Six Month Honest Review: AMEX Gold Card Is Not For Everyone!
I have been extensively using the Amex Gold Card for the past 6 months, and I have to tell you the truth: I am not happy. This card is not for everyone. So, if you are planning to get an Amex Gold card, just spend 10 minutes of your time and read this article.
I travel a lot, and most of my expenses are paid with a credit card. And I knew using a credit card with a point system could get me rewards such as free flight tickets, upgrades, and lounge access.
But then there is a problem. I live in Germany, and here Cash is King. So forget credit cards with reward programs; even the normal ones are not so popular here. So, I had to do extensive research to find a credit card that offered all the services I needed and was also value for money. And I chose the Amex Gold Card. And in the last 6 months, I learned much more about this card.
So first, I will explain the pros and cons of using this card from my personal experiences before answering the most important question: Should you get an Amex Gold Card? That's not all. In the end, I will give you a few secret hacks that can make the deal of getting an Amex gold card a lot better, in case you decide to get one. So let's get started.
Pros
1. Easy Application Process
The registration process was smooth and easy. I could do the identification from home using the VideoIdent method. I didn't have to go to the post office. I finished the application process in minutes and got the physical card within a week. This may also be the case for other credit cards, but what makes Amex different is the next point.
2. Welcome bonus
Amex Gold welcome bonus is an excellent starting point for your points account. You can get 40,000 reward points if you sign up for a new card before November 01st and spend 4500 euros in the first 6 Months.
That's enough points for a one-way business class flight with Lufthansa, Swiss, or Qatar Airways. Even If you don't intend to travel shortly, you can simply convert those 40,000 points to an equivalent of 200 euros. But the welcome bonus is not the only way to get those rewards.
3. Best Reward point system
Amex has the best points-earning rate of all German credit cards. You can get 1 point for every 1 euro spent. And if you activate the Reward turbo feature (which I highly advise you to do), you get 50% more points for every euro spent (€1 = 1.5 points). There are only a few points or miles programs that are similarly attractive. For example, the Miles & More credit card gives only 0.5 miles for every 1 euro spent on regular transactions. Also, when it comes to redeeming your points with Amex, you are in good hands.
4. Frequent Flyer /Hotel Programs
Amex has partnerships with 12 airline frequent flyer programs and 3 hotel programs where you can transfer reward points for free flight or room upgrades. No other credit card offers such flexibility. I recently booked a to and fro flight from Germany to India for just 380 euros by converting my Amex Points to Qatar Airways Avios Miles and paying with cash + Avios option.
Later, I upgraded to business class with just 40,000 points. In the worst case, you can convert it into cash via Payback or vouchers from various partners such as Amazon and IKEA at a ratio of 2 to 1. But then, it's not just about the rewards.
5. Offers.
You can always find exciting special and cashback offers from various partners in the American Express app and the American Express website. This can include discounts, refunds, or promotions. For example, you will receive €40 cashback when booking flights with KLM or €50 discount when booking a rental car with Hertz. American Express Gold Card owners are also eligible for the Sixt Gold status, which gives you a 10% discount on vehicle rentals. You can also get a discounted Priority Pass, for €299 instead of €399, which gives you access to airport lounges worldwide.
If you fly a lot, then that may be something worth considering. But the most important benefit for frequent travelers is not their lounge access benefits but their extensive travel insurance coverage.
6. Insurance packages
Amex Gold Card owners are well covered when it comes to travel problems. You get international travel health insurance, travel cancellation insurance, travel comfort insurance, transport accident insurance, Europe-wide vehicle protection letter, and purchase protection insurance.
Health insurance protects you against illness or accidents when traveling abroad. Travel cancellation insurance is handy for the cancellation postponement and interruption of your trip. Then there is the Travel comfort insurance, which insures all flight bookings made with Amex Gold Card against departure delays, flight cancellations, overbooking, missed connecting flights, and baggage delays.
Travel, food, and accommodation costs of up to 175 euros per person will be covered if your checked baggage does not arrive at the destination airport within 6 hours of your arrival. Transportation accident insurance covers you if you get involved in an accident while using public transportation. Strangely, there is a kidnapping allowance of 2,500 euros after 24 hours and 5,000 euros after 72 hours. Purchase protection is another great benefit.
So, all your purchases made with your Gold Card are insured for 90 days, even against burglary. Additionally, if you are unsatisfied with an item, you can benefit from the extended right of return for the products up to 90 days after purchase. But then the next point makes all these benefits worth double.
7. Additional Card
You can apply for an additional card free of charge along with your Amex Gold Card. The additional cardholder will then benefit from the same services and insurance as you. So ideally, one card's annual fee would be around 70 euros. And that's a great price for a premium credit card. But then, everything is not rainbows and sunshine. Even with all these benefits, certain drawbacks should make you think twice before getting an Amex Gold Card.
Cons
1. Easy But Not Easy
Earlier, I told you how easy it was to complete the application process and get an Amex card. Apparently, it's not the case for everyone. Amex Gold Card is a charged credit card with a credit limit. Therefore, American Express carries out a credit check as part of your application. Your SCHUFA score is important here. You should have a good credit history and regular and sufficient income to qualify for an Amex Gold Card.
2. Acceptance
American Express cards are a bit different from the other credit cards. Most use the payment network of companies like Visa and Mastercard for transactions. However, Amex has its own payment network and charges companies for the payments they process. This means some businesses, especially smaller ones, may not accept American Express. But this is slowly getting better! Almost all major retailers like IKEA and Amazon and supermarket chains like Rewe and Aldi accept them. But then the next two points are the main deal breakers for me against getting an Amex Card.
3. Cash Withdrawal Fees
For every withdrawal from an ATM, regardless of where the withdrawal is made, they charge a 4% fee. If the withdrawal is less than €125, the fee is €5 per withdrawal. But this is still okay for me. I pay using the card as much as possible and rarely take out cash. But then it gets worse.
4. Foreign currency fees
They also charge a 2% fee for foreign currency transactions. For example, if you pay the equivalent of 100 euros in a foreign currency, you have to pay a fee of 2 euros. If a major part of your credit card usage is outside the eurozone, maybe you should look for an alternative. But all these drawbacks become real deal breakers when we consider the next point.
5. Not Free
This is not a free card. There is an annual fee of €144, which makes the American Express Gold card one of the most expensive credit cards in Germany. And if you activate the Turbo feature, it costs an additional 15 euros. But there is a secret way to get rid of this fee and get the card for free. American Express has not published this option, but that's why I am here.
Secret Hacks
In the last few months with the Amex Gold Card, I came across various ways to reduce the impact of these disadvantages. For example, I can add my Amex Gold card to my PayPal account and then pay for online transactions with Paypal, which doesn't accept Amex.
To account for the Cash Withdrawal and Foreign currency fees, I also got myself a free Visa Barclaycard. I would highly suggest you get an additional card for those cases where using an Amex is not possible or is expensive.
But the most important hack among all is that it is possible to waive the annual fee for an Amex card from the second and all subsequent years. We just need to make a phone call to the American Express hotline. Existing customers can have the card converted to "free" if the annual usage is 10,000 euros or more. So now you know. And finally, to the most important question. Should you get an Amex Gold Card? Is it the right one for you?
To answer that you should ask yourself what is important to you in a credit card. If you use the card rarely, you are better off using a credit card without an annual fee. The rewards, such as lounge access and travel insurance, are nice to have but not worth it if you only fly once or twice a year. Also, if you frequently withdraw cash or make payments in foreign currencies, you would be better off with a credit card that doesn't charge fees for such transactions.
But if you are someone who travels a lot and makes most of your payments with a credit card, and you are looking for a credit card with an attractive points system, then the Amex Gold Card would be the right choice.
This card is the best option in Germany for travel reward points. And the current offer of a 40,000 welcome bonus makes it a safe option to get it now. Even if you convert the 40,000 points you receive into Amazon vouchers or simply have them paid to your account, you will still receive 200 euros in cash value - 56 euros more than the annual fee of 144 euros in the first year. However, converting those 40,000 points into miles can easily get you an equivalent value of at least 400 to 800 euros.
So use this great offer, test the Amex Gold for a year for free, and see for yourself the advantages when traveling and in everyday life. And after one year, if you think it's not for you, you can downgrade to the Amex Green Card and still keep the points. You can find the referral link to get your 20,000 points in the below.
