pointslip milestomorrow.com

American Express Gold Card vs Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card

Both are American Express cards. Here is every spend category, ranked by what each card actually returns.

Best card by category Card terms as of Oct 29

Everything else

  1. Gold Card 2.0% 1x base rate
  2. Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card 2.0% 2% base rate

Dining

  1. Gold Card 8.0% 4x, capped
  2. Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card 2.0% 2% base rate

Groceries

  1. Gold Card 8.0% 4x, capped
  2. Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card 2.0% 2% base rate

Flights

  1. Gold Card 6.0% 3x
  2. Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card 2.0% 2% base rate

Flights · portal

  1. Gold Card · American Express Travel 6.0% 3x
  2. Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card · American Express Travel 5.0% 5%

Hotels · portal

  1. Gold Card · American Express Travel 10.0% 5x
  2. Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card · American Express Travel 5.0% 5%

Car rental · portal

  1. Gold Card · American Express Travel 4.0% 2x

Cruises · portal

  1. Gold Card · American Express Travel 4.0% 2x

What the numbers are doing

Gold Card's 4x on dining runs out: it applies to the first $50,000 of dining spend a year, and everything past that earns 1x.

The table is earn rate only — annual fees are not netted out of it. These cards charge Gold Card $325 and Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card $295 a year, so a thin lead in one category may not cover the difference.

Where they differ: Gold Card takes dining, groceries and flights. Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card wins nothing outright in this wallet.

pointslipEveryday
Pass content preview
CategoryBest card
Everything elseGold Card2.0%
DiningGold Card8.0%
GroceriesGold Card8.0%
FlightsGold Card6.0%
Flights · portalGold Card · American Express Travel6.0%
Hotels · portalGold Card · American Express Travel10.0%
Car rental · portalGold Card · American Express Travel4.0%
Cruises · portalGold Card · American Express Travel4.0%

Content preview. Apple Wallet controls the layout; visible categories vary by device. Categories that rank the same as Everything else are left off; every other category is in pass details.

Every category, every card

Everything else

  1. Gold Card — 2.0%
  2. Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card — 2.0%

Dining

  1. Gold Card — 8.0%
  2. Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card — 2.0%

Groceries

  1. Gold Card — 8.0%
  2. Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card — 2.0%

Flights

  1. Gold Card — 6.0%
  2. Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card — 2.0%

Flights · portal

  1. Gold Card · American Express Travel — 6.0%
  2. Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card · American Express Travel — 5.0%

Hotels · portal

  1. Gold Card · American Express Travel — 10.0%
  2. Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card · American Express Travel — 5.0%

Car rental · portal

  1. Gold Card · American Express Travel — 4.0%

Cruises · portal

  1. Gold Card · American Express Travel — 4.0%
Add to Apple Wallet

This link hands the pass straight to Wallet, no app and no account — its first three rows; the app unlocks every row.

iPhone app · not yet released

Preview this set of cards. The first three rows are free, whatever cards you hold; every row and every feature is $9.99 once, in the app. See the free combos.

Open this ranking in the generator

A cheat sheet in your Wallet that tells you which card to use. No account, no bank linking, no subscription.