When you buy something using links found on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. This content is reviewed & supervised by The Los Angeles Times.
Earn 4X points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year in purchases, then 1X) and restaurants (plus takeout and delivery in the U.S.), 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com, and 1X points on other eligible purchases. $250 annual fee.
Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 per calendar year), 5X points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel, and 1X points on other purchases. $695 annual fee.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The American Express® Gold Card is ideal for everyday spending because it offers rewards points for dining out and shopping at U.S. supermarkets.
The Platinum Card® from American Express is the preferred choice for frequent travelers. By booking flights and longer hotel stays with this card, you can earn valuable benefits, including airport lounge access and statement credit opportunities.
Both cards generally require great or excellent credit. The Gold card is slightly more accessible, however, with an annual fee of $250[see rates and fees] compared to the Platinum card’s annual fee of $695[see rates and fees].
When choosing between these two Amex cards, consider your individual needs and opt for the card that aligns with your spending habits and travel frequency.
SUMMARY
The Amex Gold card is probably a better choice for those who want to earn at-home membership benefits. The Platinum card is designed to provide benefits to travelers.
Both the Amex Platinum and Gold cards require high credit scores and have a hefty entry price in the form of an annual fee. At the same time, they both offer numerous perks, including lucrative rewards points and statement credits.
Get the specific details for each of these American Express cards below and find out which card wins in various categories.
We’ll compare:
The welcome offer
Rewards points
Travel perks
Credits
Fees and rates
Eligibility
By understanding how these factors compare, you’ll be able to decide whether you should apply for the American Express Gold Card or Platinum Card.
Is Amex Gold or Platinum better?
In short, the Amex Platinum card is designed for travelers, while the Amex Gold card is better for everyday spending.
For frequent travelers, the Platinum card is a clear winner. By booking a few round-trip flights and paying for two-night (or longer) hotel stays with your card, you can earn enough benefits to make this card worth it. The card also comes with a few valuable statement credit opportunities on third-party purchases.
If you don’t take a significant trip at least semi-annually, the American Express Gold card may be a better choice. You can still benefit from Membership Rewards Points, and you’ll earn more when you purchase at U.S. supermarkets.
Why should I get the Amex Gold?
Consider the American Express® Gold Card if you don’t travel that often and would like options for maximizing rewards when you dine out, shop at U.S. supermarkets or make other everyday purchases.
You’ll still get some Amex travel perks and benefits, such as Uber Cash credit opportunities.
Consider the Platinum Card® from American Express if you do travel regularly. You can earn points on flights and hotel stays and get perks like special airport lounge access.
You probably don’t want to apply for both of these cards at the same time as it reduces your chance of earning the welcome bonus with each.
Some of the benefits, such as Uber Cash are the same across each card. Not all merchants take Amex cards, so that’s an important consideration.
If you have one of these cards in your wallet already, you might be better off looking for a mid-tier rewards card or cashback card from another card provider to add to your wallet instead of stacking Amex cards. Our guide on the best credit cards can help you decide which is right for you.
Amex Gold vs. Amex Platinum: Welcome offer
The Amex Gold credit card hedges out the Amex Platinum by a small margin when it comes to the welcome bonus.
The Amex Gold offers 60,000 Membership Rewards Points when you spend $6,000 in the first 6 months. In contrast, the Amex Platinum offers 80,000 Membership Rewards Points when you spend $8,000 in the first 6 months.
Throw in the fact that the Amex Gold only comes with a $250 annual fee while the Amex Platinum has a $695 annual fee, and you can get a bit more value from the bonus Membership Rewards on the Gold card overall.
Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can find even more generous promotional welcome offers for cards like the Gold or Platinum available through the American Express website or via the CardMatch tool.
Amex Gold vs. Amex Platinum: Rewards points
Both cards provide some pretty impressive ways to earn points.
The Gold card offers more chances to earn points on everyday spending while the Platinum card’s 5x Membership Rewards on travel makes it better for those who travel frequently.
Here’s how you earn with the Amex Gold Card:
4x Membership Rewards on restaurants and U.S. supermarkets. Supermarket rewards are up to $25,000 in purchases annually — after that, you earn 1x on supermarket earnings the rest of the year.
3x Membership Rewards on flights you book via the Amex travel site or directly with an airline
1x Membership Rewards on other eligible purchases
Here’s how you can earn with the Amex Platinum Card:
5x Membership Rewards on flights you book through Amex Travel, directly with airlines, or by calling 1-800-525-3355. You can earn at this level on qualifying purchases up to $500,000 annually. Then, flight purchases earn 1x points.
5x Membership Rewards on qualifying hotel stays booked via Amex Travel.
1x Membership Rewards on other eligible purchases.
Which card earns more?
How much you earn depends on the volume of eligible purchases you make with either card.
Imagine that you apply for the Amex Gold card and make the following purchases in the first 6 months:
$6,000 in eligible purchases at grocery stores = 24,000 rewards points
$3,000 in eligible purchases at restaurants = 12,000 rewards points
$2,000 in flights = 6,000 rewards points
$1,000 in other purchases = 1,000 rewards point
You would have spent enough to receive the 60,000 welcome bonus. The Total Membership Rewards earned is 118,000. That’s around $1,180 in value when you use the points to book travel through Amex’s portal.
Imagine that you apply for the Amex Platinum card and make the following points-earning purchases in the first 6 months:
$5,000 on eligible flights = 25,000 rewards points
$3,000 on eligible hotel stays = 15,000 rewards points
$4,000 on other purchases = 4,000 rewards points
In this scenario, you would also receive the 80,000 bonus points. The Total Membership Rewards points earned is 124,000. That’s around $1,240 in value when you use the points to book travel through Amex’s portal.
Amex Gold vs. Amex Platinum: Travel perks
American Express is known for travel perks, but in a side-by-side comparison, the Platinum card handily wins this category.
When you make rewards-earning travel purchases with the Platinum card, you unlock numerous valuable travel perks. On top of the perks discussed below, you can also get up to $189 CLEAR Plus credit, up to $200 in Uber Cash and up to $200 in airline fee credit. If you manage this American Express travel card wisely, you get well over the annual fee back in travel perk value.
Let’s take a look at some additional perks that come with these travel cards:
1
Airport lounge access
When you pay for flights with your Platinum card, you get access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection. That’s more than 1,400 lounges located across hundreds of international airports. You can relax in the lounges while waiting for flights and enjoy drinks and curated food menus. To find lounges, you can use the LoungeBuddy app.
See MoreSee Less
2
Hotel benefits
Both cards provide access to Amex-related perks at certain prepaid hotels. The Platinum card provides 4x rewards when you pay for hotel purchases you booked through Amex Travel and a $200 annual statement credit toward qualified hotel bookings.
See MoreSee Less
3
Car rental benefits
If you enroll your Platinum card, you can benefit from preferred status with National Car Rental, Hertz and Avis loyalty programs. Your card may help you get free upgrades, priority service and discounts.
See MoreSee Less
4
Concierge & travel assistance
The Gold card comes with American Express Preferred Access benefits. This lets you score premium seats for a variety of entertainment events. The Platinum card matches this perk and also includes Global Dining Access by Resy, which helps you get special access to elite restaurants globally.
See MoreSee Less
5
Travel insurance
Both cards come complimentary American Express travel insurance. However, the Platinum card comes with more types of coverage. For example, it includes trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance for eligible claims. This means that if you have to cancel your trip for a covered reason, American Express will reimburse you for up to $10,000 per trip and $20,000 per eligible credit card per 12-month period.
See MoreSee Less
Note: Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by Amex Assurance Company.
Amex Gold vs. Amex Platinum: Credits
Because you can earn enough statement credits with the Platinum card to cover the annual fee, this category goes to Platinum.
Check out the table below to compare the statement credit opportunities that come with card membership.
Statement credit type
Amex Platinum
Amex Gold
CLEAR Plus Membership
up to $189 credit for membership fees each calendar year
n/a
Hotel credits
up to $200 credit for prepaid hotel stays each calendar year
n/a
Airline fee credit
up to $200 credit for airline fees, such as those paid for carry-on luggage, each calendar year
n/a
Digital entertainment credit
up to $240 credit annually — limited to $20 monthly — on qualifying digital entertainment purchases
n/a
Equinox credit
up to $300 credit annually on Equinox membership fees
n/a
Saks credit
up to $100 credit annually on Saks purchases — limited to $50 in each half of the calendar year
n/a
Walmart+ credit
up to $155 credit annually for monthly Walmart+ membership fees
The PreCheck perk is available to American Express Gold Corporate card members but not consumer Gold card members.
Dining credit
n/a
Up to $120 annually — limited to $10 monthly — on dining purchases at, specific qualifying establishments, including Goldbelly, Grubhub, Wine.com, The Cheesecake Factory and Milk Bar
Both cards also offer opportunities for earning Uber Cash. While this isn’t a statement credit, it is an amount credited to your Uber account. You can use it to make purchases with Uber or Uber Eats.
Amex Gold vs. Amex Platinum: Fees & rates
The Amex Gold card wins this category because of its much lower annual fee.
Except for this annual fee, the fee and rate schedules for these cards are very similar.
We compare these rates and fees in the table below.
Even though travelers can earn much more value in a year than they pay in the annual fee with a Platinum card, the Gold card makes it easier for anyone to get enough value to cover the cost of the annual fee.
Amex Gold vs. Amex Platinum: Eligibility
When it comes to getting a card membership, both of these cards generally require great or excellent credit. Neither the Gold or Platinum cards are easier to get, as they’re both considered fairly high-end credit cards.
Earn 4X points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year in purchases, then 1X) and restaurants (plus takeout and delivery in the U.S.), 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com, and 1X points on other eligible purchases. $250 annual fee.
Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 per calendar year), 5X points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel, and 1X points on other purchases. $695 annual fee.
The Amex Platinum Card may be a better choice for travelers. If you can maximize your use of hotel credit opportunities and book travel through American Express Travel, you can earn out the annual fee and end up with extra money in your pocket.
Suppose you tend to book with a specific brand when traveling. In that case, you may want to consider looking into getting an airline credit card or hotel credit card, which reward you unbelievably well for booking with those particular chains.
Should I upgrade from Amex Gold to Platinum?
If you think that you would benefit from the better travel rewards, you might want to upgrade to the Amex Platinum card. Otherwise, stick with the Amex Gold Card for earning rewards on everyday spending.
Is Amex Gold easier to get than Platinum?
These are not mid-tier credit cards, and they both require a fairly high credit score for card membership. The Amex Gold Card is not especially easier to get approved for than the Platinum Card. To get an idea of if you may qualify, you can try getting pre-approved for an Amex card.
What are the best Amex Gold Card benefits?
The best benefits of the Gold Card are 4x Membership Rewards points on dining and groceries. These rewards help you turn everyday out-of-pocket spending into valuable perks for travel or other redemption options.
What are the best Amex Platinum Card benefits?
While the ability to earn 5x points on travel purchases is nice, the best benefits of the Platinum Card are the ample statement credits. You can earn around $1,500 — more than double the annual fee — each year in statement credits.
What is the most prestigious American Express card?
It’s probably the Centurion card. You can’t even apply for this card without an invitation, and Amex doesn’t publish the requirements for card membership.
Hayley Harrison is an active personal finance contributor for LA Times Compare. She is passionate about helping consumers make informed financial decisions and achieve their financial goals by simplifying complex topics relating to insurance and personal finance.
Hayley brings first-hand knowledge of the finance industry thanks to her previous experience as a branch manager for a mid-sized regional bank and as a licensed accident and health insurance agent.
* Opinions expressed here are those of the LA Times Compare Cards Team and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser or entities included within this content. See our editorial policy for more details.
All products or services are presented in this content without warranty. The information, including card details such as rates and fees, is accurate at the time of publish. Please visit each bank's website directly for the most current information.
LA Times Compare is committed to helping you compare products and services in a safe and helpful manner. Our goal is to help you make sound financial decisions and confidently choose your next credit card.
We work to ensure that the information and advice we offer on our website is objective, unbiased, verifiable, easy to understand for all audiences, and free of charge to our users. We don’t feature all products and services available on the market but provide a wide range of options from top providers offered through Bankrate. Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover.
We can offer our services thanks to partners that compensate us. This may affect which products we write about and where and how product offers appear on our website – such as the order in which they appear. This does not affect our ability to offer unbiased reviews and information about these products; all partner offers are clearly marked. Given our collaboration with top providers, it’s important to note that our partners are not involved in deciding the order in which brands and products appear. We leave this to our editorial team who review and rate each product independently.
Why Trust Us?
At LA Times Compare, our mission is to help our readers reach their financial goals by making smarter choices. As such, we follow stringent editorial guidelines to ensure we offer accurate, fact-checked and unbiased information that aligns with the needs of the Los Angeles Times audience.
Learn how we are compensated by our partners.
