Is the $250 Annual Fee Worth It?

The American Express® Gold Card is a great card for dining out, ordering takeout and traveling, but it comes with a relatively high $250 annual fee. (See rates and fees.)

Cardholders can make up the cost with up to $240 in food-related credits every year and a $100 credit on eligible hotel stays, but paying $250 for a credit card isn’t within everyone’s budget.

If you order food for pickup or delivery with popular services like Uber Eats, GrubHub and Seamless at least twice a month, you can easily recoup the card’s annual fee. Alone, the food-related credits effectively reduce the card’s $250 annual fee to $10 — all with little work done on your part — and its additional perks only raise the value.

Ahead, we break down the benefits and credits of the Amex Gold card so you can decide if the $250 annual fee is worthwhile.

In order to recoup the Gold card’s $250 annual fee, you’ll need to take advantage of the card’s benefits. We crunched the numbers to find out how much each perk is estimated to be worth.

• Up to $120 per year in dining credits: Receive a $10 statement credit every month for purchases made with Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Boxed and participating Shake Shack locations (after a one-time enrollment).
• Up to $120 per year in Uber Cash: Up to $120 per year ($10 in Uber Cash every month) that you can apply toward U.S. Uber Eats orders and Uber rides in the U.S. Add your Gold card as a payment method in your Uber account to benefit.
• Complimentary year of Uber Eats Pass ($119 value): Uber Eats Pass membership provides unlimited $0 delivery fees and 5{b530a9af8ec2f2e0d4045baab79c5cfb9bfdc23e498df4d376766a0b44d3f146} off orders over $15 at eligible restaurants (taxes and service fees may apply and do not count toward order minimum). Also benefit from no delivery fees on grocery deliveries over $30 in select markets. After the complimentary year, you’ll be auto-billed at the then-current monthly rate (currently $9.99 per month). Enrollment required by 12/31/21. Learn more about the Uber Eats Pass benefit.
• Up to $100 credit at eligible hotels and resorts: When you stay a minimum of two consecutive nights at a property in The Hotel Collection, you’ll receive a $100 credit to spend on qualifying dining, spa and resort activities.

Additionally, Amex provides shopping offers, known as Amex Offers, at a variety of retailers, like restaurants, hotels and department stores. These offers let you receive a statement credit or points on eligible spending after you activate. The value varies by card member, so it’s not simple to estimate how much you can earn per year. Combined, however, Amex card members have saved over $931 million since January 2010.

For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.