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From lucrative bonus spending categories to significant statement credit perks, the American Express® Gold Card is a heavyweight when it comes to rewarding food lovers. However, with an annual fee of $325 (see rates and fees), the card is far from cheap.

Let’s run through five ways you can offset, or at least reduce, the annual fee through spending and perk usage.

The American Express Gold Card: Overview

American Express® Gold Card

Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.

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Here’s a reminder of what the Amex Gold Card has on offer.

FeatureAmerican Express Gold Card
Annual fee$325 (see rates and fees)
Welcome offerTypically around 60,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $6,000 within the first six months of card membership
Bonus spending categories• 4X points at restaurants worldwide on up to $50,000 in spending per year (1X thereafter)
• 4X points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per year (1X thereafter)
• 3X points on flights booked directly with the airline or through AmexTravel.com
• 2X points on prepaid hotels and other eligible travel purchases booked through AmexTravel.com
• 1X points on all other purchases
Statement credits• Up to $120 Uber Cash credit, issued in $10 monthly credits
• Up to $120 dining credit, issued in $10 monthly credits
• Up to $100 Resy dining credit, issued in $50 biannual credits
• Up to $84 Dunkin’ cash credit, issued in $7 monthly credits
Cardholder perks• $100 experience credit when you book a minimum stay of two nights with The Hotel Collection through AmexTravel.com
• No foreign transaction fees
• Baggage insurance plan*
• Car rental loss and damage insurance*

Let’s now look at how you can offset the annual fee by leveraging the Amex Gold card’s perks.

Ways to Offset the American Express Gold Card Annual Fee - Use Up the Dining Credits

1. Use Up the Dining Credits

The Amex Gold Card offers three dining statement credit perks, including:

  • $120 statement credit with participating restaurants
  • $100 statement credit with Resy
  • $84 statement credit with Dunkin’ 

Altogether, these three dining statement credit perks add up to $304 in credits per year, almost offsetting the annual fee entirely. If you spent an additional $525 in one of the card’s 4X bonus points categories, you’d break even on the annual fee when combined with the dining statement credit perks.

Dine Out with Select Eateries

Amex cardholders receive a dining statement credit of up to $120 per year. The credit is issued in monthly increments of $10, which you can use at the following locations:

  • Grubhub (including Seamless)
  • The Cheesecake Factory
  • Goldbelly
  • Wine.com
  • Five Guys

As long as you spend $10 per month with one of these merchants, you’ll get the full value of $120 in statement credits per year.

Dine with Resy

On top of that, Amex Gold cardholders are eligible for up to $100 in statement credits per year for purchases with Resy.

Eligible Resy purchases include those made directly with restaurants in the United States that offer reservations on Resy.com and the Resy app, as well as purchases made directly on Resy.com or in the Resy app. Resy dining credits are issued semi-annually in $50 increments.

Dunk with Dunkin’

Last but not least, as an Amex Gold cardholder, you can get up to $7 in statement credits every month for eligible purchases at Dunkin’ locations.

For the statement credit to apply, you must make your purchase at Dunkin’ locations in the United States. Similarly, Dunkin’ locations that are located within another establishment—such as a gas station—may not code correctly, making you ineligible for the statement credit.

You’ll need to enroll in this perk through the benefits section of your card account.

By charging the cost of your coffee and a donut to your Amex Gold Card every month, you can get up to $84 in statement credits each year you hold the card.

2. Take an Uber or Order from Uber Eats

If you download the Uber app, turn on Uber Cash and make sure an Amex Card must is selected as the payment method for your Uber or Uber Eats transaction to redeem the Amex Uber Cash benefit – you’ll receive $10 in Uber Cash credits every month.

Use your card to pay for a ride or food delivery and you’ll receive a statement credit back to your account. You can get up to $120 worth of annual statement credits back by using Uber at least once per month, cutting the annual fee down by more than a third. The credits don’t roll over to the next month, so make sure to use them before they expire. 

3. Earn the Welcome Offer

The Amex Gold card has a welcome offer typically around 60,000 Membership rewards points after spending $6,000 within the first six months of card membership.

However, the welcome offer has gone as high as 100,000 points with the same minimum spending threshold.

If we assume a point redemption rate of 1 cent per point, that makes the Amex Gold Card’s welcome offer worth between $600 and $1,000, depending on when you earn it. Of course, if you transferred your Membership Rewards points to one of Amex’s 21 airline and hotel partners, you could get an even higher point redemption rate, potentially making the welcome offer worth double or more.

With such a lucrative welcome offer, earning it when it’s at its highest effectively offsets the annual fee not only in the first year of card membership but also for subsequent years. Just make sure you don’t overspend when trying to earn the welcome offer—instead, leverage your natural expenditure.

5 Ways to Offset the American Express Gold Card Annual Fee - Stay with The Hotel Collection

4. Stay with The Hotel Collection

If you book a minimum stay of two nights with The Hotel Collection through AmexTravel.com and pay for it using your Amex Gold card, you’ll be eligible for a $100 experience/property credit.

The credit will be applied at check-out and the exact experience varies from one property to the next.

Taking advantage of this benefit is an easy way to cut a chunk out of the annual fee.

5. Spend Regularly with the Card

Despite its strong selection of statement credit perks, one of the standout features of the Amex Gold Card is its robust selection of bonus spending categories.

To recap, you can earn the following:

  • 4X points at restaurants worldwide on up to $50,000 in spending per year (1X thereafter)
  • 4X points on groceries at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per year (1X thereafter)
  • 3X points on flights booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel
  • 2X points on prepaid hotels and other eligible travel purchases booked through Amex Travel
  • 1X points on all other purchases

Assuming a modest redemption rate of 1 cent apiece, you’d need to spend a minimum of $8,125 across the Amex Gold Card’s two 4X bonus categories to break even on the annual fee. Considering the average American household spends $9,434 on food-related purchases every year, you’d likely more than break even on the annual fee.

Through regular usage of the card at U.S. supermarkets and at restaurants at home or abroad, you can get the best return on your spending.

And even if your spending is slightly lower than average, you can use a combination of spending and the card’s statement credit perks to offset the annual fee. For instance, if you used all of the dining statement credit perks, you’d need to spend just $525 across the 4X points categories to break even.

Final Thoughts

With a little strategizing, you can easily offset the $325 that it costs to obtain and renew the American Express Gold Card. The welcome offer alone is worth enough for the card to pay for itself for at least a few years. And if you take advantage of its wide range of statement credit perks plus use the card for everyday expenses at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, you’ll easily offset the annual fee every year without breaking a sweat.

* Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by Amex Assurance Company.