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Amex Gold: terms, score and downsides

Not credit advice. Facts and math from issuer pages and the CFPB, each with its date. Offers change; approval depends on your credit. Verify on the issuer's site.

Rubric score 58.1% across 78 cards. Issuer page ↗

Downsides first

$325 annual fee
APR up to 28.74% if you carry a balance
Penalty APR Prime + 26.74% (variable)
Late fee up to $40
3x on flights booked direct/Amex Travel only; dining/grocery credits not counted.

Terms & fees

IssuerAmerican Express
Typetravel
Annual fee$325 americanexpress.com, 2026-10-11
Regular purchase APR19.74%–28.74% variable americanexpress.com, 2026-10-11
Rewards4x restaurants (up to $50k) & U.S. supermarkets (up to $25k); 5x prepaid hotels via AmexTravel; 3x flights americanexpress.com, 2026-10-11
Sign-up bonus (≈$)not found americanexpress.com, 2026-10-11
Intro APRnone Charge card with Pay Over Time; no intro APR offer americanexpress.com, 2026-10-11
Foreign transaction feenone Foreign Transaction: None americanexpress.com, 2026-10-11
Penalty APRPrime + 26.74% Variable: Prime Rate + 26.74% per Amex agreement rate table consumerfinance.gov, 2026-06-30
Late feeup to $40 up to (first and repeat late fee) files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
Balance transfer feenot found files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
Cash advance fee5% files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
Credit needed720+ (CFPB TCCP targeted tiers) files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
Grace period25 days files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
Cash advance APR29.49% files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
CFPB survey APR (2025-12-31)19.49%–29.24% files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31 older; issuer figure above is newer

Complaint record (CFPB)

Complaints, last 12 months11,574
Trend▲ 14% (last 12 mo 11,574 vs prior 12 mo 10,155)
Timely response (last 36 mo)99.5%
Per $1B deposits (12 mo)67.47
Top issueIncorrect information on your report
Insurance statusFDIC-insured: American Express National Bank (cert 27471, active; deposits $171.6B as of 06/30/2026)

Company-level (AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY), all products, as of 2026-10-12. American Express complaints: full record → Shown for context; does not change the score.

Score breakdown

Annual fee 5.0/10Annual fee $325 (as of 2026-10-11). Rubric: $0=10, ≤$95=8, ≤$395=5, ≤$695=3, more=1 (perks/credits are not counted).
Rewards rate 6.0/10Base 1% on everything, top category 5% (as of 2026-10-11; points/miles valued at 1¢). Score = base/2%×7 + min(top,6)/6%×3. 4x restaurants (up to $50k) & U.S. supermarkets (up to $25k); 5x prepaid hotels via AmexTravel; 3x flights
Sign-up bonus n/a/10not found — unknown, scored 2.7/10 (lower of neutral 5 and comparison median)
Intro 0% APR 0.0/10Charge card with Pay Over Time; no intro APR offer (as of 2026-10-11). Score = months/21×10.
Regular APR 7.0/1019.74%–28.74% variable (Pay Over Time feature) (as of 2026-10-11); midpoint 24.24%. Score = (34 − midpoint)/1.4, 0–10.
Foreign transaction fee 10.0/10No foreign transaction fee (as of 2026-10-11).
Regulatory record (CFPB) 10.0/10Issuer American Express: Base 10, no actions in last 5 yrs found. Note: No CFPB enforcement action found in the last 5 years in our search

0.143×5.0 + 0.143×6.0 + 0.143×2.7* + 0.143×0.0 + 0.143×7.0 + 0.143×10.0 + 0.143×10.0 = 5.82 → 58.1% (* unknown, imputed)

Is Amex Gold worth it? (break-even math) →Value for my spending →

Compare with

Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred · Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Reserve · Amex Gold vs Citi Strata Premier · Amex Gold vs Capital One Venture · Amex Gold vs Capital One Venture X · Amex Gold vs Amex Platinum

No paid placement. No issuer pays VaultRubric for inclusion or rank; links go to the issuer's own page. Ranks come only from the published rubric below.

FAQ

What is the Amex Gold annual fee?

$325

What is the Amex Gold APR?

19.74%–28.74% variable

Estimates, not financial advice. Taxes, insurance, PMI and fees vary by lender, county and city; confirm with your lender, dealer and state agency before acting.