Amex Gold Revamp Might Be the Downfall of Amex

[@Ritchie_The_CEO]

The card is more valuable for me now than it was before. I’m like the only one. …I’m so alone.

[@CalbyNg]

Oh no for sure, it's greatly increased the value of the card compared to before; I believe. However I've just noticed Amex has been doing some cost cutting and with this new refresh I kind of understand what's going on more.

[@errondeloney1396]

You’re not.

[@Ritchie_The_CEO]

@@errondeloney1396 dawww. Thanks!

[@docsays]

- its just on the credit card yt channels. the general public will love it.

[@Th33Vultur3]

@@CalbyNg UPDATE: I got value off the Dining in GrubHub and Uber credits at $240 at the $250 fee. I used Dunkin twice when the fee hike happened for July and August before downgrading back to Green and got $14 in value at $254 total at the old $250 fee and then the $1000 spend for 15,000 points in 6 months on August 11, 2023. Now they are offering me $1,000 spend for 30,000 points in 6 months at the $325 fee. I would use the Uber Eats, Dunkin and GrubHub at $324 in value and my effective fee would be $1 since I have no use for the Resy and Hotel credits at this time. The rest would come out of Grocery, Dining at 4x spend, 3x Airline and Other 1x spend. I need a rest from the Gold coupon book for a bit. I have other cards for groceries like the Venmo Visa, I can use one of my two Citi Custom Cashes for dining and the other for groceries and the Blue Cash Preferred for groceries. The Discover It and Freedom Flex when groceries comes up as a quarterly category and then for dining on top of the 3x I alread get so I have other options. I have the Blue Cash Preferred for groceries, but might downgrade that to the Blue Cash Everyday once my fee shows up next June 17, 2025 or after having it well past a year since I upgraded in Feb 2024. I need a break from the Gold. I downgraded back to Green and in a year, I might cancel it and have the Blue Business Plus to keep my points safe since the EveryDay and EveryDay Preferred are either being revamped or discontinued.

[@denakelley4363]

I think the gold card has always been accessible. I had one in my early 20’s when I made less than $30k a year and lived in a trailer. I’m 51 now and don’t have one and don’t plan to get one because the math doesn’t make sense for me. The credits other than for groceries just don’t apply to my lifestyle. And I’m not into the monthly or bi-annual credits. They should just front load the credits to use when you want. Like the Uber credit- I travel about 5x per year. At home I never use Uber. So 7 months of credits would never get used.

[@Bad4Good2]

The changes were not a win at all. It’s literally an expensive coupon book now.

[@-Wreckanize-]

It’s always been that.

[@Willem500]

Same as platinum lol

[@MSaylorBTC1M]

not valuable to me before, not valuable now... I can effectively use Plat credits more than the Gold credits

[@slicklizardchamp]

I go to Dunkin every day (bad habit but no stopping it) so the Dunkin credit was blind luck but a welcome credit. I have a nice American style restaurant with resy in my town so to me, the new annual fee is completely fine, I’m up $100 instead of paying a net $10 prior. To me, if you go to dunks at all this is a win more than likely but if you don’t, might be worth cancelling. But for me, huge win and that white gold is going to look amazing

[@CalbyNg]

Even without the Dunkin' credit you would still be making out $15 ahead; as long as you use the rest of the credits. For sure a win for the majority! Excited to see those white golds in person!

[@HA1999-8]

Hey I don’t know if you’ll answer but question. Want to get my first travel credit card and not sure which one I have a CFU and have so many points. I was thinking either CSP or Venture X even tho I have no points on capital one I still would get it for the benefits. I’d be traveling once a year. Which one would you recommend

[@morita9625]

The white gold card, just like champagne 😁 Pretty suitable for dining (I guess 😅)

[@shawn.credit]

I mentioned canceling the Amex Gold earlier this year. If it wasn’t for your comment about the 12am revamp last night I wouldn’t have threw in an app for the Amex Gold with $250 AF! I will use it for the next year and reevaluate it in 2025 if I decide to keep it. 2x on hotels, cruises, rental cars etc is funny Amex Green is 3x lol!

[@dominiquejones6167]

I like the card but honestly this new update made it worse for me I don’t plan on using resy and dunkin closest to me is 10 miles away I’m not going that far just for $7 monthly

[@CalbyNg]

Ah, so prbly gonna cancel after you get that increased annual fee of $325? If it helps there are data points where if you load money into the Dunkin' app it triggers the credit; so you don't have to physically go to a Dunkin' every month.

[@dominiquejones6167]

@@CalbyNg yup that’s what I did I’m just gonna load $7 on dunkin app each month and stack it

[@richardshack8246]

The card will benefit me. I can definitely use that Resy Credit. I'm not sure about Dunkin, but if they let me use the Dunkin prepaid account, I'll do that. So Calby, do you have any regrets about canceling now?

[@Xavier_ID.]

I think the refresh is good for those who don’t mind using the credits. If you use the credits you get the value back and all the points that come with it. I (and many others) are just tired of having to use all the credits. I just wanna focus on Subs and simpler cards, for now 😂

[@Brianpeckin]

I think it's just fine even better in some ways. Now you can actually get more out of it if you can use it all

[@CalbyNg]

Oh for sure, with the revamp it's actually possible to recoup that annual fee; however, I wished Amex wouldn't cut corners at the same time, like their customer service and concierge services.

[@Brianpeckin]

@@CalbyNg ya but lets be real the uses of it is very niche to begin with. maybe a couple times a year most people would use it or at all. Thats kinda like i wish they brought back the ford pinto(as an example not i want). Whats the likely hood a lot would use it. Same with customer service, they still do well in terms of helping out. which is still better than a lot of others i've dealt with. But that being said i love tmobile customer service but in reality i and i'd assume most would call customer service maybe a fewtimes a year if even that. So really, yes it sucks losing a feature on something but really niche anyways.

[@Whatsdanieldoin]

I don’t see myself using the dining credit much, the uber credit will be used for my lunches. The resy credit will be easy, my favorite restaurant is in the resy system. I won’t use the Dunkin credits. Conservatively I see myself getting back about $250… I also got the 90k welcome bonus so for the first year I think it’s great for new card members… not so great for existing card members. I’d imagine next July they’d make some adjustments to where your coupons work

[@DoYouTakeCards]

If you spend more than $4000 a month on dining, you probably have the business gold if you’re taking clients out for dinner. I think they’re trying to willingly shut some people to become more exclusive again with the higher annual fee.

[@CalbyNg]

Oh, that's right! Maybe they'll leave personal cards to be more accessible and business cards for the actual big spenders. However, in my opinion I don't think the annual fee increases deter many people. I think they are trying to see what they are able to get away with, haha

[@PingPingTravel]

I would agree with the Dunkin donuts not catering to the high spenders if Amex did not have the Walmart+ credit on the Platinum, a card that is arguably even more high end than the Gold card. Amex is definitely catering to the middle class more these days as opposed to before.

[@AnthonyVenture]

Very true about not being able to talk about the Gold card without getting Dunkin first 😂 Great stuff Calby! Yes my grandma texted me telling me about the changes the other day as well. (That’s a lie) But yeah we can see the trajectory for sure, it’ll be interesting to say the least!

[@transitengineer]

Thank you, for these excellent comments about changes at American Express with their refreshed "Gold" card. I would not be surprised if, within the next 5-years they introduce a new premium "Palladium" card (with an annual fee around $950) right between the American Express "Platinum" card and the "Black" card. However, for myself will continue to use my American Express business "Plum" card (smile ... smile).

[@net4ninja]

Centurion concierge is useless compare to JP Morgan Concierge. -not chase concierge.

[@CalbyNg]

I heard about that! I also heard you get JP Morgan concierge with the Ritz card, is that true?

[@net4ninja]

@@CalbyNg hey. Yes, Ritz and JMR are the only card gets JP Morgan concierge. I don’t know if ritz gets the same level of “Service” as JMR. They are very very very knowledgeable and Fast will do almost anything. Centurion needs to get back on there game. I just hope chase expands lounge to more airports internationally.

[@docsays]

CJ did a great video on the amex Gold. he found data that showed the majority of gold card holders spend on "retail" not food. Crazy right? Well, as you can guess. Outside of us CC enthusiast, the general gold card holder probably doesnt even care about categories or credits. This is my wife 100%. She just wants to know which card she can use for her shopping adventures. im sure the Gold card will be another success for amex.

[@jimmyjames6492]

Might work for some but not for me. Thanks for the info + video!

[@CalbyNg]

Especially for the East coast, haha. Thanks Jimmy!

[@ItsMeCJ]

Amex was sneaky with putting that 2x category on the main page. It was only mentioned in the terms & conditions prior to today. I’m happy with Five Guys, indifferent with Dunkin’, and I’m not a fan of Resy, but I understand that Amex knows these changes already fit their existing customers. Nice touch with going to Dunkin’! Good video brother 🙌🏾

[@robert8311]

Amex is a fucking joke They aren’t special and don’t offer anything special to justify there annual fees useless credits useless cards

[@williamrobinson4198]

I agree, I upgraded my Gold to Platinum for 100k points. Had it for a year and downgraded. I would rather have $695 in my pocket to spend however I want. I am feeling the same way with my Gold now that it's 325. I am waiting my year out then going to get the Ritz Carlton card. Actually, thinking of replacing Amex with Chase travel all together. They will keep increasing fees as long as people will pay them.

[@soapa4279]

I wouldn’t say a $3.02B in a quarter in profit is signaling any downfall. But it would be nice if consumers were like, Amex you can get the remaining $720M in credits if you spend $10M a month on city renovations and $50M monthly on charity. Shove credits down their throats and see how they like it 😂

[@DarkCeremony]

Amex cards just keep getting better and better. I hope they keep increasing the fee and giving tangible credits that I can easily liquidate.

[@CalbyNg]

I think that's the direction they're going; instead of catering to only the rich folk. Which is good for most, as long as, like you said give tangible credits that are easy to liquidate.

[@Creditcardnerd]

Right now its 100k with 20%!

[@CalbyNg]

Pretty insane bonus! Unfortunately it is targeted though.

[@Creditcardnerd]

@@CalbyNg yeah

[@Leoprieto74]

🥇Jesus,…🥈Maradona,…🥉American Express 💕

[@CalbyNg]

S-tier, tier list 😂

[@ChiTownTx]

$325 per year for coupon book style savings. Sorry Amex but for most people this card no longer makes sense. Canceling mine before the next renew; compared to alternatives out there this card is no longer worth it.

[@oliverramclam6009]

Everyone and there mother has an Amex now it lost there presence as a high status card .

[@CalbyNg]

For sure, and it seems like Amex has leaned into it. They've gotten rid of a bunch of services the Amex concierge use to offer; now they're basically a dining reservation service. I've noticed their customer service has gotten worst; especially more over seas representatives, where you can hear that extreme delay when talking on the phone to that representative. Kind of worst for the higher income crowd, but maybe Amex can make it up, or already has seen the potential, with a higher volume of applications and increase of annual fees.

[@RichardHorpe]

downfall of amex? should i buy puts on amex or is it just clickbait?

[@CalbyNg]

That depends on how you view it. I think they have definitely changed their target demographic from the ultra rich to the upper middle class.

[@kazi1]

Damn

[@CalbyNg]

Yeah, they have been cutting cost lately I've noticed.

[@robertjarrell7276]

Another KZbinr who thinks the past tense of cost is “costed”?

[@CalbyNg]

Haha, it just sounds right.

[@robertjarrell7276]

@@CalbyNg Sorry, I liked your video!

[@CalbyNg]

@@robertjarrell7276 Oh you have nothing to be sorry about. Actually I spend 30 minutes researching this, it was fairly interesting. Costed definitely slides off the mind in my opinion; however, you were right. Glad you liked the video Robert!

[@WealthOfOpportunity]

Bye bye gold card. Love your vid style sir!

[@jsbatra]

this is the whackiest analysis I have heard. People making $200k are spending $50k on dining and now they wont be able to so we are screwed? what!?

[@warrenescalona3033]

they are rich

[@CalbyNg]

Maybe wacky, but I just wanted to introduce this theory and make a comparison between other high end brands lowering quality to meet the demands of targeting a lower income crowd compared to what they were use to targeting before. I don't think it's far fetch to apply this logic to Amex; especially in the slow decline of services Amex has been offering the past few years. With the change of Amex's business strategy, is why I think Amex has been increasing the annual fee; instead of mainly profiting on spend, they can profit with the up front cost of the annual fees. Which maybe short sighted on Amex's part; if this is the case. As shown by companies like Coach.

[@CalbyNg]

​@@warrenescalona3033 If you're talking about me, my household makes $70k. I've just worked with people who make $200k - $500k and I've seen how they spend. During the pandemic they didn't know how to buy groceries because they ate out every meal (not an exaggeration). I believe they ended up buying a crap ton of frozen pizzas; then, when it was acceptable to order out, they started using delivery apps like DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats. Pretty crazy.

[@jsbatra]

@@CalbyNg i do agree with most of what you say in your response above. Not happy with Amex making it such a hassle. My reaction above was specifically to the $50k limit. I didn’t see how that limit shifts the burden to middle income people. No one who is responsible is spending $50k on restaurants with an income of $200k. That is just an irrelevant change for te vast majority of this.

[@CalbyNg]

​@@jsbatra Ah gotcha, so I do agree with you, I don't think the $50k limit is going to affect much. The change just reaffirms the direction Amex is going; to not target the ultra wealthy, but instead target the vast majority (I should have used an income example higher than $200k). Because if it didn't affect anyone at all; I think they wouldn't have bothered capping the multiplier. So the $50k cap was just proof for my theory.

[@callmeNeno]

Liked & subscribed!!

[@boogeymanw9643]

im in millitary so i don't care =)) more free money for me =)) both Plat and Gold are top notch =))

[@iFrankie.]

Yea the military doesn’t pay an annual fee