-up offer is also underwhelming (I only bit on the PRG when they offerred 50k points for 1,000 spend in 3 months).

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Fee is waived for the first year. And I agree that the sign- up offer is nothing special at all.

[tennisfan78]

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@thom02099 wrote:

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@tennisfan78 wrote:

It says The American Express Gold Card 

https://www304.americanexpress.com/personal-card-application/rsvp/preferred-rewards-gold-charge-card...

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While it may say just American Express Gold, if the AF is $175, it's the Premiere Rewards Gold.  The regular Gold card AF is $125

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Oh ok, Thank you!

[bettercreditguy1]

In the earlier times of credit when mc and visa had low limits, the greatest perks were no credit limit and the rental car damage waiver. An additional perk (before atm cards) remember that? was if it was set up, you could insert your AMEX card in a terminal and withdraw cash for a $ 2.00 fee and it would be taken out of your savings/checking account. The fee was far cheaper than a Cash Advance against your mc or visa.  If  you traveled, hotels etc. would often block big hunks of your avilable credit limit  so they could cover your incidentals. (We are talking large blocks like in Vegas, NY, Chicago, etc) thus creating great potentials for you to get denied if you went shopping or to an upper tier dining experience. Plus, after you checked out, the block would remain upto 10 days  after check out (before computer times) thus possibly interfering with your next travel stop.  I have had mine nearly 30 years. It is my oldest opened acct and substantially contributes to AAOA. My AMEX Gold card originally had a $ 50.00 af, now $ 125.00. For about $ 10.00/mo it is very good Ace of Spades to have IMHO.

[tennisfan78]

thanks better!

[Repo-ed]

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@bettercreditguy1 wrote:

In the earlier times of credit when mc and visa had low limits, the greatest perks were no credit limit and the rental car damage waiver. An additional perk (before atm cards) remember that? was if it was set up, you could insert your AMEX card in a terminal and withdraw cash for a $ 2.00 fee and it would be taken out of your savings/checking account. The fee was far cheaper than a Cash Advance against your mc or visa.  If  you traveled, hotels etc. would often block big hunks of your avilable credit limit  so they could cover your incidentals. (We are talking large blocks like in Vegas, NY, Chicago, etc) thus creating great potentials for you to get denied if you went shopping or to an upper tier dining experience. Plus, after you checked out, the block would remain upto 10 days  after check out (before computer times) thus possibly interfering with your next travel stop.  I have had mine nearly 30 years. It is my oldest opened acct and substantially contributes to AAOA. My AMEX Gold card originally had a $ 50.00 af, now $ 125.00. For about $ 10.00/mo it is very good Ace of Spades to have IMHO.

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Great bit of info!