Travel Credit Card$250/year (offset by credits)
Amex Gold — The Dining and Grocery Card
4x Membership Rewards on dining and US supermarkets. If you spend heavily on food, this card earns faster than almost anything else.
The Speedrun Take
The Gold Card has a $250 annual fee that looks scary until you run the math. $120 in dining credits ($10/month at Grubhub/select restaurants) + $120 Uber Cash = $240 in credits that effectively offset the fee to $10. That's before counting the 4x on dining and groceries. If you spend $800+/month on food, the Gold Card is hard to beat.
What You Get
4x at Restaurants
Worldwide dining, takeout, delivery. Best earn rate on food of any Membership Rewards card.
4x at US Supermarkets
Up to $25,000/year. Groceries at 4x is exceptional.
3x on Flights
Booked directly with airlines or through Amex Travel.
$120 Dining Credit
$10/month at Grubhub, Goldbelly, The Cheesecake Factory, Milk Bar, Shake Shack. Use it or lose it.
$120 Uber Cash
$10/month in Uber Cash for Uber Eats and Uber rides (US only). Auto-loads to your Uber account.
No Foreign Transaction Fee
4x dining works worldwide.
The Annual Fee Math
| Annual fee | $250/year |
| Minus $120 dining credit (if you use all $10/month) | −$120 |
| Minus $120 Uber Cash (if you use all $10/month) | −$120 |
| Effective annual fee | $10/year |
Then the 4x kicks in:
4x dining on $500/month = 2,000 MR points/month = 24,000 MR points/year. At ~1.5cpp via transfer partners = ~$360 in travel value from dining alone.
Amex MR Transfer Partners — Best Sweet Spots
1 MR point = 1 airline or hotel mile at most partners. The value comes from finding sweet spots where partners price awards below market rate.
Air France Flying Blue
Cheap transatlantic awards. Paris off-peak from 20k miles each way — one of the best values in the MR ecosystem.
ANA Mileage Club
Round-trip business class to Japan from 88k miles. Exceptional value for premium cabin travel to Asia.
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
Star Alliance awards at excellent rates. Great for redeeming on United, Lufthansa, ANA through a partner program.
Transfer ratio: 1 MR = 1 airline/hotel mile at most partners.
Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred
Amex Gold
- 4x dining and groceries
- $250 fee (offsets to ~$10 with credits)
- Amex MR ecosystem — strong airline partners
- Best for heavy restaurant and grocery spenders
Chase Sapphire Preferred
- 3x dining, 2x travel
- $95 fee ($45 effective with hotel credit)
- Chase UR ecosystem — Hyatt is best hotel value
- Best for flexible travelers who value hotels
How to Get Started
Apply
Amex prefers good credit (700+ score). Instant decision usually.
Set Up the Dining and Uber Credits
Link your Uber account to activate the monthly $10 Uber Cash. Save the dining credit vendors — Grubhub, Shake Shack, etc.
Use for All Dining and Grocery
4x applies automatically. Set this as your default for restaurants and supermarkets.
Pair It With
Earn 4x on Every Dollar You Spend on Food
$250 fee offset to ~$10 with credits. 4x dining and groceries. The best earn rate on food in the travel card space.
Apply for Amex Gold Card