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Holding an Amex Gold Card in Rural America

I live in the Appalachian Mountains, and after 20 years in the U. S. Marine Corps, and 20 years with the U. S. Forest Service, I make a pretty good living. So much so, I currently carry a fair amount of premium credit/charge cards; however, because I live over 150 miles away from a "Major City", it is difficult for me to fully take advantage of American Express Annual Fee Cards. As previously stated, I currently hold several Amex Annual Fee Cards, but it's the Amex Gold Card that bothers me the most. Don't get me wrong, when I'm in Atlanta, Charlotte, or Washington, D.C., I take full advantage of my Amex Gold Card Benefits. However, in terms of every day spending here at home, I find it hard to take advantage of the Amex Gold Card perks that actually make it worth $325.00 a year annual fee.

At home, it is almost impossible to take advantage of Resy and Dining Credits, along with any rideshare credits available with the Amex Gold Card. It's actually difficult to even take advantage of the Dunkin Donuts credit without driving 20 miles out of my way; therefore, here is my ultimate question. Because I will invariably transfer the Amex Gold Card Membership Points to either my Hilton or Delta account, should I just apply for the Amex Delta Reserve Card or Hilton Honors Reserve Card? Let me know what you think.

5 comments

Comments (5)

Mark Reese

Mar 28

If I were in the same situation, I'd considering downgrading to the Amex Green Card or simply cancelling the Gold altogether. Paying $325/yr. for a card that isn't able to be justified means Amex would be winning. Provided Grocery Stores + Restaurants are relevant categories for my lifestyle, I'd consider replacing with one of the following

Citi Strata Premier (3X supermarkets + dining)
Capital One Savor (3% groceries + dining)
Citi Custom Cash (5% Top Eligible Spend Category, up to $500/billing cycle: supermarkets + restaurants are both eligible)
U.S. Bank Altitude Go (4X dining, 2X groceries)

Edited

Mark Reese

Mar 29

Replying to

If you value maintaining the long-term Amex relationship, then consider a downgrade to the Green Card. That will roughly cut the annual fee you pay in half and maintain your account age, payment, history, etc.

Edit: you already have an Amex Green Card, yes? How old is that account?

Edited

Jim Chambers

Apr 09

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Replying to

As always, thank you for the advice! I have actually been in Charlotte, NC for the past 10 days, and I had a chance to experience how one can truly capitalize on the the American Express Gold Card. I was able to use the Uber, Resy, and other credits/offers on a daily basis, and it will definitely help in order to get value from the $325.00 annual fee. So here is the bottom line for me....if a holding a card takes me out of my normal spending habits at home, should I face reality and drop the card?

Mark Reese

Apr 10

Replying to

Glad you got to use those benefits! For your question, are you saying that the monthly credits would only get used for 1,2 or 3 months of the 12 total per year?