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The American Express® Business Gold Card has had a bit of a refresh including a new annual fee of $375 which will hit 2/1/24 ( for any applications that day or after ). There are new statement credits, a switcharoo on 4x bonus categories, and if you want to read our full review...go here. Let’s take a quick look at the changes.
You can even get it in Rose Gold now…similar to the personal version.
4x categories have switched around
Amex gives you a list of 4x bonus categories, and from that list, whichever two categories you spend most on within a month, you’ll earn the 4x. The other categories will remain at 1x Membership Rewards per dollar spent. The just revamped the list…here are the changes.
Gone:
- Airline tickets direct with the airline
- Shipping
- Technology and hardware providers
New Categories in italics
- 4x on your choice of purchase at any 2 of the following categories
- U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
- U.S. purchases made directly electronic goods retailers and software & cloud systems providers
- U.S. purchases at gas stations
- U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
- Transit purchases
- including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
- Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
- Capped at $150k total on combined categories
25% points rebate is gone
It used to be that if you booked a flight via Amex Travel and used Membership Rewards to book, you’d get 25% of those points back. That benefit is gone, and makes me wonder if we will see it cut from the Business Platinum as well ( currently 35% rebate ).
Annual fee is going up
Starting 2/1/24 the annual fee on the card will be $375 a year.
New Statement Credits have been added
These statement credits need to be enrolled, and if you utilize them, can help offset much of the annual fee. Personally, I will be focused on Office Supply and Grubhub
- Earn up to $20 in statement credits monthly after you use the Business Gold Card for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and Office Supply Stores. This can be an annual savings of up to $240. Enrollment required.
- Get $12.95 back in statement credits each month when you pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) with your Business Gold Card. $12.95 plus applicable taxes.
Just remember that you need to enroll to get these some of these credits
Overall
The fees on credit cards are continuing to go up across the marketplace and Amex is staying the course by adding in statement credits to help offset the fee. The big question becomes…are they too much of a hassle to utilize to actually erase what is now a very high annual fee. For someone like me, who does this for a living, I’ll spend the time to get my $20 a month credit, for most other people…it’s anyone’s guess.
The idea that you can easily earn 4x, up to $150k a year, on bonus categories, and earn 3x on travel booked in the Amex travel portal is quite attractive, and I’d say it’s must easier to justify paying $375 a year for this card vs $695 for the Business Platinum
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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