American Express Business Gold Rewards Card

The American Express Business Gold Rewards Card is the mid-range small business credit card by American Express, which comes with a very decent welcome bonus if you’re able maximize it fully.

Bonuses & Fees

Currently, the American Express Business Gold Rewards Card offers a record-high bonus of up to 100,000 Membership Rewards points, awarded as follows:

• 40,000 MR points upon spending $7,500 in the first three months
• 40,000 MR points upon spending $30,000 in the first year
• 20,000 MR points upon making a purchase in months 15–17

The annual fee is $199.

Amex also offers a “Quarterly Purchase Bonus” which awards 10,000 MR points upon spending $20,000 in each of the four calendar quarters every year. No enrollment or registration is required – all of your purchases will count towards the quarterly bonus. Indeed, this is quite a large amount and not everyone would be able to take advantage of this feature.

The card also allows you to earn 30,000 MR points for every referral you make to any card in the Membership Rewards family until August 18, 2025, up to a maximum of 75,000 MR points a year.

At Prince of Travel, our favourite tool to use with minimum spending requirements is Chexy, a Canadian platform that allows you to pay a host of bills – including rent, tuition, utility bills, car lease payments, property taxes, and much more – with a credit card and earn points. There’s a 1.75% processing fee for each payment, but when you consider the value of the points you earn from spending and welcome bonuses, it’s easy to justify.

How Much Is This Offer Worth?

Here’s a breakdown of what the welcome bonus for the American Express Business Gold Rewards Card is worth. Keep in mind that this doesn’t take into consideration the potential value of other card benefits, which we’ll outline in detail below.

We value American Express Membership Rewards points at 2.2 cents per point, and using that value, we’d peg a value of $2,200 on the total welcome bonus of 100,000 MR points alone.

Plus, assuming the card’s baseline earning rate of 1 Membership Rewards point per dollar spent, you’d earn an additional 30,000 MR points for meeting the total $30,000 minimum spending requirement. We’d value these points at an additional $660.

Therefore, in the first two years as a cardholder, the minimum amount of net value you can expect to get from this card’s welcome bonus is $2,462: $2,200 from the welcome bonus, $660 by spending the bare minimum to earn the welcome bonus (with the card’s baseline earning rate of 1 MR point per dollar spent),and then minus the card’s annual fee of $199 in the first and second years.

Of course, you can certainly squeeze more value out of the card by leveraging the card’s other benefits; however, this is unique to each cardholder, and our valuation assumes a minimum amount of value rather than a maximum amount of value.

Earning Rewards

With the Business Gold Rewards Card, you’ll earn a flat 1 MR point per dollar spent on all purchases. This is a very simple structure and the earning rate is standard. However, it can be a decent addition if you incur a lot of business expenses and can take advantage of the quarterly bonus which can amount up to an additional 50% more points.

Redeeming Rewards

The Membership Rewards program offers outstanding redemption opportunities. This is primarily because it’s a flexible, transferable rewards currency.

Perks & Benefits

While the Business Gold Rewards Card lacks some of the premium travel benefits that you’ll find on the higher-end American Express cards, you’ll still get all of the standard perks of being an American Express cardholder.

If you enjoy watching concerts, theatre productions, or other special events, your Platinum card will give you access to presale and reserved tickets through Amex’s Front Of The Line® program and with Amex Experiences.

You can also take advantage of specially-tailored Amex Offers for extra value when used at specific dining venues, shops, and more.

Lastly, for your peace of mind, the card includes round-the-clock customer service, emergency replacement if lost, and complete fraud protection.

Insurance Coverage

Insurance isn’t necessarily the strong suit of the Business Gold Rewards Card, but it does include the following coverages if you charge your travel expenses to the card:

• Flight delay insurance: Up to $500 (aggregate maximum with Baggage Delay insurance), for food, accommodation and items purchased within 48 hours when your flight is delayed 4+ hours.
• Baggage delay insurance: Up to $500 (aggregate maximum with Flight Delay insurance), for items purchased within 4 days of arrival when your baggage is delayed 6+ hours. (Note: this is different from lost and stolen baggage insurance, which doesn’t cover delays)
• Lost or stolen baggage insurance: Up to $500 of coverage total for all insured persons.
• Hotel burglary insurance: Up to $500 coverage for stolen items (excluding cash).
• Travel accident insurance: Up to $100,000 of Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance.
• Car rental theft and damage insurance: Comprehensive coverage for up to 48 consecutive days for cars with an MSRP of up to $85,000.

One significant drawback: The Business Gold card does not include Emergency Medical Insurance – a crucial benefit many travellers rely on.

As a business credit card, it does offer Employee Card Misuse Protection of up to $100,000 per Basic Cardmember in the event an employee misuses their Supplementary Card for unauthorized charges after their termination.

Additionally, it is one of the few credit cards to offer Mobile Device Insurance. Coverage will be up to $1,000 per insured person, in the event of theft, loss or accidental damage, anywhere in the world, for up to a maximum of 2 years from the date of purchase.

Lastly, the card offers Purchase Protection^® Plan and Buyer’s Assurance^® Protection Plan, covering most eligible items you’ve purchased with your card up to $1,000 should they be stolen or damaged within 120 days of purchase, as well as an extended one-year warranty period on the manufacturer’s warranty.

Historical Offers