The AMEX Gold card gives you a $600 rewards bonus, $240 yearly in dining credits, and 4% back on groceries, takeout, delivery, and dining. Whether you’re a military member who gets the Annual Fee ($250) waived, or civilian, I’d strongly recommend this card.

For the full guide on the best credit cards for active-duty military, check out this post!

American Express Gold Perks [2021]

• $250 annual fee WAIVED for military members and their spouses
• Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points (worth $600+) after you spend $4,000 on purchases in 6 months
• Earn 4X points on restaurants, takeout, and delivery
• Earn 4X points at U.S. Supermarkets (up to $25,000 yearly)
• Earn 3X points on flights booked through amextravel.com
• Earn 1X points on all other purchases
• $120 in Uber Eats / Rides
• $120 in dining credit (Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Boxed, and Shake Shack)
• No foreign transaction fees
• Heavy Metal Card – Purely for the clout

Apply Here!

Who Is This Card For?

This card is for people who like to eat food. So…everyone? In all seriousness, if you are someone who dines out and uses delivery more than you should, this card will reward all of your bad habits.

With an easy-to-hit sign-up bonus ($600 value), the $240 yearly in dining credits, and an extremely high 4X points rate on food, this card easily makes up for the $250 fee.

Whether you are military and get the $250 annual fee waived through MLA or SCRA, or you are a civilian, this is a great luxury card to hold.

Upgrading To American Express Platinum (After 1 Year)

A great strategy for military members and their spouses is to hold multiple American Express Platinum cards.

Since you can hold an unlimited number of Charge cards (Platinum, Gold, & Green), and the rewards stack, you can get serious value from holding multiple of the same card. The “Catch” is that you can only get the sign-up bonus for each card one time.

So rather than continually rack up American Express Platinum cards to get the highest recurring benefits, it is best to first take advantage of the American Express Gold card sign-up bonus, and then upgrade it to Platinum after one year.

Let’s say after a couple of years of credit card churning, you and your spouse get 10 American Express Platinum cards. Ten AMEX platinum cards would equate to $2,000 in Uber eats, $2,400 in digital entertainment, $2,000 in Hotel credit, $2,000 in Airline credit, and $1,000 in Sak’s credit, every single year.

Sign-Up Bonus

Lately, American Express has pivoted away from the typical “Spend X amount of money in 3 months” and instead extended the timeframe to “Spend X amount in 6 months”.

This makes it much easier for your average person to hit this spend requirement organically. Gone are the days of postponing your credit card application until you know can hit the spending requirement.

With the sign-up bonus requirement being spent $4,000 in 6 months, that means as long as your monthly expenses are roughly $675 or more per month, you will have no issues raking in $600+ cash back, just for spending money on things you really need.

$120 Uber Eats / Rides

As I have mentioned before, I’m a Chipotle addict. The AMEX Gold card allows me to feed this addiction (more than I probably should).

Every month you will receive $10 in Uber credit.

For this perk, instead of charging the card and then being refunded statement credit, the money will never even leave your account!

If you don’t like free food dropped off at your front door, you can always get a free ride back from the bar by using the credits towards the normal Uber app.

$120 Dining Credit

The $120 Dining credit, similar to the $120 Uber credit, comes in $10 increments every month.

One of my favorite aspects about this perk is the flexibility of locations AMEX offers. Whether you want to indulge in delicious steak or cheap burgers, the Gold card has you covered.

• Cheap eats: Boxed & Shake Shack
• Food delivery: Grubhub & Seamless
• Fine dining: Ruth’s Chris Steak House & The Cheesecake Factory

4X Back On Grocery, Dining out, Takeout, & Delivery

This is by far the easiest cashback bonus to hit for the average American.

Here are the national averages as of 2019 for monthly food budgets:

• Monthly grocery bill ($387)
• Monthly dining out / takeout / delivery bill ($232)

This means that in total, Americans will spend on average $7,400+ annually on food. ( $387 x 12 + $232 x 12 = $7,428).

If you used the American Express Gold Card, you would receive $300+ in cashback each year.

While many luxury credit cards offer large cash back categories, more often than not they are for airline & hotel fees. While this has great benefit for those who travel frequently, it is lackluster for the average American who may only take 1 or 2 flights a year.

With the Gold Card, you’ll find the categories that are worth your while.

Big Takeaways

The American Express Gold Card is yet another credit card military members can take advantage of. The $600 is easy enough to hit even with low spending, the $240 dining credits give you a nice excuse to eat out, and the bonus categories ensure you get cashback year after year.

Once you hit the sign-up bonus and upgrade to another American Express Platinum Card a year later, you can go ahead and get the American Express Green Card and repeat the process!

Apply Here to start indulging your inner foodie today.