by Daniel | Last Updated Jan 25th, 2022
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So today I am going to review and compare what the big difference is between the Amex Gold and Amex Platinum credit cards.
Both of these cards offer some great value when it comes to credit cards, But the Platinum card costs substantially more for its annual fee.
So let’s take a look at exactly what the extra money you pay for the Platinum card actually gets you.
And if you are actually trying to decide what card is best for you, hopefully, this review can help you make that decision a little easier.
Annual Fee
Now when it comes to the Annual fee of credit cards, the Amex Platinum is not cheap, they actually just recently revised how much it costs from $550 per year up to $695! and this is a fairly steep increase.
In comparison, the Amex Gold card has kept the same annual fee for now and costs $250 per year, which is $445 less than the Platinum card.
So next, let’s have a look at the sign-up bonus of each card and see how much you actually need to spend to receive it.
Sign Up Bonus
Starting with the Platinum card, you can now receive 100,000 membership reward points after you spend $6,000 in the first 6 months of card ownership, and according to the Amex Points Calculator, these points are worth up to $1,000 if redeemed through the right options?
And this is up from a previous welcome bonus of 75,000 points before they increased the price of the annual fee.
Now let’s look at the Amex Gold card.
Now the Amex Gold card is offering 60,000 welcome reward points after you spend $4,000 within the first 6 months of card ownership, and although this is 40,000 fewer points than the Platinum card, you also don’t need to spend as much to receive the points, it is $2,000 less within the first 6 months than the Platinum card
And just a side note with both of these welcome offers, if you are looking to sign up, I recommend that you look through a couple of different web browsers, even try using Google incognito mode, as it Is not uncommon to get a better offer upon sign up.
I did this, and with the Platinum card and was able to find a signup bonus of 125,000 Membership Rewards points, (that’s 25,000 more than before!)
And with the Amex Gold card, I found a signup bonus of 75,000 bonus points, which is 15,000 more than the first time I looked
Earning Points
Now when it comes to earning points both cards have some pretty impressive points earning potential.
So starting with the Platinum card you will get 5x points for flights that are booked directly on airlines or Amex Travel up to a total of $500,000 per colander year.
You will also get 5x points for any hotels that are booked through Amex travel.
Then all other purchases will receive 1 point per dollar spent.
So there is a decent potential to earn a lot of points if you have the budget.
Next, let’s look at what the Amex Gold card offers.
So first of all you will earn 4x points on dining at restaurants, and this includes takeout and delivery services.
You will also receive 4x points at US supermarkets up to a total of $25,000 per year which is 100,000 points if you can spend that much.
Next, you will receive 3x points for all flights that are either booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel.
And lastly, all other purchases will receive 1 point per dollar spent.
So the Platinum card clearly offers quite a lot more points earning potential, but the Gold card still offers a lot of value and is substantially cheaper the maintain than the Platinum card.
Benefits and User Perks
Now let’s take a look at what each card offers in terms of benefits, starting with the Platinum card.
So the Platinum card has a ton of benefits, some of which are new to the card since they increased the annual fee last month.
To begin with, you will receive a $200 hotel credit each year, and a $200 airline fee credit.
There is a $200 credit that can be used with Uber.
You also get a $240 digital credit for use with either NYT, Sirius XM, Peacock, or Audible.
There is a $300 credit that can be used at Equinox Gyms.
You will get access to the Cruise Privileges Program which will provide anywhere from $100 to $300 credit per stateroom for double occupancy bookings that are 5 or more days in length.
There is a $179 credit that can be used with Clear for faster processing through security at airports.
You also get a $100 credit to be used at Saks of Fifth Avenue.
There is access to the Fine Hotels and Resorts program which has some nice benefits at hotels that are booked through Amex’s The Hotel Collection, and this includes a $100 credit that can be used at the hotel for certain things.
Another fantastic benefit is access to a large range of airport lounges, this includes the Centurion lounge, Delta Skyclub, and over 1300 more lounges that are associated with the Priority Pass Select Membership, of which you will receive a free membership that is worth $429.
You also get a $100 statement credit to use on either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
There is a $79 credit that can be used for ShopRunner Membership, and this gives you free 2 days shipping and free returns for over 100 retailers.
And finally, you will receive Elite status to both the Hilton and Marriot Hotels, and access to exclusive memberships with Hertz, Avis, and National Car Rental.
So that is a large list of benefits that come with the Platinum card and fantastic if you are able to take advantage of it all.
But now let’s take a look at what the Gold card offers for comparison.
So to start with you will receive a $120 credit to use with Uber, and you will also get $120 in dining credit that includes a large range of restaurants and home delivery services like Grubhub or seamless.
You get similar access to The Hotel Collection as the Platinum card, and this also provides a $100 credit that can be used at the hotel for things like dining or spa treatments.
And until the end of 2021, you will receive a free Uber Eats Pass that is worth up to $119 value, and this gives you 5% off restaurant orders and no delivery fees on orders that are over $15.
So these are some pretty nice benefits that are relatively easy to receive and actually use, but as you can see, it is nowhere near as much as what the Platinum card offers.
Insurance-related benefits
And finally, let s take a look at what each card offers you in terms of insurance-related benefits, starting with the Platinum card
So first up you will receive cell phone protection that will cover up to $800 If your phone is damaged or stolen, and this can be used twice per 12 month period.
You will also get trip delay insurance which covers up to $500 per trip and can be used twice within a 12 month period
And similar to this you also get trip cancellation insurance which covers up to $10,000 per trip and $20,000 per card per 12 month period.
There is secondary car rental insurance that covers up to a total of $75,000 for any damage or theft of a rental vehicle.
Next, there are a few purchase-related coverage benefits, starting with ‘Extended Warranty’ that will basically extend a manufactures warranty by 1 extra year as long as the manufacturer’s original warranty is 5 years or less and purchased from within the United States.
You also get ‘Return Protection’, and this coverage provides you up to 90 days and up to $300 per item that a merchant won’t take back, and it is limited to $1,000 per calendar year.
And finally, there is also ‘Purchase Protection’ that gives you 90 days to help protect recent purchases if they are lost, stolen, or accidentally damaged, and it will cover up to $10,000 per item and $50,000 per calendar year.
So as you can see there are a lot of different items that are covered by the Platinum card which is very reassuring and very useful in my opinion.
I actually used the secondary car rental insurance from my Platinum Amex card for a car hire I had in France a couple of years ago, basically what happened is that I scratched the wheel on one side of the card accidentally and the car rental company wanted me to pay for it to be fixed, which would have cost a few hundred euros, But seeing that I paid for the rental with my Platinum card, Amex covered all of the expenses related to the damage that needed to be fixed, So it didn’t cost me anything!
Anyway, let’s now look at what the Amex Gold card offers in terms of Insurance related benefits.
First up the Gold card comes with baggage insurance that will cover up to $1250 for carry-on luggage and $500 for checked luggage, for any baggage that is damaged or stolen.
There is trip delay insurance that covers up to $300 per trip with a maximum of 2 claims per consecutive 12 month period.
Next up there is car rental loss and damage insurance that covers up to $50,000.
Then in terms of purchase-related coverage, it has purchase protection that provides an extra 90 days on eligible items up to $10,000 per item and up to a maximum of $50,000 per calendar year.
And finally, you get an extended warranty that gives you an extra 1 year of coverage for any product that is purchased within the US and has a warranty that is 5 years or less.
So the Gold card does offer a decent amount of coverage and protection for a number of things, but not quite as much as the Platinum card.
Final thoughts
As you can see there is a fair bit of difference between the two cards, especially when it comes to points earning potential and overall benefits of each card.
I have had the Platinum card now for quite a few years and have found it to be very useful as I do tend to travel a lot, so I do take advantage of the car rental insurance benefits, the airport lounges, I also use TSA Precheck which has been reasonably helpful.
And I get to grab a couple of small things from Saks of Fifth Ave each year with the $100 benefit which is always nice.
But I guess the main thing to look at is what card will benefit you the most?
Since the recent updates to the Platinum card, I think I will be downgrading to the Gold Amex as I won’t use most of the new benefits on the Platinum card, and as for all of the travel benefits, I will continue to use my Chase Sapphire Reserve card which pretty much covers all of my travel-related needs.