AMEX Business Gold Worth It?. (pay, transfer, credit, accounts)

[Sunbiz1]

Hi Everyone,
I keep receiving mail offers from them, but am put off by the very complicated rewards offer of 70,000 points; and the $375 annual fee.
For those who have these accounts, are they worth it?; and can points be cashed out for statement credit?.
Much appreciation in advance for any input.

[mathjak107]

we find the chase sapphire reserve works better for us

[don6170]

Originally Posted by Sunbiz1

Hi Everyone,
I keep receiving mail offers from them, but am put off by the very complicated rewards offer of 70,000 points; and the $375 annual fee.
For those who have these accounts, are they worth it?; and can points be cashed out for statement credit?.
Much appreciation in advance for any input.

Business cards often do not have the same consumer protections as "regular" credit cards.

[Sanderling]

I have come to the conclusion that credit card annual fees are very rarely worth it, unless they are doing some serious heavy lifting for you as a business. If they are doing record keeping that you can’t or won’t do yourself—such as reporting, categorizing, user management, whatever—then sure, pay the fee. But if your business is either too small or too large to need or let the card company do much for you, don’t pay the fee. The benefits they offer are unlikely to be directly applicable enough to make it worthwhile.

I’m self-employed and a professional bookkeeper for small businesses. I recommend to my clients instead that they consider the business memberships at Costco or Amazon, or whichever direct service providers that they are already using and will provide the most bang for their buck. Those offer linked credit cards that can multiply rewards and cash back, but even outside of that option there are scads of other no-fee options out there that deliver big cash rewards.

ETA: Obviously YMMV. @Mathjak107 clearly has Chase Sapphire’s system figured out!

[mathjak107]

we have gotten thousands of dollars back from our chase sapphire reserve which is 550 a year .

i took the card and got 100,000 points .

they gave me a 300 dollar travel credit which i get yearly .

they paid for my tsa pre check

they gave us a free door dash membership plus 60 a year in free food .

i sent my wife an invite for the cheaper sapphire preferred card which is 95 .

she got 100,000 points and i got 20,000 for referring her .

we then transferred her points to my card where they get a 50% boost when used thru the chase expedia portal .

we took free trips worth thousands .

what we do is combine those premium cards with chases free cards .

so when the chase unlimited has 5% back on certain categories we get the 5% then transfer it to the sapphire reserve where it gets a 50% boost …..that is 7-1/2%

we are ahead every year by a lot

[Sunbiz1]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

we are ahead every year by a lot

I take satisfaction in seeing others leverage banks.
A couple years ago Goldman Sachs offered me one of those spend so much $$ within a certain period, and receive 10% back in statement credit. Only I'm a frugal spender, and didn't have anything I could justify purchasing at the time; so I bought physical gold.
That one worked out twice in my favor.
Thanks to you, and all for the tips; will have to read all the fine print though.
It seems these cards are geared more towards well off Boomer travelers, while I'm simply your average Gen X with good credit.

[Sunbiz1]

Originally Posted by Sanderling

I have come to the conclusion that credit card annual fees are very rarely worth it, unless they are doing some serious heavy lifting for you as a business.

Only one I've found is my AMEX blue, 6% cash back on everything; including groceries and fuel.
The fee is $95/annual; but there's a $150 statement credit for spending $1,500 in first 6 months.

[BugsyPal]

Originally Posted by don6170

Business cards often do not have the same consumer protections as "regular" credit cards.

Yeahbut if you have a business you aren't supposed to be putting expenses on a personal CC.

If you're employed by someone else and submit valid expenses for reimbursement, that's another matter.

OTOH if you're self employed or whatever best practice states expenses should go on a business CC.

Finally while Congress long ago killed off interest deduction for personal CCs, businesses are still allowed to deduct interest on their CCs.

It's always best practice to keep personal and business money, expenses, etc.. separate. Yes, plenty of people do otherwise, but if IRS ever sits you down your ducks better be in one nice row.

[macroy]

Originally Posted by Sunbiz1

Hi Everyone,
I keep receiving mail offers from them, but am put off by the very complicated rewards offer of 70,000 points; and the $375 annual fee.
For those who have these accounts, are they worth it?; and can points be cashed out for statement credit?.
Much appreciation in advance for any input.

Whether or not it's worth it is really dependent on one's spending habits and if the benefits you get is something you can/will actually use.

Using MR points for statement credit is often seen as the least desirable use as you get the least value out of it (less than 1 cent / point).

I get 2-3x the value on what I pay for my cards. That said - IMO, the benefits should be something you would use regardless of the card. e.g. a Walmart+ membership isn't really a benefit I would count if you wouldn't otherwise use it. Also - the Walmart+ fee is like $100 if you pay it annually. So I would only value it as that vs. the $150 AMEX advertise it to be (which is the cost if paid monthly).