Amex Gold Welcome Offer: How To Get the Highest Bonus

The American Express^® Gold Card currently offers eligible applicants a welcome bonus of as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards points. However, not everyone will see the same bonus offer, as some opportunities are targeted.

This guide explores the current Amex Gold card bonus offer, how to find the highest possible welcome offer you’re eligible for, and how these introductory bonuses have changed over time.

Targeted offers are discussed in the article below. Please note that these offers are not available to all applicants. Any information related to targeted offers has been collected independently and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Amex Gold Card Overview

Here are the quick facts of the Amex Gold card to know before applying:

• Annual fee: $325 (rates & fees)
• Rewards: 4x points at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the U.S. (up to $50,000 per year, then 1x), and 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year, then 1x), 3x points on flights booked through AmexTravel.com and the Amex Travel App, 2x points on prepaid car rentals booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App and cruises booked and paid through AmexTravel.com, and 1x points on all other eligible purchases
• Key perks: $10 monthly Uber Cash for rides and Uber Eats orders in the U.S. (up to $10 per month, and you must add your Amex Gold card to your Uber account). An Amex card must be selected as the payment method for your transaction to redeem the Amex Uber Cash benefit
• Annual credits: Up to $10 monthly dining credit, which is good at Grubhub, the Cheesecake Factory, Buffalo Wild Wings, Wonder, and Five Guys; up to $50 semi-annual Resy credit for eligible U.S. Resy restaurant purchases; up to $7 monthly Dunkin’ credit redeemable at U.S. Dunkin’ locations
• Best for: Travelers who spend a lot at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets

Prior enrollment is required for many of these benefits.

How Amex Gold Card Welcome Offers Work

The current public offer is: Apply and find out if you're eligible for as high as 100,000 points after spending $8,000 in eligible purchases in the first 6 months. Welcome offers vary, and you may not be eligible for an offer.

American Express conducts a soft credit check to approve you and determine the amount of the welcome bonus offer. If you decide to exit the application after discovering your welcome offer amount, your credit score won’t be impacted.

However, your credit score may be affected if you accept your new Amex Gold card (Source: American Express). Amex conducts a hard inquiry on your credit report only if you accept the offer and open an account.

How To Find Your Highest Welcome Offer [Step by Step]

You could earn as high as 100,000 bonus points after spending $8,000 in 6 months, but not everyone is eligible for this amount. The exact welcome offer you’re eligible for will be revealed after you submit your application and are approved for the Amex Gold card without affecting your credit score, though your score may be impacted if you accept the card.

We value Membership Rewards points at an average of 2.2 cents per point, so the maximum welcome offer can be worth up to $2,200.

You can find a variety of welcome offers for the Amex Gold card, depending on how and when you apply.

Step 1: Apply on Amex’s Website Directly

If you want to get the Amex Gold card, we recommend checking your offer directly on the American Express website first.

To get started, click Apply Now on the card’s landing page, then provide your personal information on the following page. If you already have an American Express account, you can log in to have this information prefilled.

Here’s an example of a targeted 100,000-point bonus offer our team has found when applying directly on American Express:

Hot Tip:

American Express has moved away from its multi-card prequalification tool in favor of its Apply with Confidence feature, which is available for individual card products. To find out if you prequalify for the Amex Gold card without an initial hard credit inquiry, your best option is to apply directly through American Express.

Step 2: Check on CardMatch Using a Soft Credit Check

If you don’t find the offer you want on the American Express website, the second method we recommend is checking through the CardMatch tool. This tool completes a soft credit check to see if you’re eligible for any elevated offers. Like the Amex check, it’s not a hard pull, so it won’t count against your credit.

To receive matches, you need to provide personal information such as your name, address, and email address.

Step 3: Targeted Email Offers

You can also look for targeted email offers by opting in to receive new card and credit offers in your Amex account’s general marketing email preferences.

After logging in, you can enroll for these by first clicking on the tab called “Account Services” in the top menu, then choosing “Alerts and Communications.” In this section, check the “Marketing Email Preferences” box to opt in for notifications about targeted offers.

Step 4: Referral Links

Another great place to check is targeted referral offers from existing Amex accountholders. Find a friend (or 2) with an Amex Gold card and have them send you their link. Then check the bonus offer terms and compare with the publicly available welcome offers.

Targeted and Elevated Offers, Explained

The public welcome offer for the Amex Gold card now encourages applicants to apply and see which welcome offer they’re eligible for, which could be as high as 100,000 bonus points.

Targeted welcome offers are personalized opportunities available to select applicants via mail, email, or their Amex accounts, which may match the public bonus offer or differ slightly. Similarly, referral offers are available through links shared by existing cardholders and may feature different bonus amounts.

Historically, targeted and referral bonus offers have featured fixed but slightly lower amounts, including 75,000 and 90,000 bonus points.

Bottom Line:

Your eligibility for an elevated welcome offer depends on your credit profile, existing American Express cards, previous welcome bonuses earned, and the specific offer terms. Before applying, compare available offers and review eligibility notifications to ensure you’re getting the best possible bonus offer.

Amex Gold Card Welcome Offer History

The public welcome offers on the Amex Gold card have changed, and we’ve captured them below:

Is the Welcome Offer Spending Requirement Worth It?

As with any welcome offer, there’s a required minimum spend threshold. Most credit cards only give newly approved applicants 3 months to meet the requirements. For the Amex Gold card, you get 6 months to spend $8,000, which works out to about $1,333 per month.

Shifting everyday spending to your Amex Gold card during the welcome offer period can help you meet the minimum spending requirement, even if you won’t earn bonus points on certain purchases, such as gas or bills. It might be worth paying for expenses that may incur a small surcharge, such as rent or insurance payments, if you need it to meet the minimum spending requirement.

Membership Rewards points are worth about 2.2 cents each according to our latest valuations. That means 100,000 bonus points could be worth $2,200 for travel. Even after accounting for the $325 annual fee, you could still come out way ahead with roughly $1,875 in first-year value.

Who Is Eligible for the Amex Gold Card’s Welcome Offer?

It’s recommended that you have good to excellent credit to qualify for the Amex Gold card, but there are additional considerations to determine whether you’re eligible for a welcome offer.

American Express generally limits cardholders to earning a welcome offer once per lifetime on the same card. If you currently have the Amex Gold card — or have held it in the past — you likely won’t qualify for another bonus offer on a new application.

American Express also has “family card” restrictions that may impact your eligibility for welcome offers across multiple Membership Rewards cards. For example, if you currently hold (or have previously held) a higher-tier card, you may be ineligible to earn a welcome offer on a lower-tier card in the same family. These rules generally apply separately to business and personal card families.

For the personal Membership Rewards cards, the family rules apply to the higher-tier Platinum Card^® from American Express, the midtier Amex Gold card, and the low-tier The American Express^® Classic Green Card (which is no longer available to new applicants but is available via product change).

If you opened the Amex Platinum card before the Amex Gold card, you may not be eligible for the Amex Gold card’s welcome offer because it’s considered a lower-tier card in the same family. If you’re interested in applying for multiple American Express cards, consider starting with lower-tier cards first, then working your way up to maximize your odds of earning multiple welcome offers.

Ultimately, eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis. The easiest way to find out, regardless of your current or past history with Amex, is to submit an application. Before American Express performs a hard credit inquiry, it will let you know if you aren’t eligible for the welcome offer, with a notification commonly referred to as “pop-up jail.”

If you receive this message, you can continue with the application — without the bonus offer — or withdraw your application without affecting your credit score. If there is no pop-up message in sight, you’ll be shown the welcome offer you’re eligible for before accepting the new account.

Final Thoughts

The Amex Gold card has a welcome offer as high as 100,000 bonus points, though bonuses are personalized and not all applicants qualify. This guide also tracks how the Amex Gold card’s welcome offers change over time. Before applying, check your eligibility and review the bonus offer terms carefully.