MileValue is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.
Update 2/24/14: Offer is dead!
Last week, American Express (possibly accidentally) offered its Business Gold Rewards Card with a 75k Membership Rewards sign up bonus after only $5k in spending in the first three months.
That’s pretty incredible because:
- Usually the card has no sign up bonus.
- It had been offering only 50k Membership Rewards after $5k in spending.
- Normally when it offers 75k Membership Rewards, it does so for only one or two days and requires $10k in spending to unlock the bonus.
That deal died, but two Business Gold offers have risen in its stead. Which is right for you?
The current deals are:
- 75k bonus Membership Rewards after spending $10k in three months
- 50k bonus Membership Rewards after spending $5k in three months
Should you get the 75k sign up bonus on this card or the 50k sign up bonus?
If the answer to which card to get seems obvious, it is not. In my post, “The Two Ways to Value Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses,” I described both the absolute-value method and rebate-percentage method.
The absolute-value method is what most people are probably more familiar with. Add up the benefits of the sign up bonus and subtract the first-year annual fee if any. Right now I value 75k Membership Rewards at about $1,500. I love the current 35% transfer bonus to Avios as someone who flies between the west coast and Hawaii often.
The absolute value of the 75k Membership Reward bonus, $1,500, dwarfs the absolute value of the 50k Membership Rewards sign up bonus, $1,000.
Stop reading here and get the Business Gold Rewards Card today with the 75k bonus if you spend tons of money per year on credit cards ($100k+) naturally or through manufactured spending, or you are only getting 1-2 cards this year because you are limiting credit inquiries. The absolute value of the sign up is mouthwatering.
But if you, like me, spend very little on cards each year ($3k per month or less), then this is not the best Business Gold Rewards Card offer.
Instead the best offer is the 50k Membership Rewards sign up bonus. The reason is that the 75k MR sign up bonus has a $10k minimum spend to unlock the bonus. The 50k MR card has only a $5k minimum spend requirement.
People who don’t spend enough to clear all the minimum-spending requirements for all the cards they want should use the rebate-percentage method to order cards on their wish list.
The rebate-percentage method takes the absolute value and divides by the spending requirement to get the percentage of the minimum spend that is rebated in the form of points or other benefits.
The 50k Membership Rewards offer’s rebate percentage is a solid 20%. The 75k Membership Rewards offer’s rebate percentage is only 15%.
That means, if you are looking at the most bang for your small buck like me, you should get the 50k Membership Rewards offer. Last September I did get the 50k Membership Rewards offer, and I am very happy I did. It was the right move for my spending habits, and it allowed me to get more total benefits from my cards in the last eight months than if I had gotten the 75k Business Rewards Gold offer.
Don’t misunderstand, the 75k offer is the best credit card offer of the year if you are a very big spender.
But if you’re not much of a spender, the 50k offer is better.
Both offers have the same details besides the sign up bonus:
- 3X points on airfare purchased from airlines. 2X points at US gas stations.
- Up to $100,000 in each category per year, then 1 point per dollar.
- $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $175.
Application Link: Business Gold Rewards Card with 75k bonus Membership Rewards after spending $10k in three months
Application Link: Business Gold Rewards Card with 30k bonus Membership Rewards after spending $5k in three months.
Which one sounds better to you?
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.
You are right but most will go for the 75k
Maybe the spending requirement is high because they only want actual businesses applying for the card? This much is pretty clear and anybody that puts their relationship with Amex at risk over a measly 75k points is not very bright.
Umm…I think you’ve made an error in your calculations. The 75k offer is for $10k spend in 4 months…not three (followed the link you have included in the post). That would change the rebate percentage estimation and will also be okay for someone spending less than $3k a month.
The 50k offer used to better for me when I was new in churning and still have lots of other big bonus cards to apply. Right now 75k makes more sense if your alternative are 25k/35k cards, and you save a credit check pull applying for 1 single card with bigger bonus in stead of 2 cards
Agree – for me, it’s all about the spend, so the 50k card makes more sense.
Agree with most of what’s posted here, but this is not anything like a true statement:
“Don’t misunderstand, the 75k offer is the best credit card offer of the year if you are a very big spender.”
Nonsense. Back in January, I got in on the brief Amex Platinum app-o-orgy, and scored 100k MR points for just $3000 in spend in 3 months on that card (I also got the Amex PRG card for another 50k MR points for just $1000 in spend – on the same day – but that’s besides the point).
I was going to open this card today on my 2nd round of apps (I’m still new to this), but ended up not opening it. I didn’t think I could hit the $5,000 spend and still meet the spend on the other cards I wanted. Maybe next time…I liked reading your take on the difference between the two, no way would I be able to meet the $10,000 spend.
I think the ease at which spend can be manufactured has changed the game in regards to the minimum spend at the current moment. The difference of $5000 over 3 months is nothing and can be accomplished for less than $50 out of pocket and less than an hour of your time. Makes no sense not to get that extra 25,000 MR
Ludicrous. Of course, the 75K deal is far superior to the 50K. Like others have pointed out, it is over 4 months, not 3. do you think your readers don;t know how to google “manufactured spend”?
Seriously, I got this done in 2 months last time around and I’m no maven when it comes to fake spending. And, it cost me nothing but time and gas.
[…] Press ← Why You Shouldn’t Get the 75k Membership Rewards Business Gold Rewards Card (And Why Yo… […]
[…] The offer has bounced between nothing, 50k, and 75k this year a few times […]
[…] The offer has bounced between nothing, 50k, and 75k this year a few times […]