Score a Massive 200K Welcome Bonus Offer on the Amex Business Gold Card [Current Public Offer Is 100K]

The American Express^® Business Gold Card is one of our favorite business card options for its high earning potential and robust suite of perks and benefits in exchange for a reasonable annual fee.

Right now, there are some targeted welcome bonus offers for this card that will make the $375 annual fee pale in comparison to the value you’ll receive from earning the welcome bonus points (rates & fees). You may be able to find a 200,000-point welcome bonus, so here’s what you should know about this offer.

Here’s everything you need to know.

^{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 Business Gold Card Welcome Bonus Offer and How To Find Them

The current public welcome bonus offer for the Amex Business Gold card is:

• ELEVATED OFFER: Earn 100,000 points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months.

That welcome offer is nothing to scoff at, but Upgraded Points staffers are seeing offers of up to 200,000 bonus points after the same minimum spending requirements — double the current public offer.

We generally value Membership Rewards points at 2.2 cents apiece, meaning the current offer is worth ~$2,200, and a 200,000-point bonus is worth a whopping $4,400.

Option 1: Check on Amex Directly (Try This First)

If you want to check if you’re eligible with the highest offer possible, we recommend starting directly on the American Express website.

As mentioned above the current public offer is:

• ELEVATED OFFER: Earn 100,000 points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months.

However, checking directly will allow you to see what type of offer you’re targeted for. This method yielded a few 200,000-point offers among UP staffers.

We’ve also found that the terms of the welcome offer specifically say this bonus may not be available to you “if you have or have had this Card or previous versions of this Card.“

Option 2: Amex Business Gold Referral Offers

Friends and family members with an American Express card can refer you to an Amex card using the refer-a-friend program.

Better yet, referring a friend does not require the person referring you to have the Amex Business Gold card. No matter which American Express card they hold, they can send you their referral offer, and if you’re lucky, you can even receive a targeted welcome offer that earns you even more points.

How To Find and Share Your Personal Referral Link

In order to find and share your Amex personal referral link, first go to the refer-a-friend page on the American Express website.

Then, select the card you’re sending a referral for. Once you’ve clicked your card, American Express will show you the number of points you will receive for referring your friend and the number of points your friend will receive as a welcome bonus offer if they are approved.

To send your referral link, you simply need to enter their email address to have it emailed directly or generate a unique link that you can then send to them via text message or another means.

Make certain that your friend applies through the link that you provide them with, or you will not be eligible to receive the referral bonus points.

Option 3: Targeted Email Offers

If you’re still searching, keep an eye out for targeted email or “snail-mail” offers. Note that you’ll need to opt-in to receive New Card and Credit Offers in your Amex account’s General Marketing Email Preferences.

Option 4: Check the CardMatch Tool

If you’re not seeing the offer you’d like via Amex’s website, you could turn to the CardMatch tool.

CardMatch uses a soft credit check to see if you’re eligible for any elevated offers. Because it isn’t a hard pull, checking offers won’t impact your credit score.

Benefits of the Amex Business Gold Card

The Amex Business Gold card has a strong earning structure and plenty of perks and benefits, which provide cardmembers with a strong return on the $375 annual fee.

This card earns:

• 4x Membership Rewards points on the top 2 categories in which your business spends the most every month (up to $150,000 in combined purchases every calendar year; 1x thereafter):
  • Transit purchases, including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
  •  U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers
  • Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
  • U.S. purchases at gas stations
  • U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
  • Purchases at U.S. media providers for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
• 3x Membership Rewards points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com
• 1x Membership Rewards points on all other eligible purchases

How To Maximize Membership Rewards Points

If you were to maximize the welcome bonus by completing the minimum spending requirements solely with 4x-qualifying purchases, you’d be sitting on a massive stockpile of 260,000 American Express Membership Rewards points.

Here are a few ideas for maximizing these points:

Book 2 Round-Trip Business Class Tickets to Japan on ANA

One of the very best ways to utilize Amex Membership Rewards points is by transferring them to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at a 1:1 ratio and booking tickets in the premium cabin on All Nippon Airways (ANA). Virgin Atlantic charges between 105,000 and 120,000 points for a round-trip ticket in business class between the U.S. and Japan, which means you and a companion can fly in one of the world’s best business class products and still have plenty of points left over.

Alternatively, you can book a single round-trip first class ticket with ANA, as Virgin Atlantic charges between 145,000 and 170,000 points for these tickets between the U.S. and Japan. In this scenario, you’d still have a healthy amount of points remaining after booking a ticket.

Book 2 Round-Trip Business Class Tickets to Europe

By utilizing Air France-KLM’s Flying Blue program, you can book business class tickets to Europe from 50,000 miles one-way on Air France, KLM, and other SkyTeam partner airlines. And, Amex Membership Rewards points transfer to Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio, meaning 1 Amex point becomes 1 Flying Blue mile.

This means you can book 2 round-trip tickets in business class between the U.S. and Europe for just 200,000 Flying Blue miles, leaving you a hefty stash of Amex points left over if you were able to completely maximize your minimum spend requirement.

Final Thoughts

This is one of the best welcome bonus offers we’ve ever seen for the Amex Business Gold card — if not the best.

It may not have the firepower of The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, but this card is also significantly more expensive to carry in your wallet.

At any rate, you’ll enjoy thousands of dollars worth of points when meeting (and maximizing) the minimum spend and have a card in your wallet that allows you to earn handsomely on purchases. If you’ve been considering adding this card to your roster, there may not be a better time than now to do so.