Amex Gold Card vs. Amex Green Card [Detailed Comparison]

Key Takeaways

• The American Express^® Gold Card focuses on dining and groceries, earning 4x points at restaurants worldwide (up to $50,000 per year) and U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year), then 1x points in each category. It also earns 3x points on flights.
• The American Express^® Green Card is designed for travel enthusiasts with 3x points on travel, dining, and transit.
• The Amex Gold card is ideal for earning points on food purchases, while the Amex Green card is better for general travel and transit.

American Express has one of the best portfolios of travel rewards cards that constantly deliver great value to cardholders, and 2 of those cards are the American Express^® Gold Card and American Express^® Green Card*.

Both cards have a lot to offer cardholders, but which one is a better fit for you? In this post, we provide a detailed comparison of what each card can offer you, including its rewards, redemption options, benefits, protections, fees, and more.

*The information regarding the American Express^® Green Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

Summary

Let’s preview what each card offers before we more thoroughly compare each card by benefit or feature.

Bottom Line: There is a decent bit of overlap when it comes to both the Amex Gold card and Amex Green card, but those looking for a more food-focused rewards card would benefit from the Amex Gold card thanks to its 4x categories and statement credits, while the Amex Green card would suit those looking for a more general travel rewards card.

The Value of a Welcome Offer

One of the most exciting features of a new card is the large welcome bonus offer it may offer that quickly boosts you towards your next vacation. American Express is known for offering great welcome bonus offers on its cards.

Welcome offers change often, but here is a look at the number of points you can currently earn with both the Amex Gold card and Amex Green card. As a note, we value Amex Membership Rewards points at 2.2 cents per point thanks to the flexible redemption options they provide.

Amex Gold Card

NEW OFFER

Terms Apply / Rates & Fees

American Express^® Gold Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

This is the best card for food lovers who dine out at restaurants (worldwide), order take-out and want big rewards at U.S. supermarkets!

Apply Now(at Amex's secure site)

Apply With Confidence

Know if you're approved with no credit score impact

If you're approved and accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.

American Express^® Gold Card

This is the best card for food lovers who dine out at restaurants (worldwide), order take-out and want big rewards at U.S. supermarkets!

Welcome Offer

You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards^® Points after spending $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.

As High As 100,000 Points. Find Out Your Offer.

UP's Offer Valuation*:

Up to $2,200

Annual Fee

$325

APR

See Pay Over Time APR

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.

Good to Excellent

Why We Like This Card

The American Express^® Gold Card is a game-changer.

With this card, you can earn 4x Membership Rewards points at restaurants, up to $50,000 per calendar year, and you’ll also earn 4x Membership Rewards points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per calendar year, then 1x.

There isn’t another card on the market that offers a 1-2 punch like this. Of course, there are several other benefits of the Gold Card as well, including extra monthly dining rewards and more.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 4x points per dollar at restaurants worldwide, up to $50,000 per calendar year; then 1x thereafter
• 4x points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets, up to $25,000 per calendar year; then 1x thereafter
• 3x points per dollar on flights purchased directly from airlines or at AmexTravel.com

Cons

• $325 annual fee (rates and fees)
• No lounge access

Read Full Review

Card Highlights

• You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards^® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
• Earn 4X Membership Rewards^® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
• Earn 4X Membership Rewards^® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
• Earn 3X Membership Rewards^® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
• Earn 2X Membership Rewards^® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
• Earn 1X Membership Rewards^® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
• $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an American Express Card for your transaction. That’s up to $120 Uber Cash annually. Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards^® points for Uber Eats purchases made with restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
• $84 Dunkin' Credit: With the $84 Dunkin' Credit, you can earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express^® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations. Enrollment is required to receive this benefit.
• $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express^® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
• $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express^® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
• Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees.
• Annual Fee is $325.
• Terms Apply.

Financial Snapshot

• APR: See Pay Over Time APR
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Rewards Center

American Express Membership Rewards

Hot Tip: Apply and find out if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus offer as high as 100,000 points with the Amex Gold card. Welcome offers may vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.

Amex Green Card

American Express^® Green Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

This card can provide a great way to accumulate Membership Rewards points on eligible travel, transit, and at restaurants.

All information about American Express^® Green Card has been collected independently by Upgraded Points.

Apply With Confidence

Know if you're approved with no credit score impact

If you're approved and accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.

American Express^® Green Card

This card can provide a great way to accumulate Membership Rewards points on eligible travel, transit, and at restaurants.

Welcome Offer

Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards^® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on your American Express^® Green Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership.

40,000 points

UP's Offer Valuation*:

Up to $880

Annual Fee

$150

APR

See Pay Over Time APR

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.

Good to Excellent (670-850)

Why We Like This Card

The American Express^® Green Card is an excellent all-around travel rewards card thanks to earning 3x Membership Rewards^® points on eligible travel and transit purchases and at restaurants, access to American Express transfer partners, and a reasonable annual fee.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 3x points per $1 spent at restaurants worldwide, on all eligible travel purchases, and transit purchases
• Up to $209 per calendar year in statement credits after you pay for a CLEAR^® Plus membership with the Card.
• Access to American Express transfer partners

Cons

• $150 annual fee
• No elite benefits like airport lounge access or hotel elite status

Read Full Review

Card Highlights

• Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards^® Points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on your American Express^® Green Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
• Earn 3X Membership Rewards^® points on travel, including airfare, hotels, cruises, tours, car rentals, campgrounds, and vacation rentals.
• Earn 3X Membership Rewards^® Points on transit purchases, including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways.
• Earn 3X Membership Rewards^® points on eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the US.
• $209 CLEAR Plus Credit: Receive up to $209 per calendar year in statement credits when you pay for your CLEAR Plus membership (subject to auto-renewal) with the American Express^® Green Card.
• Payment Flexibility: When it comes to paying your bill, you have options. You can always pay in full. You also have the flexibility to carry a balance with interest or use Plan It^® to split up large purchases into monthly payments with a fixed fee, up to your Pay Over Time Limit. You may be able to keep spending beyond your limit – you’ll just need to pay for any new purchases in full when your bill is due.
• Trip Delay Insurance: If a round-trip is paid for entirely with your Eligible Card and a covered reason delays your trip more than 12 hours, Trip Delay Insurance can help reimburse certain additional expenses purchased on the same Eligible Card, up to $300 per trip, maximum 2 claims per eligible account per 12 consecutive month period. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Coverage is provided by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees: No matter where you’re traveling, when you use your American Express^® Green Card there are no foreign transaction fees.
• $150 annual fee.
• Terms Apply.

Financial Snapshot

• APR: See Pay Over Time APR
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Rewards Center

American Express Membership Rewards

Earning Potential

It’s important to try and maximize the number of points you earn on each purchase, as each purchase gets you one step closer to your next award redemption.

With that, here is a look at how each card will reward you for the purchases you make with it.

The Amex Gold card is a bit more food-focused and earns a rather large 4x points per dollar spent at restaurants worldwide (on up to $50,000 per year) and U.S. supermarket purchases (on up to $25,000 per year), making it a fantastic option for those who spend a lot on these 2 categories. While the Amex Green card still earns 3x at restaurants, it falls well short in the supermarket category, offering just 1x point per dollar spent.

Where the Amex Green card shines is as more of an everyday purchase and general travel card. In addition to earning 3x points on dining, its general travel and transit purchase categories are broad. For general travel, this allows you to earn 3x points on expenses including hotels, rental cars, tours, cruises, and more, while the transit category will enable you to earn 3x on taxis, rideshares, parking, tolls, trains, buses, subways, and more.

Deciding which card is better for you will primarily come down to which items you spend the most on each month. That said, you might have also noticed that the cards can complement each other if you want to cover as many bonus categories as possible.

Hot Tip: American Express Membership Rewards points are some of our favorite points to earn thanks to the redemption options they offer. Here is a look at the best ways to earn lots of Amex Membership Rewards points.

Redemption Options

This is an easy comparison, as both cards offer exactly the same redemption options for your Amex Membership Rewards points.

In our view, the best option is redeeming your points through one of the American Express transfer partners, as this allows you to book luxurious business and first class flights for a fraction of what they would ordinarily cost you.

Another option is to simply redeem your points through the AmexTravel.com portal at a fixed rate of 1 cent per point. These redemptions likely won’t be as valuable as using transfer partners, but what you lose in value, you make up in flexibility, as you can redeem for any travel purchase you’d like with no blackout dates.

American Express also allows your Membership Rewards to be redeemed for statement credits, gift cards, airline upgrades, and shopping with partners such as Amazon and Uber.

Statement Credits

Both the Amex Gold card and Amex Green card charge an annual fee to cardholders, and one of the easiest ways to offset that is through the statement credits each card provides.

Amex Gold Card

The Amex Gold card offers several statement credits to cardholders. First is up to $120 annually in dining credits, offered in $10 increments each month, which can be applied to Grubhub orders, or through The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.

Next is the card’s up to $120 annually in Uber Cash, also offered in $10 monthly increments, that can be applied to any Uber rides or Uber Eats orders in the U.S.

Plus, the most recent statement credits include a $100 Resy annual statement credit ($50 semi-annually), redeemable at any U.S. Resy restaurant and other eligible Resy purchases and an $84 annual Dunkin’ statement credit ($7/month), redeemable at U.S. Dunkin’ locations. Enrollment required.

In total, that is up to $424 worth of annual credits to help offset the card’s $325 annual fee, and they should be fairly useable as many people find themselves needing an Uber or ordering Grubhub/Uber Eats at least once or twice a month.

Amex Green Card

With the Amex Green card, the statement credits are much more travel-focused, with the first being an up to $209 annual CLEAR Plus credit. For those unfamiliar, CLEAR Plus provides a faster security experience at select airports and stadiums nationwide.

Hotel Benefits

Amex Gold Card

With your Amex Gold card, you’ll be able to make hotel bookings through The Hotel Collection from American Express, and when you make a booking of at least 2 nights or more you’ll receive a room upgrade at check-in (if available) and a $100 credit to spend on qualifying charges (varies by property).

Amex Green Card

The Amex Green card, on the other hand, despite being more travel-focused on its bonus categories and statement credits, does not offer any sort of hotel benefits.

Travel Protections

When it comes to travel protection, the Amex Green card and Amex Gold card offer the exact same benefits.

We love that both cards offer trip delay insurance, as this can really come in handy when your flight is significantly delayed and reimburses expenses including lodging, meals, toiletries, and more.

Shopping Benefits

Shopping benefits and protections can be easy to overlook, but can actually provide quite a bit of value to cardholders and help keep you covered when something goes wrong with an item you’ve purchased.

Both cards offer the following benefits:

• Amex Offers — Discounts and opportunities to earn more points with 100 merchants each month
• American Express Experiences — Exclusive access to ticket presales

Amex Gold Card — Additional Benefits

• American Express Preferred Access — Access to preferred seating for select cultural and sporting events, based on availability

Annual Fees and Adding Authorized Users

Annual Fees and Authorized Users

The annual fee of the Amex Gold card is $325. There is no authorized user fee to add authorized users for the first 5 cardholders, and any additional cards after that each have a $35 annual fee.

As for the Amex Green card, the annual fee is $150. However, there is no authorized user fee.

Whether or not each card is worth that cost will come down to what you’re looking for in a travel rewards card, and how you value the benefits each card provides. Fortunately, each card offers solid statement credits to help you offset the annual fee expense. Authorized users will earn points at the same rate as the primary cardholder and have access to most of the card benefits with the exception of receiving additional statement credits.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, both cards are very solid in their own right and can offer quite a bit of value to those who add them to their wallet. Deciding which is a better option for you will come down to what you are trying to optimize for out of your next card.

Those looking for a dining and food-focused card should opt for the Amex Gold card thanks to its 4x rewards, dining credits, and Uber Cash credit. Those who prefer an all-around everyday and travel-related card should opt for the Amex Green card thanks to its 3x earnings, plus its annual CLEAR Plus credit.

Depending on your goals, it could make sense to consider adding both cards to your wallet, as doing so would allow you to earn 3x to 4x points per dollar on 5 separate bonus categories while benefiting from the statement credits, benefits, and protections of each card.

For the baggage insurance benefit of the American Express^® Gold Card, coverage can be in effect for Eligible Persons for eligible lost, damaged, or stolen Baggage during their travel on a Common Carrier (e.g. plane, train, ship, or bus) when the entire fare for a Common Carrier Vehicle ticket for the trip (one-way or round-trip) is charged to an eligible Account. Coverage can be provided for up to $1,250 for carry-on Baggage and up to $500 for checked Baggage, in excess of coverage provided by the Common Carrier (e.g. plane, train, ship, or bus). For New York State residents, there is a $10,000 aggregate maximum limit for all Covered Persons per Covered Trip. 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.

For the car rental loss and damage insurance benefit of the American Express^® Green Card, the car rental loss and damage insurance can provide coverage up to $50,000 for theft of or damage to most rental vehicles when you use your eligible Card to reserve and pay for the entire eligible vehicle rental and decline the collision damage waiver or similar option offered by the Commercial Car Rental Company. This product provides secondary coverage and does not include liability coverage. Not all vehicle types or rentals are covered. Geographic restrictions apply. 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.

For the Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance benefit of the American Express^® Gold Card, coverage up to $50,000 for theft of or damage to most rental vehicles when you use your eligible Card to reserve and pay for the entire eligible vehicle rental and decline the collision damage waiver or similar option offered by the Commercial Car Rental Company. This product provides secondary coverage and does not include liability coverage. Not all vehicle types or rentals are covered. Geographic restrictions apply. 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. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.