The *amex gold* and *amex platinum* are Amex’s top two travel cards and easily rank among the best rewards cards … from any bank. But when it comes to a head-to-head showdown between the two, there is a lot to consider.
Both cards come with monster new welcome offers and earn the same American Express Membership Rewards points, but the point-earning and benefits on each card, as well as their price tags, are drastically different. With big changes coming to the Amex Platinum Card, many travelers are wondering if now is the time to apply … or if going for gold is the better choice.
If you find yourself weighing these two cards, let us help: We’ll break down how they differ, how they’re alike, and most importantly, help you decide which version is best for you.
Amex Gold vs Amex Platinum: Overview
| Benefit | Amex Platinum | Amex Gold |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome Offer | *amex platinum bonus* | bonus_miles_full |
| Bonus Point Earning | Earn 5x Membership Rewards on flights up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year and 5x on prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel | Earn 4x Membership Rewards on dining worldwide (up to $50,00 per year), Earn 4x at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year), Earn 3x on airfare (purchased direct or through Amex Travel), Earn 2x on prepaid hotels, rental cars, and cruises booked through Amex Travel |
| Standard Point Earning | 1x Membership Rewards point per dollar spent | 1x Membership Rewards point per dollar spent |
| Statement Credits | $200 hotel credit, $200 airline fee credit, $240 digital entertainment credit, $200 Uber Cash, $100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit, $300 Equinox credit, $155 Walmart+ credit, $209 CLEAR® Plus credit, and more (terms & conditions apply to all credits) | $120 dining credit, $120 Uber Cash, $100 Resy credit, $84 Dunkin’ credit (terms & conditions apply to all credits) |
| Lounge Access | Complimentary access to American Express Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Clubs® (when flying Delta), Escape Lounges, Plaza Premium Lounges, and Priority Pass™ Lounges | None |
| Foreign Transaction Fees | None | None |
| Annual Fee | $695 (see rates & fees) | $325 (see rates & fees) |
Welcome Offers
Amex recently rolled out big new bonus offers on both the Amex Gold and Platinum, making now as good of time as any to add one of these cards to your wallet. But these offers work a little differently than your typical bonus.
Exactly what bonus offer (if any) you’re eligible for will vary: After you submit your application – but before you accept the card (if you are approved) and your credit score is pulled – Amex will let you know the exact welcome offer you can earn.
Just remember: Credit cards are serious business. No matter how big the bonus is, you should never open a new credit card and spend thousands of dollars for the sake of earning points unless you can afford to pay off every dime in full.
American Express Gold Card
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The Platinum Card from American Express
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Winner: Which Welcome Offer is Best?
While both cards are currently offering big bonuses, the best offer on the Platinum Card is better than the best offer on the Gold Card.
But even with a bigger bonus, it might make more sense to start with the Amex Gold. Generally speaking, you can earn a welcome offer on every Amex card once per lifetime – but you’ll need to do it in the right order. If you go straight to the top and pick up the Amex Platinum, you’ll be ineligible for a welcome offer on the Amex Gold later on down the road.
Still … bigger is sometimes better – and the Amex Platinum’s welcome offer is definitely that. That gives it the slight edge in this category.
Learn more about *amex platinum*.
Annual Fee
The annual fee on the American Express Gold card is $325 (see rates & fees). While that might sound steep, we’ve crunched the numbers and come to the conclusion it can easily be worth it.
Meanwhile, the yearly fee on the Platinum Card is a whopping $695 per year (see rates & fees) … and it’s likely going to climb even higher this fall when Amex “refreshes” the card.
Want to add an authorized user to your card? There is no charge for doing so with the Amex Gold but with the Amex Platinum, you’ll pay $195 for each additional card you add. But there’s a reason the cost is so high: Those cards will get many of the same benefits as the primary cardholder.
If you’re not looking to shell out nearly $200 per year on top of a nearly $700 annual fee, you also have the ability to add free Companion Platinum cards at no cost. However, those users won’t get many of the benefits that the full-fledged authorized user cards come with.
Read more: Is the Amex Platinum Card Worth the $695 Annual Fee?
Winner: Which Card’s Annual Fee is Best?
If you are just looking at the upfront out-of-pocket cost to hold either card each year, the Amex Gold wins in a landslide. It’s nearly $400 cheaper than the Platinum Card from American Express.
But whether the annual fee is worth it for you is all about whether or not you can maximize all the benefits the card offers. While the annual fee on the Platinum Card is $695, it offers a ton of value which can easily make the card worth having.
Learn more about the *amex gold*
Earning Points
While both the Gold and Platinum Cards earn the same American Express Membership Rewards® points, just how fast you rack them up will depend on which card you carry.
American Express Gold Card
The Amex Gold Card is a great choice for anyone who likes food. I know that sounds dumb, but you’ll see why in a second.
First off, you’ll earn 4x points per dollar spent at restaurants worldwide (up to $50,000 per year, then 1x) and 4x points per dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year, then 1x).
This means that no matter if you’re cooking at home or dining out, you’re earning best-in-class rewards on all your food expenses – two huge spending categories for many Americans. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a card that offers a better return on both your grocery and restaurant bills.
You’ll also earn 3x points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline – or through American Express Travel® – and 2x Membership Rewards points on prepaid hotels, rental cars, and cruises booked through American Express Travel®.
All other eligible purchases earn 1x point per dollar spent.
Read more: A Full Review of the American Express Gold Card
The Platinum Card from American Express
With the Amex Platinum Card, you’ll earn 5x points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline or through amextravel.com. For this reason (and many more), we think it is the best card for booking airfare. Additionally, you’ll earn 5x points per dollar on prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel®.
You’ll earn 1x point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
Read more: A Full Review of the Platinum Card from American Express
Winner: Which Card is Best for Earning Points?
Unless you spend a lot on airfare, the Amex Gold Card wins this one in a landslide. Earning 4x points per dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets and at restaurants worldwide is really second to none. In the long term, it’ll earn you more points and make more sense for your everyday spending.
Learn more about the *amex gold*
Redeeming Points
When it comes to using your points, there is no advantage to holding one card over the other.
No matter whether you redeem your points directly through the Amex travel portal or transfer them to nearly two dozen airline or hotel transfer partners, you’ve got identical options with these two cards.
Here’s the full list of American Express Membership Rewards transfer partners.
| Program | Type | Transfer Ratio | Transfer Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| AeroMexico | Airline | 1:1.6 | 3-5 days |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France/KLM | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| ANA | Airline | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Avianca | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| British Airways | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Cathay Pacific | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Delta | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Emirates | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Iberia | Airline | 1:1 | Up to 24 hours |
| JetBlue | Airline | 1.25:1 | Instant |
| Qantas | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Qatar Airways | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Singapore | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Virgin Atlantic | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
Make sure to read our post on the best ways to redeem Membership Rewards Points.
Winner: Which Card is Best for Redeeming Points?
When it comes time to use your points, neither card has an edge in this category.
Statement Credits
Justifying a big annual fee on a credit card boils down to whether the benefits outweigh the cost. And monthly and annual statement credits on both the Gold and Platinum Cards can go a long way.
American Express Gold Card
With the Amex Gold, you’ll get up to $120 in dining credits each year to spend at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. This credit is broken up into increments of up to $10 per month. Simply use your gold card at any of these places and automatically get credited back up to $10 each month.
After the Amex Gold Card got revamped last summer, you’ll now get up to $100 per year in Resy credit, with up to $50 in credit available every six months (January to June and July to December). To use this credit, you’ll first need to enroll on your card’s benefits page in your Amex account. After that, it’s as simple as using the card to pay at any U.S. Resy participating restaurant.
The Amex Gold Card also comes with a new credit of up to $84 per year to be used at Dunkin’. Just like most Amex credits, this one is broken up into increments of $7 per month. You’ll also need to enroll in this benefit before swiping your card – but once you do, you’re all set. Any purchases, up to $7 per month, will automatically generate a credit from Amex.
Finally, you’ll get up to $120 annually in Uber cash to use at both Uber and Uber Eats. These statement credits are given out in $10 monthly increments. Just add your Gold Card to your Uber account, and each month, automatically get $10 in Uber Cash for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides in the U.S.
Critically, all these monthly and semi-annual statement credits are use-them-or-lose-them benefits: They won’t rollover from month-to-month.
But add it all up and you’ve got over $400 in statement credits at your disposal – enough to cover the full $325 annual fee … and then some. These credits and bonus categories are a big reason why we feel the card is still worth its $325 annual fee.
The Platinum Card from American Express
If you thought there were a lot of credits to manage on the Amex Gold card, just wait until you see what the Amex Platinum has to offer.
Similar to the Gold Card, you’ll get up to $200 in Uber Cash to use on Uber rides or Uber Eats food delivery. It’s broken up into increments of $15 per month – but that jumps to $35 in December. Just like with the Gold Card, any remaining balance at the end of the month is forfeited.
Further, each year you hold the Platinum Card, you’ll get up to $200 in airline fee credit to use with one selected airline. The credit is intended to be used for things like checked bags, change or cancelation fees, seat assignments, lounge access, and more. Unfortunately, buying airfare outright won’t work – nor will cabin upgrades, buying miles, and several other similar purchases. Thankfully, there are some creative ways to put these credits to use beyond what they’re officially intended for.
This credit resets each calendar year, so every January, you will get a fresh $200 to use. If you have any remaining credit from the previous year, it won’t carry over.
With the Amex Platinum, you’ll also get up to a $120 credit to cover the cost of either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Which should you choose? If you hope to do any international travel, Global Entry should be your choice as it includes TSA PreCheck.
You’ll also receive an annual credit of up to $209 to cover the cost of CLEAR® Plus. Whether or not CLEAR is worth the cost is certainly up for debate, but getting it fully covered just for holding the Amex Platinum Card is a nice perk.
You’ll receive up to $200 per year in credit for hotels booked through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts® – or with The Hotel Collection, when booking two nights or more.
Each year, you will also get up to $100 in statement credits to spend at Saks Fifth Avenue: $50 from January through June, and another $50 to spend from July through December. Again, this is a use-it-or-lose-it benefit.
You’ll get up to $20 in statement credits each month for digital entertainment services like Disney+, a Disney+ bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, and The Wall Street Journal when you purchase directly from one or more of the providers. This can be an annual savings of up to $240 and enrollment in this benefit is required.
Finally, you’ll get up to $155 per year towards a Walmart+ membership each year. This is dolled out in the amount of $12.95 each month.
Read more: Higher Fee? More Credits? What’s Next for The Platinum Card® from American Express?
Winner: Which Card Offers More Statement Credits?
Add up all the credits on the Platinum Card and you can get over $1,200 back each and every year, though the final sum largely depends on your ability to actually use these benefits. But no matter how you slice it, you can easily come out ahead on the otherwise steep $695 annual fee.
Learn more about *amex platinum*.
Lounge Access
If you’re looking to get into airport lounges this is no contest at all. That’s because the American Express Gold Card will not get you access to any airport lounges.
The Amex Platinum Card, on the other hand, is arguably the best card for getting into airport lounges, period. No other card opens more airport lounge doors than this one.
To start with, you’ll have access to American Express’s signature Centurion Lounges.
These lounges are scattered throughout the U.S. at more than a dozen airports and counting – plus, Amex has a growing list of international outposts like Hong Kong (HKG) and London-Heathrow (LHR).
When they first debuted, Centurion Lounges put most other airline lounges to shame, but more recently they’ve lost a step as competition from other banks like Capital One and Chase has heated up. Even still, you can always count on free food and drinks … even if there is a wait to get in.
The Amex Platinum Card also comes with a Priority Pass™ Select membership that will allow you and up to two guests to access over 1,300 airport lounges around the globe. While most Priority Pass Lounges aren’t as nice as Amex’s own Centurion Lounges, they’re still a great place to relax and get a light bite before catching a flight.
Next, you will get access to the Delta Sky Clubs® – but only if you are flying Delta that day. Amex Platinum cardholders get 10 complimentary visits to Delta’s Sky Clubs each year (Feb. 1 to Jan. 31) … unless you’re willing to spend $75,000 per year on your card.
Finally, you will get access to several smaller lounge networks including Plaza Premium, Air Space, and one of our favorites, Escape Lounges – The Centurion Studio Partner. These lounges are at a growing list of airports around the country, including our home airport of Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP).
Winner: Which Card is Best for Lounge Access?
This category isn’t really a competition. Considering the Amex Gold Card doesn’t offer any sort of lounge access, the Amex Platinum Card is the best (and only) option for accessing airport lounges and making your entire experience at the airport better.
Learn more about *amex platinum*.
Elite Status Perks
If you’re on the hunt for hotel or car rental status, the Platinum Card really starts to pull away.
Just like lounge access, the American Express Gold Card will not get you any sort of elite status perks or benefits. On the other hand, just for holding the American Express Platinum Card, you will receive complimentary Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors Gold status. While Marriott Gold won’t get you much in the way of benefits, Hilton Gold does come with free breakfast when traveling abroad or a daily food and beverage credit at U.S. hotels.
You’ll also get elite recognition in a couple of rental car programs, including National Emerald Club Executive status and Hertz President’s Circle status.
With National, you get a handful of benefits, but one stands out: Access to the Executive Area and the ability to completely skip the rental car counter upon your arrival. Skipping the lines at the counter and mountains of paperwork is a huge time saver. You can simply walk off the plane, head to the car rental area, select your car, and go.
As long as you book at least the midsized car rate, you’ll have access to any vehicle in the Executive area for no additional charge! Emerald Club Executive members are also guaranteed a free upgrade in the U.S. and Canada – assuming you book at least a midsized car.
Similar benefits are available through Hertz so be sure to price shop with your next rental.
Winner: Which Card is Best for Elite Status?
Again, this category isn’t particularly close. The Amex Gold Card doesn’t offer any sort of elite status perks while the Platinum Card offers complimentary Marriott and Hilton Gold status, and National Executive Elite status just for holding the card.
Learn more about *amex platinum*.
Bottom Line
By the numbers, the Platinum Card takes four categories while the Gold Card wins two, and one was a draw. So does that make The Platinum Card the obvious winner? Not necessarily.
Everyone can – and should – weigh these categories differently. For some, earning bonus points at restaurants and supermarkets may make the Gold Card the better choice, especially considering its lower price tag. For others, lounge access and hotel status might make the Platinum Card the clear favorite, despite its high cost.
It’s important to select the card that makes the most sense for you and how you plan to use it.
