| Card Details and Application Link |
|---|
American Express® Business Gold Card ![](http://cdn.nextinsure.com/imaging/opt/49ef3906-6ee7-4f77-a40b-74728901760e.jpg?w=300" alt="American Express® Business Gold Card" />) ⓘ $943 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 100K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 100K points after $15K spend in 3 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)$375 Annual Fee Click here to learn how to apply This is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer Recent better offer: 200K after $15K spend expired 2/10/25 FM Mini Review: This card may be a keeper for those who use the monthly credits, but keep only if you also make good use of one or two 4X categories. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: Earn 4X in combined purchases in the two eligible categories where your business spends the most each month (capped at $150K spend per calendar year, then 1x): Electronic goods retailers or software and cloud system providers in the U.S. ✦U.S. purchases at restaurants ✦Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S. ✦ U.S. purchases for advertising in select media ✦ U.S. purchases at gas stations ✦ Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways. ✦ 3x on eligible purchases through AmexTravel.com ✦ 1x on all other purchases. Terms apply. Card Info: Amex Pay Over Time Card issued by Amex. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Earn up to $20 in statement credits each month for eligible purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and office supply stores. Enrollment required. ✦ Monthly Walmart+ Membership credit after you use the card to pay for one monthly Walmart+ membership ✦ Terms Apply. (Rates & Fees) |
The American Express Business Gold card doesn’t have the plethora of elite perks that the Business Platinum card has. What it does have is a lower annual fee and much better earning categories. With the recent addition of “flexible business” and Walmart+ credits, this card will be a no-brainer for almost anyone for the first year and an interesting keeper card for folks who can maximize the credits and the 4x bonus categories.
Annual Fees
Primary user
- $375/year
Authorized users
- Authorized User Annual Fee: $95 for the first five cards, then $95 for each additional card.
Amex Business Gold Bonus Earning Categories
4X – Combined in top two categories each billing cycle (capped at $150K spend per calendar year, then 1x):
- U.S. media providers for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
- U.S. purchases from electronic goods retailers and software/cloud system providers
- U.S. purchases at restaurants
- U.S. purchases at gas stations
- Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
- Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
3x – eligible purchases through AmexTravel.com
1x – everywhere else
Amex Business Gold Perks
Annual Credits
- $240 Flexible Business Credit: Earn up to $20 in statement credits monthly after you use the Business Gold Card for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and Office Supply Stores.
- $155 Walmart+ Membership: Use your Business Gold Card to pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership and receive a statement credit for $12.95 (plus applicable taxes) that covers the full cost (excluding any Plus Up Benefits) each month.
Additional Perks
- Hotel Collection: Book a two-night minimum The Hotel Collection stay through American Express Travel® and get a $100 experience credit to use during your stay.
Travel Protections
- Auto Rental Coverage: Secondary auto rental CDW (collision damage waiver). Provides reimbursement for theft and collision damage for rental cars in the U.S. and abroad.*
- Trip Delay Reimbursement: Covers delays of more than 6 hours or that require an overnight stay. Up to $300 per trip.*
- Lost Luggage Reimbursement: Up to $1,250 for carry-on baggage and up to $500 for checked baggage ($10,000 aggregate maximum limit for all Covered Persons per Covered Trip).*
Purchase Protections
- Cell Phone Insurance: $800/claim and a $50 deductible/claim (2 claims max/year).*
- Extended Warranty: One additional year, on eligible warranties of five years or less (US warranties only, max $10,000/claim, $50,000/account/year).*
- Damage and Theft Protection: 90 days against damage or theft (up to $1,000 per claim and $50,000 per year).*
Amex Business Gold Application Tips
Amex Application Tips
Check application status here. |
Should you apply?
Business Gold card welcome offers are usually worth considerably more than the card’s annual fee. So, as long as you can make use of some of the card’s perks, and as long as you can meet the offer’s minimum spend requirements, it can make sense to sign up for at least one year (assuming that you can get approved). You can always cancel (or downgrade to a less expensive card) once the annual fee comes due in year 2 so as to avoid paying for the second year.
Are you eligible?
More:
You must have a business (but you probably do): In order to apply for a business credit card, you must have a business. That said, it's common for people to have businesses without realizing it. If you sell items at a yard sale or on eBay, for example, then you have a business. Similar examples include: consulting, writing (e.g. blog authorship, planning your first novel, etc.), handyman services, owning rental property, renting on airbnb, driving for Uber or Lyft, etc. In any of these cases, your business is considered a Sole Proprietorship unless you form a corporation of some sort.When you apply for a business credit card as a sole proprietor, you can use your own name as your business name, use your own address and phone as the business' address and phone, and your social security number as the business' Tax ID / EIN. Alternatively, you can get a proper Tax ID / EIN from the IRS for free, in about a minute, through this website.
Is it OK to use business cards for personal expenses? Anecdotally, almost everyone I know uses business cards for personal expenses. That said, the terms in most business card applications state that you should use the card only for business use. Also, some consumer credit card protections do not apply to business cards. My advice: don't use the card for personal expenses if you're not comfortable doing so.
Application status
After you apply, call (877) 239-3491 to check your application status or use this link.
Amex reconsideration
If denied, call reconsideration: 877-399-3083 (new account holders) or 866-314-0237 (current account holders).
How to Earn Membership Rewards Points
Credit card welcome offers
The easiest and quickest way to earn Membership Rewards points is through Amex credit card welcome bonuses.
Most Amex welcome offers stipulate that you can’t get the bonus if you’ve ever had that card before. However, targeted offers sometimes do not have that once per lifetime language. In those cases, you can get the bonus even if you’ve had the card before. See: 8 ways to get the best targeted Amex welcome bonus offers.
Below are the Amex cards with the best current and public Membership Rewards welcome offers.
| Card Offer |
|---|
 ⓘ $2259 1st Yr Value Estimate$200 Fine Hotels & Resorts credit valued at $100, $200 airline incidental fee credit for select airline only valued at $140, $200 Uber credit ($15 per month, $35/December) valued at $100, $100 Saks credit ($50 per six months) valued at $25 Click to learn about first year value estimates As high as 175K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer As high as 175K points after $8K spend in 6 months. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Terms apply. Rates & Fees$695 Annual Fee Recent better offer: 175K points after $8K spend in 6 months. FM Mini Review: This card is absolutely loaded with high end perks. Depending upon your situation, those perks may be worth the annual fee or much more. |
![](http://cdn.nextinsure.com/imaging/opt/9f9fa454-a6e1-41eb-8c7c-3d13bcbcb984.png?w=300" alt="The Business Platinum Card® from American Express" />) ⓘ $1738 1st Yr Value Estimate$200 airline incidental fee credit for select airline only valued at $140, $200 Hilton credit ($50 per quarter) valued at $150, $120 wireless credit ($10 per month) valued at $90, $150 Dell credit valued at $37.5 Click to learn about first year value estimates 150K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 150K points after $20K spend in the first 3 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)$695 Annual Fee Recent better offer: 250K after $20K spend expired 2/10/25 FM Mini Review: This card is absolutely loaded with high end perks. Depending upon your situation, those perks may be worth the annual fee or much more. Click here for our complete card review |
 ⓘ $1307 1st Yr Value Estimate$120 Dining credit ($10 per month) valued at $30, $100 Resy credit ($50 per six months) valued at $85, $120 Uber credit ($10 per month) valued at $60 Click to learn about first year value estimates As high as 100K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer As high as 100K points after $6K spend in 6 months. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Terms apply. Rates & Fees$325 Annual Fee Alternate Offer: Referral Offer - 90K points after spending $6,000 in 6 months Recent better offer: 100K after $6K in the first 6 months + 20% back at restaurants for the first 12 months up to $250 back [Expired 11/10/24 - referrals only] FM Mini Review: This card offers an awesome return on US supermarket and worldwide dining spend, putting it at or near the top-of-class in both categories. Dining credits and Uber / Uber Eats credits go a long way towards reducing the sting of this card's annual fee. |
ⓘ $943 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 100K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 100K points after $15K spend in 3 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)$375 Annual Fee Recent better offer: 200K after $15K spend expired 2/10/25 FM Mini Review: This card may be a keeper for those who use the monthly credits, but keep only if you also make good use of one or two 4X categories. Click here for our complete card review |
 ⓘ $786 1st Yr Value Estimate$200 Fine Hotels & Resorts credit valued at $100, $200 airline incidental fee credit for select airline only valued at $140, $200 Uber credit ($15 per month, $35/December) valued at $100, $100 Saks credit ($50 per six months) valued at $25 Click to learn about first year value estimates 80K points Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler 80K after $8K spend in first 6 months. Terms apply.$695 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 150K after $8k spend in the first 6 months. (Expired 6/11/25) FM Mini Review: In my opinion, this is the best of the consumer Amex Platinum cards when you need two cards thanks to Morgan Stanley offering one free authorized user. Unfortunately you do need to have a Morgan Stanley account to apply. |
 ⓘ $786 1st Yr Value Estimate$200 Fine Hotels & Resorts credit valued at $100, $200 airline incidental fee credit for select airline only valued at $140, $200 Uber credit ($15 per month, $35/December) valued at $100, $100 Saks credit ($50 per six months) valued at $25 Click to learn about first year value estimates 80K points Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler 80K after $8K spend in first 6 months. Terms apply. $695 Annual Fee This card is only available to clients that maintain an eligible Schwab brokerage account. Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 125K points after $8K spend [Expired 6/12/25] |
 ⓘ $424 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 40K points ⓘFriend-ReferralThis is a friend-referral offer. A member of the Frequent Miler community may earn a referral bonus if you are approved for this offer 40K after $3K spend in first 6 months. Terms apply. See Rates & Fees$150 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 60K after $3K spend in first 6 months + 20% off travel and transit purchases for first 6 months. [Expired 8/21/23] FM Mini Review: This card is worth considering as your go-to travel card, but only if you value its CLEAR and Lounge Buddy credits. Also note that Amex cards continue to have limited acceptance in many international destinations. Click here for our complete card review |
![](http://cdn.nextinsure.com/imaging/opt/72cb8f35-39c3-4925-9965-6f0db8d5f6c7.jpg?w=300" alt="The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express" />) ⓘ $233 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 15K points + 0% APR for 12 months ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 15k points after $3k spend within the first 3 months + 0.0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from the date of account opening, then a variable rate, 17.49% - 27.49%,, based on your creditworthiness and other factors at account opening. (Rates & Fees)No Annual Fee Alternate Offer: Some people have been targeted for an offer in their online account for 75K points after $15K in purchases in their first 12 months. FM Mini Review: 2X rewards for all spend (up to $50K per year) with no annual fee makes this card a winner. Click here for our complete card review |
![](http://cdn.nextinsure.com/imaging/opt/57495ed9-6f4e-4919-9a83-ae2ec251f236.png?w=300" alt="Business Green Rewards Card from American Express" />) ⓘ $91 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 15K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 15K points after $3K spend within first 3 months of card membership. Terms & limitations apply. (Rates & Fees)$95 Annual Fee |
Credit card upgrade offers
Amex frequently offers bonus points for upgrading from one card to another. For example, we’ve seen 50,000 point offers for upgrading from the Business Gold card to the Business Platinum card. Even better, these upgrade offers often do not have the once per lifetime language associated with them. That is, if you are targeted for an upgrade offer, you may be able to earn the bonus points even if you’ve had the card before. It is best to accept these offers only after you have earned a signup bonus for the higher end card.
Credit card category bonuses
The next best way to earn Membership Rewards points is by using the best card for each category of spend. If you spend a lot personally or through your business on any of the below categories, you can do very well. Particularly noteworthy is the no-annual-fee Blue Business Plus Credit Card which offers 2 points per dollar for all spend, up to $50K spend per calendar year (then 1X thereafter). That’s fantastic.
| Spend Category | Best Options |
|---|---|
| US Supermarkets |
American Express Gold 4X (up to $25K per year, then 1X) EveryDay Preferred Up to 4.5X* (max $6K per year) |
| US Gas Stations |
Business Gold Rewards Up to 4X** EveryDay Preferred Up to 3X* |
| Restaurants | American Express Gold 4X American Express Green 3X Business Gold Rewards Up to 4X** |
| Travel (Broadly Defined) | American Express Green 3X |
| Flights |
Platinum consumer cards 5X Business Platinum (via Amex Travel) 5X Business Gold Rewards Up to 4X** American Express Gold 3X American Express Green 3X |
| Prepaid Hotels |
Platinum cards (via Amex Travel) 5X American Express Green 3X |
| Select Car Rental Companies | American Express Green 3X Morgan Stanley Credit Card 2X |
| US Wireless Services | Business Gold Rewards Up to 4X** |
| US Advertising in select media | Business Gold Rewards Up to 4X** |
| US Computer related purchases |
Business Gold Rewards Up to 4X** |
| Rakuten portal shopping | Rakuten Visa 3X + portal rewards |
| Everywhere else | Blue Business Plus 2X EveryDay Preferred 1.5X* |
* The Amex EveryDay Preferred card earns a 50% bonus every billing period in which the card was used for 30 or more transactions. Before the 50% bonus, the card has the following bonus categories: 3x points at US supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1x); 2x points at US gas stations; 1x points on other purchases. After the 50% bonus, it offers: 4.5x points at US supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1.5x); 3x points at US gas stations; 1.5x points on other purchases.
** The Business Gold Card offers 4X on the two categories where your business spends the most each billing cycle from the following categories: ⚬ US purchases at restaurants ⚬ U.S. purchases for advertising in select media ⚬ U.S. purchases at gas stations ⚬ Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways. ⚬ U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers ⚬ Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S. 4X applies to first $150,000 in combined purchases in your two categories each calendar year, 1X point per dollar thereafter and on other purchases. Terms apply.
Credit card referrals
Another great way to earn Membership Rewards points is by referring friends and relatives. In some cases referral bonuses are really big. However, if you want to keep your friends, then make sure that the offer they get is as good as the best available public offer (compare to our Best Offers page).
Log into your account to check for any special referral offers.
Note that this option is especially powerful since you can now refer friends to other cards — even to cards you do not have. See this post for full details: Maximizing value from Amex multi-referrals.
Amex Offers
Amex Offers are usually best for saving cash. But, sometimes Amex Offers provide terrific opportunities for point earning instead. One (now expired) example was an offer for Reebok: Spend $75 or more, Get 1,500 Membership Rewards points. And one for Hugo Boss: Spend $250 or more, Get 5,000 points.
Sometimes Amex Offers are longer term and act more like a new category bonus. For example, you’ll often see offers to earn 2X rewards at various merchants.
Log into your account and check the section titled “Amex Offers and Benefits” to look for offers like these.
Other options to earn Membership Rewards
FX International Payments
Amex offers businesses the ability to earn 1 Membership Rewards point per $30 of foreign wire payments (max 4,000 points per transaction). Even better, you may receive a welcome bonus offer like the one shown above (keep an eye out for this in your mailbox or email!).
Where to Redeem Membership Rewards Points
In general, Membership Rewards points are worth up to 1 cent each when redeemed for merchandise or gift cards. Fortunately, there are three ways in which it is possible to get more value: redeem points for flights, transfer points to hotel or airline partners, or invest rewards. More on each below…
Redeem points for travel
The Business Platinum Card offers a 35% Airline Bonus: Get 35% of your points back when you redeem points through Amex Travel for any flights with your selected airline or (until September 18, 2025) for either a First or Business class flight on any airline.
After you receive the 35% rebate, the value works out to 1.54 cents per point. That's very good, but it does require owning this ultra-premium card.
Transfer points to travel partners
The best use of Membership Rewards points, in our opinion, is to transfer points to airline and hotel partners in order to book high value awards. Your best bet is usually to wait until you find a great flight or night award before transferring points. One exception: Amex often offers 30% or higher transfer bonuses to certain programs (Virgin Atlantic and British Airways are two recent examples). If you’re confident that you’ll use the points for good value, it may make sense to transfer points when those bonuses are in effect.
For specific examples of great ways to use points transferred to airline miles, please see: Amex Membership Rewards sweet spots.
Current Amex transfer bonuses
Here are the currently available transfer bonuses from Amex Membership Rewards (this table will update automatically when new offers are found):
| Transfer Bonus Details | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| 30% transfer bonus from Amex Membership Rewards to British Airways Avios | 06/01/25 | 07/15/25 |
| 30% transfer bonus from Amex Membership Rewards to Aer Lingus Avios | 06/01/25 | 07/15/25 |
| 30% transfer bonus from Amex Membership Rewards to Iberia Avios | 06/01/25 | 07/15/25 |
| 20% transfer bonus from Amex Membership Rewards to Marriott Bonvoy | 07/01/25 | 07/14/25 |
Points can be transferred to the loyalty accounts of the primary cardholder or any authorized user or employee on the account.
Amex transfer partners
It is free to transfer Membership Rewards points to foreign airlines. For transfers to US airlines, however, Amex charges an “excise tax offset fee” of $0.0006 per point (with a maximum fee of $99). Airlines subject to this fee are noted below.
| Rewards Program | Amex Transfer Ratio | Best Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus Avios | 1 to 1 | Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Aer Lingus rather than British Airways, Qatar, or Iberia. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| AeroMexico ClubPremier | 1 to 1.6 | AeroMexico is a SkyTeam partner. Club Premier points can be used to book flights on AeroMexico, SkyTeam alliance members (such as Delta or Korean Air), or on select partner airlines. Unfortunately many have reported that awards are extremely difficult to book through AeroMexico so we do not recommend transferring points to this program. If you want to fly AeroMexico, look to transfer points to another SkyTeam partner (such as Air France) and then book AeroMexico with that program. |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1 to 1 | Redeem for Star Alliance flights and/or flights with Air Canada partners (such as Etihad). No fuel surcharges; $39 CAD award booking fee; 5,000 points to add stopover on one-way award. See: Air Canada Aeroplan: Everything you need to know. |
| Air France KLM Flying Blue | 1 to 1 | Monthly Air France Promo Awards often represent very good value. Air France miles can be used to book Sky Team awards, including Delta awards. Air France often offers very good business class award pricing between the US and Europe & Israel. |
| Alaska MileagePlan | 1 to 1 via Hawaiian | Alaska Airlines offers decent oneworld award pricing, excellent short-distant pricing, and uniquely allows free stop-overs one one-way awards. Additionally, Alaska allows free award changes and cancelations (although they do have a small non-refundable partner award booking fee) |
| ANA Mileage Club | 1 to 1 | Redeem for Star Alliance flights. Multiple stopovers allowed. ANA offers many great sweet-spot awards, including flying around the world in business class for as few as 115K miles! See also: ANA - a terrific Membership Rewards gem. |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1 to 1 | Avianca LifeMiles can be decent for Star Alliance awards. They offer reasonable-ish prices and no fuel surcharges on awards. Best of all, their mixed-cabin pricing can lead to fantastic first-class award prices. See this post for details. |
| British Airways Avios | 1 to 1 | While flights on British Airways itself often incur outrageously high fuel surcharges, many BA partners charge low or no fuel surcharges. Excellent value can often be had in redeeming BA points for short distance flights outside the US. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1 to 1 | Cathay Pacific has a decent distance based award chart, but they don't allow stopovers longer than 24 hours. Cathay Pacific Asia Miles can be a good option for booking American Airlines flights with a distance based award chart, especially if other OneWorld Alliance miles aren't available. For long distance flights, it is possible to reduce the cost of a premium cabin award by adding on a lower cabin segment. See this post for details. |
| Choice | 1 to 1 | Choice Privileges points seem to be randomly valuable within the US, but dependably valuable internationally in expensive locations such as Scandinavia and Japan. Points can sometimes offer great value when used towards participating Preferred Hotels of the World. |
| Delta SkyMiles | 1 to 1 plus excise tax | Delta no longer charges change or cancellation fees on awards originating in North America. Flash award sales and flights to/from locations other than the U.S. or Canada can offer great value. See: Best uses for Delta miles. |
| Emirates Skywards | 1 to 1 | The best use of Emirates miles has been to fly Emirates itself. Unfortunately fuel surcharges can be extremely steep. One workaround is to book select routes such as JFK to Milan or Newark to Athens. See: How to find and book Emirates first class awards. |
| Etihad Guest | 1 to 1 | Etihad offers a distance based award chart for flying Etihad and another for its partners. Points may offer good value for expensive but short-distance flights. |
| Finnair Plus+ | 1 to 1 via BA | Finnair points are now "Avios" and points can be moved to/from other Avios programs. Finnair uses zone based award charts rather than distance based. As a result, Finnair sometimes has better (and sometimes worse) pricing than other Avios programs. |
| Hilton | 1 to 2 | 5th Night Free awards. Best value is usually found with very low end or very high end Hilton hotels. Bonus: award nights are not subject to resort fees. Note that Hilton points often go on sale for half a cent each and so its rare for point transfers to Hilton to be a good value. |
| Iberia Avios | 1 to 1 | On their own flights, Iberia offers low award prices and a very reasonable 25 Euro cancellation fee. Partner awards can offer good value under some circumstances as well, but these are usually nonrefundable. Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Iberia rather than British Airways, Aer Lingus, or Qatar. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| JetBlue | 250 to 200 plus excise tax | JetBlue points offer the most value when cheap ticket prices are available and when award taxes are high relative to the overall cost of the ticket (more details can be found here). The JetBlue Plus Card and the JetBlue Business Card offer a 10% rebate on awards, so you can get more value by holding one of these cards. |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 1 to 1 | 5th Night Free awards. Opportunities to get outsized value exist but can be hard to find. |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1 to 1 | Best use is probably for flights on El Al with no fuel surcharges. Also useful for short AA flights. Qantas offers distance based award charts similar to Cathay Pacific. Both are OneWorld Alliance members. I recommend comparing award prices across both programs before transferring to either. Qantas offers round the world business class awards for only 280,000 points (but with many restrictions) |
| Qatar Privilege Club Avios | 1 to 1 | Qatar has reasonable award prices for flying Qatar itself. Points are now transferable 1 to 1 to British Airways (and from there to Aer Lingus or Iberia). It is now also possible to book JetBlue flights with Qatar Avios. |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1 to 1 | Use to book Singapore Airlines First Class awards (generally reserved for their own members), Alaska Airlines economy awards, or for Star Alliance awards (including United Airlines). |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 | Virgin Atlantic offers a few excellent sweet spot awards. See: Best uses for Virgin Atlantic points (Sweet Spot Spotlight). |
Other options for redeeming Membership Rewards
You can also redeem points for gift cards or merchandise. At most, with this approach you’ll get 1 cent per point value, but usually you’ll get quite a bit less.
You can also use points to pay some merchants directly (Amazon.com, for example). Don’t do this. These options offer very poor value. Further, they may compromise the security of your account (i.e. if someone hacks into your Amazon account, they might spend your Ultimate Rewards points – causing you a headache in getting your points reinstated).
Managing Membership Rewards Points
Combine Points
Amex automatically pools all of your points together. When you earn points with different cards, the point total shown when viewing either card is the total across cards.Share Points
Unlike Chase and Citibank, Amex doesn’t allow members to move points from one person’s account to another. That said, it is possible to transfer one person’s points to another person’s loyalty program account. The key is that the person who receives the points must be an authorized user or employee on the other person’s account. For example, my wife can transfer Membership Rewards points to my Virgin Atlantic account as long as I’m an authorized user (or employee) on any of her Membership Rewards cards.An authorized user card must be active for 90 days before it will unlock the ability to transfer your points to the authorized user’s loyalty program account.
How to Keep Points Alive
Thankfully, it is very easy to keep Amex Membership Rewards points alive. Simply keep any Membership Rewards card open. For example, if you are about to close your one and only Membership Rewards card, then open another Membership Rewards card account first in order to preserve your points. Amex offers some no-fee Membership Rewards cards, such as the Blue Business Plus and the Amex Everyday, so this shouldn't be much of a burden.Amex Business Gold: Should I Keep or Cancel?
Deciding whether to keep or cancel Amex Business Gold cards can be a tough decision. Given the card’s high annual fee, it’s a significant investment to keep the card year after year. If you make good use of the card’s perks and bonus categories, it could be worth it. Otherwise, move on to greener pastures.
*Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
Related Cards
| Card Offer |
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ⓘ $2259 1st Yr Value Estimate$200 Fine Hotels & Resorts credit valued at $100, $200 airline incidental fee credit for select airline only valued at $140, $200 Uber credit ($15 per month, $35/December) valued at $100, $100 Saks credit ($50 per six months) valued at $25 Click to learn about first year value estimates As high as 175K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer As high as 175K points after $8K spend in 6 months. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Terms apply. Rates & Fees$695 Annual Fee Recent better offer: 175K points after $8K spend in 6 months. FM Mini Review: This card is absolutely loaded with high end perks. Depending upon your situation, those perks may be worth the annual fee or much more. |
ⓘ $1738 1st Yr Value Estimate$200 airline incidental fee credit for select airline only valued at $140, $200 Hilton credit ($50 per quarter) valued at $150, $120 wireless credit ($10 per month) valued at $90, $150 Dell credit valued at $37.5 Click to learn about first year value estimates 150K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 150K points after $20K spend in the first 3 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)$695 Annual Fee Recent better offer: 250K after $20K spend expired 2/10/25 FM Mini Review: This card is absolutely loaded with high end perks. Depending upon your situation, those perks may be worth the annual fee or much more. Click here for our complete card review |
ⓘ $1307 1st Yr Value Estimate$120 Dining credit ($10 per month) valued at $30, $100 Resy credit ($50 per six months) valued at $85, $120 Uber credit ($10 per month) valued at $60 Click to learn about first year value estimates As high as 100K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer As high as 100K points after $6K spend in 6 months. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Terms apply. Rates & Fees$325 Annual Fee Alternate Offer: Referral Offer - 90K points after spending $6,000 in 6 months Recent better offer: 100K after $6K in the first 6 months + 20% back at restaurants for the first 12 months up to $250 back [Expired 11/10/24 - referrals only] FM Mini Review: This card offers an awesome return on US supermarket and worldwide dining spend, putting it at or near the top-of-class in both categories. Dining credits and Uber / Uber Eats credits go a long way towards reducing the sting of this card's annual fee. |
ⓘ $943 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 100K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 100K points after $15K spend in 3 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)$375 Annual Fee Recent better offer: 200K after $15K spend expired 2/10/25 FM Mini Review: This card may be a keeper for those who use the monthly credits, but keep only if you also make good use of one or two 4X categories. Click here for our complete card review |
ⓘ $786 1st Yr Value Estimate$200 Fine Hotels & Resorts credit valued at $100, $200 airline incidental fee credit for select airline only valued at $140, $200 Uber credit ($15 per month, $35/December) valued at $100, $100 Saks credit ($50 per six months) valued at $25 Click to learn about first year value estimates 80K points Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler 80K after $8K spend in first 6 months. Terms apply.$695 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 150K after $8k spend in the first 6 months. (Expired 6/11/25) FM Mini Review: In my opinion, this is the best of the consumer Amex Platinum cards when you need two cards thanks to Morgan Stanley offering one free authorized user. Unfortunately you do need to have a Morgan Stanley account to apply. |
ⓘ $786 1st Yr Value Estimate$200 Fine Hotels & Resorts credit valued at $100, $200 airline incidental fee credit for select airline only valued at $140, $200 Uber credit ($15 per month, $35/December) valued at $100, $100 Saks credit ($50 per six months) valued at $25 Click to learn about first year value estimates 80K points Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler 80K after $8K spend in first 6 months. Terms apply. $695 Annual Fee This card is only available to clients that maintain an eligible Schwab brokerage account. Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 125K points after $8K spend [Expired 6/12/25] |
ⓘ $424 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 40K points ⓘFriend-ReferralThis is a friend-referral offer. A member of the Frequent Miler community may earn a referral bonus if you are approved for this offer 40K after $3K spend in first 6 months. Terms apply. See Rates & Fees$150 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 60K after $3K spend in first 6 months + 20% off travel and transit purchases for first 6 months. [Expired 8/21/23] FM Mini Review: This card is worth considering as your go-to travel card, but only if you value its CLEAR and Lounge Buddy credits. Also note that Amex cards continue to have limited acceptance in many international destinations. Click here for our complete card review |
ⓘ $233 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 15K points + 0% APR for 12 months ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 15k points after $3k spend within the first 3 months + 0.0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from the date of account opening, then a variable rate, 17.49% - 27.49%,, based on your creditworthiness and other factors at account opening. (Rates & Fees)No Annual Fee Alternate Offer: Some people have been targeted for an offer in their online account for 75K points after $15K in purchases in their first 12 months. FM Mini Review: 2X rewards for all spend (up to $50K per year) with no annual fee makes this card a winner. Click here for our complete card review |
ⓘ $91 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 15K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 15K points after $3K spend within first 3 months of card membership. Terms & limitations apply. (Rates & Fees)$95 Annual Fee |
This page says “Recent better offer: 200K after $15K spend expired 2/10/25”, but I was able to access a 200k offer from multiple referral links just last week. Shouldn’t this page indicate somewhere that the offers are out there if you’re willing to look for them?
I’m hoping that frequent Milers “best credit card offers” page will always have the best offers because I love how much though you guys put into your valuations and other information.
Thanks for the reminder here! We updated the part that says “Alternate Offer”. It now points to the 200k targeted offer info. We can’t change the headline offer because that’s the best Public offer whereas the 200k is a targeted offer.
Thank you! I was wondering, have you ever considered releasing a calculator for your “first year value” amounts? It would be great to be able to play with the numbers or run them on non-public offers.
Yes, we have considered doing something like that, but it would be a huge project. So far whenever it’s come up, we’ve always decided that we have plenty of other higher priority things to do.
canwe get a new link? its not working
Link is expired
There’s a new link now
The link is not working for me
I’m getting this message:
“Sorry, this link is not working or has expired. If you’d like to apply with your friend’s referral, you can ask them to send you a new referral link.”
I’ve just updated with a new link
Hi Stephen can you provide a new link?
Keep getting:
Sorry, this link is not working or has expired. If you’d like to apply with your friend’s referral, you can ask them to send you a new referral link.
There’s a new link
Is a new link available?, it is not working. Thanks
another link please, thank you
There’s a new link now
Hi there… tried the friend referral link for Amex Gold Business and it’s giving an error message for me. Tried safari and Chrome with same error message, fyi… “OUR APOLOGIES There seems to be something wrong. Please make sure you’ve clicked the right link and that the web address is entered
correctly. Otherwise, check with your friend to make sure they sent you to the right place.”
Hope there’s a fix for it again… thanks!
That should be fixed now
New link please.
Just updated the link
Need another link, please
There’s a new link now
New link needed again, please
I’ve just replaced the link
I just tried using the AMEX Business Gold link in Chrome, incognito Chrome, Safari and DuckDuckGo, all failed. I read Firefox worked for a previous user but I couldn’t use Firefox as it didn’t seem to be an option on a MacBook. Any suggestions? I would love to get the $200k offer. Thanks FM Team!!!
I’ve just added a new referral link
The link worked, thank you. Unfortunately I was not approved.:(
expired again! any chance you have another gold 200k? Or a platinum 250k w/only $15k spend?
Just changed the link 🙂
Link not working
There’s a new link now
Just applied for my p2 who is a sole prop. Never had an Amex business card but received the pop up that she is not eligible for welcome offer. I withdrew the application, but was wondering if this was normal? She does currently have asked consumer cards (Schwab platinum, Hilton). Thanks