Is the Amex Gold Card's $250 annual fee worth the cost? Here's how to know

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The American Express® Gold Card is a great card for dining out, ordering takeout and traveling, but it comes with a relatively high $250 annual fee (see rates and fees).

Cardholders can make up the cost with up to $240 in food-related credits every year and a $100 credit on eligible hotel stays, but paying $250 for a card isn't within everyone's budget.

If you order food for pickup or delivery with popular services like Uber Eats, GrubHub and Seamless at least twice a month, you can easily recoup the card's annual fee. Alone, the food-related credits effectively reduce the card's $250 annual fee to $10 — all with little work done on your part — and its additional perks only raise the value.

Ahead, we break down the benefits and credits of the Amex Gold card so you can decide if the $250 annual fee is worthwhile.

In order to recoup the American Express® Gold Card's $250 annual fee, you’ll need to take advantage of the card’s benefits. We crunched the numbers to find out how much each perk is estimated to be worth.

• Up to $120 per year in dining credits: Receive a $10 statement credit every month for purchases made with Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Boxed and participating Shake Shack locations (after a one-time enrollment).
• Up to $120 per year in Uber Cash: Up to $120 per year ($10 in Uber Cash every month) that you can apply toward U.S. Uber Eats orders and Uber rides in the U.S. Add your Gold card as a payment method in your Uber account to benefit.
• Up to $100 credit at eligible hotels and resorts: When you stay a minimum of two consecutive nights at a property in The Hotel Collection, you’ll receive a $100 experience credit when you book through American Express Travel. Experience credit varies by property.

On top of that, the card offers a generous rewards program:

• 4X points per dollar for dining at restaurants worldwide, and delivery and takeout within the U.S.
• 4X points per dollar for shopping at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per year, then 1X points
• 3X points per dollar on flights booked directly via the airline or through Amextravel.com
• 1X points per dollar for all other purchases

Based on a sample annual spending budget from the location intelligence firm Esri, the average American would earn just over 50,000 points each year (not including the welcome bonus) for putting all of their expenses on the Amex Gold. Considering Amex points can be worth up to 2 cents apiece when transferred to airlines and hotels, you'd earn up to $1,000 worth of travel rewards each year just for using your card.

Additionally, Amex provides shopping offers, known as Amex Offers, at a variety of retailers, like restaurants, hotels and department stores. These offers let you receive a statement credit or points on eligible spending after you activate. The value varies by card member, so it’s not simple to estimate how much you can earn per year. Combined, however, Amex card members have saved over $931 million since January 2010.

Unfortunately, the American Express® Gold Card's annual fee is something that normally can't be waived. However, if you're considering downgrading or canceling your card, you can try calling Amex customer service and asking for a retention offer. While they may not be able to waive your annual fee, they might offer bonus points or a statement credit to help offset the fee.

If you’re not eager to pay $250 for the Amex Gold card, consider alternative cards, like the American Express® Green Card or the American Express Cash Magnet® Card, that are more affordable. The Green card is geared toward restaurant, transit and travel rewards, while the Cash Magnet is an easy-to-use cash-back card.

And if the annual fee doesn’t bother you, consider The Platinum Card® from American Express, which offers more luxurious travel perks, including up to $200 in annual Uber Cash (benefit renews annually), up to $200 in annual airline fee credits, airport lounge access and much more.

No annual fee and cash back

More manageable annual fee

Luxury travel benefits

If your food delivery bills are high, the American Express® Gold Card can help you save on eligible orders through the dining credit and Uber Cash perk. And if you like to travel, booking a stay at The Hotel Collection can help you save up to $100 per eligible trip.

But if you prefer meal prep over takeout or don't plan on using the Amex Gold's food-centric credits, you would need to maximize the card's rewards program to offset the annual fee. This requires more work and even more spending — approximately $6,250 to $25,000 in purchases is required to offset the annual fee, depending on the categories you spend in.

The quickest way to recoup the Amex Gold's annual fee is to spend a combined $6,250 at U.S. supermarkets and restaurants, assuming a conservative 1 cent per point valuation (though it's easy to get more value than that).

For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.

For rates and fees of the American Express Cash Magnet, click here

For rates and fees of the Platinum card from American Express, click here

For rates and fees of the American Express Green Card, click here