The Offer
- Receive 10,000 Membership Rewards points after your first purchase within six months of account opening
The Fine Print
- Annual fee of $160 waived for first year
- Can add up to 5 additional cardholders for free, after that it is $35 per cardholder
- Earns at the following rates:
- 2x on flights book directly with the airlne
- 2x points at U.S restaurants
- 1x points on all other purchases
Our Verdict
This could be a somewhat useful product for people who struggle to meet minimum spend requirements, the standard bonus on this card is nothing (don’t get it confused with the Premier Rewards Gold which comes with a 50,000 point bonus and will be much better for most people).
I don’t know what the highest sign up bonus on this card has been and I’m also not sure if it’s counted as a seperate product to the standard gold card due to the ticketmaster affiliate (my guess is that it’s not, as the only mention of Ticketmaster on the application page is in the URL. For the majority of people I’d recommend waiting for a higher bonus on this card, as American Express bonuses are only once per lifetime. If you struggle to meet minimum spends, then this offer could make sense for you. A full list of credit cards with no minimum spend requirement can be found here.
Hat tip to reader Steve
It doesn’t seem to have good benefits at all for that steep annual fee.
I’m not even sure why this card still exists. It’s vastly inferior to the PRG, and it’s only slightly cheaper (and if you count the PRG’s airline reimbursement, it’s much more expensive).
Only positive for this bonus is that there’s no minimum spend, so I guess if you’re the kind of person who does big AoR’s with high min spend, you could throw this in as like an “add on item.”
I like the idea of “add on item” so much that I have to post this reply.
Okay I’m done.
This product is not new by any means. This was my first AMEX card I got in ’07. The card isn’t great in any way but I’m pretty sure this is the first time there has been a signup bonus.
I’d wager this is a diff product just like the plethora of AMEX Plats (co-partnerships) are considered diff products. but is this a new card/product, cause I’ve never heard of it.
I knew there were lesser or older Gold products out there (and that the PRG was a new/updated iteration). I think there are other AMEX Gold products with fewer features/benefits and lower earning structure/AF etc. but not sure if they have been completely phased out, officially or unofficially (zombie links)
funny thing is that this card doesnt even have bonus earning for entertainment/sports/tickets (or even online purchases), the very thing its co-brand TM would be useful for LOL not sure if thats by design or a glaring oversight. maybe its simply just a rebranded old Gold card which retains old features without much bother for the TM co-partner.
pros of this card tho: charge card, so doesnt use up one of your 4 CC spots. can get 5 more AUs, so dope to have 6 extra cards to make use of promos – sync, AMEX checkout, small biz sat etc.