Earlier this month American Express announced a complete makeover of the famed Gold card. Previously American Express offered both the standard Gold card and the more expensive Premier Rewards Gold card. With the announcement Amex did away with the Premier Rewards Gold card and is again referring to their popular card simply as the Gold card once again. I personally refer to the new card as the Metal (Rose) Gold card so that I can keep everything straight.
With that announcement Amex included some major changes to the card. For starters, going forward the new Metal Gold card earns 4X points on dining at US restaurants, 4X points on up to $25,000 of spend at supermarkets, and 3X points on travel booked directly with an airline or through AmexTravel.com.
Card members receive $120 in annual dining credits ($10/month) and $100 in annual airfare credits. With those improvements American Express raised the annual fee to $250 a year which is not waived for the first year. If you’re able to maximize the credits each year this card effectively costs $30 a year which I find is a great deal.
Not Surprisingly I Applied For The Card; By Mistake
When I first heard about the improvements I knew I wanted the card. Sure I liked the design. I liked that the card finally came in metal and I actually liked the Rose Gold color. While all of that stuff is nice, it was the benefits that I most wanted from this card.
See, until now I haven’t carried a card that earned bonus points at supermarkets. For the past few years I’ve only been earning 1X points on all of my supermarket purchases which was frustrating. Until now it didn’t make sense to open up a “Supermarket” card in my situation.
However, with this card I could not only get a supermarket card, but I could also finally close my Chase Sapphire Reserve card. It’s not that I don’t like the Sapphire Reserve card anymore, it’s just that it’s benefits aren’t unique enough to justify paying the annual fee. I get lounge access and more bonus points on travel from my Platinum card. Likewise, with the new Metal Gold card I could earn 4X points on dining opposed to the 3X offered by the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
While I knew I wanted the card I didn’t necessarily mean to apply for it right away. My understanding was that when you applied for new Amex cards that Amex notified you of sign-up bonus eligibility. As I have technically had the Gold card before I figured I was ineligible for the bonus. So, I filled out the application and hit submit expecting to get a pop up telling me I wasn’t eligible. However, just like that the application went through and Amex approved me for the card. (Note: There are 50,000 point sign-up offers out there)
My American Express Metal Rose Gold Card Arrived
While I didn’t mean to apply in that moment I had every intention of applying for the card soon enough. I wanted to make sure to apply for the card before January 9, 2019. That’s because by applying before then you can get your hands on the “limited edition” Rose Gold version of the card. Actually it’s because until then Amex is offering up to $100 in statement credits in the first 90 days when using your card for dining purchases. They are calling this the “we’ll pick up the tip” campaign and awarding credits in 20% increments per qualifying purchase.
Anyway, shortly after applying for the card I received an email which let me know that my new card would be delivered within 7-10 business days. However, a day later the following package arrived from UPS.
American Express Metal Rose Gold Card Packaging
Inside the UPS envelope was a small white cardboard box.
Inside the box was a small American Express pamphlet with an envelope inside.
The envelope inside looked more like how I expected the card to arrive.
Finally, once I opened the envelope I found my new American Express Metal Rose Gold card.
The card came affixed to a piece of paper which included instructions on how to activate the card.
New Metal Rose Gold Card From American Express Impressions
At first glance I must say the card looks much less “pink” than I expected it to. In many of the press release photos I’ve seen the card looks very pink. I opted for the Rose Gold version because I thought it would be a unique card to write about, but I’m actually very happy with that decision. At first I figured that I would request a true Gold card right away, but I plan on keeping this card for a while as I think it looks quite good.
On thing I noticed right away is that this is a “contactless” credit card out of the box. For this new Metal Gold card you do not have to request the contactless version. Instead, it appears all of these new Metal Gold cards are contactless from the start. More on that in a second.
As you can see the card actually looks a bit silver in the above photo so I put it next to my silver Platinum card for comparison.
The new metal Rose Gold card is definitely more copper-colored than pink. Finally, here is a picture of the card on a black surface which better highlights the “Rose Gold” color.
Either way, the card just isn’t as pink as it appears in the below press photo.
Basically there is no reason to be worried about having a “Pink” credit card if you opt for the Rose Gold version.
Why Does It Matter That The New Metal Rose Gold Card Is Contactless?
First of all, contactless credit cards house RFID chips which an RFID reader uses to carry out a transaction. These readers are commonly found on public transit systems and are now popping up all over as more and more merchants accept apple pay. It’s the exact same technology utilized by Apple and Android pay.
This all maters for a few reasons. For starters, if you simply tap your full wallet on an RFID reader to use public transit for example, the RFID reader may read both cards. So, if you aren’t careful you could be getting double charged for rides. The same is true for any time you tap your wallet on a reader.
It also matters because contactless transactions are so much easier than chip transactions. You only have to make contact with the reader for less than a second. In most cases a quick tap will do. Once you tap your card the transaction occurs and you can move along. Overall I find that contactless transactions take about 5-6 seconds less than now standard chip transactions.
Finally, contactless payment is huge outside of the United States. When traveling I love having a contactless card because most restaurants abroad have contactless readers. So when paying for a beer at a pub in London I can just tap my card and move on. I don’t have to use the chip, wait, sign the receipt, and then carry on.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m really excited to have this card in my wallet. I’m also very happy that the card isn’t nearly as pink as it appeared in press photos. While I didn’t mind the idea of having a pink card I didn’t know how long I’d want to keep it that way. I’m also quite impressed by how quickly the card arrived. It only took 5 business days from when I submitted my application for the card to arrive at my house.
I’ll provide a more in-depth look at this card in the coming week, but for now I want to take a few days to better understand the card benefits and to test out the contactless feature of the card. So far though I’m enjoying the card and happy to finally have it in my wallet.
