AMEX Gold still worth it?

[UncleB]

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@mongstradamus wrote:

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@bz386 wrote:
That’s simply not true. You earn base points for international purchases.

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I was a little surprised when he said that , but I have yet to test my gold card overseas, so I was unaware. Last time I was overseas I used my CSR mostly since it mostly travel and restaurant expenses . I don't know if its any different if you call the Membership rewards number compared to general amex number. I may still bring gold oversea as back up  after my CIP and citi premier. Amex usually doesn't get accepted at many places so probably doesn't matter all that much. I thought it was just a bit surprising is all.

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Yeah, while I've not traveled overseas in years I'm hoping that's a misunderstanding.

[Watchmann]

Spent all of February 2019 in Australia....charged a total of US $17,600 on hotels, cars, food, and a couple of expensive wristwatches.  Got exactly that number of points credited to my account, so all foreign purchases get 1:1 point matching.  And with the Gold Card you pay no extra fee for non-US charges like other AMEX and other cards charge, often as high as 2.7-3.0%.  But one annoying thing I ran up against is some merchants (hotels in particular) want to add a service fee for using credit cards and there doesn't seem to be a way around it other than to pay cash.  It varies by type of card used (MC, Visa, JCB, AMEX) but averages around 1/2 to 1%.

[UncleB]

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@Watchmann wrote:

Spent all of February 2019 in Australia....charged a total of US $17,600 on hotels, cars, food, and a couple of expensive wristwatches.  Got exactly that number of points credited to my account, so all foreign purchases get 1:1 point matching.  And with the Gold Card you pay no extra fee for non-US charges like other AMEX and other cards charge, often as high as 2.7-3.0%.  But one annoying thing I ran up against is some merchants (hotels in particular) want to add a service fee for using credit cards and there doesn't seem to be a way around it other than to pay cash.  It varies by type of card used (MC, Visa, JCB, AMEX) but averages around 1/2 to 1%.

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Awesome... thanks for clarifying, @Watchmann.

[Anonymous]

Definitely a misunderstanding.
Just double checked the card's fine print for you: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/card-application/apply/member/terms/gold-card/36182-...

Ctrl+F for ,Gold Card Membership Rewards" to skip down to the part that states how points are awarded.

Things like Apple Pay get coded as an internet transaction, if I'm not mistaken, hence why it'll get awarded as 1 point. I know some small restaurants like to use Square & Toast to process payments, which has been causing issues with the Gold card awarding only 1 point. Calling in with your statement will get them to fix the issue/add the points (kinda annoying, but at least amex is cool about it). I don't think they'll add for things like Apple Pay, since their terms specifically state, "A purchase may not qualify for additional points if the merchant submits the purchase using a mobile or wireless card reader or if you use a mobile or digital wallet."


As for the Grub Hub thing...I'm a 60 year old man in a youngster's body...I have never even used Grub Hub before. lmao
But...there is a Shake Shack near me. Even if I don't want any of their food, swinging in for a drink or two here & there isn't an issue. But, my girlfriend does like Grub Hub for ordering from places that normally don't offer online ordering so she can just swing in for her food. She also likes the Cheesecake Factory.

So that dining credit is way more valuable than you think. Let your lady get lunch once in a while on your card for next to nothing after the credit and let your much more valuable good husband/boyfriend points rack up! ha

[sdsoccerdad]

Like everyone here, it's super worth it if you can take advantage of the bonus categories.  4x for groceries and 4x for dining.  This alone this year, I have received about 130K in points alone.  Good enough for a 1st class ticket almost anywhere.

[Watchmann]

I've been using the card every month either at Shake Shack or Ruth's Chris for the $10 dining credit which normally shows up in 2-3 days.  I used it at Ruth's Chris 10 days ago and no credit so far.  Called AMEX today and they said I have to wait 4 weeks and if it hasn't shown up by that time they will do a manual credit but they can't do it before that time period has elapsed.  The info on the websiter states that if the establlishment uses a mobile pay machine the credit may not work automatically.  That's what Ruth's Chris uses and they don't have the facility to process it otherwise.  Worked the first time I used it there, but not this time.  Another hassle to deal with as I'll have to call them after the four week period has elapsed.

[Trikoret]

It's starting to become a hassle for me also. Im grandfathered in for 2x gas stations until Oct this year and I still get either 1x or 2x from the same station. I still don't get the 4x at certain restaurants. I never expected this from Amex.

[Anonymous]

It's an excellent card if and only if you have a plan to squeeze every single drop out of it. This means using the dining credit every month (which is very easy to do) and using the airline credit as well, which will take a bit more pre-planning.

Make sure you are using it in Grocery Stores, not Wholesale Stores. Sam's Club(1), Costco, Walmart Supercenters(2) and Target all count as Wholesale Stores, which only give 1x back. Kroger, Neighborhood Walmart, Tom Thumbs and others give 4x back.

Take advantage of buying gift cards inside Grocery Stores to trigger then 4x category. For example, I bought an $100 Amazon gift card to purchase a $100 printer. I got 400 MR points back. If I had used my Gold card directly at Amazon, I would have only gotten 100 MR.

If you are savvy enough, you can pay your phone and gas through gift cards and get 4x back in those categories as well.

All in all, we have the opportunity of getting 4x back in:

Groceries

Dining

Online purchases

Gas

Phone bill

Which is close to 80% of my monthly expenses not counting rent.

1 and 2: there is a workaround around this. You can purchase a Walmart Store gift card at a Neighborhood Walmart to trigger the 4x, then use that gift card to shop at Sam's Club and Walmart Supercenters.

[TheBoondocks]

Honestly, I really have thought about getting the Gold card but when I compared prices from Grub hub with the actual restaurant, I find it that grubhub is still expensive, but it's only for some restaurants, majority mark up the prices and some just stay the same. For this reason, I decided to just use the everyday and not go with a charge card. I have the everyday and BBP. I also find it very hard to get MR compared to UR.

[Anonymous]

I checked my points statement one day and realized I wasn't getting 3x dining on my CSR and some places I go for food are counted as groceries.  That is where the Gold picks up where the CSR wasn't.  $120 dining credit Grubhub (also received a 1 extra point offer, so 5x for using Grubhub for all of 2019) + 4x for misc grocery charges.  That's mainly why I've been holding onto mine.  The platinum hasn't been all that great to me outside of the Uber credit, but it's mostly my fault since I haven't been traveling and taking advantage of any perks.