Just last week, we learned that the American Express® Gold Card would lose a key benefit: Starting in 2022, the card will no longer get $100 in annual airline fee credits. At the time, we wondered what benefit might take its place. And now we know.
American Express announced Monday that starting “early next year,” Amex Gold cardholders will get up to $120 in credits for Uber each year. Just like the Uber credits cardholders get with the Platinum Card® from American Express, these will be doled out in monthly installments of up to $10 each month. And they'll automatically kick in as Uber Cash for both Uber Rides and Uber Eats orders.Â
It's unclear if this new benefit will go live first thing in January 2021 or if it may take a few weeks – or even months. But this addition will make the Amex Gold Card even more valuable next year: You'll get one last year with $100 in incidental airline fees plus the new monthly Uber credits of up to $10.
Read more:Â Amex Green, Gold & Platinum Cards: Which is Right For You?
What This Means for the Gold Card
The Amex Gold Card is easily one of the best credit cards on the market. And in our minds, it just got a little bit better.
You earn 4x points at all U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 each year, then 1x) and restaurants worldwide, plus 3x on all travel purchases. Those multipliers alone make it one of the strongest all-around credit cards. A 60,000-point welcome bonus after spending $4,000 within six months makes it that much more alluring – but be sure to check if you're targeted for a 75,000-point bonus via CardMatch.
Click Here to learn more about the American Express Gold Card.
These new Uber benefits are by no means earth-shattering, but they're a strong addition. It should be much easier to use $10 in. monthly Uber credits than the airline fee credits, which have gotten more confusing and harder to maximize over the years.
What stands out most about these new Uber credits is that they'll launch sometime in early 2021. That makes 2021 a lucrative year, as Amex Gold cardholders will also get a $100 airline fee credit before that benefit ends for 2022.
It also makes 2020 the best time to pick up the Gold Card, period. Since you get these credits on a calendar year basis – they reset Jan. 1, no matter when you opened your card – you could get a lot of credits by opening the Gold Card before the year ends.
In fact, the credits from 2020 and 2021 add up to $560 in your first year with the card, to be exact.
Keep in mind: This new Uber Cash benefit is a use-it-or-lose-it perk. That means you'll have to use that full $10 credit each and every month – an unused balance won't roll over.
Bottom Line
It's not the best, most surprising new benefit in the world of credit cards. But these new monthly Uber credits coming to the American Express Gold Card make one of the best travel credit cards just a little bit better – especially in 2021.