The *amex gold card* is one of our absolute favorite travel cards, thanks in large part to its generous welcome offer.
Unfortunately, you'll now need to spend more to earn that big bonus. With the new offer, you can earn “as high as” 100,000 points after spending $8,000 in six months. That's $2,000 more than the old $6,000 spending requirement in the first six months, and makes the card harder to justify for modest spenders.
The exact welcome offer you’ll see can vary, and some applicants may not qualify at all. After submitting an application – but before accepting the card and triggering a credit pull – Amex will disclose the specific bonus you’re eligible for. On the plus side, you'll still have six months to get it done – twice as long as most cards.
But it's not all bad news: Amex is sprinkling in a few extra benefits and making minor tweaks to others to help soften the blow. Things like rental car elite status and extra point-earning on certain travel purchases through American Express Travel® are nice additions, while the card's updated dining credit may be more appealing for some.
Read on for everything you need to know about these changes and what the Amex Gold Card has to offer.
American Express® Gold Card Benefits Overview
- Welcome Offer: bonus_miles_full
- Earn 4x points per dollar spent at restaurants worldwide (up to $50,000 per year, then 1x)
- Earn 4x points per dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year, then 1x)
- Earn 3x points per dollar spent directly with airlines, AmexTravel.com, or the Amex Travel App™
- Earn 5x points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App™
- Earn 2x points per dollar spent on prepaid car rentals and cruises through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App™
- Earn 1x point per dollar spent on other eligible purchases
- $120 Dining Credit: Enroll and earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly (up to $120 annually) when you pay with the Gold Card at Grubhub (including Seamless), Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, The Cheesecake Factory®, and Wonder
- $120 Uber Cash: Add the U.S. Consumer Gold Card to your Uber account to receive $10 in monthly Uber Cash (up to $120 annually) to use towards Uber Eats or Uber Rides
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $50 in semi-annual statement credits ($100 per year) after you enroll and pay with the Gold Card at U.S. Resy restaurants or on other eligible Resy purchases
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: Get up to $7 per month ($84 per year) in statement credits after you enroll and pay with the Gold Card
- Hertz Five Star® rental car elite status
- No foreign transaction fees
- Annual fee: annual_fees (see rates and fees).
Learn more about the *amex gold*
A New, Higher Spending Requirement
This news hardly comes as a surprise. Amex did the same thing with the American Express Platinum® Card just a couple of months ago, raising the minimum spending requirement to $12,000 in six months – a $4,000 increase, without notice.
Now, you'll need to spend more to earn a big bonus on the *amex gold*, too. With the new requirement, you can earn as high as 100,000 points after spending $8,000 in six months. That's a 33% increase – again, without a word of warning.
But if there’s any saving grace, it’s Amex’s comparatively generous timeline. While most issuers give cardholders three months to meet a welcome bonus requirement, Amex has long offered six months on many of its cards – and that hasn’t changed. That longer runway is no accident: Amex wants new cardholders to keep the Gold Card at the top of their wallets longer and build the habit of using it frequently.
So why make the change now? A look at the competition offers some clues.
Chase is currently offering a 75,000-point bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card after $5,000 in spending in three months. Meanwhile, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers a 75,000-point bonus after spending $4,000 in three months.
Yes, Amex’s $8,000 requirement is double (or nearly double) those thresholds – but with twice the time to complete it, the Gold Card now sits more or less in line with the other travel cards it competes with. If Chase and Capital One can ask for that level of commitment, Amex likely sees little reason it shouldn’t, too.
Dining Credit Shakeup
Not to bury the lede here, but you can now use the Amex Gold's monthly dining credit at one of the biggest (and most mediocre) chicken wing restaurants in the world: Buffalo Wild Wings.
All jokes aside, with over 1,300 locations nationwide, some cardholders will no doubt appreciate seeing B-Dubs get added to the list. I know a certain Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal analyst that's ecstatic about this news – not naming names.
In addition to Buffalo Wild Wings, Wonder was also added to the list of eligible options … while wine.com and Gold Belly get the axe, effective July 1, 2026.
If you're unfamiliar with Wonder, it's a new(ish) food delivery, takeout, and dine-in service that offers food from 20-plus iconic restaurants like Bobby Flay Steak or Di Fara Pizza, all in one place. This addition will be especially useful for those in the Northeast – primarily New York City – or even as far south as Virginia.
Hertz Five Star® Status
While the Gold Card has long been a go-to for dining and grocery rewards, the addition of Hertz Five Star® rental car elite status gives cardholders a meaningful upgrade on the travel side, too. Enrollment is required, but once you’re in, you’ll unlock mid-tier status in Hertz’s Gold Plus Rewards program – no rental history needed.
Hertz Five Star status won’t turn every rental into a luxury experience, but it can make the process smoother, faster, and a bit more rewarding.
For travelers who rent even a few times a year, perks like skipping the counter, getting space-available upgrades, and earning bonus points can add up quickly. It’s a solid, no-extra-cost add-on that enhances the Gold Card’s overall value – especially for those who weren’t previously getting much in the way of rental car benefits.
For current or prospective Gold Cardholders, this perk could quietly improve your travel experience. It’s not quite as good as the Hertz President's Circle Status you get with the Platinum Card, but it’s useful.
Increased Point-Earning
The Amex Gold is a fan-favorite travel card, not just because of its big welcome offer, but because of how many points you can earn on regular day-to-day spending.
With 4x point-earning on dining (up to $50,000 per year, then 1x) and groceries (up to $25,000 per year, then 1x), it's the hands down best card for foodies. But now, you'll be able to earn more points on travel, too … so long as you book through Amex.
The card has long offered 3x points on flights booked direct or through Amex Travel, but now you can get 5x points on prepaid hotel bookings and 2x points on prepaid rental cars (and cruises) booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App.
We typically recommend steering clear of third-party booking sites like Amex Travel because it can be a real headache if your plans change or things don't go right, but the increased earning – especially 5x on hotels – could make it worth the hassle. Plus, the Gold Card comes with a $100 credit when you book a two-night minimum stay at one of 1,300-plus upscale hotels around the world through its The Hotel Collection.
As part of Amex's 60th anniversary celebration for the Gold Card, there also offering limited-time promos at some of these properties that include a complimentary third or fourth night, discounts of 25% (or more) off select rooms or suites, or a $150-plus property credit to use toward eligible charges during your stay.
Just know: When you book a hotel through Amex Travel (or any third-party site) you're most likely sacrificing the opportunity to earn hotel points and elite status benefits. That won't matter for everyone, but it is worth knowing before taking advantage of any of these offers.
What to Make of These Changes
Maybe the best news in all of this is that the annual fee remains the same, annual_fees per year (see rates & fees). Typically, when we see banks add benefits to cards, it comes at the expense (literally) of paying a higher annual fee. Thankfully, that isn't the case this time around, making these changes a clear win for current Amex Gold Cardholders.
The higher spending requirement no doubt stinks, but Amex's six-month timeline makes it more attainable and aligns it with other cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Capital One Venture Rewards Card. Critically, the Amex Gold is a great earner – and it got (marginally) better with the new bonus categories that were added – so spending more to earn a big welcome offer doesn't have to come at the expense of earning more points on other cards.
Add in the new rental car elite status and limited-time promotions for the card's big anniversary – like an Uber One membership credit and a special slate of Amex Offers – and I'd say these changes are mostly good … aside from the increased spending requirement. But given the card's more generous spending window, it shouldn't be a huge drawback for most.
Bottom Line
The Amex Gold Card now requires more spending to earn its big welcome offer, but it also comes with a handful of new perks – like Hertz Five Star status and improved travel earnings – to help offset the change.
While the higher threshold may deter some, the added benefits and unchanged annual fee make this mostly a net positive for current and prospective cardholders.
