Can the AmEx Gold REALLY be your only Credit Card?

[@ow5966]

No it can not, Amex need to add gas and online shopping categorys.

[@precociousdeathdealer202]

Amex is highly unreliable outside usa. Also they have transaction fees

[@praspurgh]

@@precociousdeathdealer202 I agree many places don't accept Amex, but I think it's no foreign transaction fee?

[@drag0n4ever]

Pair the Gold with the Blue Business Plus and you’re set.

[@TheRDGuarantee]

Awesome duo

[@robertgallacher9288]

US Bank Cash+ for Utilities and Streaming 5% AAA Daily Advantage for Groceries 5% AAA Travel Advantage for Gas 5% Citi Custom Cash for Dining 5% Chase Prime Visa for Amazon 5% Amex Delta Gold Card is my catch all for everything else

[@TheRDGuarantee]

Great setup! Anytime I start seeing 5’s my eyes light up.

[@shawn.credit]

If food is your main spend yes 4x multipliers are solid, no in the sense because the Amex Gold doesn’t report utilization only a balance so it doesn’t do much for your credit score but report a on time payment. You definitely want another card or two alongside the Amex Gold for credit score purposes. If you travel a lot Amex Green, Amex Platinum are superior options.

[@TheRDGuarantee]

It's definitely gets its very most value for a specific type of spender. I don't really like it as a travel card, but I don't think it's intended to do that well. I think it's meant to be a workhorse earner, with some travel potential for those who are more worried about earning points, than finding the best card to travel with.

[@ghgilland]

I think this is a really good assessment. Ironically, I just canceled my Amex Gold. We are a family of 4 just like you described. One huge problem I noticed is that we were spending a ton of our grocery budget at Costco each year. All that spend has to go on a Visa. The effective AF in our case was estimated to be around $50 in the best case. The other reason I canceled was because we tend to travel a bit more budget style, so the value we were getting from MR points was only 1 cpp. Having said all that, I think you do make a compelling argument - that is until Amex raises the AF (perhaps later this year).

[@TheRDGuarantee]

Ah, great callout. Wholesalers could’ve been worth a mention the video as well as a weak spot. If you don’t mind sharing, what’d you shift your spend to after canceling?

[@ghgilland]

@@TheRDGuarantee I don't think so. If anything, I think I'll feel more freedom and not worry about pushing more spend to a traditional grocery store. We really enjoy getting lots of "grocery" shopping done at Costco. This change will only encourage me to spend what I spend and not shift patterns to a card. In general, it's not great if we shift our spending based on a credit card strategy. All this stuff is always built on the assumption "you're only spending on things you would otherwise be purchasing anyway". When I noticed I wasn't, I had to make a change.

[@vadzim1354]

@@ghgilland The same case for me. I realized that I was trying to avoid spending at Costco to have a chance to spend more at a grocery store. But it doesn't have sense. Closed Amex Gold and opened Alliant Visa Signature with flat 2.5% cash back. Now I can spend a ton of money at Costco without hesitation :) Effective cash back with Executive membership is 4.5% In additional that Alliant card is a really good daily card for all "other" categories.

[@soapa4279]

I love these single card analysis. Did you ever do one for the Venture X or CSR?

[@TheRDGuarantee]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed. I made a similar breakdown on the Venture X. You can watch that video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmSXpJRvmLNsacU

[@TheZombaslaya]

No, what if you travel internationally? Amex abroad is iffy

[@ApexReserve]

So the year 1 value tops out at $1542 in your example, and it only goes down in years 2+ with the Amex gold alone. If you just had the RH Gold card, with a family of 4, it would be a $2005 value ($1945 minus the "annual fee" if you didn't already have RH Gold) at a flat 3% spend (not counting routing travel through the RH portal at 5%). So unless you're using transfer partners to get better than 1cpp with the Amex gold, it seems like the RH Gold would be a better "one card setup." If you go to year 2+, you're at around $1072. Even at 2cpp which TPG puts the Amex gold at, that is $2144. And that is if you can even find the right situations to redeem at that value. That is marginally more than just the RH Gold card alone, and far less effort to earn it. I think you might have just made the case for the RH Gold as the better one card setup as opposed to the Amex gold.

[@TheRDGuarantee]

Awesome breakdown! That could almost be a video in and of itself. Robinhood Gold Card could pair well with many different players in the market, but at the same time it could just straight up replace a lot. Its a really strong offering.

[@ApexReserve]

@@TheRDGuarantee feel free to take it and run with it! I’ve been trying to simplify my setup and have really been considering my time and effort in chasing transfer redemptions vs straight cash back. I am not liking the results 🤣

[@SpartanOfFinance]

I like the fact that you reduced the benefits of the credits for the Amex Gold since with service charges and Fees you don't get the whole value. I notice that if you set up the Uber Eats for Pick up they nick you for about 10-15% so that 120 is about 102. Since we Love Shack Shack I value the 120 dining at 120 for that's a total of 222. My AF would be about $28 so as long as I am spending more than 2800 a year in the bonus categories its a solid card. For some people the issues are where they grocery shop. If your primary grocers are wal-mart, target, BJ's and Costco you're not getting the 4x and the value of the card is tragically reduced. That's why I also carry the USB Altitude Reserve to get 3x Mobile wallet (except for you Wal-Mart who doesn't take Apple Pay..do better) and redeems for 4.5 RTR for travel. Overall a solid video!

[@TheRDGuarantee]

Totally agree on the dining credits. I even sometimes see that a $37 order on UberEats (for pickup) would only cost me $30 if I ordered directly on their website, so in that case it’s only really $3 in savings when the $10 credit hits. It can be frustrating. And yes, wholesalers prove tough with this card Good mention. Always smart to have an alternative card ready if you shop there often.

[@Litmanovich]

I get that you can get biz card without llc and such. I don’t understand how you can pay for Personal stuff with a Biz card.

[@TheRDGuarantee]

Great note. Biz cards more or less function exactly the same as a personal card once you have them. These credit card companies aren't closely monitoring exactly what you use the card for, they're just happy you got the card in the first place. If you have any hesitation about this, it's totally understandable. Everyone has a different comfort level, so it might give you the most peace of mind if you get another personal card instead.

[@mikecumbo7531]

There are some businesses that don’t take any Amex card. Does Amex have 100% acceptance abroad?

[@TheRDGuarantee]

You're absolutely right. In my experience AmEx will be accepted for you at roughly ~95%+ of places domestically, but abroad is a different story. That's a big reason to at LEAST have a back-up no annual fee Visa or something along those lines.

[@WealthOfOpportunity]

No

[@TheRDGuarantee]

🤷‍♂️ Maybe it could be for someone who isn’t a credit card enthusiast and might be using a mediocre 1-1.5X card on everything. Getting a card that has any 4X multipliers could be a step in the right direction in that case. But as I said towards the end, I definitely encourage people to pair the Gold with another card. Thanks for watching!

[@volkswagen4866]

When traveling overseas my Amex cards stay at home. Visa and Mastercard rule. Just a fact!

[@Th33Vultur3]

No, because Amex isn't accepted everywhere.

[@TheRDGuarantee]

Yep, you should have a solid experience domestically but could have a very poor experience if you ONLY had an AmEx and were bringing it abroad. Should have mentioned that as just another reason why I recommend pairing it with another card (or two)!