My Favorite Credit Card: Amex Gold

When people find out that I have gotten into credit cards, points, and miles, they generally ask what is your favorite card? My favorite is a new card called the Amex Gold and they are offering 90k points sign up on it right now (THAT IS THE HIGHEST OFFER EVER!). The reason I love the card is that it offers 4x points on grocery stores and restaurants (my 2 biggest spend categories, by the way restaurants includes fast food places!) and 3x points on airline purchases. The fee for the card is $250 which sounds high, but they will give you up to $240 back through uber and restaurant credits (read more on that below, or here and here).  Just be aware that grocery shopping at "super stores" (Walmart and Target) will NOT earn 4x points.  Smith's Marketplace is totally fine though.

To get the highest offer, first try clicking here, if the offer is lower than 90k, you will need to open a google chrome window, then on the far right of the search bar, there are 3 little vertical dots, click on that and it gives you the option to open a "new incognito window". Once you have done that and you are in "incognito mode", go to my website milesfromslc.com and try my referral link again.  In chrome incognito mode, my website will sometimes give you higher offers.

If you're still not convinced that you want to pay $250 for a card (especially if you are unsure you will ever earn the credits), then let's talk about why it is still a good idea to apply for this card at least once in your lifetime.  After spending the $4k required to earn the bonus on this card, you will have somewhere around 70k points (assuming you spend some of that $4 at the grocery store).  That is equivalent to at least $700 in airline tickets.  You could go to Europe with that many points, or you and a friend or loved one could go to Hawaii.  Is that worth $250???  Um, Yes!  So don't get hung up on the $250 fee- you will absolutely get your money back and then some, even if you never take advantage of the restaurant or uber credits.  The other reason to get this card, is that this magical card allows you to refer friends and family to ANY American Express card (delta cards, hilton cards, cash back cards, etc.) and Amex will award you with anywhere between 10k and 30k for the referral (the person you refer must be approved for the credit card- whether or not they ever use it, pay their bills, or earn their bonus is irrelevant to you.  You get the points within a day of their approval).  All amex cards are able to earn 100k per year in referral bonuses, so lets say in the first year of opening your Amex Gold card you earn around 90k (after putting $4k on the card), and you refer a couple people (remember you can refer someone to any card, so you could easily refer your spouse to the annual fee free Delta blue card, or the annual fee free Hilton card) you will then have at least 105k points (equivalent to at least $1,050 in travel) in the first year of this card that cost $250.  That is a TON of points and well worth the fee on this card.  You may decide after a year that you are done with the Gold card and cancel or downgrade it, or you may decide (like me) that this card and it's huge earning potential is worth keeping in your wallet year after year!

Once you get the card there are a few things you need to do!

1.  Unenroll from "pay over time" so that you can earn an easy 20k points at some point in the future!  read this article for more info on how to do that!

2. Be sure to go onto your account online and "enroll" in the dining credits so you can get back some of that $250 fee (by using your card at Cheescake factory, shake shack, gold belly, grub hub, etc. each month).   Personally, I do a takeout order using Grubhub each month.  It works just like doordash, and Amex will automatically credit your account $10 a few days after your grubhub order posts to your amex account.  Just be sure you are paying for your grubhub order with your Amex Gold each month, that's all you have to do!  So, 1st step, you MUST enroll for this benefit in your account.  So if you login to your account on your computer, click the “rewards & benefits” tab at the top.  Next click the “benefits” button in the blue bar at the top. You should then see a box that says “$120 dining credit” and this is where you need to hit “enroll” (it’s right next to the “$120 Uber Cash on Gold” box).  

If you use the Amex app, click the “membership” star at the very bottom of your phone.  Once there click the “explore all card benefits” box.  The third box down will say “$120 dining Credit”, click that and “enroll”.  

Once you have enrolled in this, you never have to do it again.  You will always stay enrolled.

3. Download the Uber or Uber Eats app and set up an account (if you don't already have one), add this Gold card as a payment method in the Uber app.  Your Uber credits will start showing up in the app each month automatically.  You can do delivery with both these apps, but if you want to really take advantage of these credits with no extra out of pocket costs, select "pickup".  The options for pickup close to my home include Papa Johns, Panda Express, Cafe Rio, and Kneaders to name a few.  So yesterday I created a pickup order through Uber Eats at Panda Express, and after the order was complete, my credit card was charged $10 less than the total bill.  The Uber app automatically applies the $10 Uber Cash credit each month- you don't have to select anything.  Just order & pickup something once a month (pizza, kneaders cinnamon chunky bread, etc.), if the bill is over $10, the remainder will be applied to whatever credit card you choose to be the "default" card in your app's wallet (it doesn't even have to be the Amex Gold card if you don't want).  If doing take-out meals 2x a month sounds daunting (one for Uber Eats and one for Grubhub), you could find a restaurant that shows up on both the Uber Eats app AND the Grubhub app, order 1 take-out meal from each app, then go to the restaurant and pick up both meals.  This way you have used both credits with just one trip to a restaurant of your choice.   Personally, I don’t find it too hard to use these credits every month, it was a shift from my normal routine at first but it’s now my usual routine.  Give it a try! 

4. Set your Amex account to ALLOW ALL marketing emails.  Read point 3. from this article for info on how to do that.  You don't want to miss out on amazing offers that will help you earn lots of extra points on your gold card or other Amex cards!

I also recommend reading this page to learn how to transfer your points to airlines or hotels, how to refer friends, and how to take advantage of other special offers.

This page is also a good read to learn more about Amex Offers that you can add to your Gold card.

The other "trick" I do to get more points, is that I buy Amazon gift cards at Smiths and load up my amazon account with that money (because I'm then earning 4x points on amazon purchases because I actually spent the money at a grocery store not amazon). Same thing with apple gift cards, Home Depot gift cards, Kohls, etc, I buy the gift cards at a grocery store then go use the gift card to buy whatever it is I need to buy.  Just do this carefully, don't abuse the system because Amex won't like that.  If you occasionally buy a gift card or 2 with your other groceries you shouldn't raise any alarms.

Purchasing GAS at smith's marketplace unfortunately won't get you 4x points, but I buy "smiths" gift cards (which gives me 4x points) then I use those gift cards to fill up my tank.
So I'm essentially getting 4x points on not just grocery stores and restaurants, but gas, amazon, and lots of other shopping needs as well!  

After having this card for a couple years, I can see that I'm earning at least twice as many points as I ever did with my delta Platinum card, and all of these points can be transferred to Delta if you still want Delta miles (or they can transfer to tons of other airlines or hotels so it gives you LOTS of options).


Here are all my credit card referrals - it's your way of thanking me for putting all this information together for you! :)