My first year with the American Express Gold Rewards Card

This is the fifth and final installment in my series on the American Express Gold Rewards Card. In this post, I will look at my experience with the Card over the past year.

Earning
Years ago, I got my first American Express Card (Blue Sky) simply because I wanted to be rewarded for my spending at Costco. Now with my new Gold Rewards Card, my usage of American Express has expanded greatly partly due to the double points per dollar earned on eligible gas, grocery, drug store and travel purchases. I do not pull out any other card when I am at these locations as I want to ensure I earn the most points on every purchase I make. The card also makes its way out for other purchases as I see fit. In the first year of having the card, I earned nearly 90,000 Membership Rewards points (including the sign up bonus). As of late, my use of the card has expanded due to a bonus offer I received from American Express.

Bonus Offer
In September, I received a mail out from American Express that offered me 5,000 bonus Membership Rewards points if I spent $5,000 on my card by January 15th, 2012. Well, suffice to say I hit that $5,000 mark by the beginning of November, so I should see that nice little bonus in the new year. A nice perk from American Express I must say! I would love to hear if anyone else received this or some other targeted bonus for using their American Express Gold Rewards card. If you did not receive this bonus, don't fret as I am sure this was not the last targeted offer American Express will offer on this card.

Redeeming
In the first year of cardmembership, I made one redemption with the Membership Rewards points I had earned on the Gold Rewards Card. That redemption utilized the TripFlex option of Membership Rewards (see this post for a detailed account of TripFlex) and I must say that it was totally painless. Essentially I had booked flights to Maui for my family using an existing credit I had with Air Canada, but the value of the tickets exceeded the credit by just over $600.00 and I paid that difference with my American Express Gold Rewards Card. As soon as I saw the amount from Air Canada on my online statement, I called up Membership Rewards and within two minutes had them redeem a little over 60,000 points against that charge. Now they say it can take up to one billing cycle to see that credit on your account, but it showed up on my online statement within three days. This is a feature I will definitely make use of again. In fact, in the New Year I will be paying for my hotel for my next trip to Maui on the card and redeeming the points against that charge once it shows up on my account.

Perks
In addition to an accelerated earn rate and flexible redemption options, a great perk offered on the Gold Rewards Card is Front of the Line, which grants Cardmembers early access to concerts and events across Canada. I utilized this feature to get four tickets to the Selena Gomez show in Toronto this past August and was able to treat my daughters to their first ever concert. When we got to the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, we discovered another perk of being an American Express Cardmember - an exclusive entrance for that allowed us to bypass the much longer general admission line!

All in all, my first year with this card has been wonderful, it came free (all new approvals have the first year free) and I have happily paid the annual fee for the next year as I will continue to use this card frequently.

Click here to learn more about the American Express Gold Rewards Card