by Daniel | Last Updated October 27th, 2023
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So the Amex Business Gold card has long been great option for business owners looking to receive a variety of nice benefits and earn membership rewards points from their business expenses.
But with a hike in the annual fee starting early next year and the removal of some of its existing benefits, is it now just a waste of money?
Well, let’s take a closer look at what exactly has changed and how it will affect you.
What’s Been Scrapped?
So one change that is sure to annoy most people is the fact the Amex has decided to raise the annual fee of The Amex Business Gold card from $295 up to $375 starting February 1, 2024.
That represents a little over 27% increase in the cost of the annual fee.
Another really valuable benefit that has been removed from the Amex Business Gold card is the 25% Airline Bonus.
With this benefit it was possible to receive up to 250,000 Membership Rewards back for airline bookings that were made through the Pay with Points option.
If you were able to utilize this benefit in full it would have been worth approximately $2,500.
So its a pity that Amex decided to get rid of this benefit as it was a really nice benefit to have.
Now there has also been quite a change to how you earn Membership Reward Points with this card.
Starting with the negative changes, they have removed the ability to earn 4x points from the following categories:
- Any airfare purchased directly from airlines
- Purchases for shipping from within the US
- Purchases made directly at US technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions
Now while this might not look so good, you will see later in this article that the positive changes to the points earning potential of this card are pretty good.
What’s New?
So after hearing about these negative changes to the American Express Business Gold card you might be reconsidering if it’s actually still worth it.
Well, let’s take look at some more positive changes that have been added to the card to see if it still offers you decent value.
Choice Of Two Cards
So a new option that has been added to the Amex Business Gold card that has been an option with the Personal Gold card for quite some time is the ability to now choose either the original Gold card or opt for the Rose Gold card.
And whilst this isn’t really a big deal, I guess it nice to have the option to actually personalize your card.
$240 Flexible Business Credit
There is now a new $240 Flexible Business credit that will be provided in $20 allotments each month.
This can be used towards eligible business purchases from the following businesses:
- FedEx
- Grubhub
- Office Supply Stores
To receive this benefit you must first enroll through your Amex account.
If you can take advantage of this benefit in full it will bring the annual fee down to a more reasonable $135.
There is now a $155 Walmart+ Credit which basically gives you back $12.95 each month if you enroll in this benefit.
This provides some pretty decent perks that include:
- Free shipping with no order minimum
- Member savings on fuel (10c off per gallon)
- Auto care which includes free flat tire repair
So if you do shop at Walmart this is a nice little extra to get that will save you a bit of money.
Cell Phone Protection
A welcome addition to this card is Cell Phone Protection which allows for up to $800 if your cell phone is damaged or stolen.
This can be used 2 times in a 12 month period, although there is a $50 deductible fee associated with each claim.
Earning Membership Rewards Points
So finally there has been a few changes to how you can earn Membership Rewards Points with this card.
And these changes are mostly positive.
Previously the Amex Business Gold card only had two options for earning points, but now there are 3 different categories for earning points.
So when it comes to earning 4x points it is only available on the first $150,000 in combined purchases.
And I have listed the changes below:
New Categories
- Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
- Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
Same As Before
- Purchases at US media providers for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
- U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers
- U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
- U.S. purchases at gas stations
Categories Removed
- Any airfare purchased directly from airlines
It is then possible to earn 3x points for pre paid flights and hotel booking that are made through AmexTravel.com
Then just like before, all other purchase that are made on the card will earn you 1 point per dollar spent.
So as you can see there are two new categories to earn 4x points from, then the four other categories remain the same.
Then with the loss of the 4x points earnings on airfares purchased directly with airlines, it has now been converted to earning 3x points for both prepaid flights and hotels bookings that are made through AmexTravel.com
So it’s really not that much different than before the changes happened.
Signup Bonus
Now the signup bonus currently available with the Amex Business Gold card is pretty standard.
If you can manage to spend $10,000 within the first 3 months of opening a new account with Amex, it is possible to earn 70,000 Membership Rewards Points.
And seeing that Membership Rewards points are generally worth 1 cent per point, this signup bonus is worth $700.
Final Thoughts
So that covers pretty much everything that has changed with the American Express Business Gold card.
And depending on what benefits you value the most will affect whether this card is still a good fit for you and your situation.
If you tend to travel lot for work, the loss of the 25% Airline Bonus and the ability to earn 4x points from airfare purchases made directly with the airline will make this card a lot less valuable for you.
As I mentioned early in the video, if you were able to fully utilize the 250,000 Membership Rewards back as part of this benefit, it was worth at least $2,500.
Now on the positive side of things, the new addition of the $240 Flexible Business Credit and the $155 Walmart+ Credit provides a total value of $395 which covers the annual fee and leaves you with an extra $20 in hand, assuming you use all of the credits in full.
So if you not to fussed about the loss of these travel benefits, the Amex Business Gold card still presents a fair amount of value and can technically be free if you make use of the newly added benefits.
Now if you are annoyed about the loss of the travel benefits that were associated with this card, I would recommend considering the Amex Platinum Business card.
Even though it is quite a bit more expensive for the annual fee each year coming in at $695, the benefits on offer easily cover the cost of this and provide you with a ton a fantastic travel related benefits that include:
- A 35% Airline Bonus, this is 10% more than what the Amex Business Gold used to offer, and best of all the cap for utilizing this benefit is 1,000,000 bonus points back per calendar year, this is 4 times more than what the Amex Business Gold Card offered
- Access to the Global Lounge Collection, which includes a Priority Pass membership that is worth $469.
- A $200 Airline Fee Credit
- A $189 CLEAR Plus Credit
These are just a few of the many benefits that are offered with the Amex Business Platinum card, and if you are able to utilize just these benefits alone it more than covers the cost of the annual fee.
Now if the Amex Platinum Business card sounds a little bit to pricy and unnecessary there are other card to choose from
A great options from Chase is the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card.
Although this card doesn’t come with any fancy benefits like the Amex Business Gold card, it does offer a signup bonus of 100,000 bonus points which are worth $1,250 if redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards for travel.
That’s $550 more in value than what the Amex Business Gold card is offering.
With these points it possible to transfer them at a 1:1 value to 11 different airline partners and 3 different hotel partner.
Even better, it only requires a spend of $8,000 in the first 3 months of card ownership compared to the Amex Business cards $10,000 in 3 months.
And then finally, the annual fee is only $95 a year compared to the Amex Business Gold cards upcoming $375 annual fee.
Another valuable card is the Capital One Venture X Business credit card.
With an annual fee of $395 it is only $20 more than the Amex Business Gold card will be from next year.
And best of all it is totally offset by a $300 annual travel credit that can be used for bookings that are made through Capital One Travel and 10,000 bonus miles each year of card ownership.
This actually totally covers the cost of the annual fee each year and leave you with $5.
Along with this the card also offers a Priority Pass Select Membership worth $469 each year, TSA PreCheck or Global Entry and then the ability to earn up to 10x miles on hotels and rental cars purchases that are made through Capital One Travel
The only down side I can see with this card is the fact that to receive the sign-up bonus of 150,000 miles, you will need to spend $30,000 within the first 3 months of opening the account.
If can meet this high spend requirement, the 150,000 miles are worth $1,500.
Anyway that’s my take on the new updates to Amex Business Gold card, and in my opinion if you spend a fair amount of money each year through your business and want to stick with an Amex I would opt for the Amex Business Platinum card, specifically as it offers a lot more value than the newly updated Amex Business Gold card.
Now if you’re interested in learning more about airport lounge access, make sure to check out my in-depth review of Priority Pass Membership here.