How I Would Redeem 200K Points From the Amex Business Gold Card Welcome Offer

The American Express^® Business Gold Card is a favorite here at Upgraded Points, and for good reason. It’s an excellent business rewards card, but most importantly, it earns highly valuable American Express Membership Rewards points.

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.

However, there is currently a targeted welcome bonus offer of 200,000 American Express Membership Rewards points. This is an extraordinary amount of bonus points and it has me thinking about the possible travel redemptions if I applied for this highly targeted welcome offer.

Here’s a quick look at the Amex Business Gold card, the value of Amex Membership Rewards points, and how I would redeem 200,000 Amex Membership Rewards points for maximum value.

^{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 Overview

ELEVATED OFFER

Terms Apply / Rates & Fees

American Express^® Business Gold Card

U.P. Rating 

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.

Get 4x points in 2 select categories where your business spends the most each month (on your first $150,000 spent each year).

Apply Now(at Amex's secure site)

American Express^® Business Gold Card

Get 4x points in 2 select categories where your business spends the most each month (on your first $150,000 spent each year).

Welcome Offer

Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards^® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.*

100,000 points

UP's Bonus Valuation*:

$2,200

Annual Fee

$375

APR

18.49% - 27.49% Variable,0% on purchases for 6 months from date of account opening

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^® Business Gold Card is excellent at racking up rewards for your business spend.

The card earns a whopping 4x points per $1 in the 2 categories (from a list of 6) that your business spends the most money on each month. With no need to opt-in or preselect your categories, so you can focus on what matters most — running your business.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 4x points per dollar spent on your 2 highest purchase categories each month up to $150,000 each calendar year in purchases; categories include:
  • 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 such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, plus TV and radio)
• 3x points per dollar on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com using your Business Gold Card
• Access to Amex’s The Hotel Collection

Cons

• $375 annual fee (rates and fees)
• No elite travel benefits like airport lounge access or elite status

Read Full Review

Card Highlights

• Welcome Offer: Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards^® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.*
• 0% Intro APR ¤ for 6 months from the date of account opening on purchases eligible for Pay Over Time, then a 18.49% to 27.49% variable APR.*
• Earn 4X Membership Rewards^® points on the top two eligible categories where your business spends the most each month from 6 eligible categories. While your top 2 categories may change, you will earn 4X points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these categories each calendar year (then 1X thereafter). Only the top 2 categories each billing cycle will count towards the $150,000 cap.*
• Earn 3X Membership Rewards^® points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com using your Business Gold Card.*
• Earn up to $20 in statement credits monthly after you use the Business Gold Card for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and Office Supply Stores. This can be an annual savings of up to $240. Enrollment required.
• Get up to a $12.95** statement credit back each month after you pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) with your Business Gold Card. **Up to $12.95 plus applicable taxes on one membership fee.*
• The Business Gold Card now comes in three metal designs: Gold, Rose Gold and Limited Edition White Gold. White Gold design is only available while supplies last. Make your selection when you apply on Americanexpress.com.
• *Terms Apply

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 18.49% - 27.49% Variable,0% on purchases for 6 months from date of account opening
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Rewards Center

American Express Membership Rewards

In addition to the incredible welcome offer, here’s a look at the benefits of the Amex Business Gold card (some require prior enrollment):

• 4x points on the top 2 eligible categories where your business spends the most each month from 6 eligible categories on the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these categories each calendar year
• 3x points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on AmexTravel.com
• Up to $20 in monthly statement credits for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and office supply stores
• Up to $12.95 statement credit back each month after you pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to automatic renewal)
• No foreign transaction fees (rates & fees)
• $375 annual fee (rates & fees)

I recently came across an even higher 200K welcome bonus offer on the Amex Business Gold card, which is targeted to certain applicants. By spending $15,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, I can earn 200,000 Membership Rewards points — which is definitely one of the best welcome offers we’ve ever seen.

What Are 200,000 Amex Points Worth?

American Express Membership Rewards points are among the most valuable transferable points available. We value Membership Rewards points at 2.2 cents apiece, meaning the 200,000-point welcome offer is worth a whopping $4,400!

Think about that for a second: over $4,000 of value from a single welcome bonus offer.

There are numerous ways to redeem American Express Membership Rewards points, including gift cards, statement credits, shopping with points, and booking travel through AmexTravel.com. However, the best way to use them is by transferring them to Amex’s airline and hotel transfer partners.

Redeeming 200,000 Amex Membership Rewards Points

At Upgraded Points, we love getting tremendous value from our points and miles. Here are several ways I would redeem 200,000 Amex Membership Rewards points for maximum value.

1. Lufthansa First Class Between the U.S. and Europe

There are only a few things better in life than flying first class internationally. Fortunately, I have been able to do it several times on many of the world’s best airlines, including Etihad, Emirates, Lufthansa, All Nippon Airways, and Japan Airlines.

Although I flew Lufthansa first class earlier this year, I want to relive it all over again, as it was such a fun experience. This time, I want to try out the brand-new Lufthansa Allegris first class product. Fortunately, I can search for award availability on one of Amex’s airline transfer partners: Avianca LifeMiles.

Both Avianca and Lufthansa are part of Star Alliance, meaning I can redeem Avianca LifeMiles to book Lufthansa first class. This is a huge deal, as the LifeMiles program has some of the best rates for partner award redemptions across Star Alliance and numerous sweet spots on its award chart.

A one-way Lufthansa first class award between the continental U.S. and Europe can be booked for 130,000 LifeMiles plus taxes and fees. With the welcome bonus offer, I’ll have plenty of points for this redemption and am in short reach of another one-way ticket back home.

2. A Pair of Round-Trip Business Class Tickets to Europe

Rather than being selfish and booking a Lufthansa first class award just for myself, I could book round-trip business class flights to Europe for both my wife and me.

Flying Blue, the loyalty program of Air France-KLM, is an excellent program for redemptions, as the program has fantastic award pricing for routes between the U.S. and Europe. The program uses dynamic pricing, meaning there’s no set award chart and award pricing can vary significantly. However, Flying Blue does have standardized saver-level pricing.

One-way business class flights between the U.S. and Europe can be booked for as little as 50,000 miles one-way or 100,000 miles round-trip. However, it’s important to remember that these are just the starting rates — awards can price much higher, due to dynamic pricing.

For 2 people, the total would be 200,000 miles for a round-trip — assuming we can find award availability, which is not difficult to come by. Flying Blue does impose fuel surcharges on these tickets, so you can expect to pay ~$250 extra each way per person.

Earning Flying Blue miles is quite easy. The program is a transfer partner of nearly every transferable rewards currency, including Amex Membership Rewards. Additionally, Flying Blue frequently has transfer bonuses with participating credit card programs, allowing you to transfer over extra miles during special promotions.

3. 5 Nights of Luxury at Conrad Tokyo

The Hilton Honors loyalty program is another excellent (and underrated) Amex transfer partner. With Hilton’s massive hotel footprint, there are a ton of award redemptions possible.

Unlike many of Amex’s airline transfer partners that transfer at a 1:1 rate, Amex Membership Rewards points transfer to Hilton Honors at a 1:2 ratio, meaning you get 2 Hilton Honors points for every Amex Membership Rewards point you move over to the program. You could transfer 200,000 Amex Membership Rewards points to Hilton and receive 400,000 Hilton points.

But it gets even better. Amex frequently offers transfer bonuses to Hilton Honors as well — just recently, there was a 30% bonus, effectively boosting the transfer ratio to 1:2.6. That promotion ended, but it comes back quite often. I would wait for the next transfer bonus and then transfer 150,000 Membership Rewards points to Hilton.

With a 30% transfer bonus, I would end up with 390,000 Hilton Honors points, enough points to book the Conrad Tokyo, one of my favorite hotels in the world, for 5 nights, with Hilton’s fifth-night free perk. This means I could book a standard room in one of the best hotels in the world for 5 nights and still have over 50,000 Membership Rewards points to spare.

Although I have been to Japan twice this year, I’m always ready to return. I looked at what cash rates for a standard room would be for a random 5-night stay in December 2024, which would’ve totaled ¥596,000 (about $4,000).

This is incredible value from Membership Rewards points, considering how much this property costs. With this, my wife and I could enjoy another trip to Japan, and I would still have 50,000 Membership Rewards points to use elsewhere.

Final Thoughts

It’s possible to experience the luxury from a single welcome offer. Beyond all the other great benefits of the Amex Business Gold card, the initial opportunity to earn such a large amount of points is very enticing for me.

Transferring Amex Membership Rewards points to partner programs, such as Avianca LifeMiles or Air Hilton Honors, can stretch your points out further. Doing so allows me to fly premium cabins on the best airlines and stay at the most luxurious hotels in the world.