Unique Benefit I Wanted From the 75K AmEx Gold Card Offer

With the recent frenzy over the increased bonus for the AmEx Business Gold Card (public link from AmEx site) there was lots of "apply before the deal goes away" and then "what you can do once you get the 75,000 bonus points." In my opinion it was crazy to see how many people were pushing the deal and my google reader was just as overloaded as everyone else. But I actually applied for this deal because it was the perfect storm of what I needed at the time.

The deal came up on my 91st day after my last series of credit card applications so my previous hard pulls of my credit had just dropped off and my score was in great shape at 738 so I was already starting to study what cards I should get. The deal also was my first foray into AmEx Membership Rewards market so I was excited to see a big bonus. I plan to hold onto the 75,000 sign up bonus and see who offers a great transfer bonus this summer. But the biggest benefit I saw from the card was 2x on shipping purchases. I plan on using shipping more and more because we are selling most of our apartment items online so we don't have to worry about getting them to Seattle when we move in July. That nice little bump will help ease the sting of shipping all of our stuff to wherever we are shipping it and will make it a little easier to get to the sign on bonus threshold.

If you are a points and miles person who buys and sells items and is often finding yourself shipping lots of items to EBay, like I soon plan to be, then this could be a good option for you. The additional benefits of 3x points on airline purchases, 2x on advertising, shipping and gas make it a very attractive card, especially when it's at a sign on bonus level as high as we saw last week. So...the offer didn't work for everyone, but for me...it was perfect timing!


Important Note: We talk about credit card sign-up bonuses on our blog because they are an important part of the “game.” Any credit card links in this post will be public application links taken from the issuer's direct website. We do not earn income from you applying from the links. Similarly, please take an extra minute or two before applying for credit cards. If you do not pay your credit card balance off every month then you should stay away from this aspect of the game. Credit cards can lead to major long-term problems if not used correctly. I encourage you to read JD's post on Young People and the Chains of Credit Card Debt for more details.  

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