American Express Gold
American Express · $325 annual fee

What the Amex Gold changes on every stack

Last verified September 15, 2026 ·Terms re-checked monthly·Report a wrong rate
Up to 100,000 pts welcome offer
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The Gold is a dining and grocery card, and neither of those categories touches a retailer on this site. So on Bergdorf, Dyson, Sephora, and Mr Porter it earns 1 point per dollar, same as the Platinum. What the Gold does bring to a stack: 3x on flights booked direct, 5x on prepaid hotels through Amex Travel (up from 2x since April 2026), access to the same broadly targeted Amex Offers (Mr Porter $100 on $500 is live), and the ability to take Rakuten cashback as Membership Rewards. It doesn't get Fine Hotels + Resorts or the Platinum-only offers. For a shopper who won't use the Platinum's credits, the Gold captures most of the card-layer value at a third of the fee.

The 30-second answer

How this card earns on Stackable retailers

  • Hotels prepaid through Amex Travel
    Raised from 2x in April 2026; covers The Hotel Collection, not FHR (Gold has no FHR access)
    5x
  • Flights booked direct or via Amex Travel
    Qatar, Virgin Atlantic, Alaska, ITA, Turkish
    3x
  • Restaurants worldwide; US supermarkets
    $50,000 and $25,000 annual caps. No retailer on this site codes this way; a hotel restaurant on the room bill codes as hotel
    4x
  • Every other retailer on this site
    Fashion, home, tech, beauty, car rental, tickets, vacation rentals
    1x
  • Rakuten payout
    Switch Rakuten's payout to Membership Rewards
    1 pt / 1¢
Welcome offer
Up to 100,000 pts
After $8,000 in six months, as seen in August 2026. Offers vary by applicant.
Apply with our referral →What it changes

Referral link: Chase pays us bonus points if you're approved; your offer doesn't change. Go direct instead.

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Credits, and which ones stack with a portal

CreditValueHow it worksPortal stacks?
Dining credit
Direct only		$10 / moGrubhub, Seamless, Five Guys, Cheesecake Factory, Wonder, Buffalo Wild Wings. Enrollment required.No
Resy
Direct only		$50 × 2January to June and July to December at US Resy restaurants. Enrollment required.No
Uber Cash
In-app		$10 / moUS rides and Eats, expires monthly.No
Dunkin'
Direct only		$7 / moUS Dunkin' locations, enrollment required.No
Uber One
Direct only		$96 onceOne-time credit toward an annual Uber One membership bought by October 30, 2026 (new in 2026).No
The Hotel Collection
Amex Travel only		$100 / stayOn-property credit at checkout on prepaid two-night stays through Amex Travel. Not a statement credit, and Gold has no Platinum-style $300 hotel credit.No

What the Gold is for

The Gold pays for itself at restaurants and supermarkets, then earns 1x on almost everything else. Its shopping value on this site is indirect: it makes you a Membership Rewards member, which unlocks the Rakuten points payout and the Amex Offers that are broadly targeted rather than Platinum-only.

The two multipliers that reach this site

3x on flights booked direct. Qatar, Virgin Atlantic, Alaska, ITA, and Turkish all qualify when you buy on the airline’s site (which is also where the portal tracks, so the two stack).

5x on prepaid hotels through Amex Travel. Amex raised this from 2x in April 2026 for the card’s 60th anniversary. It applies to The Hotel Collection, which the Gold can book, and not to Fine Hotels + Resorts, which it can’t. Marriott and some Four Seasons properties appear in THC. The Hotel Collection is not on any cashback portal.

Amex Offers on the Gold

The Gold sees the broadly targeted Amex Offers: Mr Porter’s $100 on $500 (through November 8), Dyson’s 2% up to $250 (through November 2), the rotating airline offers, and whatever else Amex targets to your account. It does not see the Platinum-only set launched in July 2026 (Bose $75, Nordstrom $50, TUMI $50, the FHR property promotions). The offer tracker marks which is which.

Membership Rewards

Same currency and partners as the Platinum: 1:1 to most airline partners and Marriott, 1:2 to Hilton, live 30% bonuses to British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus (through September 27) and Hilton (through October 14). Worth 1 to 2 cents; this site uses 1.5 for math.

What it changes, by retailer

RetailerWith this card
Mr Porter$100 on $500 Amex Offer live through November 8, broadly targeted (Gold cardholders see it too). Stacks with the 10% code and either portal.
Marriott5x only through The Hotel Collection (two-night minimum, $100 property credit, no portal). Book direct through TopCashback and the Gold earns 1x; the Bonvoy Brilliant's 6x is the better direct card.
Four SeasonsGold has no FHR access. Some Four Seasons properties are in The Hotel Collection at 5x with a $100 credit, but no $300 statement credit. The Platinum is the Four Seasons card.
Qatar, Virgin Atlantic, Alaska, ITA, Turkish3x on fares booked direct. The rotating airline Amex Offers (Alaska $80 on $400 through September 30) are broadly targeted and apply here.
Sephora1x plus the live +5 points per dollar in-store offer (about $22 at the cap). The Sephora Visa's 4% back beats it as the payment card.
Bose, NordstromThe $75 Bose and $50 Nordstrom offers are Platinum-only. A Gold cardholder won't see them.
Bergdorf Goodman, Sixt, StubHub1x on the card, but Rakuten's 15%, 12%, and 10% become 15, 12, and 10 Membership Rewards per dollar if your payout is set to MR. On a $1,500 Bergdorf order that's 22,500 points.

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FAQ

Does the Gold's 4x apply anywhere on this site?
No. Restaurants and US supermarkets are the 4x categories, and none of the retailers here code that way. A hotel restaurant charged to your room codes as hotel (1x, or 5x if prepaid through Amex Travel). Dining out on a trip, yes; the trip itself, no.
Gold or Platinum for a shopper?
For the retailers on this site the two cards earn the same 1x. The Platinum adds FHR, the $300 hotel credit, and Platinum-only offers (Bose, Nordstrom); the Gold costs $570 less and sees most of the broadly targeted offers (Mr Porter). If you won't use the Platinum's credits, the Gold captures most of the shopping value.
Does the Gold get Fine Hotels + Resorts?
No. FHR is Platinum, Business Platinum, and Centurion only. The Gold gets The Hotel Collection: prepaid two-night stays through Amex Travel with a $100 on-property credit and, since April 2026, 5x points.
Do Amex Offers on the Gold stack with a portal?
Yes, same as any Amex Offer. The offer is triggered by the merchant transaction on the card, the portal by the click. Exceptions are offers whose terms exclude third-party cashback or route through Amex Travel.
How does the Rakuten payout work with the Gold?
Any Amex card that earns Membership Rewards qualifies. Set Rakuten's payout preference to Membership Rewards and each quarterly payment lands as points at one point per cent of cashback. It isn't retroactive, so switch before the quarter closes.

Sources

What we read to write this page. Every link is the company's own page, not a summary of it.

Paxton Pennington
Written and verified by the Stackable team · Paxton Pennington, founder

Stackable started when a search for the best week to buy luggage turned up only coupon sites that were wrong, expired, or worse. Every page here is the team reading the portal's own store page, the issuer's offer terms, and the retailer's policies, on the date shown, with a named person accountable for it. How pages are made · LinkedIn

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FHR, the $300 hotel credit, and the Platinum-only offers.

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The $95 card with 3x on Vrbo and 2x on other travel.

Rakuten, explained

How to take cashback as Membership Rewards.