American Express® Business Gold Card review

If you’re looking for a top-notch business travel card that awards you based on your business’s specific spending, the American Express Business Gold Card might be right for you.

The American Express Business Gold Card earns a stellar 4-point bonus on the two categories you spend the most in each month. American Express also offers financing features that give cardholders some options for managing cash flow.

Though the card’s $375 annual fee might be a deterrent for some business owners, the flexible earning and business-first perks on this card can make up the cost for the right spender.

See related: Amex Gold vs. Amex Business Gold

Why you might want the American Express Business Gold Card

The American Express Business Gold Card stands out primarily for its flexibility, offering a rewards scheme that adjusts as your business spending does. Plus, the card has a solid roster of business-related perks like expense tracking and financing program-eligibility that can add to its long-term value.

See related: How I use my Amex Business Gold

Flexible bonus categories

To help match rewards with your spending, the Business Gold Card rewards 4 points per dollar in the two categories your business spends the most in each month on up to $150,000 in purchases per year, then 1 point per dollar thereafter. Eligible categories include U.S. advertising, U.S. gas station purchases, U.S. restaurants, U.S. electronics and U.S. wireless services and transit.

This means that even if you spend the most on U.S. restaurant purchases in one month and the most on U.S. gas station purchases the next, you’ll still earn great rewards. Plus, you earn 1 point per dollar on the remainder of your purchases.

Again, the 4-point bonus is capped at $150,000 in total purchases per year, but this is a very high spending cap, and cardholders shouldn’t have much trouble earning a large number of Membership Rewards points at a high rate.

Fair introductory bonus

The American Express Business Gold Card currently offers 100,000 points for spending $15,000 on eligible purchases in the first three months of card membership. This is a nice boost to the card’s previous offer of 70,000 points after a $10,000 spend in the same timeframe could be worth around $2,000 according to Bankrate’s point and mile valuations, which give Amex points an average redemption value of 2 cents per point via top transfer partners.

When you pair this bonus with the points offered on several practical categories, including U.S. gas station and U.S. dining expenses, you stand to gain enough in the first few years of ownership to easily offset the annual fee for your first few years.

That said, the new bonus carries a high spending requirement, which could put it out of reach for especially small businesses, freelancers and people with a side hustle.

No foreign transaction fees

The Amex Business Gold Card doesn’t include a foreign-transaction fee (see rates and fees), which means you can use your card overseas without having to pay the additional 2% to 4% in fees that most cards charge. That said, American Express isn’t universally accepted outside of the U.S.

Manage your cash flow

The Amex Business Gold Card offers a few nifty options for business owners looking to finance a business:

• Pay Over Time – With the Pay Over Time option, cardholders can choose to pay for eligible purchases over time with interest, up to a specified limit each month. Currently, there is a 0% intro APR offer for six months from the date of account opening on purchases eligible for Pay Over Time, then a 18.49% - 27.49% Variable APR. Terms apply.
• The Working Capital Terms program – American Express offers short-term financing to help card members pay vendor invoices and manage cash flow (terms and restrictions apply).
• Business loans – Card members are also eligible to apply for fast (approved in as little as 60 seconds), fixed interest rate loans for working capital and short-term financing.

Why you might want a different card

Despite its many benefits, there are some drawbacks to the Amex Business Gold that mean it is not the best card for everyone.

High annual fee

The biggest drawback to this card is the annual fee: At $375 per year, it is one of the highest among the cards we’ve evaluated, and more than double that of cards with similar offers. The Business Gold Card does justify this fee with some nice features and perks. But you can find cards with similar benefits for half the price and a higher rewards value.

Fee for employee cards

In order to add additional employee cards, you’ll have to pay $95 for the first five cards and then $95 for each card thereafter, up to 99 cards maximum. There is an employee business card option that charges no annual fee, however you will not have access to the full suite of benefits that you would get with the annual fee version of the employee Business Gold card. See terms and conditions for details.

How the American Express Business Gold Card compares to other business cards

The American Express Business Gold card certainly has a lot to offer in terms of flexibility, but it might not be the best choice for everyone. Depending on where your business spends the most, you might be better off with a card that has a higher rate on fixed bonus categories or a flat rate on every purchase. Here are a few alternatives to check out:

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express	Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card	Capital One Spark Miles for Business
Rewards rate 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on AmexTravel.com Earn 1.5X points (that’s an extra half point per dollar) on each eligible purchase at US construction material, hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, and software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more, on up to $2 million per Card Account per calendar year. Purchases eligible for multiple additional point bonuses will only receive the highest eligible bonus. 1X points for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases.	Rewards rate Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases – with no limit to the amount you can earn	Rewards rate 5 Miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel 2 Miles per $1 on every purchase, everywhere
Welcome bonus Earn 150,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $20,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.	Welcome bonus Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.	Welcome bonus Earn a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles – equal to $500 in travel – once you spend $4,500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening
Annual fee $695 (See rates and fees)	Annual fee $95	Annual fee $95 ($0 in first year)
Other things to know Free access to Priority Pass lounges and the American Express lounge collection Up to $100 credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee every four years Up to $200 statement credit for incidentals with one selected qualifying airline Up to $199 CLEAR® Plus credit per year (subject to auto-renewal) Statement credits on select purchases with your card, including up to $400 with Dell Technologies, up to $360 with Indeed, up to $150 with Adobe and up to $120 on wireless telephone purchases (enrollment required). Terms apply	Other things to know 25% bonus when you redeem points for travel in Ultimate Rewards portal Free employee cards $600 cellphone protection ($100 deductible, 3X per year) Primary rental car insurance	Other things to know Free employee cards Transfer miles to 15+ travel partners Up to $120 credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee every four years Quarterly and year-end summaries

The Business Platinum Card from American Express

The Business Platinum Card from American Express is a slightly more premium offering than the Amex Business Gold, for those who are interested in earning Membership Rewards on top of a bevy of other credits and perks. Its annual fee is steep – $695 – but it is absolutely packed with luxury benefits and value-adding credits like lounge access or up to $360 in credits on Indeed purchases.

Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

The Ink Business Preferred Credit Card from Chase is a more cost-effective option than the Amex Business Gold, only costing $95 per year and with free employee cards to boot. But the tradeoff is that you’ll only earn 3 points per dollar in the cards eligible bonus categories (as opposed to 4X on the Amex Business Gold, up to $150,000 per year, then 1X), and categories are fixed to travel, shipping, internet, cable and phone services and advertising purchases. There is also a $150,000 cap on combined purchases in these categories each year before the earning rate reverts to 1 point per dollar.

Capital One Spark Miles for Business

If you find you don’t spend heavily in any of the bonus categories offered by the Amex Business Gold card, you might find you can make more in rewards by opting for a flat-rate product instead. The Capital One Spark Miles card offers that exact scheme, giving cardholders the same 2-mile-per-dollar rate on every purchase they make. The Spark card is less expensive than the Amex Business Gold too, as it charges a $95 annual fee (waived in the first year).

How to use the American Express Business Gold Card

• Use the Amex Business Gold Card to pay for everything in the bonus categories, unless you have another card that offers a higher rewards rate for a particular category.
• Before transferring points to an airline, make sure seats are available.
• Use Membership Rewards points when you need to book expensive flights, such as full-price economy, first class or business class travel.

Is the American Express Business Gold Card right for you?

So who should get the Amex Business Gold Card? Considering the high fee, we recommend this card only if you can take advantage of its flexible earning categories and use the Amex Travel portal. If you don’t travel frequently or your business spending doesn’t align with eligible categories, you can probably get more value out of a different card.

Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by Amex Assurance Company.

For rates and fees of the American Express Business Gold card, please click here.