Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express Review

Who is the Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express Good For?

The Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express is a premium charge card that allows you to earn Amex Membership Rewards points. Along with a generous sign-up bonus, the card lets you choose the best point-earning category and waives the annual fee for the first year.

Membership Rewards is a great program if you love traveling. The main benefit of the program is your ability to transfer the points to 17 Amex partner airlines that can take you anywhere in the world.

This is a charge card, which means that you must pay off your balance in full every month.

AIRLINE TRANSFER PARTNERS	Aeromexico, Air Canada, Air France, KLM, Alitalia, ANA, Asia Miles, British Airways, DELTA, El Al, Emirates, Hawaiian Airlines, IBERIA, jetBlue, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic
ANNUAL FEE	0 introductory fee for the first year, $175 after that 0 introductory annual fee for Employee Cards in the first year, after that $50 for the first Employee Card No fee for other Employee Cards
APR	None
RECOMMENDED CREDIT SCORE	N/A
TYPE OF CARD	American Express

Sign-Up Bonus:

The standard bonus is 25,000 points after spending $5,000 in the first three months. However, the bonus sometimes goes up to 50,000 or 75,000 points.

Note that you won’t get the sign-up bonus again if you have had this card in the last 12 months.

Miles Earned:

• 3 Membership Rewards points per dollar on one of the following categories of your choice:
  • Airfare purchased directly from airlines
  • U.S. purchases for advertising in select media
  • U.S. purchases at gas stations
  • U.S. purchases for shipping
  • U.S. computer hardware, software, and cloud computing purchases made directly from select providers
• 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar for the other four categories
• 1 Membership Rewards point per dollar on everything else.

What Do Your Points Get You?

You can redeem Membership Rewards points in a variety of ways, including gift cards, booking travel, Uber rides, etc., but the best value comes from your ability to transfer points to a partner airline. The Membership Rewards program gives you a lot of flexibility because you can transfer your points to the airline that suits you the most, when you are ready to book your trip. Most transfers are instantaneous, although some might require a few hours or even days.

Usage Perks:

• 17 airline partners
• Occasional bonuses for airline transfers
• No annual fee for the first year
• No foreign transaction fee
• 3X points back on the category of your choice

Usage Quirks:

• A small fee for transferring miles to domestic airline programs
• Relatively high annual fee after the first year
• High spending requirement for the sign-up bonus

How Far Do Your Miles Go?

You can redeem the standard 25,000-point sign-up bonus for an economy round-trip Delta flight in the United States and Canada, excluding Hawaii.

Flights to Alaska are usually quite expensive and that’s just one example how to get more than 1 cent per point with the Membership Rewards program. If you redeem your points on business or first class travel, you will get an even higher value.

Additional Cardholder Benefits:

• Premium Roadside Assistance
• Extended Warranty
• Return Protection
• Purchase Protection
• Entertainment Access
• Global Assist Hotline
• Open Savings
• Open Business Benefits
• Baggage Insurance Plan
• Trip Cancellation Coverage
• Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance