I’m Dumping My Amex Business Gold Card After 1 Year — Here’s Why

Applying for new credit cards has become a regular habit of mine to chase down new welcome bonus offers, but there comes the 1-year mark where I’ll reevaluate the value of each of my cards.

Case in point: I applied for the American Express^® Business Gold Card to earn its welcome bonus offer. I’ve enjoyed the benefits of the Amex Business Gold card, but after the annual fee increase from $295 to $375 (rates & fees), I’ve decided it’s time to let the card go.

Here’s why I’m letting go of the card, how I evaluated the card’s benefits, and my points and miles strategy going forward.

Amex Business Gold Card Overview, and How I’ve Used It

The Amex Business Gold card is a solid business card for those who need the payment flexibility but don’t want to sacrifice valuable rewards like American Express Membership Rewards.

The card comes with excellent spending categories where you can earn up to 4x bonus points on your expenses. These include:

• 4x points per $1 in your top 2 categories each billing cycle, on up to $150,000 in spend each calendar year (1x per $1 thereafter):
  • Purchases with U.S. media providers for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
  • Purchases in the U.S. from electronic goods retailers and software and cloud system providers
  • U.S. purchases from restaurants, including takeout and delivery
  • U.S. purchases at gas stations
  • Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, ride-share services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
  • Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.

My largest expense categories include U.S. restaurants and transit purchases, and I’ve been able to earn heaps of rewards from those categories:

• 3x points per $1 spent on flights and prepaid hotels booked at AmexTravel.com
• 1x point per $1 spent on all other expenses

In addition, the card comes with 2 spending categories where cardholders can earn back value from the annual fee:

• Up to $240 flexible business credit: Up to $20 in monthly statement credits after you use the card for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and office supply stores (enrollment required)
• Up to $155 Walmart+ credit: Up to $12.95 in monthly statement credits when you pay for a Walmart+ membership (enrollment required)

I’ve been able to use the $20 credit each month on Grubhub orders, mainly on Chipotle pickup orders. I would have done this normally, as I pick up Chipotle at least once a week. This has been a net positive, as I can sometimes find promo codes to stack with this to earn cheap burritos, but I would rather spend with Chipotle directly to earn rewards on their app.

As for Walmart+, I’ve never utilized the benefit, as I shop at Walmart maybe a handful of times per year.

Lastly, when I applied for the card, I earned 100,000 Membership Rewards points from the welcome offer upon meeting minimum spending requirements. This justified the previous annual fee at the time, as these rewards are worth over $2,000, according to our points and miles valuations. However, you can sometimes find even higher welcome bonuses elsewhere.

I was able to use these points for a few Delta flights and a free night at a Hilton hotel, as they are both Amex transfer partners.

However, now that the new $375 annual fee has posted on my statement, I’m going to cancel the card. The Amex Business Gold card doesn’t provide enough value for me, and trying to justify an annual fee through spending credits that can be compared to coupons isn’t worth it.

Additionally, I’ve been working to simplify my finances. I’ve recently been using a combo of the Amex Business Gold Card, the Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Premier Visa Signature^® Credit Card, and the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card. Now, I’m prioritizing my spending on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. I will be leaving points on the table, but streamlining my finances is my priority for now.

Questions To Ask When Renewing a Credit Card

Here’s my 3-step process to evaluate a credit card after the first year.

1. Does the Card Provide Me With More Value Than the Annual Fee?

In the case of the Amex Business Gold card, using the up to $240 flexible business credit to its fullest leaves me $135 under the $375 annual fee.

Yes, the card has other benefits like the Walmart+ credit and a $100 credit to the Hotel Collection, but these perks don’t apply to my shopping and travel habits.

2. Am I Finding Value in the Rewards I’m Earning?

Amex Membership Rewards points are fantastic, as they are transferable to several airline and hotel loyalty programs. And since Amex has multiple consumer and business credit cards, there are ample opportunities to stack Membership Rewards points.

However, I’ve run the course of applying for American Express cards. I’m no longer eligible to earn welcome bonus offers from the issuer. Because of this, Amex points have become slightly less valuable than Chase Ultimate Rewards or Citi ThankYou points for me.

3. Am I Being Offered a Retention Bonus?

Credit card companies spend a lot of money to acquire new customers. If you spend enough money with them, it’s likely cheaper for them to give you an incentive to stay rather than lose your business.

So each time I’m getting ready to cancel a credit card, I contact customer service to see if there is a retention bonus available. This typically comes in the form of more points after hitting a spending threshold, with the agreement that you will keep the card.

In this case, I wasn’t spending regularly on the card, so I wasn’t confident I would receive one. When I contacted Amex, I wasn’t offered a retention bonus. At this point, it was cemented for me to cancel.

Final Thoughts

If you want to earn heaps of points and miles through credit cards, you’ll likely have to pick up a credit card with an annual fee. There’s nothing wrong with paying an annual fee as long as you get a return on your investment. And if you determine the annual fee isn’t worth it, don’t hesitate to cancel and move on to a different card that works better for your personal finances and travel goals.