So this year in my hand is the American Express Gold Card and although so far for this year there hasn't been too many changes, I'll tell you this: there's been a whole bunch of new cards released onto the market with the increase in competition. It makes me also wonder whether or not the American Express Gold card can still hold the title of being the best credit card for this year. So in this video, I'll share with you who this card is best meant for, who it's not meant for. and I'll also give you my own recommendation on whether it is still worth keeping or not to give you a quick recap.

Currently, by signing up for this card, you'll be getting a 60 000 membership reward Point bonus after you spend four thousand dollars within the first six months of card ownership. Now, sixty thousand membership reward points is the equivalent of getting 600 cash back. And if you're able to find a better Redemption offer, usually you can get anywhere from a thousand to even twelve hundred dollars in travel rewards. Compare that to the annual fee of the American Express Gold Card which is 250 dollars per year, you'll find that even just holding this card for the first one year, you'd be getting outsized value or positive.

Roi In addition to that, the American Express Gold card is going to give you 4X membership reward points at restaurants plus takeout and delivery in the U.S and also at U.S supermarkets on up to twenty five thousand dollars per calendar year in purchases. Then One X back on everything else and you'll also get 3x points on flights booked directly with Airlines or on amixtravel.com I Think it's still safe to say that no matter how you spend your money, if you're someone who eats out or you end up buying a ton of groceries, this card is still an excellent way for you to earn additional rewards on that spending, even for me personally. I Can say that on average I'm earning about anywhere from 50 to an additional 100 000 membership reward points every single year from all the money that I spent on food. That right there can be the equivalent of having a first class flight anywhere in the country by getting a good Redemption on those points.

Maybe you could even get a couple nights free for some hotels all around the world. Either way, there's a good reason why I've been holding this card for many, many years, and that is just because it has been a staple within my wallet. Combine that with some of the monthly credits that you get such as a 100 at twenty dollar dining credit which is split up to ten dollars a month for purchases made through GrubHub Gold Belly and other eligible restaurants such as Shake Shack And on top of that, you'll also be getting a 120 Uber cash credit where 10 a month for us Uber Eats orders or us Uber rides. you'd also be getting that benefit back if you're able to combine the full benefits of those two credits, you're getting 240 dollars back per year.

And if you combine that with the 250 annual fee, it's essentially only still ten dollars to hold this card. A lot of you guys have also been asking me: Brian on a card like this: what is a credit score that I should need in order to get approved and I highly recommend that you have a credit score of at least 700 but I have seen some data points of people below a 700 within that 680 range still getting approved? I Just I Think it depends on how the banks are feeling. If they want a few more applicants coming in, they have allowed that to happen. guys.

I Always highly would recommend to have a good credit score. It's not difficult having a good credit score and if you guys need some additional tips on how you can jump it up in extra 100 points or so, be sure to watch some of my older videos I have on this channel. I'll also be updating some of those videos because I know they're a little outdated. It's been few years since I made anything regarding increasing your own credit score, but give me a little bit of time that's coming out too.

So before I go over who this card is best meant for and who this card is not best meant for If you guys are interested at all in signing up for the American Express gold card and you'd like to support this Channel at no cost to you, be sure to check out the links Down Below in the description to get started or scan the QR code on your screen in order to learn more. So who is this card still meant for? well? I Believe you want a credit card with flexible Redemption options American Express is still one of the top dogs in the market. This is because you have a variety of different ways you can use your points. You can always just cash them out.

You can transfer it to different partners. You can still use it for hotel. Airline Partners The list goes on and on. As most guys know, you're going to get the most amount of value when you transfer your points over into anything travel related off of the American Express portal.

But I have seen some instances even through the portal where people have been able to get better Redemption offers of getting you know double or triple the value of what you would normally get if you were to cash it out if you're someone who likes to eat out if you're young, if you're finding that you're ordering from ubereats quite a bit. I Believe this card still has a solid break-even point. Now for anyone who doesn't know, every single credit card that carries an annual fee has something called the break-even point If we assume that you'll never use any of the credits, you just, you know, put it aside and say you're not accounting for that massive welcome bonus of over 600 bucks, this card would have a break-even point where you need to spend x amount of dollars for you to make back what the annual fee cost would be. Now it's noted that the quickest way to achieve a break-even point for the 250 annual fee of this card is going to be spending six thousand, two hundred fifty dollars within the US supermarkets or dining category.

If you're able to do that once a year at a very conservative one cent to one point Redemption ratio, you'd find that you're still getting positive value. Now, who this card is not meant for is if you're someone who's a bit more frugal right now. you don't want to have to worry about any type of Annual fees or you know you just don't have the best credit score. I Wouldn't think the card is best suited for you if you're also an individual who doesn't spend much money eating out.

or you're an individual who maybe you know your parents still pay for your groceries. This card really wouldn't make sense for you at this point in the game. We've been seeing so many other credit cards that have a no annual fee that offer a ton of other benefits where you don't need to worry about spending x amount of money to reach that break-even point. Even unlike the AmEx Platinum card where it does offer you a ton of credits, sometimes it could feel like a card with a high annual fee is almost like a coupon book where you have to go out your way to spend a lot more money in order to recoup that value while we're going through this recession and you know the whole economy is in limbo.

I Think it's really good to consider and weigh out whether or not a card is worth keeping long term. I Will mention don't ever forget that with credit cards like this. If you do decide to cancel it, sometimes the card issuer will give you something called a retention offer. say before you're about to cancel your card American Express might give you you know like a hundred dollar statement credit back or they might say hey, waive your annual fee if you want to keep it around for just one more year to see if this card is meant for you I know even as an example, with what American Express or some of these other cardio Shores can do with those retention offers, it can really bring up positive Roi or break you out of that break even point.

Now my conclusion is this though, if you are still consistently eating out, if you have been able to make reminders within your calendar like a Google Calendar just to know hey, you know, spend every once a month at Ubereats or you know, go on GrubHub and get a free little burger or a sandwich. Using their app, you'll find that it's pretty easy to still get positive value every single year from holding this card. If you are on the flip side of that, here are some Alternatives that I highly recommend. One of them would be definitely the Chase Freedom Flex card.

This has no annual fee, but it still offers some pretty competitive rewards. Most often, if you get a no annual fee, you're not going to be getting huge, massive, outsized benefits like you would with some of the annual fee cards, especially within the world of travel. But keep in mind no annual fee cards do end up giving you a lot more value because if you get that welcome bonus offer, it's just positive from there because you never have to pay a penny to the banks. On top of that, the Capital One Saver One Rewards card offers you three percent cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services, and even at grocery stores, that card also has no annual fee.

You're getting one percent less back, but you're also getting a welcome bonus a 200 cash bonus offer after you spend 500 bucks. This card also has zero percent intro APR for 15 months if you happen to be in a pinch and you need a car that offers you that but mainly the reason why I have this mentioned on my list is because right now until November 14th 2024, the Capital One Saver One card is gonna give you 10 cash back on purchases on Uber and Ubereats. That pretty much means you're gonna be able to get 10 off of every single time you order off of that app. As someone who uses ubereats quite often, this is a huge plus.

And if you're someone on the fence, you're like okay I want the AmEx gold card and not just because of the Flex. not because it's like a baller status card because I would never recommend you guys to get a card just for that reason. Get a card that makes sense. There are plenty of other no annual fee cards that could add to your wallet and if you're someone who already carries this card, it never hurts to add an addition.

Other cards there: Think about it like this: If you never, ever use those annual fee cards, you will still be getting plus size bonuses from that. Welcome bonus offer. A free 200 cashback in your pocket is hard to pass up and with these no annual fee cards, you're not spending thousands of dollars. It's usually under a thousand dollars.

And it's just free easy money. So ladies and gents, here is my conclusion: As someone who's been holding the card for at least four to five years now, I would say the American Express gold card is still 100 worth it I Even think right now the welcome bonus of 60 000 points is still pretty strong indeed. but if you are looking for an alternative card, there are still many great ones that exist. If you're looking for additional resources to help you make a decision, be sure to watch some of my other videos I made one talking about the top five best credit cards and there I Go over all the benefits and why they are the top five cards for this year and on top of that I made a full in-depth video going over the benefits of the AmEx gold card and if you guys want to join my newsletter down below I Also give you guys little bits of treats here and there some key tips so if you guys want to go ahead, join my newsletter.

I'll also give you free access to my Facebook group that has over 34 000 members in there. And last but not least, if at any point in this video you guys did find Value and you'd like to sign up for any one of these cards, be sure to check out the link Down Below in the description or scan the QR code on your screen that really does support the channel. Now Ladies and gents, thank you all so much again for watching. If you have not yet done so already, be sure to subscribe comment down below the secret code word and that is going to be gold.

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