Not All Amex “Gold” Cards Are Equal — Here’s What You Need To Know

With the introduction of the American Express® Gold Card (which was formerly known as the Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card), I’ve received quite a few questions about whether authorized users on American Express Platinum Card® receive this improved earning rate as well.

Let me explain where this confusion/question comes from, and of course, answer the question.

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The Amex Platinum Card has great benefits

American Express Platinum Card® has lots of great perks (Enrollment is required for select benefits) that more than justify the $895 annual fee for me (Rates & Fees). Among other things, the card offers:

• An up to $200 annual airline fee credit
• A $200 annual Uber credit
• Hilton Honors™ Gold Status and Marriott Bonvoy® Gold Status
• Access to Amex Centurion Lounges
• Access to the Delta Sky Club when flying Delta same day
• A Priority Pass™ membership
• 5x points on airfare purchased directly with airlines or Amex Travel (up to $500k in calendar year purchases and then 1x)
• A Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit
• up to $219 back on a CLEAR+ membership every year

I primarily like American Express Platinum Card® for the Amex Centurion Lounge access, Delta Sky Club access, and 5x points on airfare purchased directly from airlines.

Access Amex Centurion Lounges with the Platinum Card®

The way I view it, the $200 annual airline fee credit, $200 annual Uber credit, and up to $219 back on a CLEAR membership every year help greatly offset the annual fee, making my real cost for lounge access next to nothing.

The two authorized user options on the Platinum Card®

This is where the confusion starts. If you have American Express Platinum Card® you have two options for adding authorized users.

The first option is to add Platinum Card® authorized users for $195 each (Rates & Fees). I consider this to be an good value, since the authorized users get Amex Centurion Lounge access, Delta Sky Club access, a Priority Pass™ membership, and more. Getting the most comprehensive lounge access perk offered by any credit card for under $200 is a worthy consideration.

But there’s another option that American Express added not too long ago. You can also add up to 99 authorized users on the Platinum Card®, though the authorized users will get a Gold Card rather than the Platinum Card®.

This is a great low-cost option if you’re looking to add authorized users who can spend on your account without actually having them get the benefits.

What rewards do authorized user Gold Cards get?

So this gets at the question I’ve been asked several times, which is along the lines of:

“Could I just add Gold Card authorized users on the Platinum Card, and they’d start earning the amazing 4x points at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets that the new Amex Gold Card offers?”

Unfortunately not.

If you get a Gold Card from being an authorized user on an American Express Platinum Card®, you earn 5x points on airfare purchased directly from airlines and through amextravel.com, and one point per dollar on all other eligible purchases. The return on spend exactly matches that of the Platinum Card®.

You’d have to directly have the American Express® Gold Card, or be an authorized user on the Amex Gold Card, to earn 4x points at restaurants worldwide (on up to $50k in purchases per calendar year and then 1x) and 4x points on U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 of purchases per calendar year and then 1x.)

So even though both cards have the title of “Gold Card,” the benefits are different based on how you get the card.

Bottom line

If have an American Express® Gold Card you earn the incredible return on restaurants and U.S. supermarkets. You can add authorized users, and they’d earn the same return on spend.

However, if you add Gold Card authorized users to American Express Platinum Card®, those cardmembers would still earn points based on the Platinum Card® rewards structure, and not based on the Gold Card rewards structure.

The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: American Express Platinum Card® (Rates & Fees).