The American Express Gold Card is a perennial favorite of travelers, but is that about to change? According to Amex, the Gold Card will lose its $100 airline statement credit starting in 2022. Here’s what you need to know about the removal of the airline statement credit for the Gold Card – and what may replace it.
Amex Gold Card Statement Credit Changes Coming in 2022
The Gold Card from American Express provides robust value for its annual fee of $250. This value includes 4X points on worldwide dining and U.S. supermarkets, 3X points on flights booked through amextravel.com, and various statement credits.
One of those statement credits is $100 for airline incidentals. Starting January 1, 2022, however, American Express will remove that airline credit. There is currently no news on what will replace it – or if it will be replaced.
“Stay Tuned”
An American Express spokesperson issued the following statement to rewards point advice site, The Points Guy:
As we are always looking to evolve our Card benefits and services to best support our Card Members’ needs, the Airline Fee Credit on the American Express Gold Card will no longer be available at the end of 2021. Current Gold Card Members will be able to continue to use the Airline Fee Credit through December 31, 2021. We will continue to evolve and enhance our Card benefits and services to provide relevant and rich value to our Card Members in the areas they care about most, so stay tuned!
What Will Replace the Airline Credit?
What the new changes will be remains to be seen. American Express has been taking the lead in enhancing “at home” benefits for their cardholders during the COVID-19 pandemic.
These changes include:
- Free Calm premium subscriptions for all Amex cardholders
- Statement credits for streaming services and mobile phone services
- The ability to use travel credits for grocery purchases
Whether the new benefits and statement credits for the American Express Gold Card will follow suit is unknown. This scenario does seem likely, however, given comments by Amex’s CEO, Steve Squeri. In August, Squeri noted that this shift towards at-home benefits and perks was likely to continue once the coronavirus pandemic subsides.
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