Amex Gold Card Application Approval Strategy & Tips

Link: Apply now for the American Express® Gold Card

The American Express® Gold Card (review) is one of Amex’s most lucrative cards for earning Membership Rewards points. While the card has a steep $325 annual fee (Rates & Fees), it’s potentially easy to justify for anyone who loves to eat, thanks to the rewards structure, the credits and benefits, and more.

Another huge incentive to apply for the card is that it features a large welcome offer, which makes the card especially compelling for the first year. In this post, I want to talk about the process of getting approved for the Amex Gold Card, and why it might be easier to get approved than you might think.

Basic Amex Gold application rules & restrictions

To start, here are the basic application restrictions on applying for the Amex Gold Card:

• The welcome offer is “once in a lifetime,” so you’re not eligible for the offer if you currently have the card, or have had the card in the past; sometimes there will be targeted offers with “no lifetime language,” in which case you may be eligible for an offer again
• You may also not be eligible for the welcome offer on this card if you have or have had The Platinum Card® from American Express (review); I’ll talk more about that below
• While Amex typically has a limit of letting someone have at most five Amex credit cards (including personal and business cards), that doesn’t include this product, since it’s not a traditional credit card
• Amex will sometimes decide that people aren’t eligible for welcome offers on cards despite otherwise following the rules, and in those cases, you should get a pop-up during the application process

Get the Amex Gold before getting the Amex Platinum

I want to emphasize a point that I made above, regarding eligibility for the welcome offer. Specifically, you may not be eligible for the welcome offer on the Amex Gold Card if you have or have had the Amex Platinum Card.

This is an important point, and should play into everyone’s Amex card application strategy. In some cases, Amex card welcome offer eligibility is card specific, while in other cases, there’s a “family card” rule, as we see here.

So if you are considering picking up the Amex Platinum Card, I’d highly recommend getting the Amex Gold Card first. Not only could the two cards be great complements, but you don’t want to leave that huge welcome offer on the table, when you could qualify for both, rather than just one.

Why the Amex Gold is easy to get approved for

Anecdotally speaking, I find the Amex Gold Card to be one of the easier personal cards to get approved for, despite it being relatively premium. As long as you have a decent credit score and income, you’ll find that a lot of people report instant approvals on this card.

The fact that this card is quite easy to get approved for is likely no coincidence. This is a hybrid card rather than a traditional credit card, meaning that in theory, the balance has to be paid off in full each billing cycle. That makes the product lower risk for the card issuer.

Why applying for the Amex Gold is very low risk

Sometimes people are hesitant to apply for a card, because they’re worried they might be rejected. Now, getting denied for a card isn’t a big deal, but it’s even less big of a deal with Amex. When you go to the application page for the Amex Gold Card, you’ll see a note about Amex’s “Apply With Confidence” feature.

With this, you can know if you’re approved for a card with no impact on your credit score. You’ll only have a hard pull in the event that you accept the offer.

Also keep in mind that if you’re not sure if you’re eligible for the welcome offer, Amex will let you know before you accept the offer that you’re not eligible. So as long as there’s not a message like that during your application process, you’d be eligible for the offer.

While we might not always like Amex’s restrictions on approving people for cards and giving them welcome offers, I do appreciate the transparency in the application process, as it takes the guessing game and risk out of picking up new cards.

Bottom line

The Amex Gold Card is one of Amex’s most popular and rewarding cards. The card potentially has a huge welcome offer, has an excellent rewards structure, and offers credits and benefits that can largely offset the annual fee.

Best of all, I find the card to be easy to be approved for, assuming you have decent income and credit. Just be strategic with the order in which you apply for cards, and pick up this card before picking up the Amex Platinum Card.

If you’ve applied for the Amex Gold Card, what was your experience like?

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