Everyday Spending Adds Up: How I Earned Over 75,000 Points With the Amex Gold Card Last Year

As someone who lives in New York City, I’ve quickly learned that few cards have given me as much value as the American Express^® Gold Card. It’s an expensive place to live, and the abundance of incredible bars and restaurants makes spending money all too easy, especially for food enthusiasts like me.

That’s exactly why the Amex Gold card is so rewarding. It earns bonus points on restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets. It earns 4x points at restaurants worldwide (up to $50,000 per calendar year) and 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per calendar year).

The Amex Gold card is incredibly rewarding for my largest expenses outside of rent and even provides statement credits that reduce the cost of going out to eat. This is why the card has quickly become my wife and my go-to for much of our daily spending.

As a result, I’ve earned hundreds of thousands of American Express Membership Rewards points with our Amex Gold card since I got the card in 2017. Here’s a look at how many points I earned with the Amex Gold card in 2024.

Amex Gold Card Overview

The Amex Gold card is a favorite in the points and miles space. This is largely because of its outsized earning rates on everyday purchases like dining and supermarkets. Here’s a look at its bonus categories:

• 4x points at restaurants worldwide, up to $50,000 per calendar year, 1x thereafter
• 4x points at U.S. supermarkets, up to $25,000 per calendar year, 1x thereafter
• 3x points on flights purchased directly from airlines or with AmexTravel.com
• 2x points on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked through AmexTravel.com
• 1x points on all other eligible purchases

The Amex Gold card earns American Express Membership Rewards points that can be transferred to 21 loyalty programs. This includes 18 airline loyalty programs and 3 hotel loyalty programs, including Air Canada Aeroplan, Delta SkyMiles, and Hilton Honors.

We value Membership Rewards points at 2.2 cents per point, but it’s possible to get more value when redeeming for high-priced airfare.

And while the card has a $325 annual fee (rates & fees), this is largely offset by statement credits that you’re eligible for as an Amex Gold card member. Using all of these benefits can more than cover the card’s annual fee (enrollment required):

• Dining credit: Up to $120, $10 per month
• Resy credit: Up to $100, $50 from January 1 to June 31, and $50 from July 1 to December 31
• Dunkin’ credit: Up to $84, $7 per month
• Uber Cash: Up to $120, $10 per month added to your Uber account

These each provide a way to get discounted meals. The monthly dining credit applies to Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys purchases — just pay with your Amex Gold card, and the first $10 spent each month is refunded as a statement credit.

Further, the Resy credit provides real value, too. Any restaurant in the Resy network, a major player in the New York restaurant scene, is eligible for the benefit. This is true even if you don’t make a reservation with Resy — just enroll in the benefit and pay with your Amex Gold card. You’re eligible for 1 Resy credit each half of the year. One $50 statement credit from January to June and another from July to December.

We tend to use the Uber Cash benefit for Uber rides most months, but it can be applied to Uber Eats orders (in the U.S.), too. And given the numbers of Dunkin’ stores in New York City, we have no issue using the $7-per-month Dunkin’ credit on a couple of morning coffees.

The Amex Gold card has other benefits. These include purchase and extended warranty protections for purchases you make with the card and various travel protections.

BEST FOR DINING

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American Express^® Gold Card

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The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's 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!

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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 you spend $6,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months. Apply With Confidence and, if approved, find out your welcome offer before deciding to accept the Card. You may not be eligible for the maximum welcome offer amount.

As High As 100,000 Points (Find out your offer)

UP's Bonus Valuation*:

$1,200

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 cardapplication.

Good to Excellent (670-850)

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

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Card Highlights

• You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards^® Points after you spend $6,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months. Apply With Confidence and, if approved, find out your welcome offer before deciding to accept the Card. You may not be eligible for the maximum welcome offer amount.
• 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 each month automatically get $10 in Uber Cash for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides in the U.S., totaling up to $120 per year. Effective 11/8/2024, an Amex Card must be selected as the payment method for your Uber or Uber Eats transaction to redeem the Amex Uber Cash benefit.
• $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.
• $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

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American Express Membership Rewards

How I Earned 75,000+ Points Last Year

Before we break down how many points I’ve earned last year with the Amex Gold card, I should explain that it’s not the only card in my wallet.

I use other rewards-earning cards to earn bonus points on other purchases, like airfare and hotels. I use the Amex Gold card almost solely for restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets because it offers the highest return on these expenses.

But again, these are 2 of my wife’s and my largest monthly expenses, so the points add up quickly. She’s an authorized user on my Amex Gold card (there’s no additional fee to add up to 5 authorized users; after that, the annual fee for each additional card is $35; see rates & fees), so we both use it daily. Here’s a breakdown of how many points we’ve earned last year with our Amex Gold card.

Global restaurants is by far the largest source of the points we earn with the Amex Gold card, with well over 50,000 points. The majority of this is our out-of-pocket expenses, but some are earned when we go out to eat with friends and are paid back for their portion of the meal.

According to Upgraded Points’ Amex Membership Rewards valuation of 2.2 cents per point, the 51,052 points earned from dining are worth roughly $1,123. That’s an 8.8% return, but I’m consistently able to redeem Amex points for even more value when booking business-class airfare.

Groceries are another big earner. We earned 22,008 points at U.S. supermarkets, which is worth roughly $484 based on our valuations. Again, this is an 8.8% return and a nice savings overall.

Of course, there are other times we use the card, too, even if it doesn’t earn bonus points. Oftentimes this is to leverage Amex Offers (enrollment required) that give you either cash-back or bonus Membership Rewards points for spending at a specific merchant. However, they’re often in categories that only earn 1x points on the Amex Gold card, but it’s still worth it for the savings incentive.

For Amex Offers and spending without a bonus, we earned 2,346 points last year with the Amex Gold card. This is worth just over $52 based on Upgraded Points’ Membership Rewards valuation.

In total, my wife and I earned 75,406 points with the Amex Gold card last year. This is equal to $1,659 in value based on Upgraded Points’ valuations of 2.2 cents per point, which was a solid return on our annual spending.

Final Thoughts

Earning bonus points with the Amex Gold card lets us travel more. In fact, we used Membership Rewards points to fund most of the airfare for our upcoming honeymoon to The Maldives and Japan, where we’ll fly Qatar Airways, Japan Airlines, and other airlines with leading business class seats.

So if you’re a fellow foodie, consider adding the Amex Gold card to your wallet. It’ll reward you for your everyday expenses, and you can easily offset much of the annual fee with its dining-focused statement credits from Resy, Dunkin’, and other merchants.