The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card is one of the most popular travel rewards cards in the UK, and for good reason. If you’re looking for a powerful travel rewards card with no fee in the first year, the AMEX Gold card could be for you. With a generous welcome bonus, excellent earning potential, and plenty of travel perks, it’s a fantastic alternative to the AMEX Platinum. But is it right for you? Here’s what the AMEX Gold card offers!
Disclaimer: The content of this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial or professional advice. The information is correct as of 27th March 2025. Check the AMEX website for current benefits and offers.
AMEX is currently offering 38,000 Membership Rewards Points when you spend £3,000 in the first 3 months of membership. The offer ends on 27th May 2025.
In this post:
The American Express Gold Card in a Snapshot
Credit Card Name: Preferred Rewards Gold Card®
Annual Fee: Free for the first year, then an annual fee of £195
Supplementary Card Membership: The first is free, and then you can add additional supplementary cardholders at £45 per person per year. Supplementary cardholders do not get lounge access unless they use one of the four free passes when the primary cardholder is present.
Minimum Income: £20,000 per year
Representative APR: 87.8% APR variable
Purchase Rate: 30.4% variable
Main Credit Card Perks
- Generous welcome bonus
- A great points earning potential
- Four Priority Pass lounge passes per year
- Deliveroo Credit
- Travel Accident and Travel Inconvenience Insurance
- ‘The Hotel Collection’ Benefits
- Car Hire Benefits
The Welcome Bonus!
AMEX is famous for offering some of the best welcome bonuses in the UK, and AMEX Gold is no different. You would typically get 20,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £3,000 in the first 3 months of card membership, which is a pretty good deal, but this limited-time welcome bonus is even better!
Note: This offer will show different amounts for different people based on geo-targeting. You will most likely see an offer between 30,000 and 38,000 Membership Rewards points.
Membership Rewards Points
Membership Rewards points (MR points) are the points currency for American Express’s Membership Rewards programme. Most AMEX credit cards earn MR points when you spend unless the card is co-branded. For example, British Airways AMEX cards earn Avios rather than Membership Rewards points.
With the AMEX Gold card, you can earn:
- 1 MR Point per £1 spent on purchases
- 2 MR Points per £1 spent directly with airlines (terms apply).
- 3 MR Points per £1 spent when booking via AMEX Travel (American Express Cardmember exclusive travel agency)
Using Your Bonus
Say you were targeted for the full 38,000 bonus points offer. You need to spend £3,000 to get the bonus points. Your spending would earn 3,000 points, bringing the points earned to 41,000. Your points would be worth a minimum of £184.50 or more if some of your spending requirement is spent directly with airlines or with AMEX Travel!
Here’s what you could do with your points:
1,000 Points = £4.50
In most scenarios, 1,000 MR points = £4.50, including when you:
- Credit towards purchases on your statement
- Donate to charity
- Pay with Points using SafeKey at over 1,000 online retailers
- Shop at Amazon
- Shop at Paypal
- Book travel via AMEX Travel
Your 41,000 points would be worth £184.50 if you redeemed this way.
Other Ways to Spend Points
- Gift Cards and e-Codes (1,000 points = £5) – Your points would be worth £205
- Club Eurostar Points (15:1)
- Nectar Points (1:1)
Hotel and Airline Loyalty Programmes
You can transfer your MR points to hotel loyalty programmes such as Hilton (1:2), Radisson (1:3), and Marriott (2:3).
You can also transfer points to a wide range of airline loyalty programmes. If you can find good redemption deals, these often give the most value per point. Most have a transfer ratio of 1:1 (e.g. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Flying Blue). Emirates has a rate of 4:3, Delta at 10:1, and Singapore Airlines at 3:2.
American Express Gold Lounge Access
With the AMEX Gold Preferred Rewards Card, you will receive four complimentary lounge passes per year. This offer applies only to you and does not apply to supplementary cardholders.
Lounge access is given via Priority Pass, which means you have access to over 1,700 lounges, including over 370 in Europe. Your complimentary Priority Pass membership includes optional extra lounge visits priced at £24 (a benefit valued at £69). This is much cheaper than booking directly with the lounge or the walk-in rate. You can pre-book your visit or risk there being space on the day.
Alternative Options
There are many other ways to get lounge access for less. You can read all about how to do this in our guides:
- Lounge access via airline status
- Credit cards and bank accounts with lounge access
- Lounge access with lounge passes
The top options are:
- The AMEX Platinum Card: Unlimited lounge access for you and supplementary cardholders.
- DragonPass Membership: £379 per year for unlimited access. Guest visits are charged at £24 per person.
- Priority PassPrestige Membership: £449 for unlimited lounge access (£24 for guests) or £229 for 10 visits (£24 for guests).
- Lloyds Bank World Elite Mastercard: Unlimited lounge access for you and one guest via Priority Pass.
- HSBC Premier World Elite Credit Card: Unlimited lounge access for you and a supplementary cardholder via Priority Pass.
- Revolut Ultra: Unlimited lounge access via DragonPass.
- The Royal Bank of Scotland Premier Reward Black Account: Unlimited lounge access via DragonPass for you and your joint account holder.
- NatWest Reward Black: Unlimited lounge access via DragonPass.
- Ulster Bank ufirst Private Current Account: Unlimited lounge access for you and your joint account holder.
Deliveroo Credit
The AMEX Gold card comes with £120 Deliveroo credit per year. You can’t use the credit all at once. There is a limit of £5 off per order, a maximum of 2 times per month (£10 per month).
Is it Worth It? If you already use Deliveroo, the chances are you order at least two times per month. Over the years, this benefit will add £120 in value to your card—perfect for the year the card is free and offsetting your yearly fee to £75 in the second year.
You can also get even more value by ordering via Avios.com, where you can earn up to 2 Avios per £1 spent (5-7 for new customers) + 1 Membership Rewards Point per £1 spent on your AMEX card.
Adding to Your Deliveroo Savings with Deliveroo Plus
You can get even more value from Deliveroo when you also have Amazon Prime. Deliveroo Plus Silver is usually monthly month and offers free delivery on orders over £25. You can get 1 year of free Deliveroo Silver with Amazon Prime.
If you spend enough on your Deliveroo order, you’ll get free delivery (+ £5 off your bill with AMEX Gold).
If you remember to cancel, there’s also a month-free trial of Deliveroo Plus!
Travel Accident and Inconvenience Insurance
AMEX Gold travel insurance provides payments for flight delays, missed connections, baggage delays, loss of life, and more.
Is it worth it? This is not a travel insurance policy like you get with AMEX Platinum—you will need to purchase travel insurance on top of this. However, it’s a nice benefit to have.
Car Rental Benefits
Your card will give you special privileges when you are enrolled in the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards and Avis Preferred Plus loyalty programmes.
Hertz
Once enrolled, you will benefit from 10% off standard rates, a waived additional driver fee and a one-car class upgrade for rentals of 5+ days (subject to availability).
To benefit, you must register your AMEX card as a form of payment to your profile and enter your Gold Plus Rewards number when booking.
Avis
You will receive complimentary Avis Preferred Plus status, which grants you a free additional driver at no extra cost, priority over non-Avis Preferred members for access to the newest available car, and a car upgrade to the next highest class (subject to availability).
To get your free status, you must enrol via AMEX with your email address and use ‘Gold’ as your membership passcode.
The Hotel Collection’ Benefits
This is one of the most underrated benefits of the AMEX Gold card and is often underadvertised. The Hotel Collection features over 1,000 hotels. When you stay two or more consecutive nights, you’ll get benefits (subject to availability) which include:
- 12:00 check-in
- Late Check-out
- A one-category room upgrade
The best benefit is a complimentary $100 credit to use towards eligible charges such as food and drink, spa, or non-property charges. This credit is given by deducting up to $100 or the local currency equivalent off the final hotel bill and expires at check-out. Eligible charges do not include taxes, gratuities, fees, or the cost of the room. Each hotel may also have additional restrictions.
You also have the option to pay for your stay using MR points.
Is it worth it? While not as comprehensive as the AMEX Platinum Fine Hotels and Resorts benefits, the Hotel Collection still offers excellent value. You won’t be booking directly with the hotel. Therefore, your elite status benefits (if you have elite status) won’t be recognised. Some people have also reported inflated rates when booking via the Hotel Collection.
Up to 12,500 Bonus Points Each Year
The AMEX Preferred Rewards Gold card is one of the best travel credit cards for earning MR points. You’ll get 3 points per £1 spent with AMEX Travel (more than the 2 points offered via AMEX Platinum), 2 points directly with airlines and 1 point per £1 spent. There’s also the generous sign-up bonus and an additional spend-based bonus.
You can earn up to 12,500 bonus points each year based on your spending:
| Total Spend | Base Points Earned | Bonus Points Earned | Total Membership Rewards Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| £5,000 | 5,000 | 2,500 | 7,500 |
| £10,000 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 15,000 |
| £15,000 | 15,000 | 7,500 | 22,500 |
| £20,000 | 20,000 | 10,000 | 30,000 |
Additional Benefits
- Purchase and Refund Protection: Extra protection is available when you buy eligible items with your card.
- Global Assist: A 24-hour emergency helpline.
- AMEX Offers: Receive tailored offers based on your spending habits. These offers provide statement credits or bonus points when you spend at participating merchants.
- AMEX Experiences: Access to the AMEX Lounge at the O2 London. Access to pre-sale and reserved tickets.
- Referral Bonus: Earn 9,000 points when you invite a friend, up to 90,000 points per year.
The AMEX Gold Card as a Starter Card
The AMEX Gold gives you access to a fantastic welcome bonus and some good travel perks. You’ll get travel benefits like lounge access and valuable extras like Deliveroo credit. Plus, the spending threshold for the welcome bonus is more achievable (£3,000 in three months).
It’s also a free-for-the-first-year card, so you can get used to how AMEX works, paying your bill back each month and enjoying the travel benefits. Then, you can decide whether it’s a card worth paying £195 per year or whether you’d be better off with a free card or a more expensive card.
MR Points can be converted into a wide variety of things. You can see what you end up spending on and whether you like the flexibility or would prefer a specific credit card, like one of the British Airways or Virgin cards.
The Gold card is a great way to enjoy premium card perks without committing to a high annual fee.
The Value of the AMEX Gold Card
Example 1: Meeting the Minimum Spend and Enjoying the Travel Benefits
Deliveroo Savings: £120
Lounge Access: £96 (minimum)
38,000 Points Welcome Bonus + 3,000 points: £184.50 (minimum)
Total: £400.50
Example 2: A Frequent Traveller Who Regularly Spends on the Card
Welcome Bonus: 38,000 MR Points + 3000 for the £3,000 spend = 41,000 points
AMEX Travel: £3,000 = 9,000 points
Flight Bookings Directly With the Airline: £2,800 – 5,600 points
Miscellaneous spending – £1,200 – 1,200 points
Total Spend – £10,000 (bonus points = 5,000)
Total: 61,800 points – Worth £278.10 minimum. Add the value of the benefits above and you’re looking at a value of £494.10. That’s not even including the car hire benefits and Hotels Collection credit!
You can determine how many points you could earn based on your spending here.
AMEX Gold Vs AMEX Platinum
If you’re choosing between these two cards, make sure you also read our AMEX Platinum guide. The main consideration should be whether you can get value from the £650 annual fee by taking advantage of the AMEX Platinum benefits or whether you would get more value from a card with a £195 fee.
You’ll still get MR points, the features offered with AMEX cards (AMEX offered, etc.), and benefits on a smaller scale (e.g., £120 Deliveroo credit instead of £400 dining credit). The Platinum card is suited to high spenders, whereas the Gold card bonuses only reach £25,000 spent (points bonus).
The Gold welcome bonus is also easier to reach at £3,000 vs £10,000 for the Platinum card. If you don’t think either of these cards is a good fit, there are plenty of other options!
How AMEX Gold Compares to Other Popular Credit Cards
| AMEX Gold | AMEX Platinum | British Airways | British Airways Premium Plus | Virgin Atlantic Reward + | |
| Annual Fee |
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| p Bonus |
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5,000 bonus Avios are waiting for you when you spend £2,000 in your first three months | 30,000 Avios when you spend £6,000 in the first 3 months |
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| Points Earning |
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1 Avios per £1 spent | 3 Avios/£1 with BA & BA Holidays
1.5 Avios/£1 general spend |
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| Other Travel Benefits |
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Final Words
If you’re unsure about committing to a higher-fee card like the AMEX Platinum, the Gold card provides an excellent opportunity to test the waters. With the 38,000-point welcome bonus available until 27th May 2025, now is a great time to consider this card.
What do you think about the AMEX Gold Card? Let us know in the comments below:
