4 reasons to open the recently refreshed AmEx Gold card, especially if you're a foodie

The recently refreshed American Express Gold Card offers some serious credit card rewards for frequent diners and foodies.
The credit card offers a massive 4x points per dollar spent at US supermarkets (on up to $25,000 in a calendar year; 1x point per dollar after that) and at US restaurants.
Plus, the card offers a new-member bonus 35,000 points after you spend $2,000 in the first three months.
Give the AmEx Membership Rewards program a second look if you love earning flexible points you can transfer to airline and hotel partners.
Pick up several AmEx travel cards for a comprehensive rewards strategy .

If you're someone who loves flexible rewards programs, now is an excellent time to take a closer look at American Express Membership Rewards. Like Chase Ultimate Rewards , there are several personal and business rewards cards that operate within this program. Plus, Membership Rewards offers multiple airline and hotel partners you can transfer points to.

One American Express Membership Rewards card that could be worth signing up for this year is the American Express Gold Card . Revamped last fall, this flexible rewards card now comes with some seriously rewarding benefits that can be especially valuable for consumers with certain spending habits.

American Express Gold Card benefits

With the new version of the American Express Gold Card , it's possible to earn considerably more rewards over time on your regular spending, particularly if you spend a lot on food. For starters, the American Express Gold Card is now offering 4x points on spending at US restaurants and up to $25,000 per year in US supermarket spending (then 1x points after $25,000 is reached). You also earn 3x points on flights booked directly with an airline or through AmEx Travel and 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

Other benefits the card offers include a $100 annual airline credit good for checked bags, in-flight meals, or other travel incidentals. This card also comes with no foreign transaction fees and 25,000 points after you spend $2,000 on eligible purchases with your card within three months of account opening.

There are no foreign transaction fees, but the American Express Gold Card does have a $250 annual fee that is not waived the first year.

4 reasons to consider the AmEx Gold

If you're on the fence about this card or worried about receiving enough value to justify the new $250 annual fee, it makes sense to take a closer look at the benefits and value proposition of its rewards scheme. Here are four reasons you should take a second glance at the American Express Gold Card and all it has to offer.

You could earn up to 100,000 Membership Rewards points on supermarket spending alone

If you have a big family or love to indulge in pricey ingredients and meals each month, this card's rewards tiers are practically tailored to you. Once you sign up for the card, you'll receive 4x points on your first $25,000 spent ($2,083 per month) at US supermarkets each year. That's enough spending to earn 100,000 in Membership Rewards on food and other grocery store purchases every 12 months.

Dining rewards are huge

A trifecta of dining rewards makes this card an especially good deal for foodies who love to dine at US restaurants. Not only do you earn 4x points on each dollar spent at US restaurants, but you also get 20% cash back as a statement credit at USrestaurants for the first three months of account opening (up to a limit of $100). Finally, you'll get a $10 dining statement credit each month you use your card for dining purchases.

Imagine for a moment you spend $500 monthly dining at US restaurants, which isn't that over-the-top if you enjoy a nice meal out each weekend and dine out casually at least one other night each week. With this rate of dining spending, you would earn 24,000 American Express Membership Rewards points the first year along with $120 in dining credits.

Earn flexible points

American Express Membership Rewards has an enticing selection of hotel and airline partners that can make racking up points a valuable proposition. Current airline partners include: AeroMexico, Air Canada, Air France/Flying Blue, Alitalia, ANA, Asia Miles, British Airways, Delta, El Al, Emirates, Etihad, Iberia, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue, Singapore Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic. Hotel partners include Hilton Honors, Choice Privileges, and Starwood Preferred Guest/Marriott Rewards.

While not all these partners allow you to transfer points at a 1:1 ratio, they can all be valuable. For example, you can transfer 50,000 to 60,000 AmEx points to Air France/Flying Blue for a round-trip economy flight to Europe . You could also transfer as few as 25,000 points to JetBlue for round-trip flights to the Caribbean. Heck, you could transfer as few as 120,000 points to fly one-way in luxury Singapore Suites from the US to Singapore with the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program.

Pick up multiple American Express cards for more rewards

Another potential benefit of AmEx Membership Rewards is the fact that, if you want a more thorough strategy, you can sign up for multiple cards within this program. By signing up for more than one AmEx Membership Rewards card, you can earn a welcome bonus on each and take advantage of their unique perks.

Like Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards lets you pool all your points in a single account you own. You can also transfer your points to the loyalty accounts of others provided they are an authorized user on your account.

The bottom line: Consider picking up the American Express Gold Card along with other AmEx cards like the Platinum Card from American Express and the AmEx EveryDay Preferred Credit Card . Doing so will allow you to earn big welcome bonuses and ongoing rewards on each, which you can pool together for optimal point transfers or rewards redemptions.

The bottom line

Whether you're a foodie or someone who spends a lot on food to feed a growing family, the American Express Gold Card is worth a second look.

Not only will you earn 4x points on dining and on $25,000 spent at US supermarkets each year, but you'll score additional dining credits and cash back. Combine the rewards you earn with this card with other points racked up through American Express, and you could be planning the trip of a lifetime in less than you think.