Im sticking with amex because I live in a highly populated area so I can easily take advantage of all my credits. I also travel to see family in Hawaii every year or so and they’re currently the only partner credit card that transfers to Hawaiian Miles after BILT quietly removed them a few months ago. Great video though Max! I get why people want to cancel.
Not sure if you stated, but the Capital One Venture One (no annual fee) can also transfer cents to Cap One miles. A no annual fee duo is the Venture One and Savor One. powerful for those not inclinded to pay annual fees.
The C1 duo pays for itself. Unless you never travel, it's better to pay the fee. And even if you don't travel, then you won't be exchanging cash for miles anyway.
Thank you for the video! I’ve been using the Gold card for years, mainly for the 4x points on dining and groceries, while relying on Capital One for 2x on everything else. The recent fee increase on the Gold card isn’t great, so I appreciate you offering an alternative. I’ll definitely be switching to the Savor card. Thanks again!
I just renewed the gold for $250, so I will use it an other year for sure! Having the Cap Venture X Im still planning to apply to the SavorOne and then revaluate in 12 months
I don't like the new AF. They could have just kept the fee the same and the benefits. I've been getting offers to upgrade to Plat with 125K bonus points, but I have even less of a need for the Plat and its exorbitant AF. I'll be keeping the gold. My begging kids will be able to use all of these credits. My daughter used my card at a restaurant just after the upgrade and I saw the Resy credit on my statement. So not bad enough for me to cancel. We call it our food card, lol.
Still going strong with the CSP as my dining card for 2 years now. I might get the Savor One to cover the groceries part of my spending. Thanks for the video!
I was fully expecting Amex to screw up my most favorite card. while very unhappy with the direction Amex is taking with their cards, these changes work in my favor without having to go too far out of my way. annoying but I still get a lot of value from this card
You were totally on point. I just came back from the grocery store which I intended to get a tub of ice cream and some fruite only. Guess what? I came back with around 10 different items.
I got the Gold card for the 150k signup bonus and plan to let it go after the first year. I get more use from the platinum card through my frequent travel and use other cards for the bonus categories like gas, groceries, and office supplies.
I’ll probably keep the gold for a while and downgrade before that af hits. There wasn’t anything wrong with card before. I get they have to increase the af every so often but still frustrating.
Whole Foods delivers in cities so it’s a good 3% cash back perk with the CSP. Freedok had a 5% promotion for a year, well worth it depending on where you live
I'm on the fence and have a few months to decide whether to keep the Amex Gold but I'm happy to use one Citi custom cash for dining and another for groceries. Also Chase freedom flex also offers 3% on restaurants
Once I get my USBAR, I'm going to be doing the CSR + USBAR duo. Stress free 1.5CPP redemptions. Not sweating about transfer partners unless there is something amazing and attainable. Also still good for Hyatt.
I was getting ready to cancel my Gold when the AF hit, because I was in Pop up jail for the Platinum. Then Amex hit me up with an upgrade to platinum and 120k points, 2 days before I canceled. Win win
Before update, there was no chance of Amex Gold being a keeper card. After this update, this becomes a keeper card for me. I can literally liquidate all benefits at face value.
I have a Chase Freedom Unlimited and Sapphire Preferred. I was thinking of getting an AMEX gold/Platinum. What’s a good third card you’d recommend instead if not those? I’d like to get some points via groceries but also enjoy the privilege of airport lounges
I'm currently using the C1 Duo and Bilt card as a trifecta. Slowly transitioning to Chase. I have an Ink Cash, Freedom Flex(just activated), and CSP. If you go in branch, for a new Freedom card(Flex or Unlimited) you can ask for first year bonus on groceries. I got 5% back!
The Amex Offers alone pay for the annual fee of the Amex Gold for me. For the alternate cards, I don't understand if someone doesn't want to pay for a card with a $325 annual fee, why would the person get a card that has a higher $395 annual fee? Not to mention the $300 credit of the Venture X has to be used in their travel website.
Good info except on the Chase card you said "who buys groceries online anyway?" But you forget not everyone is abled body nor younger than age 65 like yourself. Some of us find online groceries necessary and more convenient. Thx
At this point there are so many better cards than the Amex gold and now that the AF is increased I see less of a reason to get it unless you’re just chasing the sign up bonus and canceling a year later
Out of all the cards mentioned I’m only missing the savor one. I’ve been trying to product change my quicksilver but since it’s a visa I doubt it’s ever going to happen. Been thinking of applying for the venture with its elevated offer, cancel the gold when the AF hits, and just use the BILT for food, hoping I can product change the venture to a savor one in the future
I'm going to product change my QuickSilver since its a Mastercard to a SavorOne and the SavorOne usually comes as a Mastercard, so you might be out of luck since your QS is a Visa.
Capital One is with the 💩when it comes to product changing the Quick Silver. I just called and asked them a couple of weeks ago and they told me no so I just went ahead and applied for the Savor One. Finally was able to finish my verification for Bilt a couple of weeks ago also and got approved which I had no doubts about. Now going to see if I’m able to get CSP this week
I took advantage on the retention offer for Amex gold card this January but my card renews every year in October. As the annual fee has increased, can I cancel the gold card based on this reason after the new annual fee got posted in October? Will cancellation of gold card affect my relation with Amex as it will break the terms of retention offer?
With the AMEX gold you can actually now net positive with the offers on it vs before (when even after using all benefits, prior to the refresh, you were still $10 down the hole). honestly if you order delivery and have a five guys (shake shack was way better imo) near you or cheesecake factory its not that hard to use. I'll actually net out +15$ with the resy credit now (i mean who doesnt go to a semi decent restaraunt at least once every 6 months). This is all without needing to use the dunkin credits
Yes net positive if and only if you use the credits and take the credits a full face value. It’s like pre-paying for coupons a year in advance and having to use them every month. I’m not arguing for or against the gold card but I can see both sides of the argument and tbh the percentage of people that say they’ll cancel actually don’t cancel because they forget or it’s too much work 😆
Yes and many gold card holders believe that they will take advantage of the coupon credits but in actuality they don’t because they forget to. So instead of having an effective AF of close to $0, they end up paying a net AF much higher than $0 $150 or $200 annually).
But the Citi Custom Cash charges foreign transaction fees of 3% when using the card overseas. I live outside the U.S. for several months annually and some grocery store benefits are for U.S. grocery stores only (like Amex Gold as an example).
How do you talk about the built card without talking about the fact that you can pay your rent with the credit card? Like every human being that rents on Earth can pay and you earn points that you can turn into miles from your largest month they expense which is your rent
@@MaxMilesPointsI just got my Ink Cash last week. I will be working on my signing bonus for the next 6 months and use one card setup exclusively. After, I will use my Visa Signature Card to replace the Gold card since I am a Verizon postpaid customer and FIOS
If my only Amex card is the gold card, how would you go about canceling it? I have a fair bit of points and I don’t want to just use them with no flexibility. I don’t really want the green card either. My only thought would be to take advantage of the British airways 30% bonus right now and transfer out. Is there an option I’m not thinking of that could allow me to remain in the Amex ecosystem with no annual fee?
@@MaxMilesPointsI haven’t dove into the world of business cards yet. I don’t currently have anything that I think could be classified as business. I just looked and saw an Amex Everyday card that seems to use points at $0 annual fee rather than the Amex Blue cash everyday which earns cash back. Maybe that could be an option to open before canceling the gold. Or is that dumb?
Something with the premiere card, you get a $100 off $500 for hotels in their portal AND I was able to use it when I redeemed points! So it lessened the amount of points I needed to use. I was planning on cancelling the card but after that I felt it is now a keeper card.
Be careful with the capital one savor. I was pre-approved for the $200 bonus and 0% APR in June. When I completed the spend they later told me I was qualified for the card but not the bonuses. Immediately closed the card.
People who are hell bent on canceling the Gold card are beyond me. At the very least, the RESY restaurant credit more than covers the increase in annual fees. Completely silly reason, but I wager most will end up not canceling anyway, as people just love to rattle their sabers; it's very chic to join the cynical horde. But to each their own, I guess. It's still completely illogical in my opinion.
Not everyone lives in a major city with Resy restaurants. But I agree most will complain about the AF now but forget about it when it comes to canceling or renewal time
I dont use Resy too often becoz I dont eat out much. In addition, I just realize, to use Uber credit and dining out credit of Amex Gold, I have to pay out of pocket at least another 10 dollars. Now, I understand, that makes no sense just spend to save 20 dollars per month credit from amex gold. I regret letting Amex gold just becoz of its groceries 4x
Not everyone use resy I live near a resy restaurant so it’s a useless credit for them Seems like a very logical reason to cancel if Dunkin and resy are something you don’t use then the credits don’t offset the annual fee without you going out of your way to use if that’s even possible
There is one Dunkin in my state. There are three unappealing and overpriced Resy restaurants in my state. I'm finishing up my first year to get the sign-up bonus, then I'm cancelling.
Good info except on the Chase card you said "who buys groceries online anyway?" But you forget not everyone is abled body nor younger than age 65 like yourself. Some of us find online groceries necessary and more convenient. Thx
Of note, food delivery services code as groceries for Chase
Im sticking with amex because I live in a highly populated area so I can easily take advantage of all my credits. I also travel to see family in Hawaii every year or so and they’re currently the only partner credit card that transfers to Hawaiian Miles after BILT quietly removed them a few months ago. Great video though Max! I get why people want to cancel.
Not sure if you stated, but the Capital One Venture One (no annual fee) can also transfer cents to Cap One miles. A no annual fee duo is the Venture One and Savor One. powerful for those not inclinded to pay annual fees.
@@toddyee-e6n I didn’t mention thanks for mentioning it here! Just figured most are going Venture or Venture X
The C1 duo pays for itself. Unless you never travel, it's better to pay the fee. And even if you don't travel, then you won't be exchanging cash for miles anyway.
@@TheQuickyouknow Your quanttitative math is correct.
How do you transfer the savor one cash reward to points? I don’t see the option on the Captial one app to convert cash to point
Thank you for the video! I’ve been using the Gold card for years, mainly for the 4x points on dining and groceries, while relying on Capital One for 2x on everything else. The recent fee increase on the Gold card isn’t great, so I appreciate you offering an alternative. I’ll definitely be switching to the Savor card. Thanks again!
I just renewed the gold for $250, so I will use it an other year for sure! Having the Cap Venture X Im still planning to apply to the SavorOne and then revaluate in 12 months
My Savor One is en route It was good while it lasted with the AmEx Gold
I went from 2 years platinum, down to 1 year gold, down to green. Perks weren't useful to me and spending more for a annual fee aint it.
More in annual fees more and more coupons to use 😫 seems to be the trend Amex is going as of recent
@MaxMilesPoints Yea not my cup of tea especially since I don't eat out as much and I don't live in the city lol
Coupon book doesn’t work for me.
@@MaxMilesPointsare the green and gold exact same travel partners? I have too many amex points to just close the card out of thin air
@@hugoenriquez9318 all Amex cards that are able to transfer points gets the same transfer partners
I don't like the new AF. They could have just kept the fee the same and the benefits. I've been getting offers to upgrade to Plat with 125K bonus points, but I have even less of a need for the Plat and its exorbitant AF. I'll be keeping the gold. My begging kids will be able to use all of these credits. My daughter used my card at a restaurant just after the upgrade and I saw the Resy credit on my statement. So not bad enough for me to cancel. We call it our food card, lol.
The "food" card, that's perfect.
Still going strong with the CSP as my dining card for 2 years now. I might get the Savor One to cover the groceries part of my spending. Thanks for the video!
I was fully expecting Amex to screw up my most favorite card. while very unhappy with the direction Amex is taking with their cards, these changes work in my favor without having to go too far out of my way. annoying but I still get a lot of value from this card
I only order groceries online. Best money saving tip ever. If your significant other browses isles and keeps throwing shit in the cart, order online!
Hahah I guess that’s a reason to grocery shop online
You were totally on point. I just came back from the grocery store which I intended to get a tub of ice cream and some fruite only. Guess what? I came back with around 10 different items.
So happy I never fell for the hype and went with the Capital One duo
Halfway through my Gold- Platinum upgrade year.
Rewards Checking & Blue Business Plus will be my points holders when I cancel the Platinum.
I got the Gold card for the 150k signup bonus and plan to let it go after the first year. I get more use from the platinum card through my frequent travel and use other cards for the bonus categories like gas, groceries, and office supplies.
I’ll probably keep the gold for a while and downgrade before that af hits. There wasn’t anything wrong with card before. I get they have to increase the af every so often but still frustrating.
Whole Foods delivers in cities so it’s a good 3% cash back perk with the CSP. Freedok had a 5% promotion for a year, well worth it depending on where you live
I'm on the fence and have a few months to decide whether to keep the Amex Gold but I'm happy to use one Citi custom cash for dining and another for groceries.
Also Chase freedom flex also offers 3% on restaurants
lol I always grocery shop online 🤭
US Bank Altitude Go Visa offers 4X points on dining and no annual fee
Thanks! 👍
Once I get my USBAR, I'm going to be doing the CSR + USBAR duo. Stress free 1.5CPP redemptions. Not sweating about transfer partners unless there is something amazing and attainable. Also still good for Hyatt.
I was getting ready to cancel my Gold when the AF hit, because I was in Pop up jail for the Platinum. Then Amex hit me up with an upgrade to platinum and 120k points, 2 days before I canceled. Win win
Damn that’s a good offer!
Before update, there was no chance of Amex Gold being a keeper card. After this update, this becomes a keeper card for me. I can literally liquidate all benefits at face value.
What credit card do you currently use for grocery spend, Max?
I have a Chase Freedom Unlimited and Sapphire Preferred. I was thinking of getting an AMEX gold/Platinum. What’s a good third card you’d recommend instead if not those? I’d like to get some points via groceries but also enjoy the privilege of airport lounges
Capital One venture X for airport lounge access and 2x on everything + capital one SavorOne for groceries 3x on groceries
I'm currently using the C1 Duo and Bilt card as a trifecta. Slowly transitioning to Chase. I have an Ink Cash, Freedom Flex(just activated), and CSP.
If you go in branch, for a new Freedom card(Flex or Unlimited) you can ask for first year bonus on groceries. I got 5% back!
Nice! What’s the reason why you’re switching away from the capital one duo?
I'm newer in the miles and points game. Just trying to bank some Chase points. Girlfriend and I are looking at some Hyatt properties in Bali.
The Amex Offers alone pay for the annual fee of the Amex Gold for me. For the alternate cards, I don't understand if someone doesn't want to pay for a card with a $325 annual fee, why would the person get a card that has a higher $395 annual fee? Not to mention the $300 credit of the Venture X has to be used in their travel website.
If wells improved their transfer partners, now more than ever they’d sway more people to give their cards a chance.
Good info except on the Chase card you said "who buys groceries online anyway?" But you forget not everyone is abled body nor younger than age 65 like yourself. Some of us find online groceries necessary and more convenient. Thx
I currently only have the quicksilver card, should I upgrade to the venture card or savor one? I’m not approved for any Amex’s atm
Venture bro
At this point there are so many better cards than the Amex gold and now that the AF is increased I see less of a reason to get it unless you’re just chasing the sign up bonus and canceling a year later
Cobalt in Canada at 5x still the GOAT.
A rare Canadian credit card win 🙌
Out of all the cards mentioned I’m only missing the savor one. I’ve been trying to product change my quicksilver but since it’s a visa I doubt it’s ever going to happen.
Been thinking of applying for the venture with its elevated offer, cancel the gold when the AF hits, and just use the BILT for food, hoping I can product change the venture to a savor one in the future
I'm going to product change my QuickSilver since its a Mastercard to a SavorOne and the SavorOne usually comes as a Mastercard, so you might be out of luck since your QS is a Visa.
Capital One is with the 💩when it comes to product changing the Quick Silver. I just called and asked them a couple of weeks ago and they told me no so I just went ahead and applied for the Savor One. Finally was able to finish my verification for Bilt a couple of weeks ago also and got approved which I had no doubts about. Now going to see if I’m able to get CSP this week
I took advantage on the retention offer for Amex gold card this January but my card renews every year in October. As the annual fee has increased, can I cancel the gold card based on this reason after the new annual fee got posted in October? Will cancellation of gold card affect my relation with Amex as it will break the terms of retention offer?
I’d personally keep the card for at least 12 months after accepting a retention offer.
With the AMEX gold you can actually now net positive with the offers on it vs before (when even after using all benefits, prior to the refresh, you were still $10 down the hole). honestly if you order delivery and have a five guys (shake shack was way better imo) near you or cheesecake factory its not that hard to use. I'll actually net out +15$ with the resy credit now (i mean who doesnt go to a semi decent restaraunt at least once every 6 months). This is all without needing to use the dunkin credits
Yes net positive if and only if you use the credits and take the credits a full face value. It’s like pre-paying for coupons a year in advance and having to use them every month. I’m not arguing for or against the gold card but I can see both sides of the argument and tbh the percentage of people that say they’ll cancel actually don’t cancel because they forget or it’s too much work 😆
Yes and many gold card holders believe that they will take advantage of the coupon credits but in actuality they don’t because they forget to. So instead of having an effective AF of close to $0, they end up paying a net AF much higher than $0 $150 or $200 annually).
Can you make a video justifying Amex Gold despite the raise in fee?
Citi Custom Cash can get you 5% back in grocery or restaurant with no AF
But the Citi Custom Cash charges foreign transaction fees of 3% when using the card overseas. I live outside the U.S. for several months annually and some grocery store benefits are for U.S. grocery stores only (like Amex Gold as an example).
How do you talk about the built card without talking about the fact that you can pay your rent with the credit card? Like every human being that rents on Earth can pay and you earn points that you can turn into miles from your largest month they expense which is your rent
They all threaten to cancel, but none of them do
Hahah very true when it comes to renewal time often times people forget to cancel and keep it another year 😆
Thoughts on Amex BCP vs these cards?
Good card for strictly cashback and groceries. Not so much if you’re looking to earn points for travel
3:37 Citi strata premier **
None of these cards are available in Canada. I guess I am stuck with my Gold card.
Sowwwwieeee
I will be canceling in September my Gold. I already canceled my Bilt card two weeks ago
Hmm what are you going to use now?
@@MaxMilesPointsI just got my Ink Cash last week. I will be working on my signing bonus for the next 6 months and use one card setup exclusively. After, I will use my Visa Signature Card to replace the Gold card since I am a Verizon postpaid customer and FIOS
If my only Amex card is the gold card, how would you go about canceling it? I have a fair bit of points and I don’t want to just use them with no flexibility. I don’t really want the green card either. My only thought would be to take advantage of the British airways 30% bonus right now and transfer out. Is there an option I’m not thinking of that could allow me to remain in the Amex ecosystem with no annual fee?
Grab the no annual fee blue business plus card
I have the same concern, $250 was at the edge of my tolerance, no way for $325 annual fee
I agree with the comment above getting the blue business plus (if eligible for business cards) is a $0 annual fee way to go
@@MaxMilesPointsI haven’t dove into the world of business cards yet. I don’t currently have anything that I think could be classified as business. I just looked and saw an Amex Everyday card that seems to use points at $0 annual fee rather than the Amex Blue cash everyday which earns cash back. Maybe that could be an option to open before canceling the gold. Or is that dumb?
Something with the premiere card, you get a $100 off $500 for hotels in their portal AND I was able to use it when I redeemed points! So it lessened the amount of points I needed to use. I was planning on cancelling the card but after that I felt it is now a keeper card.
Be careful with the capital one savor. I was pre-approved for the $200 bonus and 0% APR in June. When I completed the spend they later told me I was qualified for the card but not the bonuses. Immediately closed the card.
Whaaa what was the reason why you didn’t qualify for the bonus?
@@MaxMilesPoints nope, no explanation and I've seen in different forums this a common bait and switch tactic that capital one does.
People who are hell bent on canceling the Gold card are beyond me. At the very least, the RESY restaurant credit more than covers the increase in annual fees. Completely silly reason, but I wager most will end up not canceling anyway, as people just love to rattle their sabers; it's very chic to join the cynical horde. But to each their own, I guess. It's still completely illogical in my opinion.
Not everyone lives in a major city with Resy restaurants. But I agree most will complain about the AF now but forget about it when it comes to canceling or renewal time
I dont use Resy too often becoz I dont eat out much. In addition, I just realize, to use Uber credit and dining out credit of Amex Gold, I have to pay out of pocket at least another 10 dollars. Now, I understand, that makes no sense just spend to save 20 dollars per month credit from amex gold. I regret letting Amex gold just becoz of its groceries 4x
Not everyone use resy I live near a resy restaurant so it’s a useless credit for them
Seems like a very logical reason to cancel if Dunkin and resy are something you don’t use then the credits don’t offset the annual fee without you going out of your way to use if that’s even possible
There is one Dunkin in my state. There are three unappealing and overpriced Resy restaurants in my state. I'm finishing up my first year to get the sign-up bonus, then I'm cancelling.
Can you just apply to the Amex Plat to keep the points then cancel the gold? Or ask them for upgrade offer?
Good info except on the Chase card you said "who buys groceries online anyway?" But you forget not everyone is abled body nor younger than age 65 like yourself. Some of us find online groceries necessary and more convenient. Thx