Amex gold card worth it?

[FormerCollegeDJ]

@rgd51 - not to throw a monkey wrench into your plans to get the Amex Gold, but if you use your already in hand Chase Freedom Flex to buy up to $1500 in gift cards per quarter in the quarters in which the CFF has groceries, gas stations, and/or Amazon as rotating 5% bonus categories, you'll come out ahead compared to the slightly less than 4% rate of return you'll get using the Amex Gold to get gift cards via Amex Membership Rewards.  You'll also have a wider choice of gift cards to purchase (anything you see in the store/online vs the categories provided by Amex MR).  Additionally, if you use those gift cards at non-restaurants or drug stores and instead use them at places where your current credit cards provide lower rewards, you can still get 3% cash back at restaurants/drug stores using the CFF.

I'll also add if you generally like to stay at inexpensive hotels, you can use the CFF to get 5% cash back at hotels when you book using the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.  (If you don't want to use CUR portal, getting a no annual fee 3% travel card for those hotel stays might be a good alternative to the Amex Gold.)

[rgd51]

That is a good idea with the gift cards. This quarter is 5% back at home improvement stores and gas stations. I bought a new ceiling fan at home depot which I would have bought anyway and I am taking a big road trip in June so the gas stations will come in handy. 3% cash back on dining with the flex is a very good rate for straight cash back on a no AF card. I am sure home depot probably sells gift cards to restaurants I would be going to anyways. 

Would sticking with the flex be a better idea for me?

[K-in-Boston]

For hotels and airfare, booking through an OTA (Online Travel Agency - which is all of the various credit card points portals like Amex Travel, and the usual Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, etc.) will in almost all cases result in the same pricing as booking direct with an airline or hotel.  Occasionally there are specific sales which may lower the price, but in general any price discrepancy is usually related to one search showing the price inclusive of taxes and another one showing a pre-tax price, or because you are getting slightly different search results (i.e. the same flight but one site shows Basic Economy while another shows Economy).  Travel packages are an entirely different case as you can't always compare apples to apples.

For airlines, there is no difference in booking through an OTA - unless you need to cancel or rebook, in which case the rules may differ.  For hotels, an important thing to note is that you will almost never earn points or receive any elite loyalty benefits when booking through an OTA.  If that is not a concern, then it's really no different.

For Amex Travel, you will always get at least 1 cent per point booking a flight or hotel.  As for moving points to partners, that can usually lead to more value even when flying economy. Moving to Delta SkyMiles for example, you will always get at least 1.2 cents when booking an award fare in Main Cabin.   During frequent sales, it's not difficult to get 2 or more cents even in economy on Delta.  For forward cabins, with a sale and a little luck you may be able to get as much as 10 (possibly more) cents per MR with a transfer to some of Amex's airline partners.

[TampaBAY86]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

The card will report as a credit card with 1 month terms, not revolving.  Utilization is not factored in on modern credit scoring algorithms.  The $120 dining (which includes Grubhub) and Uber credits are permanent.  The $100 airline credit as mentioned is going away this year and will not be offered to new applicants now.

Will comment on travel in a bit.

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I love all the knowledge I get from here.  Thanks @K-in-Boston! 

I always just saw it listed under my "credit cards or credit lines."  I went on experian to look and sure enough it says "Account Type" is "Credit Card - Revolving Terms."  I just never really looked at the "Additional Info" below mentioning the 1 month terms.  

[FormerCollegeDJ]

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@rgd51 wrote:

That is a good idea with the gift cards. This quarter is 5% back at home improvement stores and gas stations. I bought a new ceiling fan at home depot which I would have bought anyway and I am taking a big road trip in June so the gas stations will come in handy. 3% cash back on dining with the flex is a very good rate for straight cash back on a no AF card. I am sure home depot probably sells gift cards to restaurants I would be going to anyways. 

Would sticking with the flex be a better idea for me?

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With the last question, only you can really answer that.  I do think no annual fee cards probably make more sense for you at this point, but you would know that better than I would.  IMO the premium American Express cards (Platinum, Gold, and Green), as well as the premium Chase cards (Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred), only really make sense for people who travel internationally at least occasionally and prefer premium seats on those long flights.  (The cards can provide really good value for people who meet those criteria.)

With the gift card purchases, I would focus only part of the spending on restaurant gift cards.  The gift cards that would give you more bang for the buck would be those at stores that your current credit cards only provide 1% or 2% rewards; the cards, assuming they are bought at stores using the CFF during periods when the CFF provides 5% cash back at those stores, would give you an extra 3-4% cash back.  By contrast, with restaurant gift cards, you'd only be getting an extra 2% cash back relative to the 3% cash back you already receive on the CFF.  That's still solid, but would be less cost effective than gift cards for other retail establishments.

[rgd51]

I rarely fly on airplanes and my travel consists of staying at inexpensive hotels on road trips. If I can easily get 1 cent per point then the gold will be worth it to me but if I can't then I would be better off just sticking with my freedom flex. 

[FormerCollegeDJ]

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@rgd51 wrote:

I rarely fly on airplanes and my travel consists of staying at inexpensive hotels on road trips. If I can easily get 1 cent per point then the gold will be worth it to me but if I can't then I would be better off just sticking with my freedom flex. 

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In all honesty, I think you don't need the American Express Gold card unless you decide you want to travel more and take greater advantage* of the Amex Membership Rewards program.  My recommendation based on your comments in this thread would be to try to get a solid (i.e. 3% or better) grocery store rewards card (the no annual fee Amex Blue Cash Everyday would be a solid option, or if you have a lot of grocery spending, the $95 the Amex Blue Cash Preferred could be a stronger option) and/or a solid (i.e. 3% or better) travel rewards card.  A hotel branded card for a chain that has a lot of low to mid-level hotels like Wyndham or Choice (both issued by Barclays) could also be a good option.

*When I say "greater advantage", I'm talking about using Amex Membership Rewards in a way where you are getting at least 1.5 to 2 cents per point redemption.  To my knowledge with the Amex MR cards, that means using Membership Rewards on some sort of travel, most likely flights.

[rgd51]

But even if I redeem them in ways for 1 cent per point I would still be getting 4% cash back on an effective $10 annual fee card. The freedom unlimited caps the 5% back at $1,500 in spending per quarter and my dining spend per quarter is probably double that so 4% cash back would be more lucrative for me and I order in from food delivery places like Door dash and grub hub frequently so I would easily max out those credits. If I had the gold card I would still use the flex for its 5% categories and at restaurants that don't take Amex. 

[Anonymous]

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@rgd51 wrote:

But even if I redeem them in ways for 1 cent per point I would still be getting 4% cash back on an effective $10 annual fee card. T

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Almost a technicality but redeeming for giftcards at 1cpp can be viewed as slightly less than 4% cash back.    Say you redeem your MRs for a $100 Brand X gift card.    You go to Brand X (or Brand X.com) and buy something for $100 using the gift card and you are done. If Amex really gave you  cash back, you can make the  purchase with say a 2% card, paying an effective $98 and use the (non-existing) Amex cash back towards the bill.  

[rgd51]

That is definitely true. Gift cards can never get more than 1 cent per point?