@SDMarik wrote:Everyone here has given some good insight, but I thought I would touch on the AF being "worth it" for Platinum/gold. I have the Platinum and I use it for pretty much everything, the AF is most certainly worth it if you are going to make use of the rewards and the 5x travel multiplier. If you plan on doing a fair amount of travel any time soon, the platinum card will provide you with rewards that FAR eclipse the AF. However, if you don't really do any travel than it's probably not the card for you. The Gold card is a good card if you like eating out a lot as you get a nice multiplier on restaurants an supermarkets (you also get 3x on travel). So if either of those suit your lifestlye then the AF means nothing because you will earn so much more than that in rewards. The Platinum card also has a bunch of other annual statement credits for different things and gives you access to the centurian lounge in airports (which I think is worth the fee alone). Hope this helps!
Sorry to nitpick, but a small clarification is needed on this ^^^.
With the Amex Gold, only airfare is at the 3x rate... other travel will be 1x. Most who frequent the forums will already be aware of this, so I'm mentioning it mostly for the casual viewer who might be confused. (FWIW, it's the Amex Green card that is 3x on travel.)
If the Amex Gold offered 3x on all travel my own card would be in a different place in my wallet. 